TRT help please

[Jmart87]

I've been on Trt for 8 weeks now at 50mg every two weeks and I have a checkup soon. My doc says levels are normal but don't feel any different. Low energy,lethargy, and low libido. I've been dieting and have slowly dropped weight due to good nutrition and training. My question is what should I be looking for in my blood work besides free and totals test?

Thanks

[livint54]

50 every 2 weeks. Am I reading that right. Half life on test is only 5 days. You test levels will come back at like 100 with 50ecery 2 weeks. Usually trt is 100-150 every week

[Jmart87]

50 every 2 weeks. Am I reading that right. Half life on test is only 5 days. You test levels will come back at like 100 with 50ecery 2 weeks. Usually trt is 100-150 every week

Yes thats correct 50mg twice a month

[fever]

Yes thats correct 50mg twice a month

That is a horribly low amount Jmart, IMo I would look for a new dr. immediately or do your own trt with help of the great sponsors on this board. Hope this helps.

[chocolatemalt]

Wear some steel toed boots on the next doc appointment so you can cause some damage when you kick him in the balls.

[Cruefan89]

I've been on Trt for 8 weeks now at 50mg every two weeks and I have a checkup soon. My doc says levels are normal but don't feel any different. Low energy,lethargy, and low libido. I've been dieting and have slowly dropped weight due to good nutrition and training. My question is what should I be looking for in my blood work besides free and totals test?

Thanks

That's not going to help you at 50mg twice a month. Your doc is scared of trt. Get a new doctor.

[Saltheart]

Agree with above comments, you need to find a responsible Dr

[SUKS2BU]

You probably feel worse then you did before TRT at that dose. Everyone is different but I am currently doing 200 week. Sounds like you need a new doctor or look into picking up some extra and up the dose yourself.

[Jmart87]

The thing is he's an endocrinologist so idk why he would be so cautious. I am checking up with him tomorrow so if he not concerned on how I feel I will have to go with someone else unfortunately.

[Jmart87]

I should have mention this and don't know that it will make a difference but I was diagnosed with a benign pituitary adenoma but I've read that a lot of doctors will diagnose this.

[heckler7]

first of all when you inject test you body shuts down natural test production, so 100mg a month isnt enough to replace what your body should naturally produce. 50mg twice a week is the the least amount you should be on, my doc has me on 75mg twice a week, but its not uncommon formpeople to be on 100mg twice a week. bottom line you are on 100mg a month and you should be starting at least 400mg a month

[Jmart87]

I know how exogenous test will stop natural production but how does dosage correlate you test levels. It's not a direct correlation in the blood work correct? So let's say I'm at 287ng/dl and I want to be in the 500ng/dl range would I need 500mg weekly or monthly?

[malfeasance]

200 mg every two weeks put me at 772 seven days after last pin.

[chocolatemalt]

The thing is he's an endocrinologist so idk why he would be so cautious. I am checking up with him tomorrow so if he not concerned on how I feel I will have to go with someone else unfortunately.

Even endos will under-treat for TRT, as will urologists. They're usually better than other docs though. But the whole medical system is infected with an anti-testosterone bias that goes against the scientific evidence. It's stupid.

I know how exogenous test will stop natural production but how does dosage correlate you test levels. It's not a direct correlation in the blood work correct? So let's say I'm at 287ng/dl and I want to be in the 500ng/dl range would I need 500mg weekly or monthly?

Don't aim for 500. That's still well below average.

And by "average" I mean a big study of French men from the 80's who worked for the giant phone company in Paris. So... urban dwellers, many of them at desk jobs, taking two-hr (minimum) lunches to fill up on red wine, arguing about Proust and Voltaire, etc. You get the picture. You gonna let these Froggies out-score you on T levels? NO!

Also, the only health condition besides being female or dead that disqualified anyone from the study was diabetes. That means any long-term opioid addicts, couch potatoes, fatties, genetic or tumor-caused hypogonadics, etc etc, they're all in the study and drag down the averages in a HUGE way... opiates, for example, are well known for taking a healthy T level and putting it into the gutter *permanently*. And, don't forget about more than a century (i.e. since the mid-1800's) of estrogenic hormone disruptors like BPAs, phthalates, herbicides, and pesticides that have steadily been accumulating in the environment and also dragging down natural test levels. I could go on with the details but better to keep it short. The point is, the TELECOM study averages are much too low as it is. So if you're well below those "averages" you're really screwing yourself.

Yes it'll be a big improvement over your very hypogonadic score of 287 but since you're going through the hassle of injecting test to begin with, why not demand a good level? That would be something in the 800-1,200 range. Still perfectly physiological. No reason not to aim for the 99% percentile on the T charts especially when they're corrupted by a huge drag-down effect anyway. Don't let an incompetent doc bully you into sub-optimal health.

Here's the TELECOM study results in easy table form along with pointed commentary:

http://www.menshormonalhealth.com/normal-testosterone-levels.html

As to your question of dose -> T levels, that's highly variable. To stay around 1,200 ng/dl while on TRT, I need 100mg 2x/wk. Others do well at 100mg/wk -- better responders. Bloods are the only way to know.

[Jmart87]

The 500 was just and example scenario and I would like to be at optimal levels because normal levels is not optimal. The doctor won't just allow optimal to happen.