I'd like to know know why the usefulness of troches was so downplayed in the original thread about them that I started -- the same one that The Skeptic linked to in his original post.
I can't seem to find out exactly how much testosterone is actually absorbed through mucosal tissue.
Striant, the mouth based TRT system, adheres to the gums ALL DAY. It has a very large amount of testosterone, but only a tiny portion of it ever makes it through the gums. This tells us something important about the efficacy of the approach.
I do not think there are any studies related to the troches whatsoever. The theory does not seem to be sound. They only last in the mouth for minutes. Most, if not all, of the swallowed testosterone is neutralized. Based on the research done by the makers of Striant, a huge dose would be needed, and it would need to remain in contact with mucosal tissue for an hour or more for a subjectively significant amount ot be absorbed.
This is what makes the sublingual droplets so worthless. 3-5mg of testosterone in contact with oral tissues for a matter of minutes is not going to result in any significant absorption of testosterone.
The only studied mucosal delivery system requires 60mg of testosterone to remain on the gum line for the duration of the entire day. This provided an average of a 200ng/dl boost.
Boosting testosterone a few nanograms per dicoliter, if at all, through troches shouldn't have any perceivable effect.
The Skeptic, aren't you the guy who carries loaded insulin syringes of testosterone around in your pocket for use in bar bathrooms? I guess that hasn't been working out for you, huh?
Yes, I was doing that, and that was working. That was back when I shooting small doses throughout the week.
The problem was, to really make it work, you have to shoot 10 mg several times a week, and that can get old.
So I started increasing the dosages to 15 mg to not shoot so often, then I noticed I started gaining weight and putting on bloat.
And it got real hard to keep track of the doses and make it all consistent.
So I started thinking about the whole TRT thing. A few years ago when I was injecting every ten days or so, I weighed 190. Then, then I started injecting more frequently, going on the advice I read here, I shot up to 210.
My theory was that every time I was injecting, my E2 was shooting up, regardless of the small amount of test I was shooting. I've seen charts that prove this. E2 shoots up as well as test, then levels out.
So I was wondering if all those little shots during the week were essentially creating a multitude of E2 spikes, which was contributing to my weight gain.
And I wondered if I went back to my weekly shots, which I have done, would my weight go back down because then I would only have one E2 spike, which I can control with arimidex.
It seems to be working on my weight. I weigh about 200 now, but lately my diet has sucked and I haven't been working out.
I've also experienced more mental fog with the multitude of shots during the week, which makes it hard for me to focus on work.
But it was also true that if I was out drinking, a 10 mg shot of test in my thigh in the bathroom would give me a lift in libido.
I told that to my doc and he brought up the troche. That's how he got to talking about.
My doc is very cool. I can be very open with him. He knows I smoke pot and drink and doesn't judge me on it. He knows I'm a very complicated case.
