Advice needed: HCG side effects

[LFG]

I have been on T 50mg e3.5d for 2+ years and as of 5 months ago, added 500iu hcg every 2 days (trying to getmy wife pregnant). Since adding hcG I noticed that there are a lot of days where I feel lousey and moody. Almost like anything and everything gets on my nervies. I absolutely hate it. It’s not every day but a lot more than when I was just on T by it self. Is this because of estrogen out of wack?

Still not pregnant and I’m looking for advice on how to make these side effects go away.

 

[CKO]

HCG raises estrogen in a lot of men. You are taking approximately 2000 iu of HCG a week, which would almost certainly raise your estrogen to a high level. This probably needs to be balanced with anastrozole, to reduce E2. All that said, get labs with a sensitive estrogen test to see where you are. I'm sure others have suggestions to help with fertility.

 

[DS3]

I have been on T 50mg e3.5d for 2+ years and as of 5 months ago, added 500iu hcg every 2 days (trying to getmy wife pregnant). Since adding hcG I noticed that there are a lot of days where I feel lousey and moody. Almost like anything and everything gets on my nervies. I absolutely hate it. It’s not every day but a lot more than when I was just on T by it self. Is this because of estrogen out of wack?

Still not pregnant and I’m looking for advice on how to make these side effects go away.

I feel you on this. Two years ago I was trying to get my wife pregnant and experienced the same while using 500 IU HCG 3x weekly. I ended up backing off of T from 200 mg weekly to 50 mg weekly to combat the negative mental side effects. HCG’s effect on mood are more complex than raising estrogen or progesterone. For some men, the mental effects are energizing and positive, while others experience anxiety, agitation, and overall poorer mood.

If fertility is the highest priority to you, my recommendation would be to lower your T dosage for a short period of time and add in FSH at 75 IU twice weekly on top of your HCG at 500 IU 3x weekly. That should do the trick. Reaching a fertile status if you’ve been living sub-fertile could take up to 6 months.

 

[LFG]

I feel you on this. Two years ago I was trying to get my wife pregnant and experienced the same while using 500 IU HCG 3x weekly. I ended up backing off of T from 200 mg weekly to 50 mg weekly to combat the negative mental side effects. HCG’s effect on mood are more complex than raising estrogen or progesterone. For some men, the mental effects are energizing and positive, while others experience anxiety, agitation, and overall poorer mood.

If fertility is the highest priority to you, my recommendation would be to lower your T dosage for a short period of time and add in FSH at 75 IU twice weekly on top of your HCG at 500 IU 3x weekly. That should do the trick. Reaching a fertile status if you’ve been living sub-fertile could take up to 6 months.

Yeah man. I get these mood swings and I hate them. I’ve started lowering my T dose slightly. I really wish I had somewhere I can get FSH for a decent price. It’s very expensive. Were you able to conceive ?

 

[DS3]

Yeah man. I get these mood swings and I hate them. I’ve started lowering my T dose slightly. I really wish I had somewhere I can get FSH for a decent price. It’s very expensive. Were you able to conceive ?

If you’re doctor prescribes through Empower, they may be able to get it. I just saw HCG is added back to their product catalogue.

My wife and I were able to. Thanks for asking. We have an 11-month old boy now. HCG by itself at 500 iu 3x weekly did the trick. I’ve always responded well - in terms of testicular response - to HCG.

 

[Systemlord]

Still not pregnant

You may need FSH then.

HCG increases other hormones besides estrogen.

 

[Swilsondc]

I had been on T only for years too when we started to try to get pregnant. Like DS3 I stopped T and only was on HCG. 1500-2000/wk. my sperm count did come back from “0” to “normal” range but it did take 9 months to get back up to that range. Luckily I didn’t experience negative side effects from HCG.

 

[LFG]

Did

I had been on T only for years too when we started to try to get pregnant. Like DS3 I stopped T and only was on HCG. 1500-2000/wk. my sperm count did come back from “0” to “normal” range but it did take 9 months to get back up to that range. Luckily I didn’t experience negative side effects from HCG.

Did you stop T completely?

 

[nodoctor]

It’s been a couple years since I was having kids, but is clomiphene or enclomiphene not the preferred sperm generating protocol anymore? I totally felt like shit on it but like clockwork I would have rocking sperm 90 to 120 days later.

 

[DS3]

It’s been a couple years since I was having kids, but is clomiphene or enclomiphene not the preferred sperm generating protocol anymore? I totally felt like shit on it but like clockwork I would have rocking sperm 90 to 120 days later.

Clomid could work by mildly assisting in an HPTA restart, thus prompting natural testosterone secretion in the testicles and sperm production. However, you would have to cease exogenous testosterone for some period of time to achieve this, if at all. HCG can be used while on TRT to maintain intratesticular testosterone and sperm without having to discontinue exogenous testosterone.

 

[nodoctor]

Yes, I do remember that, but I am under the impression that Clomid is the virtually guaranteed way. It was what the urologist recommended immediately. I did stop all TRT, and I can take the pain, but it was awful.

 

[DS3]

Yes, I do remember that, but I am under the impression that Clomid is the virtually guaranteed way. It was what the urologist recommended immediately. I did stop all TRT, and I can take the pain, but it was awful.

It would depend on the resiliency of a man’s HPTA. Many men get off of TRT, take Clomid and end up with a TT of 80 ng/dL. Other men resume normal T production and end up with 500 ng/dL. For the latter group, Clomid monotherapy should work for fertility. In the former, Clomid is unlikely to bring a man to a fertile state.

HCG bypasses the HPTA entirely and directly stimulates the testicles. As a result, patients do not have to gamble whether their HPTA will restart with Clomid; they can rely on HCG’s direct stimulation. HCG does not work in all men. However, Dr. Larry Lipshultz at the BCM uses HCG to restore fertility in his patients and claims that he has never seen a patient that was unable to regain fertility.

Low-dose hCG can prevent sterility in men prescribed testosterone

NEW ORLEANS — Low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, may preserve spermatogenesis in men with hypogonadism treated with intramuscular or transdermal testosterone replacement therapy, according to a speaker at the Androgen Society annual meeting. The estimated male population in their...

www.healio.com

 

[Redlion]

You may need FSH then.

HCG increases other hormones besides estrogen.

Hi does HCG increase prolactin as mine has trebled

 

[Cataceous]

... I really wish I had somewhere I can get FSH for a decent price. It’s very expensive. ...

This place offers hMG for as little as little as $52 per 150 IU. I can't vouch for these particular products, but I have ordered various other things from the site without encountering any problems.

 

[Redlion]

You may need FSH then.

HCG increases other hormones besides estrogen.

Hi does HCG increase prolactin as mine has trebled

 

[Lumalux]

Does anyone here have any experience with sublingual HCG troches/lozengez? My doc prescribed them for me - 500 iu three times a week. I asked him if I could just take them every day and he said OK, that it would raise my T more but would be more expensive. I am paying about $300 for 90 doses, compounded locally.

Not seeing any signs of raised estrogen after about 10 days. Libido is high.

I am trying HCG monotherapy as a less suppressive measure to raise T before committing to TRT. Total T was 425 at last reading. Free T was 6.1 pg/mL from an earlier reading,

 

[M.J]

I share the same. I think hcg is increasing my estrogen. And defiantly sometimes I get moody. I am doing eod 20mgt+hcg 500+ fsh75.

I wanted to lower hcg but concerned about fertility I am back to normal sperm level with this protocol. I stopped hcg few days ago and wanted to do lab test to see how much estrogen is before adding hcg again.

For me my solutions are:

Decrease hcg from 500 to 250 although I hear the recommendation is 500 for fertility but maybe its different from man to man not sure though.

Or move to everyday injection which I hate to do. Already eod is too much but living with it.

 

[Systemlord]

Does anyone here have any experience with sublingual HCG troches/lozengez?

This method of delivery of HCG is destroyed in the gut, in otherwords useless.

I am paying about $300 for 90 doses

You really should research things first because these days you can't trust someone just because they're a doctor.

That's $300 down the toilet.

 

[Cataceous]

This method of delivery of HCG is destroyed in the gut, in otherwords useless.
...

With sublingual delivery it's not intended to go through the gut.

Sublingual administration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The question is, can you absorb a glycoprotein such as hCG?

The sublingual mucosa is an appealing route for drug administration. However, in the context of increased use of therapeutic proteins, development of protein delivery systems that will protect the protein bioactivity is needed. As proteins are fragile and complex molecules, current sublingual formulations of proteins are in liquid dosage. Yet, protein dilution and short residence time at the sublingual mucosa are the main barriers for the control of the dose that is delivered. ...​

Sublingual protein delivery by a mucoadhesive patch made of natural polymers

The sublingual mucosa is an appealing route for drug administration. However, in the context of increased use of therapeutic proteins, development of …

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[Lumalux]

With sublingual delivery it's not intended to go through the gut.

Sublingual administration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The question is, can you absorb a glycoprotein such as hCG?

The sublingual mucosa is an appealing route for drug administration. However, in the context of increased use of therapeutic proteins, development of protein delivery systems that will protect the protein bioactivity is needed. As proteins are fragile and complex molecules, current sublingual formulations of proteins are in liquid dosage. Yet, protein dilution and short residence time at the sublingual mucosa are the main barriers for the control of the dose that is delivered. ...​

Sublingual protein delivery by a mucoadhesive patch made of natural polymers

The sublingual mucosa is an appealing route for drug administration. However, in the context of increased use of therapeutic proteins, development of …

www.sciencedirect.com

So far, one up, one down.
Too early in therapy to know whether it works or not. We'll know in January when I get labs again.