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Percent free testosterone is not a useful parameter. Ignore it. In your case all it's reflecting is your above-average SHBG. Higher SHBG drives up total testosterone, while the important parameter, free testosterone, is relatively independent. While it's reasonable to supplement with modest...

I haven't seen a definitive answer to this, but I'll give you my take. Competitive inhibitors such as anastrozole may be less effective in the intratesticular environment, where testosterone concentrations are very high and hCG is acutely stimulating aromatase activity in Leydig cells. My guess...

Although lowish for your age, this isn't so low that I would worry much about heath issues. If you have symptoms such as reduced bone density or slow healing then you might consider trying one of the GH secretagogues. But if you're otherwise healthy then I would put it aside and continue with...

What do you think this means? Reiterating what I said: According to statistical norms the data do not demonstrate that IGF-1 has declined in the testosterone gel cohort. If you don't believe it then calculate the p-value. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_significance

Look at the error bars. It's not statistically significant. 103 ± 46 --> 90 ± 34 mcg/L

This effect on IGF-1 is common, and it was observed in the clinical trials for enclomiphene as well. I've seen this in my personal use of enclomiphene. I've been using ipamorelin, 300 mcg daily. This has had a limited effect on IGF-1. YMMV. Ibutamoren is likely to be more potent, though perhaps...

It's a good illustration of risk versus reward. The oral 5ar blockers work the best, but do have that nontrivial risk of side effects. If you're one of the ones negatively affected then you would regret going this route. A compromise approach is to use transdermal formulations. There is getting...

This claim about SHBG is a misconception. The rate of absorption is what determines (free) serum testosterone — SHBG does not affect this rate. Rather, the absorption rate is determined by factors including the ester, the carrier oil, the excipients, the dose size, the type of tissue receiving...

A lab error is always possible, but I have encountered another individual whose test results also suggested unusually fast absorption of a longer ester—I believe it was cypionate in his case. If your results are accurate then it could be argued that IM administration and relatively small doses...

When I was administering PeakTestosterone there were no obvious commands for accessing PMs. However, I could backup the entire forum database to local storage. I think it was MySQL, so it might not have been too hard to see PMs if they were in there. Of course the SMF forum software is different...

We have been cautioned that PM's should not be considered private. My interpretation of this is that PMs are probably shielded from the general public and most forum members, but administrators may review them at their discretion.

And pharmacological doses given as an adjunct to chemotherapy have what bearing on doses for healthy individuals? You also misrepresent the size of the doses. I checked several of the studies at random, and ones mentioning doses in the abstract cited 5 mg, 18 mg and 20 mg/day. You're taking way...

The trough is supposed to be higher, but it's more plausible that these individuals have unusually fast SC absorption than that these highly speculative mechanisms for testosterone disappearance apply. And that's assuming no injection site leakage. I have personally seen injection sites go...

The thread? Yes, as it was being formed. Linus Pauling all over again. Somebody decides to focus on one nutrient or hormone as "the answer". Because a little is good, a boatload must be better, right?

As I recall, @madman offered a rebuttal to this idea. Here's the biggest problem, though. These anecdotes have little meaning when area under the curve is not measured. If this really were a significant effect then it would show up in the clinical trials. Alternatively you'd have to acknowledge...

I wouldn't go that far. There's not much evidence of immediate acute toxicity. But do it for enough years and who knows what will happen. Recall that excessive doses of some antioxidants appear to cause harm over time. I tend to argue that optimal health requires balance. Taking 60 mg a night is...

I've played this game with AI before. Ask leading questions and it will tell you what you want to hear. But once you start challenging it for making things up you can easily make it change its "mind". In this case there is specific data that contradicts the hypothesis. The arguments about...

Unfortunately not. As a voice for moderation at EM I discourage others from following his lead. This dose is roughly 1,000 times natural production, though admittedly oral bioavailability is variable.

This premise is still on shaky ground regarding testosterone, given that the rigorous data show comparable areas-under-the-curves—and no plausible mechanism for losing testosterone, except via injection site leakage. I'll grant there's more ambiguity with estradiol. One hypothesis is that the...

The implication is that your metabolic clearance rate for testosterone is on the low side. You get a lot of bang for your buck. If you're concerned about the underlying cause then you might do some testing of liver function. Otherwise, cut your dose to achieve more reasonable—e.g. midrange—free...

We've had many discussions about possible reasons for not feeling good even with robust testosterone levels. One of the more significant ones is the hormonal disruption caused by TRT. TRT can affect 20-30+ other hormones, leading to disparate symptoms. It's possible that in some cases higher...

The skin is said to act as a reservoir for testosterone, gradually releasing it, which extends the apparent half-life. The figure of 60+% absorption probably applies to relatively small doses applied to the scrotum. With such transdermal application there is likely a saturation effect, such...

No, it is less suppressive. Because DHT cannot be aromatized to an estrogen a significant source of negative feedback at the hypothalamus and pituitary is eliminated. However, the hypothalamus experiences negative feedback from androgens, so there can still be suppression, albeit to a lesser...

Scrotal absorption is variable, depending on the individual, the carrier, etc. I recall some research finding that absorption can be upwards of 60%, which is quite high compared to what's possible at other locations. Virtually all that gets absorbed is bioavailable. Suppose you actually achieve...

It can be acknowledged that aside from suppressing the production of SHBG, mesterolone also ties up some fraction of the reduced level of SHBG, which leads to an even lower effective level. Conventional wisdom had held that this loss of SHBG leads to more free testosterone. However, it's...

In this simple model free estradiol would not change, but it's believed that in reality—free—mesterolone is independently interfering with aromatization. The extent of this interference is uncertain. As far as I know these simple water flow models, including the sponge model, are creations...

No. In theory, at steady state it should not change. This applies to TRT with constant dosing. Otherwise you have to consider possible HPTA suppression. Here's an analogy: Think of SHBG as a pond with water flowing in and out. Free testosterone is analogous to the water running out. Now...

Yes. Mesterolone-bound SHBG is effectively missing with respect to estradiol, yet it is still counted when SHBG is measured. This would be strongly dependent on the dose and strength of the compound doing the aromatase inhibiting, which is exactly what's in question here. As for estradiol's...

I have a sense that this is overlapping into the domain of oxytocin. There are some interesting ideas stemming from the research reported on here. The gist of it is that you need a reasonable amount of empathy and caring to live successfully with others. But you need to ditch that when you are...

It might be possible to quantify this, though it gets complicated. Here are a couple of the elements—chime in with any others you can think of: the androgenic action of mesterolone leads to reduced production of SHBG and lower levels; mesterolone's strong binding potential for SHBG displaces...

I've found that this kind of emotional responsiveness correlates with estradiol. With undetectable estradiol I was almost getting a flat affect, maybe technically a blunt affect. With high estradiol there's heightened sensitivity to the point where it feels like every drama movie is being overly...