Got my bloods done and my Testosterone levels are LOW. I’m working out a lot and kind of pissed Ive been doing it on “hardmode” for god knows how long, but before I take the doc up on the script I’m doing my due diligence on the realities. It seems like every article I find is either written by a trt clinic or is a one sided hit piece. So Im after some real world experiences.

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I’m on TRT, have been for about a year. It’s pretty easy. Just 1 injection once per week, although I’ve been thinking about moving to one injection twice per week. I don’t really want to give myself shots twice per week though, so I’m still just in the thinking about it phase.

    You’ll need regular blood tests at first, and then one every 6 months after you get a stable routine going.

    It will make your testicles shrink unless you use Pregnyl, because they’re not producing testosterone any more. Pregnyl is pretty expensive. That doesn’t bother some people, and other people are greatly bothered by it. I suppose it depends on how big your balls are to begin with.

    Your body may produce excess estrogen when you start taking testosterone. That’s pretty easy to manage with Anastrozole, but getting the dosage right can take a few weeks. Be aware of any changes to your emotional state, and any nipple sensitivity, and communicate those with your doctor.

    You may develop viscous blood after taking testosterone for a while, and you’ll need to donate blood to get it back to the correct viscosity. There are several risk factors that need to be monitored, so don’t start the routine if you’re not willing to regularly do follow-up blood tests. Once you get everything dialed then it’s a very easy routine to follow.

    I went and got tested because of a similar situation as yours. I was working out consistently, but not really seeing any progress. I am middle aged, but I was thinking that it shouldn’t be that hard. I was just under the lowest normal range, so I qualified for the program. Overall my energy levels have improved, my libido increased, I’m more alert, and I see much more progress at the gym. Be aware that this treatment just gets you back into the normal range, so don’t expect to see the same results you would see while doing an actual bodybuilder’s test cycle. Those guys use up to 1000x more testosterone than we normally have in our systems. TRT just puts you back at 1x. It can push you into the upper normal range though, which gives an improvement to muscle mass and fat burning if you’ve never been in that range before. My vials have almost double the amount I actually need per dosage, so I could definitely up my dosage without telling my doctor, and probably see some pretty sweet gains. But I’m not going to risk throwing everything out of balance that took a few months to get dialed in. I’m good where I am.