Macgyver's HRT journey

[macgyver]

Hi all. I am a relative newbie here at TID. A friend brought me over here and I have been doing nothing but reading and reading. Lots of informative posts!

As an intro and some background: I have a bunch of years in the gym in my 20's. Wandered out of it for about a decade then recently came back to it. Lifetime nattie (so far ). Fairly well developed and probably within 7-10 lbs of where I could ever carry naturally. Currently 5'9" 190 at about 12% (currently eating on a surplus).

Anyway....I am almost 40 and recent blood work showed that I have low test. I was pretty shocked because I have made awesome gains in the past year in my return to the gym. It has showed in other areas though....fatigue, hard time concentrating, lack of drive...etc. I can only attribute the gains to finally figuring out the importance of nutrition. For the past year, I log and track all my food. I hit my macro goals every day and it has made the world of difference in my training and gains. I am ripping open old stretch marks and walking around smelling like coca butter again....

My GP started me out on a compounded transdermal. I was taking 50mg daily topically. Not sure what that equates to in injectables?... Because of concerns over transference to my children I have decided to go to injectables. My doc is fairly easy to get along with but he is also conservative. He is starting me off on 100mg/week cyp and then we are going to re-test in 4-5 weeks. I dont want to make too many waves but hope to be upping the dose over time. I am doing injections at home....so I really can do what I want...but then eventually, I have to get refills.

Now that I probably am going to be on for a while.....I guess forever, I think I might for the first time run a cycle! (after my blood levels are stable and I find my dose where I need to be). I am starting this log here because of the wealth of knowledge on this board and hopes of sharing some good info as well.

I am not a daily journal guy...but promise to keep this updated from time to time as things go on.



I just filled my Cyp script today....and have never taken an injection..... I think I am going to split the dose into 2 just for more stable levels. I have stared at the bottle all day.....trying to build up the nerve to go stick myself for the first time

I'll let you guys know if I can do it.

Thanks again to this whole forum... I think I have read about every post in the AAS and Cycle sections!

[PillarofBalance]

Good luck on finding good health. I am sure you will enjoy this journey.

[IronInsanity]

Glad you started the log and hope you get up over 100mg soon... I'm sure you will.

[tkrex]

hell shoot only 25 mg a week and the doc might up your dose to 200 or more...then you can get real big..lol

[macgyver]

Thanks for stopping in guys! I am sure this is only the beginning of my journey.

Well.....I did it!... Lost my virginity last night. I did my first IM injection. It really was no big deal. Funny how you can think something could be so bad....and then it was really nothing.

I went with a quad injection. I used a 25g 1" needle. I am not sure if I found the link here, ...but this is a great vid and it is very descriptive for newbs

How To Inject Testosterone - YouTube


From everything I am reading, I see a good hrt dose should be in the 110-160 range mg/week. You can go as high as 200, but it starts to come with other issues. To be honest, I first want to just find good blood levels, and deal with the issues I have been feeling from low T. The fatigue especially.

When those issues are all settled, I will probably look to "supplement" in between labs when things are all dialed in.


I am thinking of just a test only cycle, but reading everything I can. Have to learn more about some of the other options for sure.

[IronInsanity]

Well.....I did it!... Lost my virginity last night. I did my first IM injection. It really was no big deal. Funny how you can think something could be so bad....and then it was really nothing.

Just wait until next time... when you pull out, blood is going to shoot to the ceiling! Lol

j/k

[prime]

I find that 150mg a week keeps me at 1300 total test(Apparently 827 is the top of ther reference these days-seems to go lower and lower every 5) so I actually backed my dose to 125mg. I also do my TRT SubQ. Way easier in the long run. Blood levels are the same IM or Subq.

I remember when 300 to 1100 was the reference 5 years ago. Now it's 230 to 827 with my latest bloodwork. WTF is up with that. It's like they are changing the reference to avoid giving TRT.

Good luck with your new protocol. If you were low T before your work outs should improve within weeks. My appetite really kicked up like a furnace for the first year.

[IronInsanity]

I find that 150mg a week keeps me at 1300 total test(Apparently 827 is the top of ther reference these days-seems to go lower and lower every 5) so I actually backed my dose to 125mg. I also do my TRT SubQ. Way easier in the long run. Blood levels are the same IM or Subq.

I remember when 300 to 1100 was the reference 5 years ago. Now it's 230 to 827 with my latest bloodwork. WTF is up with that. It's like they are changing the reference to avoid giving TRT.

Good luck with your new protocol. If you were low T before your work outs should improve within weeks. My appetite really kicked up like a furnace for the first year.

Just curious, why do you think sub-q is easier? Given the choice, I'd rather go all the way in every time.

[prime]

Just curious, why do you think sub-q is easier? Given the choice, I'd rather go all the way in every time.

The volume is so low with TRT that a slin SubQ is easiest for me. I've been on TRT for maybe 5 years. By end of year two I was very tired of IM. Plus, I think that any complications might be easier to deal with at the surface rather than IM. I'd rather save the IM for a real cycle and give the muscles a break. I did a light cycle last year with 200mg tren/450Test C all subQ(just for kicks) and gained 19 in 7 weeks but had to stop due to injury. My last blood test using SubQ was TTest 1300 @ 150mg a week 4 days after inj. I inject every 4th day. I've been doing SubQ for maybe two years.

Just to add: I do subQ on the abs and tops of quads rotation.

[macgyver]

Just wait until next time... when you pull out, blood is going to shoot to the ceiling! Lol

j/k

Funny!!! .... The area is just barely sore. I can apply pressure and it feels a little like doms....but actually not quite as bad!

I find that 150mg a week keeps me at 1300 total test(Apparently 827 is the top of ther reference these days-seems to go lower and lower every 5) so I actually backed my dose to 125mg. I also do my TRT SubQ. Way easier in the long run. Blood levels are the same IM or Subq.

I remember when 300 to 1100 was the reference 5 years ago. Now it's 230 to 827 with my latest bloodwork. WTF is up with that. It's like they are changing the reference to avoid giving TRT.

Good luck with your new protocol. If you were low T before your work outs should improve within weeks. My appetite really kicked up like a furnace for the first year.

Good to know on the levels. I dont want to overshoot for my first blood test!

I am interested in the sub q injections as well. I was reading about this on another forum and guys said they had good luck with it as well. Only down side was some said there was not enough blood flow in fatty tissue to dispurse the test. Others said that their numbers came out the same sub-q or IM.

Is the sub q that much less discomfort? I am using 200mg/ml so the volume is low for the injections especially if I split it.


On the topic of hw I feel. I have already seen a difference from the cream. It is going on a month. Morning wood is back, and overall I feel better, happier. I have not noticed anything is the gym as of yet though. One thing that is funny now that you mention it is my appetite seems to be increasing. I track weigh and portion all my meals. For the 9 weeks I have been on a 300cal surplus. For me this is 3000 even. I have been gaining weight steadily and strength was coming along. But as always, when I eat over maintance, I feel it. I end up feeling a little full all the time. Well in the last week, my stomach is growling all the time and I am actually feeling hungry insted of the full feeling that I usually have on a surplus. I am going to give it a few weeks and monitor before I adjust my cals, but feeling hungry is weird in this phase of my diet......Maybe it is a sign?....

[prime]

100mg per week is a good place to start for blood levels. You probably be surprised at how high it gets you. I'm thinking it will be in the 800 total test range. After you know how your body processes the injections, then you can adjust accordingly. I like to be in the upper range of reference because I lift a lot.

There is no discomfort with SubQ. There might be a little irritation the first few injections but that goes away quickly. I shoot 36 ticks on a slin E4D which equates to 125mg. If you do an injection in the abs and then crank a weight belt down on it you might get some bruising but that's the worst thing so far. Doesn't happen often.

For me, the TRT gave me a healthy appetite feeling. One that I wanted to feed. Not a halfway appetite that I could pass up. Combined with hard workouts put on some good muscle tone and mass. I think you'll find you will be able to hold your weight easier with the extra testosterone floating around. I was having morning pain in my shins getting out of bed before TRT(like achy bones) and I don't have that anymore. I can just wake up and stand up without the warm up I needed before. I think you'll find litte extra benefits that you didn't notice. One major thing that is noticed is now my hands are always warm when before I would have to fill a sink with hot water and soak my hands in them to warm them up. Now if I touch someone my hands are always warmer. I'll stop now because it sounds like I'm blabbing.

[IronInsanity]

Sounds like prime has has good success with sub-q. That said, I can't see how the absorption rate would be as high.

[prime]

Sounds like prime has has good success with sub-q. That said, I can't see how the absorption rate would be as high.

I think half-life is slightly longer with SubQ. How much longer I'd just be guessing, but it eventually gets absorbed. Since the blood levels are good it's definitley getting into the blood stream. There is a study out there floating around that compared SubQ TRT to IM. I think the conclusion was that it's very close.

One thing about SubQ is that you can feel the depot as a little nodule of oil right after injection. That nodule dissipates very quickly, within 24 hours. I'm just glad I have an option to do either if I get tired of one or the other.

[macgyver]

As a follow-up to Prime, I was researching around and saw a Canadian study where they looked at sub-q injections. Seemed to show what you are saying as far as blood levels go. I cant find it again to link it, but I will have to look for it.

Quick update... It has been three days since my first quad injection. Today I am just barely able to feel where it was done if I rub over that area. Not really bad at all. I need to work on seeing if I can do a ventrogluteal one by myself. Just need to try the one handed aspiration technique!

I was wondering if massage is recommended or if you just leave it alone?

Another side note, is I notice that my appetite definitely seems to be increasing. I have been on compounded cream for about three weeks and now almost a week on injections, and something is going on. I usually feel bloated all the time on caloric surplus, but now I am actually feeling hungry quite often. Even getting stomach growls now and again.

My cals are unchanged and diet has been the same for the past 10 weeks....so there are no changes there. This is interesting. I will keep my cals in the same spot and see what happens...

[macgyver]

Just a little update. On my fourth injection and been rotating quads. I noticed something. My first quad shot did not hurt at first but then developed a mild soreness a day after and lasted several days. I then did a quad shot in the morning of my leg day. What was funny is that shot did not get sore at all. I am wondering if the leg workout that day, sped the healing process up or assisted it in some way. I will have to see again on wed if I react the same way.

I am feeling better overall, but think my doc is going to have to bring up my dose a little. I am on 100mg/week right now which I am splitting into a sun/wed arrangement.

My caloric surplus in the gym has been paying off and I just finished a 6 week progression program and all my lifts gained strength.
As of this week I ended up with following lifts. Bodyweight is 191 right now.

bench 295x5
Squat 375x5
Dead....somewhere in the low 5's??? Might go in today and pull just for the heck of it and see where I am...but it has been a few weeks since I have deadlifted.