TRT guys. Talk to me.

This was a urologist my buddy recommended because I noticed he was loosing weight so I made an appt. He is the one who said I had the T levels of a 90 year old man.


I was put on 1 shot a week (i forget what cc).
HCG 1 shot a week
Anastrozol 1 pill a week
Keep in mind this is from one of the top if not the top urologist in Houston.

With my insurance it was 150 a month. The HCG is what most of the cost was because it had to come from a pharmacy who made it. (?)

Yes I did feel better immediately.
Life was great for the first 2-3 months. Slammin the ol lady 3-4 times a day. Wide open at work. Felt good starting my day in the mornings. Etc,

Then the other stuff.
Zits all over my back and shoulders. (Doc says here is another pill for that)
I started loosing my hair. Like bad. I'm 40 but I mean c'mon man. (Doc says here we got a pill for that too).
I was having trouble finishing peeing. Yes. Like ok I'm done peeing, no wait maybe not, ok I am, no wait just a bit more, ok Im done, no wait(Doc says try this pill and if it doesn't work lemme know and you can try a different one and it might help)
My nuts were literally the size of.......
Your blood gets thick. Real thick. My primary dr tripped out when I had regular bloodwork done for him. I could actually feel it. (Doc says go give blood) It helps, but you have to keep doing it.
I actually gained weight. (the reason I went in to get checked out in the first place was to see if it might help loose some)
I don't remember becoming a complete asshole but my wife said I did.

I was all about it at first but then I started thinking, what is this shit doing to my body that I DONT know about, am I going to be needing to do this Saturday morning in the bathroom ritual (take all the shots and pills) for the rest of my life?

So I said to myself, let's take 2 weeks off just for the hell of it and see what happens.

Holy bajeesus man. Better break out the methadone. I had no idea. Talk about feeling like shit. It was bad. I got back on it and after another 4-5 months I said this is crazy.

I get it when guys say I'd rather have no hair and raisin nuts and feel this way but not me man. I kinda liked my hair before I did this.
Don't get me wrong I'm sure it helps lots of people. I'd probably still be on it if it were not for all the side effects, and meds to treat them.
Your results may vary.

 

It's been years since I've dug into this stuff, but I thought there was some compound the gym guys would use to handle the testes reduction - clomid or novadex or something like that. Was supposed to help with the chances of gyno and other sides too.

Kind of crazy to me that it seems like some TRT docs know less about using and controlling sides than the fitness guys. I know of folks who've run much heavier cycles than what you're describing and never mentioned sides as harsh as you describe outside of the sex drive and maybe increase in acne.

 

If your sides are that bad, you need to get your bloodwork done asap and figure out what is wrong with your dosage. They really shouldn't just give your a prescription for anything without monitoring that the first few months. The fact that your hematocrit levels are that far off, along with everything else you are saying is telling me your dosage is way off or you were mis-diagnosed to begin with. Could very well be other issues that you have and they threw TRT at it.

 

I know it kind of goes without saying, and it was mentioned in more detail earlier in this thread....but did you go through all the steps of diet, exercise, supplements, lifestyle habits that might be affecting things first. TRT/HRT should be your last course of action, not first.....especially when as you've already experienced some of the negative side effects.

Not all docs/urol are going to scrutinize and have you make all the adjustments you can BEFORE putting you on drugs. Like you just said up there...."here have a pill, here have another pill, aaaannd here have another one."

 

HCG helps keep natural T flowing during a cycle. Clomid is supposed to get things running again after a cycle. Nolvadex is an anti-aromatase that essentially blocks estrogen.

Not all doctors are created equal. Lots of them are just guessing. It’s not like they have to warranty their work. If they fix you, you leave and don’t come back. If they screw up, you come back and give them more money.

 

Thanks. Like I said, it's been years.

 

Last I checked if you were getting scripts from your urologist all of the meds you would be prescribed would be made in a “pharmacy” or direct from an pharmaceutical company.

Did he monitor your levels?
What were they?
The anastrozole is nothing more than an estrogen blocker.
The HCG is to stimulate the gonads and prevent shrinkage, etc.

You need a new doctor .
Did he go to a prominent university?

Ride safe,
AAron

 

In my industry, TRT is being called a near epidemic. The non-funny joke is, a lot of guys are on the three T's - testosterone, tadalafil, and trazadone. This is trending down into dudes into their 20s. What we've found is that we have a lot of out of shape, stressed to the max guys that are turning to TRT, anti anxiety meds and other stuff instead of the gym and regular fitness regimens. I realize this is not the case for 90% of the guys in this thread, but it's cautionary. I'm not trying to pull some Tom Cruise 'meds are bad exercise fixes everything' shit here, but it's worth considering. The side effects, and more pertinent, the crash that happens when cycling off scares the shit out of me. I was curious and got my levels tested. All the NP would say is "your levels are fine" with a chuckle. Wouldn't give me any numbers. I feel fine, but I was still curious and at this point I wonder if they were even tested. I feel for anyone truly dealing with low levels, but I would caution any young dudes that are eager to get on this for 'gains' or whatever else - listen to some of the guys in this thread and do some research.

 

https://www.larrylipshultz.com/about/dr-larry-lipshultz/honor-awards

 

Losing.

 

Proof that awards don’t add up to good care for patients.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/top-doctor-awards-deserved-abc-news-investigation/story?id=16771628

Ride safe,
AAron

 

Holy crap the issues here just to increase testosterone..........sheesh. Ya know a little bit of exercise and a better eating regimen will increase your levels naturally.......just push through the wall til you make exercise a regular part of your day if you don’t already, for those who seem to be “needing” the “T” increase.

 

What industry is that?

What you describe is endemic throughout the population. Everyone wants that magic pill. Personally I would not turn to pharmaceuticals until I’ve exhausted every other avenue. T is slightly different though, because even at peak health, your natural levels decline with age.

 

It's a shame and I think a big part of it is laziness and living in a time of entitlement and apathy. If you eat like garbage, don't get up and move around and are cramped up indoors all day, why should your body working properly.

Eating a sensible/nutritious diet, getting out in the sun a bit everyday and putting your body under some physical duress to keep it strong and flexible takes effort. When more people would rather sit on their ass and take a drug, you get what you have today. Not saying that there aren't tangible cases of hypogonadism that happen from time to time......and I wouldn't be surprised if those were happening with greater frequency these days due to all the shit and contaminants in our food and everything around us, but the majority of people live lifestyles that are just simply predisposed to their health and hormones being in the toilet.

And it's interesting you should say that, because some would argue that that is propaganda to an extent, and while yes your test does dwindle as you age......it's never been to the extremes we're seeing today as it was in the past.

The Massachusetts Male Aging Study demonstrated that this phenomena has been getting worse decade over decade. i.e. your grandfathers test didn't drop that much by the time he turned 70 compared to what yours will. So that leads us to look at other outside factors.

 

That’s anecdotal. What about the people who work out hard every day, yet begin losing strength, muscle mass, and endurance despite proper sleep and a clean diet?

Neuroendocrine dysfunction is common after TBI, or in my case, multiple TBI. I wish I could turn back time and make different decisions but I can’t. I was just too dumb to understand what I was doing to my brain until it was too late.

Maybe some people are lazy and think it’s a magic pill and would rather take a shot than work out. Cool. I don’t care what they do. All I know is that test stopped my atrophy and allows me to recover the way I should. Taking one little shot a week is a small price to pay.

 

Maaaaaaaaaaaan, I don't like that chart at all! Look at the age ranges. In the first range, they're testing guys as young as 45 but only as old as 71. In the second, guys between 50 and 80, and in the third, guys between 57 and 80. Total BS.

 

The figures were adjusted/controlled for the usual suspects, its just a diagram. You can read a bit more about it here
https://www.healio.com/endocrinolog...ional-decline-in-testosterone-levels-observed

 

Where did you earn your medical degree? Do you specialize in endocrinology?

 

I'm glad you pointed that out... There could have been a bunch of guys measured in the first sample measured again in the second and third samples, showing nothing about it lowering because of generational change, and just showing it lowering as people get older...

 

Some of us do not need a degree for a simple solution