LOL. I know some members here are very strict when it comes to labs timing so just wanna make sure to explain that the 22h things wasn't a choice! Also just to clarify i am taking 50mg cypionate twice a week.
My FT direct was ~ 29 (labcorp) and calculated was ~ 21 when i was using 55mg cypionate twice a week. So i guess at 50mg twice a week FT should still be pretty close to that.
My ferritin is now just above 30 (it was close to zero just before I drastically dropped my testosterone dosage.
Dr Saya asked me to stop supplementing iron for various reasons. The main reason to lower my dosage was to reestablish iron homeostasis (my iron levels were off the charts due to supressed hepcidin) so we wanted to see if HCT would stabilize so we removed the iron to make sure the dosage reduction was working or not. But basically i supplemented with iron bisglycinate 18mg twice a day for just a couple of weeks after dropping my testosterone dosage. So my ferritin rose from almost zero to a little over 30 in 3 months without supplementing iron. If my hematocrit stabilizes and i can keep not donating blood i guess until the end of the year my ferritin should be back to good levels. If my hematocrit does not stabilize i will discussed with
Dr Saya further reductions in my testosterone dosage.
Regarding my biceps i got tendonitis in both biceps for months now. So i am taking care of this now. Creatine Kinase was tested as well and was slightly elevated.
I have been testing my creatinine for over 15 years now and it has always been elevated anywhere from 1.25-1.4 and i am 210 pounds now with around 10% BF so definitely a lot of LBM to produce creatinine!
Regarding your tendonitis in most cases when one has been lifting weight for a long time (years) most in fact develop tendinosis as oppose to tendinitis (which they think they have) and when one develops tendinosis the tendons are much more prone to a tear as tendinosis is a degeneration of the tendons collagen from chronic overuse.
I say this because I have weight trained for years heavy (low rep) mainly squats/deads/bench/barbell row/chins-pullups/close grip bench/dips/military press/upright rows and over time experienced the flare-ups elbows/shoulders due to overuse.
A few months back I was doing heavy barbell bent over rows using poundage I always use and every so often during my rep I felt a deep pain/throbbing radiate from my inner forearm close to my bicep tendon but could not pinpoint what it was so I just continued my routine.
This would happen every so often often when performing that exercise and instead of addressing it and trying to figure out what was causing the pain and at the very least stop training for a few weeks and rest it my body was telling me something was wrong.
Sure enough a few weeks later I was finishing up my workout and on my last exercise which is called the RENEGADE ROW on my last 2 sets before finishing my workout for the day.
I was using very heavy kettle bells (125lb), one in each arm and on my 3rd to last set when I was pulling the kettle bell up toward my lats it almost felt as if my right arm went weak and wanted to give out and it was my dominant (strong) right arm.
I should have stopped right there but the madman I am had my rest period and than did my 4th set and sure enough right towards my last few reps (5 reps/set) I went to pull the kettle bell up toward my last and as it came up I heard a loud snap with pain and my arm gave out, had to drop the weight.
I was devastated to say the least as I knew right than and there it was a bad injury, for a split second I was overwhelmed with grief as I had realized it was serious and the sad thing is at first I was more concerned with not being able to work out again and not knowing how severe it was.
I immediately felt my distal bicep tendon on my right arm to see if it was intact and it was but I could feel some fibers whether muscle or tendon of to the side and it did not feel good.
I waited until the morning to go to the hospital and had an ultrasound done and it turns out it was a partial tear of the distal bicep tendon but they did not know how severe as it may have been a complex partial tear so at the end of the day they said we are going to send you to an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning as they are more experienced with these type of injuries and you will have another ultrasound to see what degree/severity of the tear is.
Also told me to fast overnight as I may need to be prepared for immediate surgery in the morning if need be. I was so upset/angry/depressed thinking the worst.....maybe surgery, in a sling for 3 months, 4-6 month recovery....my mind was racing!
Went to hospital next morning and surgeon looked over my arm, did specific test to check the tendon, hook test as well as many others and assured me not to get worked up as we need to do another ultrasound to see the severity of the tear.
He also explained what surgery would involve and things that could possibly go wrong but said I was in good hand.
Had ultrasound done and than after surgeon came to speak with me and said good news is you do not need surgery as it is a small partial tear and the tendon is intact (tear on inside of tendon but torn away from bone).....bad news is you will have to be off work for 8 weeks minimum and it will take 16 weeks to fully heal and in some cases could be 6 months.
Told me I would have to stay away from lifting weights for at least 16 weeks (as if I would even take the chance) and that he expects a full recovery and eventually I will be able to lift again.
I was so thankful that I did not need surgery but at the same time I felt depressed that this will be the first time in my life I have to stop lifting and for 4 months.....damn everything was going so good all that strength/muscle I built over the years and now I have to stop.
Now thinking in the back of my mind I need to make sure this is fully healed and it will always be in the back of my mind when I start lifting.
One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as weight training is a big part of my life as I have always had a passion for nutrition/training and was fascinated about muscle building/nutrition/hormones since my youth.
I guess I need to look at this as a chance to give my whole body a rest from all the years of lifting as I rarely ever have even taken off a week from training which is stupidity on my part!
