SonhoDourado
Member
Hello gents, here is my update so far little over 4months into recovery. August of this year the wife and i landed at a fertility clinic and began the process. I knew it was going to be bad news for me but was hopeful to an extent. Started TRT/Test cycles at 35-36 and never came off. Never used any AAS before hand. Though naive i ran HCG 250IU 2x/week religiously for those 8 years.Very brief cessation when a source would run dry or get busted but nevertheless pretty consistent use. Set up a semen analysis(SA) and came back with a complete and utter sterile sample. Not a single swimmer. 0.Ziltch. That was a gut punch as i had guessed i'd be in the 2-5millon range but not zero'd out. Off to meet the reproductive urologist i went.
Took my last shot 10/10/22 and met with the urologist. Exam of my sack and ultrasound right off the bat, wasn't ready for that one! He found no issue on ultrasound but thought they looked atrophied a bit on the gross examination. I guess i'd been dealing with them for 8 years at that size and didn't feel they'd shunk, weren't raisins thats for sure. As you can imagine he was also less than thrilled with my 1400ng/dl Total Test count(our first visit i had no idea they'd be drawing blood so i didn't abstain from a shot that week). He had me come off everything and run a clomid/hcg combo. 25mg day/clomid- 2500 i.u of HCG 3x/week.
1 month later i had a total test of 377 and LH and FSH were back online! Didn't feel great and seeing the number kinda made it worse. Its a huge jump to go from 1400 to sub 400 in a months time.Especially as my TRT dose(self rx) was between 150-180mg on average and my blasts were 500-600mg in the summer.
At the 4th month mark i went in for another SA and blood work. Total test 406 and jumps in LH+FSH, E2 17.5 HCT 42, all within range albeit a bit low on the test side. SA came back at 29 million(anything above 20 is idea) 72% motility(42 and above good),morphology good as well. Was pleasantly surprised to get the good news. Have to drop off 1 more SA in a month to compare and got the ok to freeze too! Wife will be doing IVF soon and hopefully once she's on her way and i've got sperm frozen i can get back on TRT!
So for any of you on the fence about coming off after a long time or those in a time constrained situation to have children: It's possible and not very hard. I envisioned some god awful time in my head but i really hasn't been so bad. I'll list some of the sides below just as my experience.
Clomid sides:First month is tough as your body is cleared the esters and total t is in the tank. Overall didn't lose any size or strength the first month and leaned out considerably which was cool. 2nd month i started to notice a dip in strength and a slightly softer appearance. Months 3-4 were basically the same, slight dips in strength and noticing my obliques are definitely softer. Gym motivation still good, still getting 5-6 days in a week and most are good ones. I dont quite push as hard now as i dont have the recovery TRT afforded me. Actual side effects are pretty minor but noticeable. My sleep has been terrible. Very light sleeping that often leads to 2-3 wake ups a night. Researched a women's forum and this one is mentioned a bunch. So i go to bed 1-2 hours early now to offset the sleep deprivation. I also get hot and cold throughout the day and usually the worse while sleeping and waking.That's been a constant the last 2 months. Sex drive is low but my SHBG is high from the clomid and is to be expected as per urologist. Performance wise i never experienced any ED thank god..just the desire isn't there like it was on TRT.
I was offered Natesto which is the intranasal test you apply 2-3x a day but declined so far. I basically feel if i start to feel any benefit from it i'll likely be tempted to needle my ass with the good stuff and then i'd be back to square one! It's very reassuring knowing i've got 15 vials of cyp+enanth waiting for me once this is all over. I'll also have the option of doing true TRT through the urologist once he weans me off the clomid, which would be ideal!
So i know this was a bit long winded but its the story so far. Hope some of you on your own journey to recovery/fertility find this helpful!
Took my last shot 10/10/22 and met with the urologist. Exam of my sack and ultrasound right off the bat, wasn't ready for that one! He found no issue on ultrasound but thought they looked atrophied a bit on the gross examination. I guess i'd been dealing with them for 8 years at that size and didn't feel they'd shunk, weren't raisins thats for sure. As you can imagine he was also less than thrilled with my 1400ng/dl Total Test count(our first visit i had no idea they'd be drawing blood so i didn't abstain from a shot that week). He had me come off everything and run a clomid/hcg combo. 25mg day/clomid- 2500 i.u of HCG 3x/week.
1 month later i had a total test of 377 and LH and FSH were back online! Didn't feel great and seeing the number kinda made it worse. Its a huge jump to go from 1400 to sub 400 in a months time.Especially as my TRT dose(self rx) was between 150-180mg on average and my blasts were 500-600mg in the summer.
At the 4th month mark i went in for another SA and blood work. Total test 406 and jumps in LH+FSH, E2 17.5 HCT 42, all within range albeit a bit low on the test side. SA came back at 29 million(anything above 20 is idea) 72% motility(42 and above good),morphology good as well. Was pleasantly surprised to get the good news. Have to drop off 1 more SA in a month to compare and got the ok to freeze too! Wife will be doing IVF soon and hopefully once she's on her way and i've got sperm frozen i can get back on TRT!
So for any of you on the fence about coming off after a long time or those in a time constrained situation to have children: It's possible and not very hard. I envisioned some god awful time in my head but i really hasn't been so bad. I'll list some of the sides below just as my experience.
Clomid sides:First month is tough as your body is cleared the esters and total t is in the tank. Overall didn't lose any size or strength the first month and leaned out considerably which was cool. 2nd month i started to notice a dip in strength and a slightly softer appearance. Months 3-4 were basically the same, slight dips in strength and noticing my obliques are definitely softer. Gym motivation still good, still getting 5-6 days in a week and most are good ones. I dont quite push as hard now as i dont have the recovery TRT afforded me. Actual side effects are pretty minor but noticeable. My sleep has been terrible. Very light sleeping that often leads to 2-3 wake ups a night. Researched a women's forum and this one is mentioned a bunch. So i go to bed 1-2 hours early now to offset the sleep deprivation. I also get hot and cold throughout the day and usually the worse while sleeping and waking.That's been a constant the last 2 months. Sex drive is low but my SHBG is high from the clomid and is to be expected as per urologist. Performance wise i never experienced any ED thank god..just the desire isn't there like it was on TRT.
I was offered Natesto which is the intranasal test you apply 2-3x a day but declined so far. I basically feel if i start to feel any benefit from it i'll likely be tempted to needle my ass with the good stuff and then i'd be back to square one! It's very reassuring knowing i've got 15 vials of cyp+enanth waiting for me once this is all over. I'll also have the option of doing true TRT through the urologist once he weans me off the clomid, which would be ideal!
So i know this was a bit long winded but its the story so far. Hope some of you on your own journey to recovery/fertility find this helpful!
