Any cases firsthand of successful restarts of long term TRT patients

[sh1973]

I’ve been on TRT over 8.5 years and most of it up until the last few months hasn’t went so well. I’ve attempted a couple restarts myself but gave up after feeling really bad for a while. I’ve did hundreds of hours of reading and research over the last decade but have been unable to find a single case of someone ceasing TRT after long term use that’s ended up better off. All the physicians I’ve had over the years have stated close to half their patients end up stopping treatment and go right back to where the were. Whenever I started TRT my levels were drawn at 2:30 in the afternoon and came back at 440ng. This was at 36 y/o and I admit during that period of time I was not living a testosterone friendly lifestyle. Examples: working long hours with little sleep, going thru a divorce, drinking too much and not eating well. I’ve never been overweight or had any other health problems but during this period I wasn’t living the healthy lifestyle I normally do. After 8 years of trying high doses of t due to high shbg and every modality of the drug it just wasn’t working. Recently I switched to a dose of 68mg once weekly which puts my trough at a little over 600ng. I’ve been at this for a few months now and feel better than I ever have on TRT. With that said even now, I’ve still never attained the feeling of what it was like naturally before the problems began at age 36, but I’m leaps and bounds better than the last several years. I wonder since I have my levels this low now if trying to come off would be my best option or should I accept this is as good as its going to get. All labs look great and as I said I have no other health issues. Any input greatly appreciated.

 

[Vince]

If you stop TRT now, probably the best you can hope for getting back to where you started. I probably see this too much but have you ever had your thyroid checked? TSH, ft4, ft3, reverse T3 and antibody

 

[sh1973]

If you stop TRT now, probably the best you can hope for getting back to where you started. I probably see this too much but have you ever had your thyroid checked? TSH, ft4, ft3, reverse T3 and antibody

Yes numerous times over the last several years and the full panel always comes back very well.

 

[Paco1973]

I'm assuming you're the same SH from peaktestosterone.com. The writing style and the story is the same, so I'll just reply accordingly.

Dude, I am a FIRM believer in ASIH, and I think that prolonged exposure to testosterone therapy pretty much disrupts the HPTA for life. I tried to restart for a solid year, and I had to go back on. Everyone I know who has attempted a restart after being on prolonged trt has gone back to trt. That's a 100% failure rate. There may be a unicorn or two floating around out there, but they are rare. I know for certain that I AM NOT a unicorn.

What you are doing is cycling on and off testosterone, which is not good. It puts a lot of stress on your body. I had to accept that testosterone is a permanent part of my life. I think you need to do the same. How many failed restarts do you need to do before you accept reality?

Here's my advice: You're like a diabetic. You need testosterone to have a good quality of life. Accept it. Stick with your current protocol, or make changes as your doctor recommends. If this protocol fails, or you aren't satisfied, move to a short acting ester. I'm on daily propionate injections, and I feel fantastic. I think it is a little closer to what the body does naturally. Keep your expectations grounded in reality. It is not going to be perfect, but it will be better than walking around in a hypogonadal state. Stop putting your body through the roller coaster and accept that you are not a unicorn.

I don't know what protocol would work best for you, but, for me, the difference between being on propionate now and cypionate and enanthate in the past is night and day. Whatever you chose, you have to give it time. It takes time to get dialed in on trt. The more you are non-compliant, and the more you change the protocol without allowing time for your body to adjust, the more times you stop to do a restart that you know is going to fail, the more negative side-effects you are going to experience.

I was hypogonadal for a solid year in an attempt to restart. My health and body composition radically declined during that time. Barring some miracle cure, I am done with restarts. I don't recommend them for people who have been on trt for extended periods of time. No, I'm not a doctor. I'm just sharing an opinion based upon personal experience and what I've seen in the experience of others.

You're feeling better? Why in the world would you want to go back to being hypogonadal? You know you will not recover to the point of where you were at 36. You're older now, and you've had a lot of years on testosterone. You really think your HPTA is going to go back to where it was when you were 36?

I'm not trying to be a ****, but I've seen you doing this shit to yourself for almost 2 years. I don't know you personally, but you seem to be a decent guy. I hate to see you putting yourself through this crap. And, I know how it feels.

Be good to yourself. Be good to your body. TRT is not the end of the world.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[sh1973]

Thanks Paco, not offended at all by what you’re saying because it’s the truth. I think the hardest part of this for me is accepting I have to be medicated the rest of my life to be normal. I am indeed feeling better than I ever have on TRT and you’re absolutely right, there’s no sense in torturing myself anymore by stopping and starting. I’m going to continue what I’m doing and have an appointment with doctor Saya late August or early September to see if he recommends any tweaks. I don’t know you personally but still feel like we’ve been through a lot together. I appreciate the constructive criticism and think perhaps that’s what I need to stay on course. I’m curious to see how you progress with the propionate, so please keep us posted. It seems the short acting test would definitely be more natural.

 

[Kirk001]

I think the hardest part of this for me is accepting I have to be medicated the rest of my life to be normal.

You don't have to be medicated... you could go back to feeling like shit. Totally up to you. Frame your choice in those terms and it's kind of a no-brainer, to me anyhow. (Assuming you feel better on treatment than off.)