Fertility Restored While on TRT with hCG

[Gman86]

I know I’m not the original author but I was using pregnyl brand hcg.

I was literally about to ask you which brand you used, so thanks for that. Where were you getting the pregnyl from, and how much was a 10,000iu vial for you? Are you still using HCG?

 

[Hopeful Story]

This is very encouraging! Thank you SO much for all of the information you shared. My husband also had a sperm count of 0 after being on testosterone injections for 4 years. He wants to remain on the testosterone. All fertility doctors we've talked to have said he's either a lost cause or that he'd have to definitely go off the trt. So we're trying to figure this out on our own. You said you stayed on the test the whole time, how much were you taking? Also, was the fsh called Ovidrel? We've found hmg and Ovidrel to be insanely expensive. We have good insurance but no doctors who will prescribe it Lastly, are Mom and baby healthy? Praying her pregnancy went smoothly with no issues. Looking forward to a response!

Thank you for your prayers! Anticipated due date is Feb 25, so any time now really. So far everything has been totally healthy and normally with the mother and our baby. We feel super grateful that's been the case! I'll post an update on here after after she's born to let you know how it turns out. Boy can I can empathize with your situation. It was beyond confusing and frustrating. Finding a fertility doctor that understands TRT is very very rare. They're basically an obstacle to overcome in the process unless you hook up with a clinic that specializes in TRT. Luckily there are sites and communities like this one. Don't lose faith! I take 81mg of testosterone gel a day. Never reduced that at all. I'm not sure what that translates to with injectables, but I think it's the highest recommended daily dose of gel. So not a low dose by any means. The fsh was Follistim. HCG looks to be generic from a company called Fresenius Kabi. I wouldn't give up on getting a doctor to prescribe the fsh if your husband has documented hypogonadism. It's a perfectly legitimate treatment that is actually recommended by Aetna. I'm sure that's true of other insurances too. Let me know what else I can answer.

 

[Weasel]

I was literally about to ask you which brand you used, so thanks for that. Where were you getting the pregnyl from, and how much was a 10,000iu vial for you? Are you still using HCG?

I was able to get it through the VA by Rx although on a couple occasions, I got corion brand because the pregnyl was unavailable. They were 10,000iu vials.

 

[Gman86]

I was able to get it through the VA by Rx although on a couple occasions, I got corion brand because the pregnyl was unavailable. They were 10,000iu vials.

Alright thanks. I had to stop using pregnyl as well because it became unavailable too many times. I’ll look into corion brand though, good to know it’s pretty comparable.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Another case but using a different protocol

Semen analysis results after adding FSH to TRT and hCG

 

[[email protected]]

Same as my extensive research on it showed. Last fertility specialist I went to said I had to go off testosterone because otherwise my body won’t oroduce LH and FSH. I said, what about if I take HCG and FSH? He said no, the brain is smarter than that, it won’t work. That the brain needs to make LH and FSH itself or it won’t work.

I’m thinking, HCG works, so obviously that statement is false. Injecting HCG, hmg, fsh bypasses the brain altogether, just like testosterone. My wife told me to stop questioning the doctor and if I wanted kids, to follow his advice to get off testosterone for 4 months. I’m the primary breadwinner, so I said no, I want to do some reading. Finally convinced my wife using the research I found, and now we are preparing to run a cycle of HCG, hmg, and fsh. I’m really glad to see other men coming to the same conclusion. Remember, in many of these instances, the doc gets paid whether it’s successful or not, and if you fail once, often you will try again at their suggestion.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Same as my extensive research on it showed. Last fertility specialist I went to said I had to go off testosterone because otherwise my body won’t produce LH and FSH. I said, what about if I take HCG and FSH? He said no, the brain is smarter than that, it won’t work. That the brain needs to make LH and FSH itself or it won’t work.

I’m thinking, HCG works, so obviously that statement is false. Injecting HCG, hmg, fsh bypasses the brain altogether, just like testosterone. My wife told me to stop questioning the doctor and if I wanted kids, to follow his advice to get off testosterone for 4 months. I’m the primary breadwinner, so I said no, I want to do some reading. Finally convinced my wife using the research I found, and now we are preparing to run a cycle of HCG, hmg, and fsh. I’m really glad to see other men coming to the same conclusion. Remember, in many of these instances, the doc gets paid whether it’s successful or not, and if you fail once, often you will try again at their suggestion.

I hate to say it, but he has not read studies that show that men can stay on TRT and add HCG and/or FSH.
Semen analysis results after adding FSH to TRT and hCG

Regaining Fertility; TRT+HCG+FSH

Best HCG Dose for Men on TRT: Two Studies That Used HCG with Testosterone

 

[[email protected]]

I hate to say it, but he has not read studies that show that men can stay on TRT and add HCG and/or FSH.
Semen analysis results after adding FSH to TRT and hCG

Regaining Fertility; TRT+HCG+FSH

Best HCG Dose for Men on TRT: Two Studies That Used HCG with Testosterone

I completely agree with you. I have yet to meet a doc or fertility specialist that understands that it’s possible to stay on TRT. Note that many of them have financial incentives not to, particularly if a tese or micro-tese surgery is involved for low sperm counts. Surgeries pay well and are often cash only, whether it’s successful or not. Low success rates means more surgerical opportunities if they can convince their patients. When men have low TRT levels, they become more docile and are more willing to do what their doctors tell them to do.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I completely agree with you. I have yet to meet a doc or fertility specialist that understands that it’s possible to stay on TRT. Note that many of them have financial incentives not to, particularly if a tese or micro-tese surgery is involved for low sperm counts. Surgeries pay well and are often cash only, whether it’s successful or not. Low success rates means more surgerical opportunities if they can convince their patients. When men have low TRT levels, they become more docile and are more willing to do what their doctors tell them to do.

And how can you have a sex drive to impregnate your woman if you have low T ? LOL

 

[Hopeful1]

Hello everyone. These forums were very helpful to me on my fertility journey over the past 6 months, so I thought I would share more story. The more info people have, the better I think. If anyone wants more detail I'm happy to share. I don't know if I put this in the right forum so feel free to move it. I did not use clomid.

I'm 42 and been on testosterone gel for almost 15 years. Partner and I decided we want kids so we went straight to a fertility clinic. Our doctor is a reproductive endocrinologist. Did the semen analysis and 0 sperm, which I expected. At this point the doctor told me a few things turned out to not be accurate.

1) Insurance won't cover fertility meds for men. Out of pocket per month was gonna be around $1500 for hcg and fsh. Did a ton of research and Aetna will cover this as long as it's framed as the meds are needed for fertility due to hypogonadism. Not just for fertility. In essence, the diagnosis must be hypogonadism not infertility. Copays cost me $120/month.

2) You must go off testosterone or your sperm count won't go up. Even if I go off, the count will still be so low we'll almost certainly need IVF. I told her I want to try the meds while staying on testosterone. If after 6 months my count is still low, I will go off. She reluctantly agreed.

3) Take 10,000 units of hcg 1x week. I instead took 1000 EOD for 2 weeks. 750 EOD for 2 weeks. Then 500 EOD thereafter. I don't know if the higher doses at first were necessary or not, but my theory was my system needed a strong jumpstart after being shut down for 15 years. I also took between 75 and 125 units of fsh EOD the whole time. I played with the dose because it made me nauseous.

Did my second semen analysis 5 months in and the count went from 0 to a concentration of 24 million/ML. This test did concentration, not total. I'm guessing that would be somewhere around 75-100 million total in an average load. Never reduced the testosterone. My significant other got pregnant a couple weeks after that. Just hoping for a healthy pregnancy now! All I can say is what worked for me. Good luck to others that are trying!

@Hopeful Story
We just had a consultation with a urologist that is supposed to be knowledgeable on trt and fertility. She gave us a prescription for hcg and fsh, but we just found out his insurance wont cover it for hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, that's what she stated on the perscription form for insurance. The insurance came back saying that he has to have a testosterone serum of under 200 in order to cover the prescriptions, his is just under 900. Should we contact the insurance company and say it's for fertility due to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism? I was under the impression insurance wouldn't cover those injectables for guys if it was for fertility. Hes currently taking hcg, but its $200 a vial, so if we could get insurance to help pay that would be great. This whole process has been so hard and frustrating. Any advice you could give me will be greatly appreciated!

 

[fifty]

Hcg should not be $200 a vial. Use http://www.goodrx.com

 

[Nelson Vergel]

It is cheaper at EmpowerPharmacy.com

Have doctor fax it there
They also have the cheapest FSH in the market

HCG INJECTION | Compounding Pharmacy - Empower Pharmacy

 

[Hopeful1]

It is cheaper at EmpowerPharmacy.com

Have doctor fax it there
They also have the cheapest FSH in the market

HCG INJECTION | Compounding Pharmacy - Empower Pharmacy

Thanks Nelson. I emailed over his prescription and am waiting for a price quote for the hcg and fsh. The pharmacy actually filled the fsh prescription and it was only a $30 copay for the fsh pens (looks like only a 14 day supply though), but it's weird his Insurance covered the fsh, but not the hcg. I'm hoping it wasn't a mistake.

 

[rcaw1975]

It is cheaper at EmpowerPharmacy.com

Have doctor fax it there
They also have the cheapest FSH in the market

HCG INJECTION | Compounding Pharmacy - Empower Pharmacy

I notice there two version of Corion HCG. One with a letter "C" and another without the letter "C". Anyone knows the difference between Corion "C" 5000 and regular Corion 5000?

 

[Hopeful Story]

Just wanted to give everyone the good news that we gave birth to a beautiful baby girl about two months ago! She's totally healthy and perfect in every way. So we're living proof that it can work. It's a shame that the mainstream medical community is lagging in this area, but we have each other. Good luck everyone!

 

[Hopeful Story]

@Hopeful Story
We just had a consultation with a urologist that is supposed to be knowledgeable on trt and fertility. She gave us a prescription for hcg and fsh, but we just found out his insurance wont cover it for hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, that's what she stated on the perscription form for insurance. The insurance came back saying that he has to have a testosterone serum of under 200 in order to cover the prescriptions, his is just under 900. Should we contact the insurance company and say it's for fertility due to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism? I was under the impression insurance wouldn't cover those injectables for guys if it was for fertility. Hes currently taking hcg, but its $200 a vial, so if we could get insurance to help pay that would be great. This whole process has been so hard and frustrating. Any advice you could give me will be greatly appreciated!

l

Looks like they took care of you here. For Aetna, it had to read infertility due to hypogonadism. Couldn't be infertility or hypogonadism by themselves. They also required two semem analyses.

 

[Hopeful1]

l

Looks like they took care of you here. For Aetna, it had to read infertility due to hypogonadism. Couldn't be infertility or hypogonadism by themselves. They also required two semem analyses.

Congratulations on your baby girl!

Thanks for the info. His script read for hypogonadism and not for fertility due to hypogonadism...maybe I can get the doc to change it.
Looks like the fsh is helping, hes been on it for a little over a week and when we scoped this past Saturday, we saw a lot of sperm, probably only 20-30 in that drop, but before the fsh we saw maybe 1 or 2 on the slide. I'm shocked the fsh helped that quickly. Along with the hcg and fsh, the doc has him on tamoxifen and anastrozole too. he was supposed to stop the test, but hasn't.

You guys have been such a great help, and I thank you all for the knowledge the docs couldn't give us!

 

[Hopeful Story]

Congratulations on your baby girl!

Thanks for the info. His script read for hypogonadism and not for fertility due to hypogonadism...maybe I can get the doc to change it.
Looks like the fsh is helping, hes been on it for a little over a week and when we scoped this past Saturday, we saw a lot of sperm, probably only 20-30 in that drop, but before the fsh we saw maybe 1 or 2 on the slide. I'm shocked the fsh helped that quickly. Along with the hcg and fsh, the doc has him on tamoxifen and anastrozole too. he was supposed to stop the test, but hasn't.

You guys have been such a great help, and I thank you all for the knowledge the docs couldn't give us!

Thanks! That's great news you're seeing progress already! I was pretty shocked how quickly mine came back on line after being shut down for so many years. I had mentally prepared myself that it was going to be a long process that probably wouldn't even work in the end after our endocrinologist told us it's basically impossible. But, not so much. I'm not sure you listed the protocol he is using with the meds, but I think that's probably almost as important as the meds themselves. What worked for me was totally different than how the doc wrote it. I've speculated that's why these doctors are so pessimistic about people having good results while staying on testosterone. They aren't prescribing proper protocols, so their patients aren't having good outcomes.

 

[at15]

@Hopeful Story

During this 5 months of hcg/fsh. Did you actually feel good? Did you add an aromatase inhibitor like anastrozole?

 

[Hopeful Story]

I didn't feel very different. Very slightly more emotional in general, but it wasn't significant enough to worry about. No inhibitors. Had the estradiol tested one time along the way. Can't remember the exact number off hand, but it was still on the low end of the normal range. However, when I had it tested before starting the protocol it was almost zero. So I started from a very low point.