I need a little, or a lot of help because my doctors haven't quite been able to put things together and I really need to get back on TRT. This ended up realllly long. I personally think I have narrowed it down, see next paragraph for my reasoning. I was on Axiron for almost two months after free test was measured at 3.5. I had a surgery scheduled to remove some screws and there ended up being a lot more to remove than they had planned on, I stopped TRT the day of the surgery and have not resumed. Five days later I woke up and my eyes were swollen, crawled back in bed and slept a couple of hours then had a sip of juice and my lip got swollen. I took a couple of benadryl, called my Dr. because something was going really wrong. By the time I was out the door my airway was being constricted and I had hives completely filling my armpits and groin, to lesser degree across my body. I was given IM corticosteroid, told to go to the ER if things got worse and they did. They gave me fluids IV and some topical cream and a prescription for prednisone which seemed like a bad joke. My entire face and body were swollen. I went home that evening when the swelling went down some. At this point my regular doctor had just left for his spring vacation. Next morning, hives all over, back to the ER where I was given a different corticosteroid IM, injections of benadryl and an H1 blocker and adrenaline which relieved symptoms. I requested a script for hydroxyzine. I was in fair condition until I got home, went through the same thing at the ER again the next day, a Friday. This continued through the weekend where I used hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine (H2 blockers) and pepcid (an H1 blocker) and adrenaline to little effect. Sunday I decided to add Zyrtec to the blend and it seemed to make a difference. Monday morning I'm up at 5, waiting to get in with an allergist / immunologist. The visit was pretty foggy because of the amount of hydroxyzine I was using. I was told to double the Zyrtec dose and add 5mg levocetirizine 2x day or Allegra 2x day. During the visit, the hives had almost gone away and what remained was swelling in the chest. Hives again the next morning, but almost limited to legs, not that bad just having legs on fire instead of entire body. Contact variables were reduced by having family purchase new clothing and bedding, and the form of urticaria did not behave as contact type, they moved, everywhere. I have only had hives once in my life and that was over 20 years ago following a flu shot and only lasted until the diphenhydramine kicked in.

Here is what I see as the important part

– every attack began between 5:30 am and 1:00 pm, they may have continued until 10:00 pm, but never started outside of this window for six consecutive days. Our bodies produce hormones throughout the day, at specific times of day including during sleep. Not just talking testosterone, all levels vary. The number of days I had been off Axiron was probably enough to cause one hormone or another to signal for production. My previous bloods indicated everything normal, with the exception of total T in the 250 range, and free around 3.5. Pituitary appears normal according to MRI. My (IMHO) educated guess is some hormone is mitigating or contributing. I brought this up at the end of the last appointment with specialist and she seemed to get a clue, but only so far as to my own cortisone production at night being a factor. Her logic seems flawed in my mind in that if cortisone is increased in the evening, then I would not be having attacks in the morning. She is not addressing other hormones, and I probably surprised her and she didn't have time to think it through.
Her guesses at this point are that I had a virus when I went into surgery or that I had an allergic reaction to Toradol given IV during surgery. I am inclined to go with the first one, the idea of Toradol came from a seed I planted on my way to the ER the third time when I wanted to give them something to guess at because I was tired of hearing nothing – so I made up “could this be a NSAID reaction?” which is not out of reason, I had been taking it 400mg every 4 hours since surgery. So I left that ER visit with papers that said no more ibuprophen, see a specialist.
I've tapered to 10mg prednisone per day, have lowered half of the antihistamines.

If my free T was 3.5 before, it is a small fraction of that currently (based on how I feel, no more bloods until Friday). I was given permission to go back on Axiron by today, but I'm aware of the warnings about use with corticosteroids so I'm not going to use it. Probably never, the earliest hives were in application sites (armpits and groin) but I see that as a coincidence, the skin is thin and sensitive in both areas.
What method of reintroducing T back to my system? My Dr. will most likely prescribe T cyp, but in a method that is likely to cause massive fluctuations which is what I want to avoid. The best I can hope for there is he will let his rule about giving injections in the office only bend for my case. Years ago he gave me injections on a weekly basis, the 1ml 200mg ampules. I would need a 10ml vial prescribed, and even then maintaining levels will be tricky.
I'm not sure where to go next. An injection of straight up T in a clinical setting would allow me to be monitored. I have T prop I was saving for a cycle, planning on keeping T enan for HRT. The T prop is the best choice in my mind, being a short ester and would be out of my system in less time if I end up in a bad place. Gotta admit I was planning eod, not ed injections. I want to add Primo to make it more effective at building muscle, but that topic should be beyond the scope of this unless someone has something to add. The start date for the cycle was originally 10 days from now but that is obviously on hold, and my proportions would be funny looking without being able to fully work my legs. Maybe rewriting this in a form for my Dr. would be enough to get me in with a HRT specialist which my insurance may not want to cover. They would not cover Axiron, but my Dr got me in with the promotion which covers most of the cost during 2012. Then again, giving him my thoughts on paper might be obvious drug seeking behavior.
Any thoughts on how to get back on T, or suggestions for my specialist including blood work would be greatly appreciated. That is an understatement.
I am not someone who thinks he is always right, I have a lot to learn but am reasonably intelligent.
I've been trying to contribute to the community here offering advice where I think it will help members, so please don't knock me as a leech that doesn't do his homework. I don't have a problem being called a “noob” with relation to either body building or AAS. The situation with the histamine response is complicated.
Body weight has been dropping since surgery, was 172, now at 163. That's right about where I wanted to be when I started my cycle, problem is muscle lost as well. Eating every 3 hours, almost all organic.