+ 3 6mo. TRT update with Bloods
Hi All,
I wanted to share an update on my TRT journey, specifically focusing on the last 6 months. Made a few mistakes before drawing my bloods the fist time in April. Followed a more suitable pre-test protocol this time
(Months 0-3) - April:
Mistake 1: Bloods were drawn the day after my Test C shot, at noon (Did not wait enough days for the Test to settle before bloods)
Mistake 2: I was on 100mg of Test E, twice a week, totaling 200mg per week (the dosage was too high)
Mistake 3: I wasn't taking any AI.
HGH Protocol: Although I maintained my nightly 2iu of HGH, I've since switched to taking it in the mornings.
As a result , the April numbers came back exceptionally high. Fortunately, I got advice from some knowledgeable members and have been able to achieve more balanced results this time around.
(Months 3-6) - Recent Protocol:
Here's the protocol I've been following for the past 3 months:
- Reduced Test C dosage from 200mg to 160mg per week, positively impacting my Test levels.
- Introduced 0.5mg of Armidex the day after my Test C injection to manage estrogen levels.
- HGH administration shifted to the mornings
Pre-bloodwork protocol I followed for these latest test results.
- Test C. Monday at 8 AM. Blood work was scheduled on Thursday at noon, BEFORE my second weekly injection.
- Fasted for 14 hours. Only water during the fasting period.
- Took HGH (2iu's) 5 hours before the scheduled blood draw.
A few questions for the group regarding my results.
- Bad Cholesterol: levels are still high at 134. My diet has been relatively okay, but it could improve. Should be concerned?
- Potassium: lower than expected, likely due to fasting and slight dehydration. Should be fine?
- Hemoglobin: Still on the higher side. Not as high as in my previous test. Concerns?
- IGF-1: Levels are lower than before. Could the switch from a nightly to a morning HGH administration be influencing these numbers?
- PSA % Free: Consistently low for the last 6 months. I find this a bit concerning. Thoughts?
- Estradiol: Still high, it has reduced compared to April. Should I increase my A.I dosage to manage it better?
- Free Test: The value is lower than in April but still above the normal range. Any insights into this result?
- Test Total: It looks good and falls on the higher end of the normal range, which I am content with.
I'm running:
dcpharma Test C - 200
Ashop - Somatotrobol 10 IU
Thank you all in advance for your advice!
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Just a few comments. If you need to take an AI then your test dose is too high. Need to lower it to a point where you don't require any AI. Then you know your body is in homeostasis. Lower test dose will have several positive benefits. One is that you won't need an AI. Test and estro are now naturally balanced. Arimidex will lower IGF and it is also bad for cholesterol. Those should then slightly improve if you are able to drop the AI since you estro should now be in range. Lowering test will also lower hemo.
Thank you as always! If my current 160mg a week of Test C is yielding 1013 of total T, and Estradiol is at 79. It sounds like a good option would be to drop the dosage to around 120mg per week which should put me in a better position. Do you think that if I make that change starting today, I should also continue the AI regimen of 1mg of Arimidex per week? Or, at the 120mg a week dosage is ok to drop the AI and retest bloods in October?
once you drop dosages between Ai and test you have to just trouble shoot and figure out your sweet spot. Bloods once again will ultimately let you know this.
If you lower the test I would just drop the AI at the same time. Estro will drop accordingly on its own. I think 120mg/wk will put you in a much better spot.
Hello,
Full informations about blood work and protocol.
If your plan a dose as TRT, next time try to check your level after 6/7 days from the last inject because depend how your react 100 to 150 / week are suffisant (everyone react differently, start at the first dose are the best way) and it's surely better for your E2 level.
PSA, if your level are low = very very good, more you get older more the risk becomes higher about this value.
About hydratation, yes it's very important cold or hot weather, i have the same problem as you, sometime i take a electrolyte powder rich in potassium / magnesium / for helping, supplement help a lot, some food like sweet potatos, banana etc... too.
The same of Anastrozole ... it's powerful ! from my side when my estradiol become elevated, i cute the pills of 1mg in 4 parts, start everytime with low dose and see how your react, on TRT 0,25mg / week are a good spot, and depend up to twice week etc ...
About HDL / LDL / CHOLESTEROL if you need more help write your diet ;-)
Hematocrit not easy to know because we don't know how much do you drink ? when I have to fast for at least 12 hours before blood work, and when i dont drink during this time my hematocrit are everytime more elevated (but elevation for hematocrit are among the most reported side effects).
Next time try to drink well during day, but if you have the autorization during night too, you need to be properly hydrated before your blood draw (but only water no supplement like powder electrolyte)
Thanks to share with us and i hope your resolve your "little" problem soon, it's just a question of dosage / time.
Be safe and have good TRT / rHGH cycle my friend <3
+1
Thank you so much bro!
Your welcome @Reysalsero
A little PS about lipids, try to ban the food rich in saturated and focus only on mono and poly saturated, i have some difficult to up my HDL level when i take TRT or more
(the max used recently are 250mg/ week Sustanon or Enanthate and for TRT 125mg Enanthate / week)
I add when i going to the market in my list :
- Oleaginus (my favorite are nuts),
- Oats (that's help a lot for bad lipids),
- Fish (mackerel, sardinia, tuna)
And when i cook the white turkey i use olive oil with low fire, and for fresh green salade sometime olive oil and sometime rapeseed oil to preserve the omega 3.
That's help a lot <3
This is freat brother! thank you!
So about a few of your concerns. Be careful with ai as it will indeed lower your IGF-1 levels a bit just like anti- estrogens would lower those levels. You've already said IGF has decreased since last time. Now about it decreasing, as we get older IGF will naturally decrease just as biological testosterone or GH will naturally decrease but that's the joy of us having all of the above available to us. If you feel fine then no need to up ai dose.
Thanks mama’ man! I’m only doing 0.5 of Arimidex the day after I pin my Test. You think the timing switch ma have affect the IGF levels (From nighttime to first thing in the AM)? I’m going to stick with the 2iu levels but may try switching back to nighttime pins.
I don't mess with any ai personally because for me it's not needed. As far as GH pin timing, you could change pin times but not sure if that would help. But try it anyways.
Life is a lot easier on trt with total test down towards 600. No estrogen worries and much easier to keep cholesterol in the zone. Plus ai has sides as well so it eliminates ai too.
I agree, for TRT some people feel amazing and get awesome blood work with 100 to 125mg of Enanthate or Cypionate weekly in deep I.M.
If my memorie are well test are made from cholesterol, so more dose = more chance to have a impact on lipids.
Hematocrit is high... to get that down you can do smaller doses more frequently and switch to subQ injections. 1 gram of Naringin can lower it a few points for some people too.
You could also dump a pint.
You sound like a Doc from Beirut to me. How you been man?
Lol I'm doing aight bruh how you been? Big inter city treating you ok?
Treating me worse than it's treating you obviously LOL. Must be nice living in Beirut!
I used to live in LA man.. I know how it is... but I escaped in my rice rocket and now I live in a forest. Yous gotta be hard tryna get by doing 40 hours a week in a big city.
Perfect environment would have Spring, Fall and Winter weather, no summertime at all lol. Surrounded by water, mountains and a few forests. I'm sure you can relate to that.
You're talking about Alaska homeboy... my dream place. Gunna vacation there soon as I find a nerd blond to take with me.. I'll probably post up in Juneau.
Nahh too much winter for me but I hear it's nice. Might see ole Sara Palin up there lol.
I love the cold...but I think Sara Palin aged out Lol
Thanks for the advice. I can’t donate blood due to a medical condition so can’t really dump a pint unless I draw it myself, which is a stretch. I also only do subq injections and never IM. I would hate to pin more often but perhaps I should consider doing a smaller dosage every other day? I’ve never tried Naringin but I do drink a lot of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, which I heard can help as well.
That's what a lot of people do, to get hema down. EOD dosing or lowering the dose. Switching to a longer ester or a thicker carrier oil will also help. I'm not a fan of MCT unless it gives pip.
Thing is you don't want high hematocrit + high cholesterol. = sludge.
That’s an interesting take. Which longer ester would you consider? Also, in this longer ester scenario, I wouldn’t need to pin as often correct? Perhaps once a week? Just trying to picture what that longer ester protocol would look like on say a weekly basis.
TRT guys do undec in castor oil. You wouldn't need to pin as much but that depends on your hematocrit. I personally would do 2x a week of undec to start.
Naringin is the bioflavanoid in grapefruit juice.
DC Tom200 store credit boss
Thank you very much good sir! Always a pleasure to use your products.
Your HDL and LDL are not really that out of wack. They are just slightly above the limiting range. You can fix with better diet and be totally fine. Your gree testosterone is high, which in my book is a good thing, among with having low shbg. Your liver and kidney enzymes are both looking good so you are doing great there. As far as a TRT protocol this looks like you are in the sweet spot. Of you wanted to gain muscle easier you know to take more, and to stay with what you have if you want to keep making the strides you have been making. Good for you for taking bloods and then making changes and then taking bloods again to see where they went to. KEEP KICKIN ASS AND PUTTING IN THE WORK!!!
Thanks brother. You live and you learn from making mistakes. I appreciate the feedback. I had great feedback from some very knowledgeable members such as @Makwa, @ONESICK and @DeeMan to help me adjust. Since it’s my first year, I’m going to do another test in 3months and see how things go. I can’t donate blood due to a medical issue so I want to learn other ways to keep my himaglobin low.
Thanks for the shout homie. There are more knowledgeable people but I try when I can. Keep up with the good work man.
I appreciate the shout out bossman. Thanks my man. +1
You have a few red markers but it's not like those numbers are way out of range so yea they're not good but could be way worse but still don't ignore. Also that test C is on point man, I used it in the past. It was pretty strong for just 200mg alone. Last, glad you learned from your fist mistakes and made changes. Good deal.