Could use a little advice..

[Deleted member 16042]

Your physiology is certainly different than mine, but I'll share a little of my details that seem pertinent.

-SHBG 48, consistently around this level.
-Started on 150mg/week went supraphysiological, total T >1500, free T 39.7, elevated hematocrit 52.5 and symptomatic with High BP, flushing, abnormal pounding chest sensation with exercise and shortness of breath. I can't donate blood due to low ferritin, so required multiple dosage reductions starting last November.
-Dosage reductions can be Hellish especially when you reach your lower threshold for effective dosage
-Finally settled at 84mg/week. Not optimal, I believe I could stand a little increase, but HCT is back at baseline. Total T @1049, Free T 19.3
-Still minimally high E2, but controlled with low dose anastrozole (1/16 mg) EOD.

So, the moral of my story is it would have been SO Much Better to start lower and increase rather than what happened and having to decrease over the course of 8 months. Reducing dosage can be pure Hell until you body re-adjusts and you find a physiological reasonable balance.

Edit: And I'll add/echo, 200mg a week is a big red flag. We see SO MANY guys here having trouble being started on this kind of dose, and more often than not thinking because the Dr prescribed it, their doctor must be in the right, vs the collective outlook of this forum. And likewise, starting an AI early especially without proper testing or without symptoms is a warning sign that you are dosing too high right off the bat and/or your doctor is ignorant about good and proper TRT.

My personal take on the E2, buy the estradiol sensitive LC/MS/MS test from discountedlabs.com today and get the blood drawn ASAP before taking an AI. Get that baseline now even if you take the AI immediately after the blood draw. It will be so helpful to document and track your levels and relate then to your specific treatment needs now and into the future.

It seems pretty obvious that you are indeed high E2 due to the bloating and stated symptoms, but there are other causes for bloating as well.

And finally, it is probably in your best interest to determine proper dosage of T cyp before relying on anastozole to compensate for too much test.

 

[Systemlord]

When moving injections closer together, alway decrease dosage by 15-20 percent since your levels will spend less time falling between injections.

For me 50mg twice gets me 677 ng/dL, that same dose split up EOD over 829 ng/dL.

 

[RaidersTwix]

When moving injections closer together, alway decrease dosage by 15-20 percent since your levels will spend less time falling between injections.

For me 50mg twice gets me 677 ng/dL, that same dose split up EOD over 829 ng/dL.

Well to be honest.

It depends on when you do the lab in relation to your injection.

Twice a week: 1200ng/dl - 900 - 677
EoD: 1000ng/dl - 900 - 829

If u get my point.

 

[klepp0906]

thanks for the replies guys. very helpful. I did start dropping my dose today. Is it advised I go full monty and drop a ton, or little by little? I chopped 40mg off the top from 200 to 160 which is 2 80mg injections/week.

Will try and hold off on the AI, just feeling abysmal. im sure its the elevated E2 but talk about feeling defeated and discouraged. Like i made a huge mistake.

Ah well, time will tell. I do appreciate you guys re-hashing the same thing you see over n over

 

[MarkM]

I would go to the 80 mg twice a week now. That way you will reach a steady state quicker. Don't lose hope. You not defeated, you're just taking a detour. It takes a little trial and error for most of us to get it right but once you do, you'll be glad to stuck with it.

 

[Jiu Jitsu Dude]

thanks for the replies guys. very helpful. I did start dropping my dose today. Is it advised I go full monty and drop a ton, or little by little? I chopped 40mg off the top from 200 to 160 which is 2 80mg injections/week.

Will try and hold off on the AI, just feeling abysmal. im sure its the elevated E2 but talking about feeling defeated and discouraged. Like i made a huge mistake.

Ah well, time will tell. I do appreciate you guys re-hashing the same thing you see over n over

You might want to check out a supplement called DIM. I read about it here. It's not powerful but it has helped me process the bad estradiol metabolites quicker. I take 100mg each day. Sometimes 200mg on injection day or even the day after. I can tell a difference when I take it. Read up on it. Some people are helped by it.

 

[klepp0906]

ill take a look at that supp @Jui and ty for the kind words @MarkM.

I'll keep ya's posted with how it goes in the coming weeks. Definitely when I get my follow up labs. Gonna be just short of 4 weeks now that ive changed my protocol but what can ya do.

I had hoped that splitting the 200 which was prescribed to me would be enough to offset potential aromatization, but no such luck. Felt nice first few days too - doh!