TRT seems great, need guidance

[chemman]

You're never going to get your E2 balanced dosing like that. Best bet is to dose the T cyp as often as possible in hopes of not needing the AI. IMO it's best to stay away from HCG unless you are trying to father a child. IF the E2 is still up there, then consider an AI. It helps a lot to keep bodyfat % down as low as possible too.

As far as the workout recovery.... it could be a variety of issues. Have you had all of your pituitary-driven hormones checked out? Low cortisol, GH, thyroid, etc. can mess you up just as much or often much worse than low T.

 

[Structure]

I have read that Anestrazole half life is 2, 3, 5 days. Can anyone clarify? I am also wondering if I am feeling the effects of high E2 or low. I have not been too consistent with my anestrozole dosage. I started with .5 mg on April 17 (i noticed some nipple swelling/sensitivity and some emotional symptoms) I then continued for 8 days on .25 EOD. At this time body composition, morning wood, and energy seemed good but I felt I was getting a little testy too quickly. I stopped AI for 5 or 6 days and felt great. I don't know if this was the right move but on day 6 I took .25 before bed. When waking and for the next 3 days (the present) i felt pretty foggy and irratable. I think I'm still getting some wood while i sleep but I don't have any urges during the day.
So, if half life is 4 days, would I be feeling the full effects now and maybe over-responding? Or would it make more sense that E2 is up and causing the emotional problems? Its sounds pretty crazy that I have only taken a small amount of AI for a short period of time and it bottomed me out right?
I have labs scheduled on Monday (in 4 days). I'm tempted to take another .25 or less to see what happens. Should I wait and take nothing till after my BW?
I am also going to have my doc prescribe arimidex to be compounded. Should he write it for 0.1 mg daily?

Thanks for all your help everyone!

If you search some of my previous posts, you'll find the half life of anastrozole (I don't have it offhand).

Here's the important info: It is critical that you do not take too much anastrozole. The best way to know if you are taking the right amount is to take the same amount daily, and have your E2 checked after a week or so. If your E2 should be slightly higher or lower in the normal range depending on where your SHBG sits in the normal range --- for higher SHBG, you'll need higher E2.

I took anastrozole for 3 months at a dose of 1/8 mg per day (0.125 mg). I was also on Testim. It lowered my E2 to about 15. That seems pretty good, right? Nope. My SHBG was about 30, and thus my E2 was too low.

I developed bilateral wrist pain (diagnosed with severe tenosynovitis). I'm going on my 3rd month of wrist pain, even though I've been off of anastrozole since the end of March. I've been in wrist splints for the last month, and my rheumatologist tells me it could be several months longer before I can be pain free. Don't fuck yourself up like I did. Get some blood tests, and check your SHBG and E2. Have your doctor compound the anastrozole into 1/32 of a mg, if possible. The smaller, the better --- you can always take multiple capsules if you need to.

 

[fireshot]

Chemman, I know I was hugely inconsistant with the AI. As far as hcg, i am planning on kids in the near future. Recovery is getting much better. Thanks for the advice.

Structure, thanks for responding, that story is horrible. It really makes you think how fragile the balance is and how important labs are. I cut the AI as small as I could with a straight razor and dosed approx .1 EOD for the past 12 days. I just went in for BW this morning. I have been feeling really good and stable with this however I know cutting the pills is a shitty way of dosing. I have an apt in one week to discuss the results. I will also be getting a rx for the AI to compounded to a smaller dose possibly 1/32. Thanks again, I will post my results when I get them.

 

[fireshot]

Heres some updated lab results:
These were takin while on 50mg T cyp E3D, 200iu ovidrel days 1 and 2 with day 3 being cyp , and appr 0.1 mg anestrazole EOD.

Lipid Panel
Chol, total 156
HDL 46
trig 90
LDL 92

Chol/hdlc ratio 3.4 (<=5)
dihydrotest 60 (25-75) ng/dl

T total 617 (250-1100) ngdl
T free 102.1 (46-224) pg/ml
T bio 209.9 (110-575) ng/dl
shbg 27 (8-48) nmol/L
albumin 4.5 (3.6-5.1) g/dl

white blood 6.5 (3.8-10.8)
Red 5.14 (4.2-5.8)
hemoglobin 16.4 13.2-17.1
hematocrit 47.8 (38.5-50) %
mcv 92.9 (80-100) fl
mch 31.9 (27-33) pg
rdw 34.3 (32-36) g/dl
platelet ct 13.6 (11-15) %
abs neutrophils 3250 (1500-7800)
lymphocytes 2165 (850-3900)
monocytes 618 (200-950)
eosinopholis 397 (15-500)
basophils 72 (0-200)
neutrophils 50
lymphocytes 33.3
monocytes 9.5
eosinophils 6.1
basophils 1.1

ferratin 28 (20-345) ng/ml
dhea sulfate 296 (110-370) mcg/dl
prolactin 7.3 (2-18) ng/ml
esradiol 27 (13-54) pg/ml
cortisol am 15.3 (4-22) mcg/dl


From what I can see my T total and free could be bumped up. My E2 and shbg seem to be balanced (thats good right?) however I would like to get the e2 a little lower. what about ferratin? low?

I got anestrazole compounded to 0.05 mg per cap. was thinking of taking 2 ED (0.1 mg ED)

If anyone has input on my progress or path please feel free to comment. Thank you all for taking the time to help me out.

 

[fireshot]

I guess some symptoms might help......
I feel like I have leveled out pretty good. Libido is still a little inconsistant but definitely better than before. Morning wood and night erections seem regular. I'm also still moody, but again, not as bad as pre trt. I can definitely feel the changeover from good mood to frustration and short tempered. Don't know if I should attribute this to high E2 or higher T levels? Brain fog has cleared up, maybe 80%, I still get waves of fogginess and vision disturbances.
Is trt known to cause any chest discomfort? I don't know if its heartburn, chest pain, muscle tightness..... but it lasts 5 mins at most and has only happened maybe 3 times but it is something new.

Again guys, thanks for taking the time out of your lives to read this.

 

[Structure]

Heres some updated lab results:
These were takin while on 50mg T cyp E3D, 200iu ovidrel days 1 and 2 with day 3 being cyp , and appr 0.1 mg anestrazole EOD.

Lipid Panel
Chol, total 156
HDL 46
trig 90
LDL 92

Chol/hdlc ratio 3.4 (<=5)
dihydrotest 60 (25-75) ng/dl

T total 617 (250-1100) ngdl
T free 102.1 (46-224) pg/ml
T bio 209.9 (110-575) ng/dl
shbg 27 (8-48) nmol/L
albumin 4.5 (3.6-5.1) g/dl

white blood 6.5 (3.8-10.8)
Red 5.14 (4.2-5.8)
hemoglobin 16.4 13.2-17.1
hematocrit 47.8 (38.5-50) %
mcv 92.9 (80-100) fl
mch 31.9 (27-33) pg
rdw 34.3 (32-36) g/dl
platelet ct 13.6 (11-15) %
abs neutrophils 3250 (1500-7800)
lymphocytes 2165 (850-3900)
monocytes 618 (200-950)
eosinopholis 397 (15-500)
basophils 72 (0-200)
neutrophils 50
lymphocytes 33.3
monocytes 9.5
eosinophils 6.1
basophils 1.1

ferratin 28 (20-345) ng/ml
dhea sulfate 296 (110-370) mcg/dl
prolactin 7.3 (2-18) ng/ml
esradiol 27 (13-54) pg/ml
cortisol am 15.3 (4-22) mcg/dl


From what I can see my T total and free could be bumped up. My E2 and shbg seem to be balanced (thats good right?) however I would like to get the e2 a little lower. what about ferratin? low?

I got anestrazole compounded to 0.05 mg per cap. was thinking of taking 2 ED (0.1 mg ED)

If anyone has input on my progress or path please feel free to comment. Thank you all for taking the time to help me out.

Hey Fireshot,

Do not up your dosage of anastrozole. Your levels of E2 and SHBG are perfect. Whatever you were taking before, don't increase the dosage. Just make sure that your levels haven't changed when you next check your bloodwork. Whatever symptoms you are having, they are not from E2 (especially considering your SHBG).

As far as your bloodwork is concerned, it looks like the T is doing its job. I don't think that T is causing chest pain or tightness, but that doesn't mean that you should ignore these symptoms; it could be something unrelated (or I could just be plain wrong), so just bring it up when you next see your doctor. Your remaining symptoms (primarily mood disturbances) are nonspecific, meaning that any number of things could cause them. Some on this forum will disagree with me, but I think that mood is more stable when hormones are more stable; T cyp and ovidrel can cause some pretty large hormone swings, and in my opinion, a little moodiness comes with the territory. As I've said in other posts, I think these side effects are less often seen with gels (my preference is Testim).

I'm glad to hear that you are doing so well. If I were you, I'd keep everything the same for now, and recheck blood parameters in two weeks to a month. If you find that mood disturbances are getting to be a problem, you could try a different preparation (or a longer lasting injection like Nebido).

 

[fireshot]

Thanks Structure! I have taken your advice and stuck with the current dosage on all treatments. I will have my levels checked in another 2 weeks or so.
On another note, I had another gall bladder attack. This time I swung into the ER and had some BW done. They stated that the GB wasn't infected or diseased but it seemed like i had biliary colic. For some reason, presumably not gall stones, the bile duct is going into "spasm" and causing PAIN and inflammation for 2-3 days. I know this isn;t the place for gastrointerology discussion but in case anyone has experience in this I thought i would throw it out there.
Thanks Structure and everyone else on this board for your attention.

 

[Structure]

Thanks Structure! I have taken your advice and stuck with the current dosage on all treatments. I will have my levels checked in another 2 weeks or so.
On another note, I had another gall bladder attack. This time I swung into the ER and had some BW done. They stated that the GB wasn't infected or diseased but it seemed like i had biliary colic. For some reason, presumably not gall stones, the bile duct is going into "spasm" and causing PAIN and inflammation for 2-3 days. I know this isn;t the place for gastrointerology discussion but in case anyone has experience in this I thought i would throw it out there.
Thanks Structure and everyone else on this board for your attention.

Anytime. Let us know how it goes... (And good luck with your GI issues)

 

[fireshot]

Just thought I would update my situation. Since my last update I began feeling like the effects were slipping or at least not reaching the full potential, especially in the ed/libido dept. So, Structure i finally listened to you and began transdermals. I went with Androgel, having tried testim for a couple weeks and not really liking the sticky mess that it left on me. I switched to 100 mgs ED with 400iu's of Ovidrel E3D. Now just trying to get back on that good Anestrazole schedule i had before. The effects of the Androgel are definitely helping me in the ed/libido dept. I'm not saying i'm back 100% but i definitely notice an improvement over the inj. The following are my most recent labs. I switched to Androgel on July 3rd and these labs were taken on July 19th.

TSH 3rd gen 1.38 0.4-4.5
T4 free 1.1 0.8-1.8
T3 free 3.3 2.3-4.2

DHT 43 25-75
SHBG 27 10-50
E2 30 13-54
FSH <0.7 1.6-8
LH <0.2 1.5-9.3

Total T 601 250-1100
Free T 152.7 35-155


My E2 is a little higher than I would like.

Is HCG supposed to raise my FSH or LH numbers? Or does it just act as LH without raising what can be tested for?

Thanks for your time guys.

 

[Structure]

Just thought I would update my situation. Since my last update I began feeling like the effects were slipping or at least not reaching the full potential, especially in the ed/libido dept. So, Structure i finally listened to you and began transdermals. I went with Androgel, having tried testim for a couple weeks and not really liking the sticky mess that it left on me. I switched to 100 mgs ED with 400iu's of Ovidrel E3D. Now just trying to get back on that good Anestrazole schedule i had before. The effects of the Androgel are definitely helping me in the ed/libido dept. I'm not saying i'm back 100% but i definitely notice an improvement over the inj. The following are my most recent labs. I switched to Androgel on July 3rd and these labs were taken on July 19th.

TSH 3rd gen 1.38 0.4-4.5
T4 free 1.1 0.8-1.8
T3 free 3.3 2.3-4.2

DHT 43 25-75
SHBG 27 10-50
E2 30 13-54
FSH <0.7 1.6-8
LH <0.2 1.5-9.3

Total T 601 250-1100
Free T 152.7 35-155


My E2 is a little higher than I would like.

Is HCG supposed to raise my FSH or LH numbers? Or does it just act as LH without raising what can be tested for?

Thanks for your time guys.

Glad to hear that things are working out!

Yes, HCG acts on the LH receptors, but does not show up as LH on blood tests (there is a separate blood test for hcg). Your numbers look great btw! I'm assuming that you got your blood tests in the morning, before applying androgel, correct?

Your E2 is great considering your HCG. I wouldn't change a thing. If you are getting these values without the AI, then I would just dump the AI as unnecessary unless something changes on your next blood work...