Any Good Experiences with Daily Injections of Testosterone ?

[cleanbuffalo]

Hi guys, I am a TRT patient who has had a hard time getting dialed in. I want to avoid an AI. Even small compounded doses of anastrozole make me feel terrible, and DIM has not been helpful.

My doc recommended I think about switching from 70mg twice a week and 400iu hcg twice a week, to 20mg cyp and 100iu hcg every day because of rising e2 an SHBG of 23.5.

My levels were 901 total t, free t direct was like 210pg/ml, calculated free t was at 21.2. E2 sensitive was 41 with some bloating and nipple tenderness, shbg 23.5, and everything else was good. DHT was a little lower than he wanted at 55. Edit: forgot to mention, sex drive is just ok, and erections subpar, sometimes go soft in the middle of activity and hard to maintain.

I saw that guys like Vince and Coastwatcher decided 16mg a day was plenty, is 20mg a day too aggressive since switching to daily leads to higher levels? And same for the 100iu of hcg?

More importantly, is my shbg really that low that I would need to inject this often? I'd be willing to do it if it's the best option.

Thanks for the help guys, this just gets a little complicated for me and I wish I could get dialed in already.

 

[Vince Carter]

I dont recommend dailys except in the toughest of cases, its overrate IMPO to controlling E, HCT, etc etc If you can commit to sticking yourself every day then you can make it work, staying compliant with that many shots can be a challenge, if you're up for it.
I think myself and the others that use daily kind of settle in or start on 16mg/D and adjust based on the Free T. You can pretty much ignore the total, IMPO, base your dose on Free T and not being over the lab range.
Also I would with your SHBG strongly recommend the Free Estradiol testing along with the sensitive LC/MS/MS. Your E2 sensitive may need to be around 20 with your SHBG and then see where you're at.

 

[cleanbuffalo]

I dont recommend dailys except in the toughest of cases, its overrate IMPO to controlling E, HCT, etc etc If you can commit to sticking yourself every day then you can make it work, staying compliant with that many shots can be a challenge, if you're up for it.
I think myself and the others that use daily kind of settle in or start on 16mg/D and adjust based on the Free T. You can pretty much ignore the total, IMPO, base your dose on Free T and not being over the lab range.
Also I would with your SHBG strongly recommend the Free Estradiol testing along with the sensitive LC/MS/MS. Your E2 sensitive may need to be around 20 with your SHBG and then see where you're at.

I appreciate the advice. I will ask my doc for the free estradiol on my next set of labs. Do you have a recommendation as to what a reasonable protocol would be for someone in my position?

 

[Vince Carter]

If youre insistent on daily 16mg seems to be a place to start.

 

[cleanbuffalo]

If youre insistent on daily 16mg seems to be a place to start.

I'm definitely not insistent on daily, I'd like to inject as infrequently as possible lol

 

[ERO]

FWIW, a daily injection with an insulin syringe only takes maybe 3-5 minutes and is painless. I did daily for 2 1/2 years. It helped me get some very nice E2 and Total T levels on paper, but it still felt like I was injecting water so I am back to twice weekly just because it makes no difference in my case. (Super low SHBG) However, you may feel great on that protocol. Only way to know is to try for a good 5-6 weeks.

 

[cleanbuffalo]

FWIW, a daily injection with an insulin syringe only takes maybe 3-5 minutes and is painless. I did daily for 2 1/2 years. It helped me get some very nice E2 and Total T levels on paper, but it still felt like I was injecting water so I am back to twice weekly just because it makes no difference in my case. (Super low SHBG) However, you may feel great on that protocol. Only way to know is to try for a good 5-6 weeks.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't even think my SHBG is super low, just a little below average. Maybe it's not worth the hassle of 2 shots every morning of t and hcg

 

[Vince Carter]

You can combine the T and HCG in one syringe

 

[Vince]

You can combine the T and HCG in one syringe

I agree with Vince Carter, if you do daily injections you might as well combined HCG and testosterone in the same injection, on HCG day.

 

[S1W]

More importantly, is my shbg really that low that I would need to inject this often?

If looking at this as a yes/no question, I would say "no". My SHBG is in a similar range and so far I'm happy with E3.5D.

To echo what Vince Carter said above, I asked my doctor if moving to a more frequent injection schedule would be beneficial for me given my SHBG. He replied that while I might see a slight decrease in E2 etc, it wouldn't be enough of a decrease to be meaningful/worth it in his opinion. He said the only reason he would recommend switching to a more frequent injection schedule is if I was really feeling the troughs, which I do not.

 

[Systemlord]

I'm on a daily protocol and also have the same reaction to AI's, even small doses I felt terrible. My SHBG is 22 and am doing the daily protocol in an attempt to control estrogen and not have to take AI's.

I didn't feel much of anything injecting testosterone twice weekly.

 

[madman]

I'm on a daily protocol and also have the same reaction to AI's, even small doses I felt terrible. My SHBG is 22 and am doing the daily protocol in an attempt to control estrogen and not have to take AI's.

I didn't feel much of anything injecting testosterone twice weekly.

I understand you inject daily due to your low SHBG.....but what you stated above in bold makes no sense as you are almost 30% BF.

Having such a high percentage of adipose is a big part of the e2 issue.

Getting your body fat levels down to 15% will have a big impact on lowering e2 levels.

Sure low SHBG and high FT are a poor combination regarding elevated e2 but even with low SHBG getting body fat levels into a healthy range will make a big difference in conversion of T--->e2.

 

[cleanbuffalo]

If looking at this as a yes/no question, I would say "no". My SHBG is in a similar range and so far I'm happy with E3.5D.

To echo what Vince Carter said above, I asked my doctor if moving to a more frequent injection schedule would be beneficial for me given my SHBG. He replied that while I might see a slight decrease in E2 etc, it wouldn't be enough of a decrease to be meaningful/worth it in his opinion. He said the only reason he would recommend switching to a more frequent injection schedule is if I was really feeling the troughs, which I do not.

Can I ask what dose you found effective as far as t, hcg, and AI on an e3.5d schedule with your shbg?

 

[S1W]

Can I ask what dose you found effective as far as t, hcg, and AI on an e3.5d schedule with your shbg?

Sure but just as a disclaimer I still don't consider myself completely dialed in and what works for me may be completely different from what will work for you. I used HCG for a while, stopped using it about 6 months ago, happy without it. T dose 60mg E3.5D. No AI yet, however my E2 is high out of range in the mid 40s and my doc and I have discussed introducing an AI.