+ 1 Seeking information on first cycle
To begin I've recently come across this site and its wealth of knowledge. I have been considering trying to do something to raise my test levels for over a year now. I got blood work done 1+ year ago and 6< months ago. My test levels have been within the 300s both times and yet this is insufficient for the VA to do anything to correct this( First mistake is using the VA). Even with other correlating problems like terrible sleep cycle, fatigue, depression, lack of sex drive and ED the VA does not see the connection. They were more then happy to put me on SSRIs ( No longer taking 1+ year) but are not willing to even explore the idea of prescribing me with something to address my low test levels.
I am 26yo male who in the past two years exited from service and had a child and bought a house. Now going though a break up and would like to dedicate more time to better myself. I am 165lbs currently and at my largest i was 179Lbs with proper weight training and adequate diet. i currently have a relatively nice home gym set up that i have spent the last year collecting in my basement, at my peak i would work out 6 days a week mixing in a Muay Thai class two/three times a week but have always struggled to gain mass even with a proper diet. Slowly over the past year i have almost completely stopped all of these activities due to relationship/parental/financial problems. i am now at the point where id like to start taking steps to properly educate myself on what to run and how to properly run it, i am not doing this just to gain mass ( tho a large concern) i hope to also reap some of the other benefits of a higher test level as mentioned above. Anything you guys know about helping my appetite would also be appreciated, I've taken MK-677 in the past and i believed that did help, also creatine of course. Health is a big concern of mine as i want to be around for my child as long as possible, open to hearing ANYTHING that you guys think will help. supplements, dosage, routine, training, diet. i don't have health insurance and the VA is not the greatest.
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DocMcGainsThat's a bummer about the VA - sorry to hear that they aren't willing to do anything unless you fall below the reference range. That said, there are things you can do to edge yourself below the reference range (cut sleep, stop working out for a few weeks, and eat like shit, plus drink alcohol) but they are all anathema to what you are trying to achieve so the juice might not be worth the squeeze. My PCP was similarly all gung ho for pharmaceutical "solutions" that did very little to improve my quality of life, so I took myself to a "natural medicine" clinic, ran bloods, and was prescribed TRT, all covered by insurance so my monthly supply (4 200mg vials, of which my dose is 100mg/week, so half that) costs my under $5 a month.
If you decide to go UGL, it sounds like you have recent blood work on hand so that box is checked. You say you struggle to gain weight - does that mean you are lean? To minimize sides and get the most out of a TRT dose, it is good to minimize body fat, not like dick-skin lean, but 15% is a good spot so you won't get as much conversion of testosterone into estradiol. Use the wonderful reviews on this site to identify a supplier and a producer, and order some testosterone. It is cheaper than Costco whey.
I favor the low and slow approach when introducing anything new like this into your body. Some would say go right to 500mg/week since you'll be shutting down your body's natural testosterone production anyway. But without knowing how you will respond, how your bloodwork will respond that strikes me as unnecessarily risky. My TRT doc started me at 80mg/week for two months, with blood work 6 weeks in. Based on that blood work, and my qualitative response (general improvements, no sides) we increased to 100mg per week. Officially, that is where I am supposed to be. I have experimented going higher, cycling high for 12-20 weeks, and I have found my sweet spot is right around 120mg/week while cruising. I recommend finding that place where you feel best on the least amount and holding there for awhile. Get some blood work and see how things are going physiologically. There are lots of guides here on how to interpret bloodwork, and on which tests to be sure you order.
Once you have established that baseline (really, take like 4-6 months to just see how it goes) you can experiment! Be careful, be smart, and you will probably see some real improvement. Having been on anti-depressants and SSRIs I will say that the bio-identical (testosterone) route is the better way for many of us. Best of luck!
That was good advice my man