Cold turkey bloodwork - 6 weeks since last shot (576 ng/dl!!!)

[onetwonine]

I'll start with a bit of background. I have been on AAS/TRT for ~8 years. The first 5 or so full blown steroid use and the last 2.5/3 years on TRT. I never used hcg while on AAS and sporadically on TRT.

I pposted this thread on Nov 16 looking to lower my trt dose after a off the charts FT and E2 reading.

Lowering dose - Bloodwork on 80mg/wk test + 500iu HCG

Got some bloodwork done for my current trt protocol 80mg of test c or e a week split into two doses 500iu of hcg a week split into two doses Injected twice a week on the same day (mon/thurs). TT: 23.4 nmol/L (675ng/dl) FT: 840 pmol/L (0.84nmol/l, ~24ng/dl) - HIGH E2: 175 pmol/L (canadian...

www.excelmale.com

I had planned on doing 5mg a day to try get things under control. This lasted about 2 weeks, i felt better initially then started feeling like shit again and was tired of pinning every day.

My last shot of test (5 mg) was on Nov 29.

I got my blood pulled at 8:40am on Jan 11th 43 days later.

Results:

Total Test: 20 nmol/L (576 ng/dl)
Estradiol: 130 pmol/L
LH: 4.6
FSH: 2.8
Free test: pending will update

How do I feel:

I feel pretty good. I get slightly depresseed around midday possibly because of the diurnal rythym that im just not used to. Libido came back in a couple weeks. Erections were fine with PDE5 drugs which i may just be psychologically dependent on (will try to break in time). Actual sensation during sex or during orgasm is night and day. There is NO protocol on exogenous hormones that restored this, not HCG nothing.

What to make of it:

This was incredibly unexpected! I am not ready to declare victory yet until i get a few more sets of bloodwork done.

And I should be clear I never tested for hypogonadism the right way. I got on TRT because of AAS induced hypogonadism ( knew my initial bloods would be low because i had been off for maybe 2 weeks when i got them).

Interested in your reactions/opinions.

 

[Belekas]

Actual sensation during sex or during orgasm is night and day. There is NO protocol on exogenous hormones that restored this, not HCG nothing.

Glad you are feeling good mate and hope you improve further so just wanted to comment on this. I myself quit cold turkey after 12 months 25 days ago. Feeling not too bad tbf as well, sleeping like a rock, a lot more cool, calm and collected without being overstimulated 24/7 and actually brain started to work again and some other things. Now the the sensation during sex that you mentioned is night and day for me as well. I have dabbled in AAS for the last 17 years and can confirm that no protocol for me came close as well unless heavy under strong indica skunk then IIRC they were also good but that was years ago. I will run bloods EOM so it will be around ~40 days so more or less 6 weeks as well. Very interested whats going on under the hood and will share my results as well. TRT is great when it works like its supposed to without all the nasty side effects and I'm not the one to take 10 different pills to combat that and mask the real issue at least for now. Will revisit later in life after 10-20 years and by that time we should have tons of new research and data from all the TRT/TOT enthusiasts around the world. But in all fairness I believe those who struggle on TRT have underlying health issues that need to be adressed first before jumping on the T wagon. Body has to be able to absorb and utilise it properly, like all the other minerals, vitamins, antioxidants or whatever you trow at it. Anyways if not the sides I have experienced I would def stay on for life but for now handbreak and get as healthy as possible adressing all causes which is another can of worms on itself. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your future updates.

 

[onetwonine]

Free test numbers came in:

530 pmol/L

Range is 175-700

 

[FunkOdyssey]

Free test numbers came in:

530 pmol/L

Range is 175-700

Wow! Congrats on a successful recovery after 8 years. How old are you?

Another case to remember when you hear someone parrot that ignorant "TRT is for life" messaging.

 

[onetwonine]

Wow! Congrats on a successful recovery after 8 years. How old are you?

Another case to remember when you hear someone parrot that ignorant "TRT is for life" messaging.

32 years old

 

[g-protein]

Thank you for sharing your experience. How are you doing now? I've seriously been contemplating coming off for over a year now due to unmanageable sexual side-effects as well as bad general wellbeing. I've used aas for 5-6 years and for the last 2 years I've been on a proper trt. No protocol or ancillary drug has ever worked quite right for me. For the last couple of months I've just tried to pretend everything is ok and focus on my life but due to feeling like trash it's hard to continue this way. I've now reduced my dosage to 60mg/week and if this does not work out I may just come off. I'd hate to have to use clomid/nolvadex as the mental side effects are so bad I'd fear I would lose my job due to being unable to fuction.

 

[Charliebizz]

I'll start with a bit of background. I have been on AAS/TRT for ~8 years. The first 5 or so full blown steroid use and the last 2.5/3 years on TRT. I never used hcg while on AAS and sporadically on TRT.

I pposted this thread on Nov 16 looking to lower my trt dose after a off the charts FT and E2 reading.

Lowering dose - Bloodwork on 80mg/wk test + 500iu HCG

Got some bloodwork done for my current trt protocol 80mg of test c or e a week split into two doses 500iu of hcg a week split into two doses Injected twice a week on the same day (mon/thurs). TT: 23.4 nmol/L (675ng/dl) FT: 840 pmol/L (0.84nmol/l, ~24ng/dl) - HIGH E2: 175 pmol/L (canadian...

www.excelmale.com

I had planned on doing 5mg a day to try get things under control. This lasted about 2 weeks, i felt better initially then started feeling like shit again and was tired of pinning every day.

My last shot of test (5 mg) was on Nov 29.

I got my blood pulled at 8:40am on Jan 11th 43 days later.

Results:

Total Test: 20 nmol/L (576 ng/dl)
Estradiol: 130 pmol/L
LH: 4.6
FSH: 2.8
Free test: pending will update

How do I feel:

I feel pretty good. I get slightly depresseed around midday possibly because of the diurnal rythym that im just not used to. Libido came back in a couple weeks. Erections were fine with PDE5 drugs which i may just be psychologically dependent on (will try to break in time). Actual sensation during sex or during orgasm is night and day. There is NO protocol on exogenous hormones that restored this, not HCG nothing.

What to make of it:

This was incredibly unexpected! I am not ready to declare victory yet until i get a few more sets of bloodwork done.

And I should be clear I never tested for hypogonadism the right way. I got on TRT because of AAS induced hypogonadism ( knew my initial bloods would be low because i had been off for maybe 2 weeks when i got them).

Interested in your reactions/opinions.


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How did you feel before trt ???

 

[onetwonine]

Thank you for sharing your experience. How are you doing now? I've seriously been contemplating coming off for over a year now due to unmanageable sexual side-effects as well as bad general wellbeing. I've used aas for 5-6 years and for the last 2 years I've been on a proper trt. No protocol or ancillary drug has ever worked quite right for me. For the last couple of months I've just tried to pretend everything is ok and focus on my life but due to feeling like trash it's hard to continue this way. I've now reduced my dosage to 60mg/week and if this does not work out I may just come off. I'd hate to have to use clomid/nolvadex as the mental side effects are so bad I'd fear I would lose my job due to being unable to fuction.

Im doing fine. The little depression i eas expereincing in the afternoons has dissipated. It feels realy good not to have to pin or put needles away for disposal. There is nothing in my house now that even looks like drug paraphernalia which feels good.

My advice is Dont make it a bigger deal than it is.

You will probably feel bad. How long that is, likely varies by individual.

But it will pass. Its okay to feel bad for a little while if it leads to bettering your situation. I think its worth a shot if you dont feel trt is worthwhile.

 

[onetwonine]

How did you feel before trt ???

Before trt or before all steroid use?

I was 23 when i started AAS. I cant remember how i felt. I was a hot head for sure.

Before going from AAS to trt i was in a pretty shit place from covid isolation etc.

 

[davids9317]

This is interesting, you recovered so well, really encouraging. Can I ask the creepy question about testicular atrophy? Before coming off was there noticeable shrinkage? And what about now?

 

[onetwonine]

This is interesting, you recovered so well, really encouraging. Can I ask the creepy question about testicular atrophy? Before coming off was there noticeable shrinkage? And what about now?

Yes I had significant testicular atrophy before coming off. There were times on tren etc that they disappeared almost completely.

They are back now, but I think they are probably more atrophied than they would be if I never touched exogenous hormones.

I'll get bloodwork again late next week and update what it looks like.

 

[Arcane]

why did you get off?

 

[onetwonine]

why did you get off?

Copy paste from a different post:

reduced orgasm intensity. reduced penis sensitivity, i could not finish during normal sex.

it also just messed with my libido/erectile function after a while. sometimes they were both quite good, and sometimes one was good but the other was lacking, or sometimes both were in the shitter. These things all got worse over the years.

i ended up chasing all kinds of solutions as many people do. changing doses, adding all types of drugs. (read the forums for examples).

nothing ever worked sustainably.

 

[Arcane]

Copy paste from a different post:

reduced orgasm intensity. reduced penis sensitivity, i could not finish during normal sex.

it also just messed with my libido/erectile function after a while. sometimes they were both quite good, and sometimes one was good but the other was lacking, or sometimes both were in the shitter. These things all got worse over the years.

i ended up chasing all kinds of solutions as many people do. changing doses, adding all types of drugs. (read the forums for examples).

nothing ever worked sustainably.

interesting. wonder if it was from low pregnenolone or something. Glad youre feeling better

 

[Nixter]

I'm having similar issues and thinking of coming off after 7 years as well. I'm 48 though. I'm going to try reducing my dose from 120 to 90 as my last bloods came back with high e2, free T, and DHT.