Questions about HRT?

[lycan]

Anyone who is on HRT can respond. I am 45 yrs old. Had bloodwork done this past Monday, have it done every 3 months. As I have stated in another post, "Opinions welcome", I have Addison`s Disease and Hypothyroidism. Been on Cortisone and Thyroid drugs for 20 years, and as most know, the Cortisone keeps my body in a catabolic state. Gains come very hard for me. Getting back to the bloodwork, I suggested my doc check my Testosterone level, as I have experienced less energy and a lack of wood. Don`t have the numbers, but called and said my Test was low, and to come in tomorrow to start Testosterone injections. OK for the questions, first will I be taking the injections from now on, and what can I expect from the injections? I don`t know how often or how much I will be recieving, will find out tomorrow. I figure if I can get nothing more than increased energy and a sense of well being, it will be well worth it. If this is a dumbass thread, please disregard, I know I will get honest answers, that`s what I want. Thanks in advance.

Lycan

 

[lycan]

OK, to start off with I am recieving 200 mg of testosterone once monthly. I suppose my Doc just wants to see how I will respond to this dosage. I was hoping for 200 to 250 mg weekly or bi-weekly. Does anyone think I will see a noticeable difference in the way I feel with this small dosage only once a month? Also, how long does it usually take to feel the effects of the test? I recieved the shot Friday. Sorry for the dumbass questions, this is new territory for me. Thanks in advance.

Lycan

 

[thebrick]

hey Lycan, these are not dumb questions. I am 53 and on HRT. What was your reading? One shot a month at 200 mg seems really low to me. I would ask to have blood work done again at the end of the first month. My guess is your test will still be low after only one injection. Your test levels will increase nicely after the injectiion, but waiting a month to the next one lets the levels drop again. In that case they should increase your dose and frequency of injections until they get you in the normal range and keep you there at a consistant level. Doctors usually opt for the conservative approach. This treatment is something you will probably continue for the rest of your life. The benefits are well worth it though. You will feel just better, more energy, sex drive, better muscle, mood, etc. Good luck!

 

[Dad]

200 mg of test a month is low - most HRT for guys without HIV/AIDS is 100-150 mg of test weekly. The test used is usually testosterone cypionate, with a half-life of 8 days, which makes it good for once a week dosing.

Clinically, we assume it takes 4-5 half-lives (so 32-40 days) to achieve a steady state, so yuo might want to ask yuor doc why yuo aren't getting weekly dosing as monthly will result in some peaks and deeps troughs in yuor blood levels.

In an attempt to get yuor blood test levels into the normal range, they'll be monitoring both free and bound testosterone - only about 2% is free, and this is the only part that can be used by the cell.

Yuo are getting physiologic dosing, NOT pharmacologic dosing, so may not feel much other than a bit better energy and slightly stronger libido, especially at this low dose. It's unlikley that yuor doc will go for 200 mg or more weekly, as this will bring yuor free and bound test levels well over normal.

Once people are on HRT, then generally stay on, unless some problem arises that necessitates taking yuo off.

 

[cvictorg]

A little over 2 months ago I was given 3 shots of hcg in a 5 day period to see if the testicles were still in working order and my testosterone level (after the shots) was 573 and estradiol level was high at 52 - this was on 4/7/07 - free testosterone was 78.6 and % of free testosterone was 1.4 (both within normal levels).

So my Dr put me on test cream - 1.5 ml twice per day and 2500 mgs of hcg once per week.

Went back for a blood test on 6/2 and got the results today.

WTF - total testosterone FELL to 247 and estradiol went to 32 - free testosterone FELL to 22 and % of free testosterone also FELL to 0.9 - so the external testosterone is not being converted to estradiol - in fact that improved - but she doesn't understand what is happening to the test cream that I'm using.

She's increasing the concentration of the cream and adding DHEA and pregnenelone - BTW the DHEA was also low at 93ng/dL (s/b between 180-1250 ng/dL) and increasing the hcg to 5000mgs per week.

If this doesn't work she may switch to weekly injections after the next 3 months of the more potent cream.

We're both really confused - BTW the test level FELL even though I'm using 10iu of gh 3x/week PWO.

Any thoughts or comments??

BTW - I'll be 53 on 7/8

 

[Dad]

A few sort of random comments:

A quick search of PubMed didn't show any link between supplemental GH and testosterone levels. There was a study suggesting that testosterone supplementation increased nighttime GH release.

It makes sense that after the HCG, yuor free and total test would be up. It may be that being on HCG regularly is acting to suppress the hypothalamus - not totally sure about this, but the hypothalamus is going to read "all's well" if blood levels of FSH and LH are close to normal due to being stimulated by HCG, but then testosterone levels shuold be up, too, and it sounds as if this isn't the case.

Yuo may want to search out a practioner that specializes in anti-aging medicine and has a number of patients using Testosterone and Gh. Sometimes, if this is an FP doc, they just don't have the experience with this. If yuo live somewhere with a big gay population, see who's working with those who have HIV/AIDS as these patients are typically on HRT.

Not real helpful, I know - I'll see what else I can find.

 

[Dad]

Hmmm...well, here's a study that suggests continous HCG administration IS suppresive.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

With women, yuo use Luprolide, a GnRH agonsit, to shut down sex hormone production, effectively creating a chemically-induced menopause. This is done to treat endometriosis, uterine fibroids, etc.

I'm suspicious that the continual HCG administration is acting as a supressive, and the does of supplemental test is too low. I'm not sure why yuor doc would put yuo on continous HCG - even with people coming of AAS, yuo want to be careful about using a lot of HCG becuse the hypothalamus stays suppressed. Yuo just use this a few times - say, 5000IU every 5 days or so, 3-5 times total to "jump start" the testicles.

This is interesting - I'll keep looking.

 

[lycan]

A little update, a week after my first test injection. I do feel MUCH better, can sleep better, don`t hurt all the time, all in all, just a better sense of well being. I know this will probably diminish in a few days, but maybe my Doc will increase my injections to keep my levels steady. I did 945 lbs. for a double, in the leg press, at the end of my leg workout this week. Rock bottom, knees to chest, I know it is nothing special, but I am pleased. Haven`t been able to train legs heavy but for a couple months, nagging hip injury, but at 45, and having had such a long layoff from serious training (12 yrs), I am tickled. Just hope I continue to progress. Thanks for all the replies to my original post.

Lycan