Quote:
Originally Posted by SenseiSingh
Syn, my Endocrinologist gave a big list of things one would have to screen before going on TRT and then a list of markers that must be regularly monitored. It was more than the 3-4 written in this thread. Including regular Brain scans for the function of some glands.
It seems like a pain in the ass and a lot of risks involved. How are you going to manage to keep track of everything and what all you need to monitor and what are the danger signs?
High red blood count sounds rather dangerous, so do many of the other things.
One thing the doctor did not reply to even though I asked him a couple of times was - How soon would things like hair fall and all of the above symptoms start to arise if someone started TRT.
What was your experience the last time you went on it?
Most physicians get little or no training in the evaluation and treatment of testosterone deficiency. They just rely on guidelines from books and have near zero experience with treating men with testosterone. When laymen such as ourselves have to start learning about TRT and hormones just for the sake of being able to find a competent doctor in this field, I don't feel too bad about taking matters into my own hands. Self-administering TRT does not mean you can never visit a good endocrinologist anymore. Obviously if I were to do this for the rest of my life, I would work towards finding the optimal dosage, doing the required bloodwork, and seeking help/advice from professionals. The only difference is that I would do the injections myself, which is easy peasy.
A bigger concern I have is whether or not UGL testosterone will remain so easily available for the coming 40-60 years. I am in Thailand now where pharm grade Bayer testosterone is simply sold OTC, but I don't think I'm going to stay here forever. And there is no such thing as TRT in Belgium either.
My only experience with injecting testosterone a few years ago was a 12 week "beginner cycle" of 500mg/wk of testosterone enanthate combined with an aromatase inhibitor. I had easier strength progress and better recovery in general. That was it really. The only side effect I had was a little bit of water bloat from increased estrogen levels. Unfortunately I suffered two injuries somewhere halfway the cycle, so I decided to quit, and I couldn't lift for almost half a year after that because of the injury (I had a cervical disk herniation). So obviously losing all my progress was inevitable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cha59
I havent noticed any additional loss of hair. My understanding is that DHT level affects this when it gets too high, which is part of why you want to be on something that suppresses DHT. Far more important than hair loss, prostate issues may happen with elevated DHT levels. I've been on stuff to suppress DHT, so that's probably why I havent been losing more hair.
I don't think it's as simple as that, I don't think anyone would "want to" be on a DHT suppressor as a standard. DHT is an essential hormone and plays a important role in producing libido. You're right that it has been associated with prostate issues for years, but there seems to be a lot of debate about this idea and it appears to have been debunked a while ago. Supposedly it would be the androgen-to-estrogen ratio that would be at the cause of prostate enlargement issues, not DHT. I think the only thing anyone would "want"or should strive for is hormonal balance with as little products as possible. I know about your family history and you seem to have a good doctor so she probably knows what she's doing, but saying that everyone should be on a DHT suppressor when on TRT sounds far stretched and oversimplified.
I also ran into a bunch of studies stating that men with low testosterone have the highest rate of prostate enlargement, prostate cancer, and fastest growing tumor growth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SenseiSingh
To be honest I was thinking i might be able to get a doctor to prescribe me a 16 week trt of 250 mg / wk injected a couple of months from now when my training intensity should be up to near max. Although, now am happy with my morning T results even though they are middle-ish and not on the high end, at least they aren't on the low side.
The other more important factor is that I don't think credible doctors here will ever agree on TRT after hearing what the Endo told me about this field so it would have to be self administered and regulated.
That's why I wanted to know if doing just one cycle of just Testosterone 250mg/wk is:
1. Worth it
2. High enough dose to cause side effects
3. Something that can be stopped after the said 1 cycle and never repeated again or would I have to be on it for life.
Why would you want to do this once-in-a-lifetime mini-cycle in the first place and what are you looking to get out of it exactly? Are you just looking for a shortcut to big boy weights? If you would never get into this thing again, I don't think it's worth messing with your endocrine system if you don't suffer any low T symptoms.
Also, TRT and cycling are two very different things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BookToMarket
I'm also interested in the impact that will have SS. I'd also want to know IF there are short-term results, will they linger after you get off of the cycle?
There is no yes/no answer for this. It just depends on the kind of cycle you did and the kind of results you produced. Obviously if you take a huge amount of products and gain a ton of strength in a really short amount of time, it would be impossible to maintain all of this once you get off. You would keep *some* of it. Or if you instantly add 10lbs in weight, it's just going to be water retention from increased estrogren levels, so again, this would just fall off once you end the cycle. Also realize that post-cycle you don't just immediately go back to your natural levels, it can take a few months before everything restores back to normal, so if you would've made a lot of strength gains, then it's also going to be really hard to maintain (all of) these during this post-cycle (hormonal crash) window.