DHT strategies

[Sonny]

Swale and others,

Did you or do you know others who had their DHT levels go through the roof while on injectable testosterone? I understand that this can be a problem with the gels and have seen Swale state that gel dosages should not exceed 10g because of skyrocketing DHT.

I had been on 100mg/week of Test Cyp for 8 weeks when I go this test, 48 hours after injection.

Total Test - 540 (241-827)
Free Test - 17.8 (9.5-43.0)
Estradiol - 17 (13-54)
LH - 0.7 (1.5-9.0)
DHT - 166 (25-75)
PSA - 1.0 (< 4.0)

I started HCG per Swale's protocol the following week. I have not done anything else since I only want to change 1 thing at once. I will have lab results for week 10 (HCG added at week 9) next week. The Total T looks a little low in this test, but usually it had been in the high 600's/low 700's at 48 hours after the injection. I had lifted weights pretty hard that week and was pretty tired and sore when I took this test.

My hair is not falling out and I'm not having difficulty urinating. However, my libido seems to be as low as it has even been while on HRT. Is the DHT the culprit?

Cheers,
Sonny

 

[mxim]

DHT is not he culprit,although i'm surprised your levels of dht are that high after 100mgs of test. i also do 100mgs of cyp and 1 week after my injection,my total T levels are 610(thats one full week after my shot).my estradiol remains in a normal range as well,which is good.i never had my dht level checked but my psa levels were about .4 or .6(which is great). you always want to get blood tested 1 week after an injection,if your t levels are only 500 after 48 hors,they are probably below 300 on day 7. you may want to get tested again,in the morning on an emoty stomache. if they still come back low,try bumping the dosage to 125 mgs. the dht is a concern though,so talk to your doctor about that.

 

[SWALE]

I would not consider your DHT concentration to be through the roof. I'm not sure exactly where that point is, but it is several times as high as yours.

It's not surprising to see it at this level on your TRT dose, really, because anything is possible wiht hormones. Did you happen to have it assayed prior to TRT?

I wonder how you will feel next month or even next week. Many times I have seen guys on TRT feel really let down when they do not feel tremendous boosts in libido all the time. Think of AAS users who lose their drive on a gram per week!

Libido waxes and wanes in everyone.

I interpret labs in this way: the peak during the week occur at roughoy 72 hours post injection. It drops until shot time, and is still lower for a day after the shot. That is why I add in the HCG Protocol.

 

[Sonny]

Hi Guys:

Thank you for the input.

Swale: Unfortunately, those results above are the only ones that show DHT. Before I got my doc to agree to follow your protocol, he was testing Total T, Free T, and PSA.

He originally had me at 400mg/e3w for the first 7 months. As predicted, this put me on a rollercoaster mentally. I often felt anxious and agitated when my test levels were high and depressed when they were low. I've had some bad problems with anxiety over the past 5 years and supraphysiological levels of T definitely seemed to make it flare up. On the 400mg/e3w program, I usually felt the best during the middle of week 2/beginning of week 3. I generally felt upbeat, clear-minded, and wow'd by women during that time.

Here is my lab work up until this point. I was only allowed to test every 2 weeks, so I tried going in on differing numbers of days sinc injection to see how my levels were throughout the week.

Overall, 100mg/week has been much better for me with the exception of the libido. DHT is supposed to be largely responsible for this and I thought maybe I had reached a point of diminishing returns. I am on week 2 of HCG and I like it. I feel more productive and clear-minded.

Sonny