are there dosing strategies than can prevent the body from shutting down T production?

[wham]

I am interested in testosterone cream in order to resolve disabling chronic physical and mental fatigue. However, I am concerned about shutting down my body's ability to produce T as well as risks to my fertility and am wondering if there are any strategies to avoid this.

Nelson's book says that the average man produces 4-7 mg of T per day.

Possibly naive idea #1:
Suppose I were to start out with only 2.5 mg of T getting into my system through the skin each morning and find that it does the job as far as my fatigue is concerned. Since this is not a full replacement dose, would my body be able to handle going off it at some point? Would this also mitigate risks to fetility?

Possibly naive idea #2:
Suppose I find that I need to get 5 mg or 7.5 mg of T into my system each day, which would be a replacement dose. How about if I took it every other day? Would this give me the support I need without permanently shutting down my body's ability to produce T or my fertility?

I am approaching this problem primarily based on symptoms, but I will of course also monitor with labs.

I read about HCG in Nelson's book, but I would like to exhaust non-prescription options first.

 

[Zooka15]

I think the body just sees any amount of external source of testosterone and starts to shutdown, no matter the amount. It would be nice though.

 

[CoastWatcher]

You're pursuing a dream - exogenous testosterone will shut down natural production. Erratic dosing will leave you feeling miserable: suppressed natural production coupled with insufficient replacement to relieve symptoms. All of which might be moot, depending on whether you dealing with primary or secondary hypogonadism. What did your workup show in that regard?

 

[wham]

Thanks.

I have read the book "Safe Uses of Cortisol" by William Jeffries, which says that physiologic doses of cortisol below a certain amount do not permanently turn off the body's production of this hormone, and have also heard of people weaning off natural thyroid hormone, so I had wondered if it might be the same with testosterone. I'm glad you guys could tell me that it's not.

I don't know yet if my problem is primary or secondary. Would the answer change in either case?

 

[John O'Connor]

Have you had any blood work done? If not, stop guessing and figure it out. Everyone is unique. Some have primary hypogonadism, some have secondary. Some have thyroid issues. Your FSH & LH levels will tell you if you are primary or secondary, that is assuming your Total & Free Testosterone are below normal.

Check Vitamin D levels. Do a full thyroid panel (TSH, Free T4, Free T3 & reverse T3). Full Pre-TRT panel as described here. https://www.excelmale.com/forum/sho...e-and-During-Testosterone-Replacement-Therapy

Get all of that done and post results here and the educated members here will be happy to review it and give suggestions from there. Good luck!

 

[CoastWatcher]

Thanks.

I have read the book "Safe Uses of Cortisol" by William Jeffries, which says that physiologic doses of cortisol below a certain amount do not permanently turn off the body's production of this hormone, and have also heard of people weaning off natural thyroid hormone, so I had wondered if it might be the same with testosterone. I'm glad you guys could tell me that it's not.

I don't know yet if my problem is primary or secondary. Would the answer change in either case?

If you are dealing with primary hypogonadism, your testicles are failing to produce adequate/any testosterone. Nothing you do will impact that except exogenous testosterone. If it a secondary situation, the problem lies elsewhere and a good doctor would explore the possibility of a restart protocol with you (lots of factors to consider on this such as your testosterone level, age, physical history) or move you toward exogenous testosterone. Trying some sort of "semi-therapy," a kind of testosterone cycle will lead to misery.

 

[Vince]

I am interested in testosterone cream in order to resolve disabling chronic physical and mental fatigue. However, I am concerned about shutting down my body's ability to produce T as well as risks to my fertility and am wondering if there are any strategies to avoid this.

Nelson's book says that the average man produces 4-7 mg of T per day.

Possibly naive idea #1:
Suppose I were to start out with only 2.5 mg of T getting into my system through the skin each morning and find that it does the job as far as my fatigue is concerned. Since this is not a full replacement dose, would my body be able to handle going off it at some point? Would this also mitigate risks to fetility?

Possibly naive idea #2:
Suppose I find that I need to get 5 mg or 7.5 mg of T into my system each day, which would be a replacement dose. How about if I took it every other day? Would this give me the support I need without permanently shutting down my body's ability to produce T or my fertility?

I am approaching this problem primarily based on symptoms, but I will of course also monitor with labs.

I read about HCG in Nelson's book, but I would like to exhaust non-prescription options first.

If you're going to use Testosterone, you will stop making Testosterone. If it's too low you are just going to have low T.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

you cannot prevent the negative feedback loop from shutting down natural production if you supplement with exogenous test.

 

[Vettester Chris]

Agree with the others! Don't limp into some sort of semi-TRT program and think it will give the best of both worlds. In fact, it will be the worse of both worlds, no endogenous test, unstable and low total serum levels. If you need TRT then that means you have low testosterone, you shouldn't worry about trying to retain that. The goal is to increase your total serum to optimal levels, and for bonus you can get the Best of Both Worlds with implementing HCG, permitting a secondary diagnosis of course. With virtually no information on your situation here, it's pretty much a straw man conversation ...