Water Retention and Rapid Weight Gain Caused by Testosterone

[ryn996]

I'm in my sixth week of treatment and have gained ~12 lbs of water weight (6'3" and have gone from 185 to 197) and have slight nipple sensitivity. My initial protocol was:

.43 Testosterone, twice a week = 1.72 every two weeks (Using two week intervals to smooth out the results)
.50 HCG, twice a week = 2.0 every two weeks
.125, AI, as needed

I have been taking the AI every other day for a week due to the water retention, but have not lost any weight, but it has helped with the nipple sensitivity. I am thinking of lowering my dosages and increasing the frequency. Here is what I'm thinking:

.20 Testosterone, every other day = 1.40 every two weeks
.35 HCG, twice a week = 1.40 every two weeks
.125 AI, every other day (day after Test.)

My initial labs:

T = 316 (264-916)
Free T = 2.9 (8.7-25.1)
Estradiol, sensitive = 10.4 (8-35)
SHBG = 76.1 (16.5-55.9)

I've had a vasectomy, so I'm not worried about fertility. Please let me know what you guys think of changing my protocol. I emailed Defy this morning, but have yet to hear back from them.

 

[fifty]

Hcg makes things hard. I would get labs before you change. Saving $100 isn’t worth another 3 months of headache.

 

[HealthMan]

Please use mg for testosterone and IU for HCG so we can understand your current dosage. You dont even have labs under this protocol and are thinking about changing it? Wait for labs. Your SHBG is high so no benefit in more frequent injections other than potentially lowering estradiol.
Stick to the protocol your doctor gave you and get bloodwork. 0.125mg anastrozole EOD is most likely an overkill. Your body is still adapting to TRT and some side effects might be transient. The problem is that when you get bloodwork now it will be based on anastrozole EOD which is probably a lot. If i were you i would stop the anastrozole and stick to the protocol for an additional 4 weeks and get bloodwork. Then you will able to make better decisions together with your doctor.

 

[ryn996]

Hcg makes things hard. I would get labs before you change. Saving $100 isn’t worth another 3 months of headache.

I'm getting labs at the end of this month.

 

[ryn996]

Please use mg for testosterone and IU for HCG so we can understand your current dosage. You dont even have labs under this protocol and are thinking about changing it? Wait for labs. Your SHBG is high so no benefit in more frequent injections other than potentially lowering estradiol.
Stick to the protocol your doctor gave you and get bloodwork. 0.125mg anastrozole EOD is most likely an overkill. Your body is still adapting to TRT and some side effects might be transient. The problem is that when you get bloodwork now it will be based on anastrozole EOD which is probably a lot. If i were you i would stop the anastrozole and stick to the protocol for an additional 4 weeks and get bloodwork. Then you will able to make better decisions together with your doctor.

The protocol says to take the AI as needed. I think gaining about two pounds a week justifies taking it. Maybe every other day is too much though.

I'm not really comfortable staying on the original protocol and continuing to gain weight at this rate.

 

[fifty]

I'm getting labs at the end of this month.

Worthless if you change protocol now

 

[ryn996]

Worthless if you change protocol now

How long do you have to be on a protocol for the lab results to be considered valid?

 

[fifty]

6 weeks to stablize changes in test doses. I would just get labs now or monday then change after labs.

 

[Rabbit91476]

a side question if I may. does testosterone make you retain water in your muscle. as a nurse I usually see it it the tissue ie pitting edema. ive put on some weight but see non in my tissue. my abs almost show the same.

 

[Vince Carter]

Your initial labs aren't worth anything now, has no bearing on anything. Otherwise you need to listen to these guys...water retention isn't always E related.

 

[HealthMan]

The protocol says to take the AI as needed. I think gaining about two pounds a week justifies taking it. Maybe every other day is too much though.

I'm not really comfortable staying on the original protocol and continuing to gain weight at this rate.

The problem is you dont have enough experience to determine what “as needed means”. Not trying to offend you just the truth. Drop the anastrozole wait 4 weeks and test. Otherwise your bloodwork will not be of great value. If you really think you need anastrozole use no more than 0.125mg twice a week at your current T-dosage assuming the .43 means 86mg

 

[ryn996]

The problem is you dont have enough experience to determine what “as needed means”. Not trying to offend you just the truth. Drop the anastrozole wait 4 weeks and test. Otherwise your bloodwork will not be of great value. If you really think you need anastrozole use no more than 0.125mg twice a week at your current T-dosage assuming the .43 means 86mg

Just talked to Defy. They said to take the anastrozole twice a week. My labs are moving from the end of this month to next week to see where my estradiol is at, as well as free T3 and T4, due to TSH being 4.05 (0.45-4.5). 500mg Dandelion root a day was suggested to help with water retention.

 

[MarcoFL]

Vit B6 is also good to help shed water.

 

[ryn996]

Your initial labs aren't worth anything now, has no bearing on anything. Otherwise you need to listen to these guys...water retention isn't always E related.

I posted the initial labs because it would be likely that someone would ask.

 

[madman]

a side question if I may. does testosterone make you retain water in your muscle. as a nurse I usually see it it the tissue ie pitting edema. ive put on some weight but see non in my tissue. my abs almost show the same.

Testosterone can increase intracellular water due to increased glycogen storage in the muscle cell as for every gram of glycogen stored along with it is roughly 3 grams water.

Increased glycogen storage in the muscle tissue will result in a bigger, fuller, harder, muscle.

Electrolytes potassium/sodium also play a role in intracellular/extracellular water storage.

Extracellular water as in outside the muscle cell (water retention) can make the muscles appear soft/blurred definition.

 

[Rabbit91476]

As a nurse I’ve only seen extracellular water retention. Around week 4 when I added a few pounds. what I thought was to much fun on spring break. Now that I’m home and eating better and hitting the power tower again. I think some of the weight is intracellular. My pumps are better shirt is tighter. I got about a month before I drop a few pounds so my abs show a little better.


Is the intra cellular retention here to stay or will it go away once my hormones stabilized?
Thanks madman

 

[nicktoadvine]

I'm in my sixth week of treatment and have gained ~12 lbs of water weight (6'3" and have gone from 185 to 197) and have slight nipple sensitivity. My initial protocol was:

.43 Testosterone, twice a week = 1.72 every two weeks (Using two week intervals to smooth out the results)
.50 HCG, twice a week = 2.0 every two weeks
.125, AI, as needed

I have been taking the AI every other day for a week due to the water retention, but have not lost any weight, but it has helped with the nipple sensitivity. I am thinking of lowering my dosages and increasing the frequency. Here is what I'm thinking:

.20 Testosterone, every other day = 1.40 every two weeks
.35 HCG, twice a week = 1.40 every two weeks
.125 AI, every other day (day after Test.)

My initial labs:

T = 316 (264-916)
Free T = 2.9 (8.7-25.1)
Estradiol, sensitive = 10.4 (8-35)
SHBG = 76.1 (16.5-55.9)

I've had a vasectomy, so I'm not worried about fertility. Please let me know what you guys think of changing my protocol. I emailed Defy this morning, but have yet to hear back from them.

HCG could be causing your issues. Try dropping it and see if they go away. Especially if you’re not taking it for fertility. It aromatizes. It’s hard to know the culprit when you have more than one chemical going into your body.

 

[RLW]

If your testosterone is 200mg/ml then you would be taking 86mg twice a week. That's probably a good deal more than you need even to be at the high end of the spectrum. If you are retaining 12lbs of water it could be just your body adjusting and you might lose some of that as time goes buy once things start to settle.

 

[apsjiml]

I'm in my sixth week of treatment and have gained ~12 lbs of water weight (6'3" and have gone from 185 to 197) and have slight nipple sensitivity. My initial protocol was:

.43 Testosterone, twice a week = 1.72 every two weeks (Using two week intervals to smooth out the results)
.50 HCG, twice a week = 2.0 every two weeks
.125, AI, as needed

I have been taking the AI every other day for a week due to the water retention, but have not lost any weight, but it has helped with the nipple sensitivity. I am thinking of lowering my dosages and increasing the frequency. Here is what I'm thinking:

.20 Testosterone, every other day = 1.40 every two weeks
.35 HCG, twice a week = 1.40 every two weeks
.125 AI, every other day (day after Test.)

My initial labs:

T = 316 (264-916)
Free T = 2.9 (8.7-25.1)
Estradiol, sensitive = 10.4 (8-35)
SHBG = 76.1 (16.5-55.9)

I've had a vasectomy, so I'm not worried about fertility. Please let me know what you guys think of changing my protocol. I emailed Defy this morning, but have yet to hear back from them.

You have no testosterone above-I mean-none. With a shbg that high you have very little free unbounded testosterone. I would want to know some things if it were me. #1 Have you had a full iron panel with ferritin and saturation? That is often why guys have elevated shbg (not always-sometimes things like low t can cause that) #2 was your lh and fsh tested at that time? If those are low along with the low testosterone that will indicate secondary hypogonadism and you should have a full pituitary panel. I would want to know numbers if it were me, free t3, free t4 , tsh, am cortisol, acth serum, igf-1 etc

 

[ryn996]

No full iron panel was done on my initial labs or the follow-up labs that were recently done.

Initial labs:
LH was 3.4 (1.7 - 8.6)
TSH was 4.050 (0.450 - 4.500)
IGF-1 was 136 (83 - 233)

T3 and T4 were checked on the May 7th as an addition to my follow-up labs, due to TSH being on the high end of the range. I hope to get the results tomorrow or early next week.