Insomnia help. I have been on TRT for 15 days and can barely sleep.

[Stoak]

Hi guys. I'm in my late 30s in general good health and in shape. Used anabolics off and on for years in my late 20s. After coming off, TT was 300ng/dl for years and my last free test was mid single digits pg/ml. I decided to try TRT to see if I could live better. My sleep has always been pretty good. I'm a vivid dreamer and can sleep for 9 hours. I usually have a couple of drinks early evening and go to bed consistently at 930-10. Usually I would wake up every other night around 2 (sometimes to piss, sometimes just because) but would fall back to sleep. Since beginning TRT I can't go back to sleep at 2 and if I do I wake up every hour. I even tried not drinking anything one night and I couldn't fall asleep until 2 then woke up every hour. I feel like I can't get to REM sleep... I'm not dreaming. The crazy part is that I am not tired just a bit out of it.

Apparently I do grind my teeth and wear a mouthguard nightly. I had a sleep study done a couple of years ago and I do not have sleep apnea. The question I have is this... is this just an adjustment period and my body will normalize? Or do I need to start tweaking things now? I can't keep doing this because I feel like I have been in hell for 10 days. As far as I can recall I have never had trouble sleeping. I used to take 500+ mg of test and other anabolics 10+ years ago and I do recall some mild insomnia, but this seems way worse.

My current protocol is 170mg of test cyp weekly divided into 2 shots. I've done 4 injections so far.

Also, is week 3 too early for hormone bloodwork just to see where this dose has my levels?

 

[Stylo]

HCG? AI? Or T only? Time of shots? You’re getting energy boosts and that messes with sleep. You’re becoming more alert due to the changes happening. Chances are you will notice a change in a few weeks once your balls shut down and you’re no longer producing natural T. So stick with the current protocol. On the 12 week mark, get some bloodwork and tweak the dose if needed. Also smaller more frequent shots should lower any peaks that you are experiencing.

 

[fifty]

That was my problem (insomnia) and I never figured it out. Would sleep till 2 or 3am then after that was hard to sleep.

That being said if you were on 1/2 gram of test per week before without problems then I don’t know why you’re having such trouble now.

 

[CROM]

Been on TRT 3 years and that's when sleep stopped for me. I’ve tried melatonin, sleep aids, Ambien but the half-life of all of that is too short. And Ambien does not relax the mind, it speeds it up. And people here say Ambien causes cancer. I have tried Restoril (temazepam) and Xanax. 15mg of Restoril works ok but .75 of Xanax works better. It works best if you take it right as you’re getting into bed. I get 7+ hours of sleep. I ain't addicted to it. Been using it for months. Even if I did get addicted, I'd rather that then not sleep. It is not easy to get a doctor to write a script for Xanax...for sleeping aid. That said, studies show that Xanax reduces your immune system and makes you more susceptible to pneumonia. Might not be good with COVID.

 

[Stoak]

HCG? AI? Or T only? Time of shots? You’re getting energy boosts and that messes with sleep. You’re becoming more alert due to the changes happening. Chances are you will notice a change in a few weeks once your balls shut down and you’re no longer producing natural T. So stick with the current protocol. On the 12 week mark, get some bloodwork and tweak the dose if needed. Also smaller more frequent shots should lower any peaks that you are experiencing.

I've only had 4 shots so far. .4ml 80mg per shot = 170mg per week IM (my test cyp is from absolute and it is 210mg for some odd reason instead of 200) with 1 shot of HCG 250iu per week = the protocol. Tues am, Friday afternoon so every 3.5 days. I haven't noticed anything different on inject days/time etc it has been consistent insomnia. I've done one shot of HCG 250iu starting day 14. That's when my doctor told me that my HPTA would be mostly shut. No AI. Not planning on it. I took very low doses of pharmacy arimidex 10 years ago when I was on 825mg of sustanon per week and my e2 was 17 and my TT was 6000 and I could barely get an erection. Never touching it again. I'd rather lower my testosterone dose. I'm going to call my doctor tmrw and if he thinks that this is just an adjustment period, I will stick it out.

That was my problem (insomnia) and I never figured it out. Would sleep till 2 or 3am then after that was hard to sleep.

That being said if you were on 1/2 gram of test per week before without problems then I don’t know why you’re having such trouble now.

I think what a man can handle at 28 vs 40 in regards to sleep/drinking/body punishment etc is different. I do recall when I was younger having some bouts of insomnia on injection days but this is worse. Granted, I am 10-12 years older now and have been natural for a decade. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I think I read that you stopped TRT? Did your sleep return to normal? It's interesting bc I could almost feel this insomnia creeping up on me naturally over the years (the consistent 2am wake cycle) and it appears that beginning TRT put it into overdrive... and now I can't fall back to sleep, or if I do it is extremely broken.

Been on TRT 3 years and that's when sleep stopped for me. I’ve tried melatonin, sleep aids, Ambien but the half-life of all of that is too short. And Ambien does not relax the mind, it speeds it up. And people here say Ambien causes cancer. I have tried Restoril (temazepam) and Xanax. 15mg of Restoril works ok but .75 of Xanax works better. It works best if you take it right as you’re getting into bed. I get 7+ hours of sleep. I ain't addicted to it. Been using it for months. Even if I did get addicted, I'd rather that then not sleep. It is not easy to get a doctor to write a script for Xanax...for sleeping aid. That said, studies show that Xanax reduces your immune system and makes you more susceptible to pneumonia. Might not be good with COVID.

I'd rather live naturally with 300mg TT and single digit free test than resort to treating problems created by TRT with new drugs. My life wasn't terrible beforehand. I could have normal sex and slept great. My problem was energy. I could sleep 9 hours and still be tired and I felt like I was spinning my wheels in the gym. Yesterday I think I was so shot that I was able to sleep a little better. I had a huge sub with chips and I nodded off for 10 minutes in the mid afternoon, then took 3mg of Melatonin at 830. Went to bed at 930, slept straight thru until 2am and then had a broken sleep until 730am. I don't want every night to be like this, but this was definitely better than it has been. Every time I wake up between 2am and 7am I have a raging hard on. I don't know if this is the issue or what, but I will wake up every 30 minutes-1 hour and without fail, a raging hard on. This didn't happen to me before TRT. It was maybe a once-2x weekly occurrence and it was a 2/3 erection.

 

[Vince]

Insomnia on TRT

Has anybody had insomnia that they attribute to there trt?

www.excelmale.com

 

[fifty]

I think what a man can handle at 28 vs 40 in regards to sleep/drinking/body punishment etc is different. I do recall when I was younger having some bouts of insomnia on injection days but this is worse. Granted, I am 10-12 years older now and have been natural for a decade. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I think I read that you stopped TRT? Did your sleep return to normal? It's interesting bc I could almost feel this insomnia creeping up on me naturally over the years (the consistent 2am wake cycle) and it appears that beginning TRT put it into overdrive... and now I can't fall back to sleep, or if I do it is extremely broken.

Yes I stopped trt and sleep has returned to normal which was a relief. No longer waking up at 3am just like you mentioned.

 

[Stylo]

Ok... so try this. Keep your T dose where its at. Drop the HCG and let your balls go offline for 12 weeks. See if this helps. Its best to try the T in isolation so that you can rule out what is doing what. Dont stress about your balls, they will come back after a 12 week hiatus. After testing, add 100iu EOD to minimize any side effects. Dont take your HCG shot.

 

[Stoak]

Ok... so try this. Keep your T dose where its at. Drop the HCG and let your balls go offline for 12 weeks. See if this helps. Its best to try the T in isolation so that you can rule out what is doing what. Dont stress about your balls, they will come back after a 12 week hiatus. After testing, add 100iu EOD to minimize any side effects. Dont take your HCG shot.

The insomnia began happening a few days into the therapy. I didn't take an HCG shot until day 14. I'm highly doubtful the HCG is the problem but I see where you are going with things.

 

[Cataceous]

This may make you feel like you're being pulled in too many directions at once: 170 mg per week of T cypionate is considered high for a starting TRT dose. 100 mg is more typical. To put it in perspective, normal men make 3-9 mg of testosterone per day. You're averaging 17 mg/day. There are some reasons for TRT dosing to be a little above natural production, but this is double without knowing how you'll respond.

 

[fifty]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I’d skip a dose then go 50mg twice a week.

 

[Vman]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I’d skip a dose then go 50mg twice a week.

I would also suggest something similar. I'd go to 50-60mg twice a week. To help you sleep now while the doses you already injected are getting out of your system I would also try taking melatonin every night. Start at 1mg and go up 1mg at a time until you sleep well. I would advise the extended release variety.

 

[J71]

I had the same problem when I first started. I suffered from increased anxiety and sleep issues or almost the first 6 months of therapy. What finally helped was lowering my dose of 140 mg of test cyp to 120 mg and injecting every other day. My body did not like all of that test in one shot. TRT is no joke and is definitely an ongoing journey. If you are committed to figuring it out then it might take a while. If you feel like you can live without it, then you may want to consider stopping.

 

[Tdizzle]

Been on TRT 3 years and that's when sleep stopped for me. I’ve tried melatonin, sleep aids, Ambien but the half-life of all of that is too short. And Ambien does not relax the mind, it speeds it up. And people here say Ambien causes cancer. I have tried Restoril (temazepam) and Xanax. 15mg of Restoril works ok but .75 of Xanax works better. It works best if you take it right as you’re getting into bed. I get 7+ hours of sleep. I ain't addicted to it. Been using it for months. Even if I did get addicted, I'd rather that then not sleep. It is not easy to get a doctor to write a script for Xanax...for sleeping aid. That said, studies show that Xanax reduces your immune system and makes you more susceptible to pneumonia. Might not be good with COVID.

I hope you never have to come off of that Xanax after daily prolonged use. I would not wish that experience on anyone.

 

[Stoak]

This may make you feel like you're being pulled in too many directions at once: 170 mg per week of T cypionate is considered high for a starting TRT dose. 100 mg is more typical. To put it in perspective, normal men make 3-9 mg of testosterone per day. You're averaging 17 mg/day. There are some reasons for TRT dosing to be a little above natural production, but this is double without knowing how you'll respond.

I never would have considered 170mg anything more than a baby dose based on the old bodybuilding days (I know that it is on the high end for TRT). I've always used and found a 5-6X multiplier to work for me (my bw confirmed this years ago when using testosterone for aesthetic purposes) in terms of dose in mg in x5 = 850-1020ng/dl which didn't seem crazy to me. I'm using Peter Uncaged as my clinic in Florida right now and their baseline protocol in terms of a "number" is 900. Maybe I am just older and more susceptible. I have had a couple of anxiety attacks in the past 5 years but I don't consider myself an anxious person. I always thought these couple episodes were situational (once was in a MRI machine, another was on a packed bus with no A/C after a night of heavy drinking).

Probably an unpopular opinion but I’d skip a dose then go 50mg twice a week.

I don't think this is so crazy. I'm going to save this in my back pocket for when I get super desperate. I may take the dose down in .05 ml increments. that would take me from 170 to 150... work my way down.

I would also suggest something similar. I'd go to 50-60mg twice a week. To help you sleep now while the doses you already injected are getting out of your system I would also try taking melatonin every night. Start at 1mg and go up 1mg at a time until you sleep well. I would advise the extended release variety.

I used melatonin 2 nights and it was the same response only I was really groggy and nauseous the next day instead of just tired. I didn't have the extended release but I would be willing to try that. I started some KSM-66 Ashwagandha at 500mg 2X per day. I've also cut out all alcohol (which was one of my goals when starting TRT)

I had the same problem when I first started. I suffered from increased anxiety and sleep issues or almost the first 6 months of therapy. What finally helped was lowering my dose of 140 mg of test cyp to 120 mg and injecting every other day. My body did not like all of that test in one shot. TRT is no joke and is definitely an ongoing journey. If you are committed to figuring it out then it might take a while. If you feel like you can live without it, then you may want to consider stopping.

Thanks for your experience. What I'm really trying to determine is how long to stick it out (is this insomnia a 2-3 week transient adjustment due to beginning TRT or really just a permanent function of this dose). Seems like in your case it wasn't transient. I'm not panicked about stopping and getting my natural production back. I took large dose of anabolics for 4 years over a decade ago and things came back without really a problem. I made a baby, my penis works, I don't look malnourished etc. I did sign a 6 month contract for treatment with this clinic which would be a small worry if they wouldn't let me out of it, but in the scheme of things it isn't that much money.

 

[Stoak]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I’d skip a dose then go 50mg twice a week.

I would also suggest something similar. I'd go to 50-60mg twice a week. To help you sleep now while the doses you already injected are getting out of your system I would also try taking melatonin every night. Start at 1mg and go up 1mg at a time until you sleep well. I would advise the extended release variety.

Ok so I had a full blown panic attack this morning after my workout. I have had a few of these in the past. This has convinced me to lower this dose as I can't make it to the 3 month mark of my first panel like this (unless it magically comes together in a couple weeks which it doesn't seem to be the case based on the experiences I read here) Would you guys just skip one of 2X weekly doses or skip a whole week of injects and then start fresh at 50-60mg 2X per week?

 

[fifty]

Isn’t skipping a dose the same as skipping a week?

 

[Cataceous]

For a smoother transition I would just skip one of the doses, not two.

 

[Stoak]

Isn’t skipping a dose the same as skipping a week?

I'm not sure... I take 2 shots weekly. Wasn't clear to me if you meant 1 shot or 1 week.

 

[fifty]

I’m saying if you pin Monday and Thursday, just skip a Thursday.