+ 3 New To This - I think I'm responding too well.
52 years old and feeling great finally.
Background:
Was feeling like crap for past 3 years (you know all the signs). Over past year got my shit together and dropped Bf to 20% and lost 50 pounds. PCP tested testosterone last year and it was 363 (2025) . 1 year later it was 312 (2026). Symptons worsnend and was sent to Endo who reran test and 300 (over 2 tests). Endo says that lifestyle changes and better sleep would bring my Test up and relieve symptons (March 2026). After reading through multple forms for months I got the courage up to self manage my test. Ordered own labs in May and tested far more than my docs ever did and found my test was 298 total, 54.2 free, 103.2 bioavailable, 27 SHBG, 44 Hema. LH 2.1, FSH 1.1.
First thanks to all the great information found here!
Began my journey 6/14 125mg pinning S/T/TH.
My plan was to start at 125 until my first labs at 6 weeks then titrate up to 150mg - But I'm worried now that I'm resonding too well and titrating up will cause adverse health issues.
7/28 labs:
Test: 1078
Free: 168
Bio: 358
SHBG: 33
Hema: 46.5%
I PPL 6 days a week, and have added roghly 8lbs of lean mass according to DEXA scans taken 11/25 - 5/26. I know that gaining lean mass in my previous state was difficult and in the past month the gym has felt amazing.
My questions:
1) Do I titrate up
2) Will I see better results building lean mass if I do
***Update I forgot to put m E2 labs
05/15 - E2: 24
07/28 - E2: 34
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Your test is over 3x your natural level. That is outstanding for hormone replacement. Milk the gains as long as you can with good bloodwork.
If it's not broke don't fix it
Beat me to it.
To answer question 2… no. Extra gear does not magically equal extra gains. Any amount of gear doesn’t equal gains. Still have to be putting in the work in the gym and kitchen that match your goals. Gear will supplement your hard work.
X2 people think if they hop on gear all the sudden they will be Superman it’s only part of it, great post.
True story. Gear needs to match the environment it's being used in.
Awesome, you quickly found your TRT level that you can ALWAYS go back to if your experiments go awry.
Im with Jockstrap, try lowering dose just a little bit if your true goal TRT and general health. You can also consider switching to daily injections, it will raise your baseline and allow you to keep higher serum levels on lower dose. Myself for example, I was on 105mg/week test E most of this year. Splitting the dose 2x a week my T and Free T was 718 and 161. Switched to daily microdosing and that same weekly dose put me at 1140/253. Just something to ponder
Question...yall doing these micro dosing or daily...are you doing subq ?
I still do IM. But use a 27g 9/16” insulin syringe. Some may say it’s not deep enough, but my test levels say it’s just fine.
You can use a insulin syringe in your regular glute spot and it still absorbs it??
25x1 unless subs. Subq is trt....25x1 is cycle. I can post abscess pix if ya want?
Glutes may be tough if you aren’t lean enough. I rotate delts, pecs, quads, and if I’m feeling frisky triceps. My leanest, most muscular spots
If you’re lean enough.
I agree with everyday injections
This is interesting shit. How's the E2 affected by doing daily if at all? May take this up.
I think like all things it will vary person to person. Mine went from 82-84, but im a high aromatizer. I purposely cut out my Adex (since January) for this experiment.
For full transparency, I saw a slight increase in hematocrit as well. But again probably an individual thing, as HCT is my biggest struggle by far
Pinning a long ester daily for the first time (test cyp). Waiting for bloods to come back. Curious if I’ll see a notable difference.
Let us know man. It’s interesting stuff. Since my last labs I cut my dose to 70mg a week, I want to see how low I can go to stay around 800. Bloods were drawn today, so I’ll post a full report on the whole run.
I’m blasting next week, but keeping the daily injections. Should be able to get good results on lower MGs if this tactic works the same at higher doses (why wouldn’t it)
Are you doing intra or subq?
Personally I always do oils intra
Gotcha thanks man.
Dude, many years ago I had a doc at my gym tell me that sub q is “better” for TRT. I did my shot in my belly fat, had a goddamn golf ball size welt with bruising for over a week. Oil and fat do not mix LOL
IM, 27g 9/16” insulin pin
I will need to go bigger when I add more compounds, but works great for TRT. Using a very patriotic Test source, draws real nice even with the little needle
Appreciate the advice brotha my NP is trying to convince me to try subq as I have a lot of scare tissue, think I might try both but her advice was to never inject in the stomach, I got some decisions to make, thanks again.
Actually my E2 went from 62 down to 47
That's on cycle I haven't tried it on trt yet but I'll always do daily pins from now on try it you'll like the results if you can take daily pins
When was blood drawn relative to your injection? If this is your peak, I say roll with it, my friend, especially since you seem to be experiencing all the positives. Just be sure your blood work continues to look good with your in the upper hundreds/low thousands. If you see your lipids skewed (HDL going down, LDL going up, APOB above reference) and your blood indicators like hematocrit going up then you should consider lowering the total test dose.
I'm in my early forties and on 120mg a week I also have test in the upper 900s. It is a spot that feels good, and my other markers stay in check in that range so my TRT doc is happy with it. Find what works for you and do the monitoring to make sure you are not endangering your cardiovascular system, and I see no big problem with those numbers.
I tested at the trough the morning of the next pin but prior to pinning. Lipid panel is pristine even better than when I was in my 40s and running daily.
I think your Test values are at a perfect level for 125mg a week bro, and e2 is looking good as well, this is defiantly a great TRT dose for you bro.
Bring it back down towards 800. Check estro in there too
I added E2, thanks for the post. You suggest titrating down to 100mg/week?
A good healthy "normal" yes. Longevity bro...you do not want to be all internally broken when old.