When does natural production return when stopping TRT?

[mg707]

Does natural production come back when stopping TRT?

I’m 49 and have been on TRT for 3.5 years because I had severe depression and my Test levels were 150 tested 2 different times. I also had untreated sleep apnea at the time and was drinking a lot. I didn’t take any supplements at the time. I also weighed 250 at 5’7”

My Endo recommended I stop TRT for 3-4 weeks to see if my natural production will come back. I now take zinc, magnesium, D3 and several other supplements. I’m treating my sleep apnea regularly with a Bipap machine. I also have been walking for 25 min and doing 25 min of yoga every day. My weight is down to 220, better but still a ways to go. I don’t drink much anymore and testosterone has not helped my depression as I had another bout in stable levels of test. I inject 40mgs test cyp 2x per week and my test is at 575 with E2, SBGH, DHEA and Free test in good ranges.

So why stop? My hematocrit has been high even tho my dose is low and I regularly donate blood, I have a family history of heart disease. My resting heart rate is high (95)even though I exercise. My testes are very shrunk too, which doesn’t really bother me or wife. I have a lot of body acne too that wont clear up, which is a little bothersome. I’m losing my hair and getting excess hair growth on my back.

Has anyone successfully stopped TRT and had natural production return? My current conditions are very different than when I had low T so I’m hopeful it will restart

 

[Systemlord]

My first go at TRT I was on for 2.5 years, stopped cold turkey and 4.5 werks later my HPTA fired back up again and returned to my previous baseline which was confirmed with lab testing.

Your HPTA should fire back up once the exogenous T is out of your system.

As for heart disease, that typically happens with low testosterone. Does low testosterone run in your family to?

I have to get phlebotomies every month and is the price I have to pay to have optimal testosterone levels.

 

[mg707]

My first go at TRT I was on for 2.5 years, stopped cold turkey and 4.5 werks later my HPTA fired back up again and returned to my previous baseline which was confirmed with lab testing.

Your HPTA should fire back up once the exogenous T is out of your system.

As for heart disease, that typically happens with low testosterone. Does low testosterone run in your family to?

I have to get phlebotomies every month and is the price I have to pay to have optimal testosterone levels.

No - low testosterone does not run in my family at all. Ideally, I’ll have normal testosterone and lower my hematocrit bc high hematocrit is bad for heart too.

Did you have to do anything to trigger LH and FSH to get HPTA to fire back up or did it just do that automatically after 4 weeks?

 

[Systemlord]

Did you have to do anything to trigger LH and FSH to get HPTA to fire back up or did it just do that automatically after 4 weeks?

The LH and FSH normalized after 4.5 weeks after just stopping TRT. It was a day I won't soon forget, because for a day I had high testosterone natrually, then the next day back to low levels.

My diabetes is what was suppressing my testosterone, and if I can reverse it, one day I might be able to stop TRT and get my natural T higher.

 

[mg707]

The LH and FSH normalized after 4.5 weeks after just stopping TRT. It was a day I won't soon forget, because for a day I had high testosterone natrually, then the next day back to low levels.

My diabetes is what was suppressing my testosterone, and if I can reverse it, one day I might be able to stop TRT and get my natural T higher.

Wish you all the best with that!!

 

[tareload]

. It was a day I won't soon forget, because for a day I had high testosterone natrually, then the next day back to low levels

I genuinely spit some of my drink out on that one Brother. You write some pure GOLD!!

 

[Systemlord]

I genuinely spit some of my drink out on that one Brother. You write some pure GOLD!!

Dr. Saya has commented that some do experience an initial HPTA response shooting LH high due to the exogenous T clearing the body, but is only temporary.

Can I please have a more attractive nurse watch over me though?

 

[mg707]

Dr. Saya has commented that some do experience an initial HPTA response shooting LH high due to the exogenous T clearing the body, but is only temporary.

Can I please have a more attractive nurse watch over me though?

So are all your responses just jokes? Or you being serious?

 

[tareload]

Does natural production come back when stopping TRT?

I’m 49 and have been on TRT for 3.5 years because I had severe depression and my Test levels were 150 tested 2 different times. I also had untreated sleep apnea at the time and was drinking a lot. I didn’t take any supplements at the time. I also weighed 250 at 5’7”

My Endo recommended I stop TRT for 3-4 weeks to see if my natural production will come back. I now take zinc, magnesium, D3 and several other supplements. I’m treating my sleep apnea regularly with a Bipap machine. I also have been walking for 25 min and doing 25 min of yoga every day. My weight is down to 220, better but still a ways to go. I don’t drink much anymore and testosterone has not helped my depression as I had another bout in stable levels of test. I inject 40mgs test cyp 2x per week and my test is at 575 with E2, SBGH, DHEA and Free test in good ranges.

So why stop? My hematocrit has been high even tho my dose is low and I regularly donate blood, I have a family history of heart disease. My resting heart rate is high (95)even though I exercise. My testes are very shrunk too, which doesn’t really bother me or wife. I have a lot of body acne too that wont clear up, which is a little bothersome. I’m losing my hair and getting excess hair growth on my back.

Has anyone successfully stopped TRT and had natural production return? My current conditions are very different than when I had low T so I’m hopeful it will restart

Serious answer brother. Weeks, months or even up to 2 years depending on your situation assuming your testicles worked before trt. Your output was marginal but I cant tell if your were primary or Secondary. Do you have LH data before TRT to go with your TT numbers?

Look up @natesto on here for some cutting edge stuff, pulsatile therapy to restart the hpta with once daily natesto application.


Good summary from @madman

In general recovery of the hpta will come down to dosage of testosterone/AAS used, duration of use, type of AAS used whether T only or T+AAS or T + multiple AAS), age of the individual.

Older men would tend to have a more difficult time recovering than younger men.

Higher doses and a longer duration of use will have a greater negative impact on the recovery of the hpta.

Use of nandrolone or trenbolone will have a greater negative effect on the recovery of the hpta.

On average most men on trt are injecting 100-200 mg/week of testosterone only and the duration of use can be anywhere from months to years depending on whether the individual continues trt indefinitely or decides to come off such as in your case.

Use of pct will in no way prevent the crash following hpta recovery it will just speed up the recovery process and minimized the length of being in a hypogonadal state.

The main goal of pct is to not only increase LH production which will stimulate the Leydig cells in the testes to produce endogenous testosterone (ITT) but most importantly making sure the testes are responsive to the LH stimulation as in many cases when on trt or steroids if no hCG was used during this time than the Leydig cells become dormant and the seminiferous tubules shrink which results in testicular atrophy due to shutdown of the hpta and LH/FSH production. This results in the Leydig cells no longer producing endogenous testosterone and the Sertoli/germ cells no longer producing sperm.

Use of hCG when on trt or steroids should aid in the recovery process when coming off as it mimics LH and will keep the Leydig cells active (producing some degree of ITT).

Even without the use of a pct, the natural production of LH will kick in fairly quickly but natural endogenous production of testosterone can take much longer as the critical aspect of the recovery process is the responsiveness of the Leydig cells in the testes to the LH.

No one can say exactly how long it will take you to recover let alone how you will feel during the transition.

Some men on trt choose to stop cold turkey (no pct) and recover okay with some bumps along the way whereas others may struggle before things get better.

Others choose to implement a pct which may make the transition much quicker/smoother but again everyone is different as again there are numerous factors involved.

 

[Systemlord]

So are all your responses just jokes? Or you being serious?

I'm dead serious. I would never come into somebody's thread and start joking around to draw attention away from the original thread creator.

 

[tareload]

Can I please have a more attractive nurse watch over me though?

My bad.

 

[mg707]

Serious answer brother. Weeks, months or even up to 2 years depending on your situation assuming your testicles worked before trt. Your output was marginal but I cant tell if your were primary or Secondary. Do you have LH data before TRT to go with your TT numbers?

Look up @natesto on here for some cutting edge stuff, pulsatile therapy to restart the hpta with once daily natesto application.


Good summary from @madman

Thanks man. When my total test was 155, my LH was 3.1 and FSH was 7.0

 

[tareload]

Thanks man. When my total test was 155, my LH was 3.1 and FSH was 7.0

Good reads....

Realistic TRT Recomp Progress

Yep, same dose of T

forums.t-nation.com

I'm am 10 weeks off Test and will go get some blood work soon. I feel near castrate so will be good to compare with bloodwork.

 

[bixt]

I have a feeling when nuts shrink up (are shut down, LH = 0) for a while, there may be some level of induced primary hypogonadism. Perhaps it may manifest years later.

@readalot Have you ever come such a thing?

 

[D0UG]

Does natural production come back when stopping TRT?

I’m 49 and have been on TRT for 3.5 years because I had severe depression and my Test levels were 150 tested 2 different times. I also had untreated sleep apnea at the time and was drinking a lot. I didn’t take any supplements at the time. I also weighed 250 at 5’7”

My Endo recommended I stop TRT for 3-4 weeks to see if my natural production will come back. I now take zinc, magnesium, D3 and several other supplements. I’m treating my sleep apnea regularly with a Bipap machine. I also have been walking for 25 min and doing 25 min of yoga every day. My weight is down to 220, better but still a ways to go. I don’t drink much anymore and testosterone has not helped my depression as I had another bout in stable levels of test. I inject 40mgs test cyp 2x per week and my test is at 575 with E2, SBGH, DHEA and Free test in good ranges.

So why stop? My hematocrit has been high even tho my dose is low and I regularly donate blood, I have a family history of heart disease. My resting heart rate is high (95)even though I exercise. My testes are very shrunk too, which doesn’t really bother me or wife. I have a lot of body acne too that wont clear up, which is a little bothersome. I’m losing my hair and getting excess hair growth on my back.

Has anyone successfully stopped TRT and had natural production return? My current conditions are very different than when I had low T so I’m hopeful it will restart

I was on TRT for 5 years then stopped for prostate cancer treatment. I was off TRT for 20 months and my natural production never came back at all. Not even a little.

 

[mg707]

Thanks for sharing that and hope your cancer is in remission. Do you know if you had primary or secondary hypogonadism? Or know what the possible cause of your low test was? Could your prostate cancer treatment have suppressed your natural test?

 

[D0UG]

When I began TRT, my testosterone was 400-500 so about average for a 55 year old. When I stopped, it dropped to 18-20. Yes, nearly none.

I suppose that radiation could affect T production but I was told several years ago by my doctor at the time that restarting T production after 5 years of TRT is unlikely. He was right.

BTW, I restarted TRT last August and have been doing fine since. My PSA is 0.05.

 

[mg707]

When I began TRT, my testosterone was 400-500 so about average for a 55 year old. When I stopped, it dropped to 18-20. Yes, nearly none.

I suppose that radiation could affect T production but I was told several years ago by my doctor at the time that restarting T production after 5 years of TRT is unlikely. He was right.

BTW, I restarted TRT last August and have been doing fine since. My PSA is 0.05.

 

[mg707]

Several folks have recommended PCT, post cycle therapy, clomid and/or HCG, to stimulate LH and FSH to get Leidig cells reactivated. Did you do any of that?

 

[D0UG]

Several folks have recommended PCT, post cycle therapy, clomid and/or HCG, to stimulate LH and FSH to get Leidig cells reactivated. Did you do any of that?

No, I doubt that my urologist is familiar with that. I do wonder if it is worth it. At least with the injections (80mg/2x/week), I can control my testosterone level.