About to start TRT but concerned over labwork. Please help

[Jackie Treehorn]

Well I am not saying it's great by any means. Most of the research articles and papers posted by nelson state >500ng/dl is sufficient

Again I ask, sufficient for whom? You're making a broad, blanket statement, without regard to age or any other parameters.

It's certainly high enough where you should do more tests than he has before starting treatment, it's possible 500 is his lowest, and the next two tests are 650, and 700. To not have LH and FSH with 500, and to start treatment is a bit premature.

That's the least you'd need, best would be thyroid panel, prolactin, and SHBG before treating as it's possible hypothyroidism went undiagnosed and is what's lowering his testosterone.

Ok, now you're making sense. However the OP did not post up full labs, and you made your statement solely about a test level of 516. I agree that the OP should have full labs to include a full thyroid panel.

 

[Roccc]

500 is low? lol. mine is 450 and i'm 22 yes, not enough but 500-550 is normal.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

500 is low? lol. mine is 450 and i'm 22 yes, not enough but 500-550 is normal.

Let me put it into perspective for you. I'm 60 yrs old, and my pre-TRT test level was 526. I had all the classic symptoms of low testosterone. Is that 526 a normal level for me? According to the test level range at LabCorp, it's perfectly normal. Then why did I feel like crap? All of my other labs were normal...no hypothyroidism, no adrenal fatigue, no nothing. Perhaps I should have called a T level in the 500's as sub-optimal, instead of low.

Your T level of 450 is pretty low...oops, excuse me, sub-optimal...especially for a 22 yr old kid. If it isn't, then what are you doing here?

 

[CoastWatcher]

Let's remember that this thread was started by jinxeng. He wanted thoughts on his protocol and labwork. The points that have been raised in regard to low/normal/high testosterone levels have been discussed (my own feelings track with Jackie, but that's beside the point). Jinxeng asked for help. We should focus on that...the rest can certainly be broken out in another thread. Thanks.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

If it was me, I'd split the testosterone dose in two and inject them every 3.5 days. Six weeks later I'd measure my estradiol via the sensitive test. Then, and only then, would I consider adding an AI to the protocol. If you have excess fat the potential for elevated estradiol is greater than for men who are lean. How did your doctor arrive at the testosterone dose he prescribed?

Jinxeng,

CoastWatcher is giving you some great advice here. Do yourself a big favor, and follow it.

Spliting up the injections to every 3.5 days means less aromatization/less conversion to E2. You may never even need any anastrozole.

If you take that much anastrazole without needing it, you're going to crash your E2, and feel horrible.

 

[jinxeng]

Thanks everyone for the input/advice, esp CoastWatcher. I was hoping to not mess with splitting up my injections for the fear of needles. lol
It makes senses to split up the doses and thats what i will be doing. Thanks again

 

[johndoesmith]

Let's remember that this thread was started by jinxeng. He wanted thoughts on his protocol and labwork. The points that have been raised in regard to low/normal/high testosterone levels have been discussed (my own feelings track with Jackie, but that's beside the point). Jinxeng asked for help. We should focus on that...the rest can certainly be broken out in another thread. Thanks.

I never said it was great, I said it was pretty decent, decent enough where you should at least look into WHY it's low. This board always seemed to be big on avoiding TRT unless necessary.

Yes I agree 500 isn't a great level, especially for a young guy.

To answer OP, splitting the dose into 2 is a great idea, and if it can help avoid an AI, that is for the best! No need to take extra drugs unless needed. Trust me here when I say I am extremely understanding of what 4-500 feels like. Sub par.