What is a better starting dose 150 or 200mg?

[BackToRegular]

What is a better starting does for Test C (administered 2x a week), 150mg or 200mg? I had thought staying with the 150mg and seeing where I am in 3 months is a good approach but the doc supplies enough for 200mg. The doc also prescribed 1000iu if hCG a week.

In case composition matters I'm 6'3", 205lb, 10%bf. In case SHBG matter mine is very high

 

[madman]

What is a better starting does for Test C (administered 2x a week), 150mg or 200mg? I had thought staying with the 150mg and seeing where I am in 3 months is a good approach but the doc supplies enough for 200mg. The doc also prescribed 1000iu if hCG a week.

In case composition matters I'm 6'3", 205lb, 10%bf. In case SHBG matter mine is very high

Start low and go slow is a sensible approach.

Most start on 100mg/week.....sure it may end up being too low for some but you would be better off if anything sticking with 150 mg for the first 3 months.

Starting off high will result in not only high TT/FT levels but high hemoglobin/hematocrit, and estradiol.....let alone you have no idea how your body will react.

You always will be able to increase the dose if need be and keep in mind that even though you have higher SHBG it does not mean that you will need a high dose of T to achieve a healthy FT level let alone relief/improvement of low-t symptoms.

 

[Bryan_K77]

Start low and go slow is a sensible approach.

Most start on 100mg/week.....sure it may end up being too low for some but you would be better off if anything sticking with 150 mg for the first 3 months.

Starting off high will result in not only high TT/FT levels but high hemoglobin/hematocrit, and estradiol.....let alone you have no idea how your body will react.

You always will be able to increase the dose if need be and keep in mind that even though you have higher SHBG it does not mean that you will need a high dose of T to achieve a healthy FT level let alone relief/improvement of low-t symptoms.

This thread could end with this, low and slow is the way to go, this is for life brother

 

[BackToRegular]

Start low and go slow is a sensible approach.

Most start on 100mg/week.....sure it may end up being too low for some but you would be better off if anything sticking with 150 mg for the first 3 months.

Starting off high will result in not only high TT/FT levels but high hemoglobin/hematocrit, and estradiol.....let alone you have no idea how your body will react.

You always will be able to increase the dose if need be and keep in mind that even though you have higher SHBG it does not mean that you will need a high dose of T to achieve a healthy FT level let alone relief/improvement of low-t symptoms.

Thank you very much for the great advice

 

[UCFguy01]

It all depends. I'm prescribed 200mg a week of cypionate and I fluctuate my dosage dropping it down to 150 at times and seeing how that does for a few months. Then I'll raise it back up. The only thing I notice is that at 200mg, I feel amazing and relaxed. My sense of well being is very good at 200mg. Everything is good at 200mg a week other than my libido kind of suffers a little at the higher dose. Not sure why. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has this issue.

I'm sure someone will say it's E2 driven but I don't think that's it. I've had E2 at 15 and E2 at 84 depending on if I took an AI or not. I don't think the E2 mattered that much. If anything, libido was better at 84, lol.

I had hemoglobin and hematocrit issues for the first year and then they went away. I haven't given blood in 6 months and hemoglobin is now 15.5 and hematocrit is 46. It's almost like my body normalized over time. I was donating every 3 months or so. My total T is 1266, Free T 303 at the 200mg a week. Just got my blood work last week.

 

[BackToRegular]

Thanks for your input. Not sure if there is any value in front loading treatment to bring on the benefits earlier.
Are there any graphs thats show the ramp up period for someone starting TRT?

 

[Vtail]

It all depends. I'm prescribed 200mg a week of cypionate and I fluctuate my dosage dropping it down to 150 at times and seeing how that does for a few months. Then I'll raise it back up. The only thing I notice is that at 200mg, I feel amazing and relaxed. My sense of well being is very good at 200mg. Everything is good at 200mg a week other than my libido kind of suffers a little at the higher dose. Not sure why. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has this issue.

I'm sure someone will say it's E2 driven but I don't think that's it. I've had E2 at 15 and E2 at 84 depending on if I took an AI or not. I don't think the E2 mattered that much. If anything, libido was better at 84, lol.

I had hemoglobin and hematocrit issues for the first year and then they went away. I haven't given blood in 6 months and hemoglobin is now 15.5 and hematocrit is 46. It's almost like my body normalized over time. I was donating every 3 months or so. My total T is 1266, Free T 303 at the 200mg a week. Just got my blood work last week.

How often do you inject? And I assume your T blood levels were at trough?

 

[wondering]

100mg is a typical starting dose.

 

[mooseman109]

I 100% agree with Madman, low and slow is best with any meds.

 

[UCFguy01]

How often do you inject? And I assume your T blood levels were at trough?

I inject twice a week (100mg each time). I injected on Monday morning and had blood draw on Wednesday morning. It was probably closer to the peak. I injected again Thursday evening.

 

[Gman86]

I inject twice a week (100mg each time). I injected on Monday morning and had blood draw on Wednesday morning. It was probably closer to the peak. I injected again Thursday evening.

Have you tried injecting more frequently to see if it helps with libido? Maybe EOD?

 

[UCFguy01]

Have you tried injecting more frequently to see if it helps with libido? Maybe EOD?

Honestly, it seems like too much of a pain to inject EOD. Twice a week works and I have enough libido. It's just not raging.

Everything feels pretty good to be honest. I might ask the doc on my appointment in a few weeks if it's something else causing the lowered libido. (Prolactin, thyroid, etc)

 

[Gman86]

Honestly, it seems like too much of a pain to inject EOD. Twice a week works and I have enough libido. It's just not raging.

Everything feels pretty good to be honest. I might ask the doc on my appointment in a few weeks if it's something else causing the lowered libido. (Prolactin, thyroid, etc)

Smart. The only thing with prolactin is, if it’s high, what do you do? Only thing I’d do is lower the dose. Taking any med to lower it would not be smart, imo.

Thyroid is definitely a smart thing to look at. Thyroid absolutely plays a role in sexual function.

 

[madman]

Honestly, it seems like too much of a pain to inject EOD. Twice a week works and I have enough libido. It's just not raging.

Everything feels pretty good to be honest. I might ask the doc on my appointment in a few weeks if it's something else causing the lowered libido. (Prolactin, thyroid, etc)

It is not meant to be raging.

If you think that being on trt should result in a raging libido and rock hard erections than you may very well end up chasing your tail.

Having healthy testosterone levels is beneficial to ones libido/erectile function but it is far from the only thing that is required to having a healthy libido.

Thyroid/adrenals, neurotransmitters, insulin sensitivity, stress (mental/physical), quality of sleep, diet, vascular health to name a few can all have a big impact on ones libido/erectile function.

Libido is much more complex than simply having good testosterone levels.

 

[antelopers]

It is not meant to be raging.

If you think that being on trt should result in a raging libido and rock hard erections than you may very well end up chasing your tail.

Having healthy testosterone levels is beneficial to ones libido/erectile function but it is far from the only thing that is required to having a healthy libido.

Thyroid/adrenals, neurotransmitters, insulin sensitivity, stress (mental/physical), quality of sleep, diet, vascular health to name a few can all have a big impact on ones libido/erectile function.

Libido is much more complex than simply having good testosterone levels.

How does one diagnose if they have neurotransmitter issues, and how would you address them? I see this mentioned a lot but not much posted in terms of a practical approach.

 

[AndrogenHacker]

Start low and go slow is a sensible approach.

Most start on 100mg/week.....sure it may end up being too low for some but you would be better off if anything sticking with 150 mg for the first 3 months.

Starting off high will result in not only high TT/FT levels but high hemoglobin/hematocrit, and estradiol.....let alone you have no idea how your body will react.

You always will be able to increase the dose if need be and keep in mind that even though you have higher SHBG it does not mean that you will need a high dose of T to achieve a healthy FT level let alone relief/improvement of low-t symptoms.

Nice.

"Start low and go slow" is literally what I was going to reply before I opened this thread.

 

[UCFguy01]

It is not meant to be raging.

If you think that being on trt should result in a raging libido and rock hard erections than you may very well end up chasing your tail.

Having healthy testosterone levels is beneficial to ones libido/erectile function but it is far from the only thing that is required to having a healthy libido.

Thyroid/adrenals, neurotransmitters, insulin sensitivity, stress (mental/physical), quality of sleep, diet, vascular health to name a few can all have a big impact on ones libido/erectile function.

Libido is much more complex than simply having good testosterone levels.

I don't know.....I started with testosterone pellets for 3 years and I will say I was "raging" all the time on those. The problem was that occasionally I'd have one fall out and that sucked after paying all that money ($600 per visit). I'd still be on those if I could just keep them in my butt cheek.

I think part of the reason the pellets worked so well was that it's a slow drip. They dissolve slowly and always give you a constant slow dose of T. E2 was always between 35-45 with total T at the peak (6 weeks from getting pellets) around 1400. The towel trick was always in play on those

 

[UCFguy01]

Smart. The only thing with prolactin is, if it’s high, what do you do? Only thing I’d do is lower the dose. Taking any med to lower it would not be smart, imo.

Thyroid is definitely a smart thing to look at. Thyroid absolutely plays a role in sexual function.

My TSH on my blood work last week was 3.99 (top limit is 4.0). Seems like my Thyroid may not be working at an optimal level. I'll ask him what's up. Maybe I need some nature's thyroid to help with that.

 

[Gman86]

My TSH on my blood work last week was 3.99 (top limit is 4.0). Seems like my Thyroid may not be working at an optimal level. I'll ask him what's up. Maybe I need some nature's thyroid to help with that.

I follow this doctor Westin childs on Youtube, he’s awesome. And he pretty much considers anyone with a TSH over 2.0-2.5 hypothyroid. It’s pretty clear that ur hypothyroid if your TSH is 3.99

 

[masaplease]

Start low -- you never know how your body will respond. Dealing with the sides can be a frustrating process.