Been goofing around coming up with projects to 3D print and whipped this together over a few days. It uses a cheap temperature controller and a strip heater to warm up vials of oil to reduce the viscosity. I’m super stoked about how it turned out!

So I'm running a higher than normal Test dose and am having high E2 symptoms. I haven't used an AI in such a long time I forgot how long it took to work.

Does anyone know if they get any improvement in symptoms even within 24-48 hours of taking?

I’m relatively new to HRT, and one thing I’m starting to realize is that optimization may be more about finding the right hormonal balance for your body rather than simply trying to achieve the highest testosterone level possible.

When you’re first getting into this, it’s easy to focus on total testosterone numbers and assume that higher is better. But I’m starting to wonder if finding the right balance between testosterone, estradiol, and other factors is ultimately more important for how you actually feel, look, and perform.

For those of you who have been on HRT for a while, has your perspective on optimization changed over time? Have you found that dialing in the right balance at a more moderate testosterone level made a bigger difference than chasing higher numbers?

I’d be interested to hear your experiences and thoughts.

Hey everyone,

This is a follow-up to my last post. I've now done my blood tests at 10 weeks of TRT. Same as before, I feel zero mental benetits, O libido, and low energy. The only real change is that I've noticed I'm more muscular, but to be fair, my diet and workouts are completely dialed in.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my current response. My doctor appointment is in 2 weeks, so l wanted to share my before-and-after labs to see what you guys think and if you have any advice. I currently pin 14MG a day subq. Roughly 100MG a week.

My Recent Labs (10 Weeks on TRT):
Total Testosterone: 24.1 mol/L (695 ng/dL)
Free Testosterone: 594 pmol/L
SHBG: 27.3 nmol/L
Estradiol: 109 pmol/L
Hematocrit: 0.481 L/L (Hemoglobin: 153 g/L)
Ferritin: 54 ug/L
WBC: 3.7 x E9/L (slightly low)
LH: <0.1 IU/L FSH: <0.2 IU/L
Prolactin: 8.2 ug/L
TSH: 0.89 mlU/L

My Old Labs (Before TRT):
Total Testosterone: 12.3 nmol/L (355 ng/dL)
Free Testosterone: 263 pmol/L
LH: 3.5 IU/L FSH: 2.7 IU/L
Estradiol: 103 pmol/L
Prolactin: 6.2 ug/L
TSH: 1.24 mlU/L

Has anyone experienced Has anyone experienced a similar disconnect where your body responds physically with muscle growth, but your brain and libido completely ghost you even with good testosterone levels? Any advice or insights on my labs before I see my doc in 2 weeks would be hugely appreciated! I wanted to avoid increasing dose as I still get cystic acne at 39 years of age.

Has anyone here discontinued finasteride and noticed improvements in their TRT experience or results?

I’ve always been someone who wanted to protect my hair, but I’m really starting to question whether blocking DHT could be negatively affecting my TRT experience and overall results.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Any thoughts or personal experiences would be appreciated.

Hi, I am going through a divorce. Today I had blood test and everything except Total Testosterone and Vitamin D is abnormal as per a lab technician. My T is 787 ng/dL and my vitamin D is 10.5 ng/mL. FSH is 2.58 mlU/mL. Vitamin B12 is 411 pg/mL

I am losing a lot of hair. Like 150-200 per day. It must be Telagen effluviam. Will visit a doctor soon

Is this testosterone high for my age? I heard excess gets converted into estrogen. So yeah, I have a bit of gyno although I am athletic build.

I am taking testosterone gel 1.62%. I have heard I could apply it to my testicles for a better erection. Would anyone recommend a certain amount? One pump? Two pumps?

Is there any issues with backfilling testosterone?

I use 23g to pull out and use a 31g needle subq to inject.

Is there any downsides to this like testosterone becoming worse quality during that movement in between syringes or just anything to look out for?

Thanks

I’ve been running 120mg a week (60mg twice a week Tuesday and Friday) for the past year with just Test C. Everything was going fine, total was 850 and free around 220 with estrogen at 20 (range 18-40). I occasionally use .25 anastrozole to help with estrogen. So I decided to add HCG (.15 in an insulin syringe Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) about a week and a half ago which honestly has helped a lot with the brain fog and overall mental clarity. I really like it, the Problem is out of nowhere my left pec has really been hurting and itchy, mainly on the side of the leg and outside part of the nipple. idk how to check for gyno or what to do but I took .75mg total of anastrozole this week. Does everyone have trouble with managing estrogen when adding HCG to TRT and also any advice with this nipple and pec stuff would be great. Also wanted to add, yes this is monitored by a doctor as well.

I’m a 26 year old guy who’s struggled with low testosterone since I was at least 18. When I was 20 I got on 1000 IU a week HCG mono therapy as a “natural” alternative to TRT to aid my testosterone levels. Which were around the high 200s at the time. HCG was like a miracle for about 3 months. I felt fantastic and the “High T” sensation was very distinct. It brought me to the low 800s and it radically altered my eyebrows, body hair, confidence, energy levels, increased MPB and eventually raised my estrogen. Long story short on my 3rd month the dosage from my provider changed and I never felt the same. Not even close. It was like a light switch. I tried experimenting with estrogen blockers, higher dose, lower dose but I continued to feel awful. I got off shortly after and didn’t try anything again until this year.

About 4 months ago I went back to the same provider and got on the exact protocol I tried 6 years ago. Once again almost immediately I was left with a “low T” anxiety ridden feeling. I pushed it for 2 weeks and eventually couldn’t take it anymore. Although my estrogen stayed within normal levels the entire 2 weeks. Fast forward to two weeks ago and I’m with a new provider and they’ve prescribed me a full on TRT protocol. I inquired on why I had such an abrupt change in reaction to HCG but they had absolutely no idea.
My current protocol is
HCG 250IU Twice a week
Testosterone cypionate 140mg a week split into two doses

I opted to stay on HCG solely to preserve testicular function in the case that this doesn’t work. I’m currently over 2 weeks in and so far I feel the worst that I ever have in my life. I even stopped HCG after the first week and continued with only Test. But I’m here with Unbelievable brain fog, anxiousness , insomnia and just a general low confidence soft spoken feeling. I’m really struggling and my current Dr is set on my giving the protocol 8 weeks before bloodwork or changing anything.

My question to anyone reading this is could there be any reason why I’m seemingly rejecting HCG? What mechanism or system could be contributing to this? I assumed that jumping on TRT would essentially bypass this issue. Obviously I’m only two weeks in but I’m not sure how much longer I can tolerate feeling this way. The only other variable I can add is that I’ve had low cortisol issues in the past. Any help or thoughts on why I’m seemingly so non responsive would be greatly appreciated.

And I am not overweight and I generally eat very clean. I don’t drink or do any kind of recreational drugs.

Looking to hear feedback and stories on people who started with total test levels around that mid range (400-600ish)
And decided to go to around that 1000 mark.
What differences did you feel, if any.

Also any one that may have had okay total test levels but below average or low free test that decided to jump on and get to top of the range.

For reference my total T bounces around 500-600
Free test has been in the 250 - 400 range (250 being bottom of reference range)
Cheers :)

44YO , 5”11 , 210 pounds, Male

I’m into my first ever trt dose and I just finished week 1 at 75mg a week which is divided into two shots a week with my doctor.

Am I good to start Reta at 2mg next week along with the trt injection you think? Or should I wait for the trt to fully saturate first in my body and then introduce Reta?

I’ve done Reta before several times just in case that info is needed. I’m just curious if Reta will interfere with me knowing what med is actually doing what or am I overthinking things ?

Thanks guys

would really appreciate some advice,

Ive been blasting and cruising test e for nearly 2 years now and decided to stop a month ago no problems except ive had 1 blood test throughout the whole procees, i know stupid, started pct 2 weeks ago (nolvadex) 20mg with the last few days i went to 10mg and im a mess im about ready to jump off a bridge, thing is i dont like heights 😅 have insomnia, brain fog, low libido NO libido should I say.

Ive got a blood test booked in thats my first thing to do here but ive got 2 questions im hoping someone could answer,

Is it the nolvadex that messed me up here?

Is fobbing the pct off and just going trt dose an option, ill go trt for life 🤷‍♂️

I recently had my bloods done and the results were;

Haematocrit (HCT) - 0.563 L/L
Haemoglobin (HGB) - 176 g/L
Red Blood Cell Count (RBC) - 6.21

I tried to donate blood but it’s always a challenge to find a vain and even when they did, it just wouldn’t flow. The nurse actually showed me that the blood had quickly clotted (it was handing out the needle when she took it out).

I’m assuming this isn’t a great sign but does anyone have any tips to get it flowing? I tried a couple of pints of water prior.

Thanks.

Also does Growth Hormone cause PSA to skyrocket? I3 months ago my test was 400 and they upped my dose from 120 to 160 a week. I started a growth cycle 3 months ago. What do you think?

Comparing his early WWE photos with his later movie roles, his build looks very different. For anyone who follows his training, what has he said about how he got there: his workout programming, diet, recovery, and whether he has discussed any performance-enhancing drugs himself? There was a huge transformation!

Hey guys just putting a feeler out there. Anyone doing Cypionate Injections every 4th day? I know it's not super common. I switched from E3.5 days to E4D and things have been a lot better. The trough feels like I'm not accumulating as much estrogen. Even been able to tolerate some HCG finally with E4D. Anyone else have this experience?

I’m 40 and have repeatedly tested with normal testosterone—usually around 17 nmol/L reference (8-30), free testosterone 378pmol/lL reference (150-700), shbg 29—but have lifelong signs and symptoms of low testosterone: low libido, very limited body hair, late and incomplete secondary development, and a much younger-looking appearance. Normal chromosomes, below normal testicle size. Lh-6, fsh-16,

Has anyone experienced this despite normal blood testosterone? Could reduced androgen sensitivity explain it, its like my cells can't use the testosterone. Would a reproductive urologist/andrologist be the right specialist to investigate it? Went to an endocrinologist and he dismissed my chronic symptoms and said im fine because my blood t levels are normal.

these are my biomarkers from last month, i’m about to start test C was thinking of doing 300 test/week with novaldex, finasteride, and clomid for pct. Main concerns is avoiding gyno, balding, and infertility. my knowledge is limited and i’d love to hear some insight from people. thanks in advance! just looking to improve my physique, im 27 years old right now.

i am in my 50’s injecting testostorone cypionate prescribed to me 100mg weekly, intra muscular(thigh) for about six month. Testosterone has doubled to about 500-600. Hematocirt was up to 53 down to 51 now. The last two times i injected, the next day i felt funny much of the day. One day my bp dropped, second number down to 46 came back up an hour later. Since that first day time i have tried to hydrate a lot more but again this week felt a bit out of it the day after, feel like i can feel blow flow at times in my body and a bit loopy. Curious if others experience this, last time it went away after a day or two. Thanks

So for context , my last 2 labs are 37 and 22 on e2, 78 and 64 nmol for SHBG, 860 and 950 ng for total T and 10 to 10 ng for free T. Have didficulty losing fat and building muscle but main issue is mental. Would TRT be of any help for me on these levels? I visited a doc and he gave me 6500 IE weekly hcg to "shock" the testes to get them to produce more T in hopes of upping free T, he said he did it for fertility preservation and so that it doesnt have permanent effects, he also gave an AI to manage the estorgen spike on it, still havent used his therapy. Wouldnt just injecting Testosterone on trt doses while doing hcg better and more predictable for both goals? Fertility is a big if but quality of life is more important at this point. Anyone in similar ranges had a good experience? Is e2 really that important and how is it ideal? In case of TRT should I do my docs arimidex? Thanks guys

Just got my 7 week Trt bloods, wondering if my free test is too high ? Or does anything else stand out. Currently taking 132mg a week

A few sites are saying this can happen. Has anyone heard this?

20 M in shape

Started noticing lack of morning wood, now I never get it, no random erections basically completely dead, maybe a lack of libido but could just be to it not working correctly

Hormones pretty much normal did that test a few months ago, waiting for my first urologist appointment end of December