Therapeutic GH dose for a 28 year old, is it even worth it?

[Alan1]

Agreed with what @Fleezy and @slesh have said. A "good" diet and more sleep is not going to provide some massive increase to his T levels. Sure, cleaning up his diet, getting consistent with lifting/exercising and getting into shape is going to greatly help him feel better, but not because it's jacking his Test up hundreds of points.

While some may think having to inject Test each week is a "big deal", in my opinion the bigger deal is living with Test levels that are below the low end of the normal range. *Note - I'm not saying it's something to take lightly; certainly plenty of thought and consideration should be given, hopefully alongside lots of conversation with a competent TRT provider. And if actial injections may be an issue he could also consider something like Androgel or Enclomiphene. My doctor has a lot of clients on one or the other (they don't want injections for one reason or another) and has said once things get dialed in with dosing and such, they do great. Those options tend to be more expensive, though.

My n=1 and regarding GH: I started TRT at 27. In addition to a stout dose of Test straight outta' the gate I was also prescribed 2.5 IU GH that I did 5 on, 2 off. What did I notice specifically from the GH? To be honest, not much of anything that I can recall. I stayed on it for around 7 months, during which I put on quite a bit of weight and started experiencing gains in the gym that I hadn't felt in a long time prior to that (late teens/early 20's were spent with a small amount of dabbling with injectable AAS but much more pro-hormones/designer steroids that were available at the time). I certainly think that the 250mg dose of Test I was taking was responsible for the majority of positive changes I was getting, as that took my test levels from extremely low to the high end of the normal range. Anyways, the GH was a pretty big additional expense to me at the time and I couldn't justify staying on it. Further, when I DID cease the GH, I don't recall feeling any different (positive, negative, or otherwise) than when I was on it.

But to sum up my TRT experience and from having started at a relatively young age, it's been overwhelmingly positive. It was warranted and I've never regretted going on it when I did.

 

[bbxtreme]

low dose gh, low dose test, low dose tren godmode........... youd be surprised

If he just wants it for therapeutic effect (does this mean he has an active lifestyle and is consistently in gym?)

my theory with hgh is, if you can afford it, go for it, it will only help you, Shit i ran it at 26 years old before I think

What do you consider low dose tren? Would love to see your next or current cycle set up if you don’t mind sharing after your input on my insulin thread.

 

[bbxtreme]

Hi fellas hope you're all doing well.


"Therapeutic" being subjective, I'm talking probably 3-4iu a day.


I have a 28 year old relative who abused steroids when he was younger, it's been years and his natural test numbers have never recovered he's in the low 200's I just had him do bloodwork. He feels like crap so at this point he wants to go on TRT for life, I've done my best to dissuade him telling him he should get in better shape and then retest to see where he is at as this isn't something to just take lightly and it sucks sticking yourself with a needle for the rest of your life to feel like a man especially at such a young age. But in the end he's a grown man and it's not my choice, he is dead set on going this route so of course I am going to help guide him.

I don't really need any help in that regard but he asked about GH and I'm not sure if it would be worth much to him at his age. Don't get me wrong I know it will always help rather than hurt but I was curious what you guys thought in regards to this....

Thank you

IMO and as someone who’s been there and in this situation many times from bros at the gym I would ask one simple question to determine this:

Does he intend to have or ever want kids? If so, fix his shit now and clean up his hormones and blood work, and freeze his sperm.

Can he use HGH during that time? Sure. But I would check his HGH and IGF levels to see IF he even needs it. You’re not going to see monumental changes from HGH alone without some base TRT cycle in my experience.

You also have to consider at his age that he may say “I don’t know, but just want to get huge or lean at this stage of my life.” Hear it all the time. In that case I would do exactly as @Performance Based outlined in his post.

I try to stay out of giving younger guys advice in these cases because they always make things “future self” problems and want to play no part in that.

 

[bigzzz]

Exo GH helps at any dose, even 2iu a day.

 

[aHarness]

Exo GH helps at any dose, even 2iu a day.

Agreed, if money isn’t a factor some is always better than none.

 

[stackdizzy]

I think growth could help.....cheap enough at those dosages...what's to lose? I think he should just get his diet in order for a few months before anything but understand the parameters.

 

[Sully1234]

Diet is one thing but supplements are get way less credit than they are due.

High dose zinc picolinate significantly increased my test.

750mg tribulus doubled my test from 550-1100.

Dessicated beef liver tabs from beverly also helped with the zinc.


I'm not expert but I've personally seen how this stuff effected myself.

 

[Brock456]

Hi fellas hope you're all doing well.


"Therapeutic" being subjective, I'm talking probably 3-4iu a day.


I have a 28 year old relative who abused steroids when he was younger, it's been years and his natural test numbers have never recovered he's in the low 200's I just had him do bloodwork. He feels like crap so at this point he wants to go on TRT for life, I've done my best to dissuade him telling him he should get in better shape and then retest to see where he is at as this isn't something to just take lightly and it sucks sticking yourself with a needle for the rest of your life to feel like a man especially at such a young age. But in the end he's a grown man and it's not my choice, he is dead set on going this route so of course I am going to help guide him.

I don't really need any help in that regard but he asked about GH and I'm not sure if it would be worth much to him at his age. Don't get me wrong I know it will always help rather than hurt but I was curious what you guys thought in regards to this....

Thank you

A lot of guys saying just jump on TRT.

-How much does this guy weigh? BF?

-does he workout? Sleep routine?

-what are his goals?

If goal is to restore HPTA, a lot of options there before jumping on TRT which is a life long commitment.
Even if his goal is to feel “normal” many other options available.

A lot of questions to be asked.

 

[Sully1234]

Why do bodybuilding forum posters gatekeep trt?

To prevent PM getting flooded with puffy face threads.

 

[Drax]

As far as Test levels go, I've seen plenty of younger men than that have 180-350'ish levels just naturally, even while eating clean and training. It's a shame to be naturally that low. Most don't realize they are that low until they see a bloodwork value/number much later. It just might be that his natural production was always low. Coming off gear didn't probably crash him, he may have just been on the lower end to begin with. Something to think about.

He probably doesn't have a value to compare it to from before he started hitting the gear hard to begin with?... The test replacement may give him the "androgenic prey drive" that he needs to lead him to getting into better shape and giving a shit about his appearance and food intake. But I will say, one way or another, a man must be in good shape off or on gear...

 

[KillerStack]

Anecdotal story: I know a kid from the gym. Llike a regular kid, a little muscle and good strength. Would never guess he could be hypogonadal. Well he got tested because he felt tired all the time, and what do you know, he is under the reference range. Another test, same thing. They put him on Nebido once a couple of months and he says the doc thinks he's still a little too low, they play with dosages, injection intervals etc. This is legitimate TRT in this clinic, they don't write cycles. Anyway, I forget the number in his labs but it was well below the top of the reference range even with the Nebido. So let's say he's getting like the equivalent of 100mg/week. But man, what a change in physique and performance. Not like some would get from a high dose cycle of course but he simply leaned out, maybe gained 10-15 pounds and got a lot stronger (worked very hard for it though), a kind of transformation. So sometimes even a tiny bit can do a lot. Still in the mid reference range but gains were "out of the reference range" so to speak.

This is why allowing TRT in tested sport is so ridiculous, not only is there too much leeway to manipulate dosages, but I speculate exo test works so well because it isn't affected by overtraining or undereating, stress or whatever. Things are not equal even if levels are similar between clean and HRT.

 

[Swifto]

Diet is one thing but supplements are get way less credit than they are due.

High dose zinc picolinate significantly increased my test.

750mg tribulus doubled my test from 550-1100.

Dessicated beef liver tabs from beverly also helped with the zinc.


I'm not expert but I've personally seen how this stuff effected myself.

You got BW showing this?

What brand Tribulus?

You are a eugondal male, never used AAS, not after PCT and then introduced Trib and TT went from 550 - 1100?

 

[pickapeck]

Hi fellas hope you're all doing well.


"Therapeutic" being subjective, I'm talking probably 3-4iu a day.


I have a 28 year old relative who abused steroids when he was younger, it's been years and his natural test numbers have never recovered he's in the low 200's I just had him do bloodwork. He feels like crap so at this point he wants to go on TRT for life, I've done my best to dissuade him telling him he should get in better shape and then retest to see where he is at as this isn't something to just take lightly and it sucks sticking yourself with a needle for the rest of your life to feel like a man especially at such a young age. But in the end he's a grown man and it's not my choice, he is dead set on going this route so of course I am going to help guide him.

I don't really need any help in that regard but he asked about GH and I'm not sure if it would be worth much to him at his age. Don't get me wrong I know it will always help rather than hurt but I was curious what you guys thought in regards to this....

Thank you

1/3 of the population in US is on some sort of SSRI or related drug and most of them wreck hormone levels. If he is one one or more of these it might be something to look into.

 

[pickapeck]

Anecdotal story: I know a kid from the gym. Llike a regular kid, a little muscle and good strength. Would never guess he could be hypogonadal. Well he got tested because he felt tired all the time, and what do you know, he is under the reference range. Another test, same thing. They put him on Nebido once a couple of months and he says the doc thinks he's still a little too low, they play with dosages, injection intervals etc. This is legitimate TRT in this clinic, they don't write cycles. Anyway, I forget the number in his labs but it was well below the top of the reference range even with the Nebido. So let's say he's getting like the equivalent of 100mg/week. But man, what a change in physique and performance. Not like some would get from a high dose cycle of course but he simply leaned out, maybe gained 10-15 pounds and got a lot stronger (worked very hard for it though), a kind of transformation. So sometimes even a tiny bit can do a lot. Still in the mid reference range but gains were "out of the reference range" so to speak.

This is why allowing TRT in tested sport is so ridiculous, not only is there too much leeway to manipulate dosages, but I speculate exo test works so well because it isn't affected by overtraining or undereating, stress or whatever. Things are not equal even if levels are similar between clean and HRT.

You know, I think you are right. I barely used anything when I was competitive in my late athletic career but it made huge difference. One of the following:15 mg/d stromba, 250 mg/w EQ, one sustanon a week, stuff like that 35 years ago.

 

[b-boy]

I ran 2 businesses for many years and had 2 kids, ate good and trained hard. Tell him to eat very healthy, exercise and sleep more. That will raise his testosterone levels. GH will do nothing with his lifestyle. He is filling bad from lack of nutrition, exercise and sleep.

Lots of people want to take drugs to compensate for their unhealthy lifestyle. He is too young IMO not to get his test levels up. He just don’t want to work at it.

X2.....THIS ^^^^^

 

[Sully1234]

You got BW showing this?

What brand Tribulus?

You are a eugondal male, never used AAS, not after PCT and then introduced Trib and TT went from 550 - 1100?

I did have bloodwork and documented it on other sites at the time but I would have to request the documents again. It was 10 years ago.

No idea the brand, it's been too long. It also jacked up my E2 and SHBG above normal ranges. First time I ever felt gyno growing.

At that time I had never used AAS. Yes, it literally doubled my total test within a couple percent give or take.

 

[slesh]

Diet is one thing but supplements are get way less credit than they are due.

High dose zinc picolinate significantly increased my test.

750mg tribulus doubled my test from 550-1100.

Dessicated beef liver tabs from beverly also helped with the zinc.


I'm not expert but I've personally seen how this stuff effected myself.

But what was your free Test? I’ve seen a lot of these types of therapies where everyone gets excited by their newly elevated total Test but free is still doodie.

 

[Sully1234]

But what was your free Test? I’ve seen a lot of these types of therapies where everyone gets excited by their newly elevated total Test but free is still doodie.

No clue. I was not informed enough to get it tested. But E2 and SHBG were very high or as some say... doodie.

 

[slesh]

No clue. I was not informed enough to get it tested. But E2 and SHBG were very high or as some say... doodie.

Well I’m not 100% on this but if SHBG was high then it means you really weren’t using much of that Test. @Type-IIx can speak to this much better than me.

 

[Sully1234]

Well I’m not 100% on this but if SHBG was high then it means you really weren’t using much of that Test. @Type-IIx can speak to this much better than me.

I believe it. The only thing I noticed was sensitive nips