Thanks for all the responses. Here's my former and NEW protocol w/labs:
Former protocol for 18 months: 40mg cyp injection IM every 3rd day. No A.I.
With this protocol, I felt pretty good, however was having some minor, yet admittedly annoying, side effects: a bit moody off and on thru the week, some minor amounts of anxiety that wouldn't normally be present, along with the bigger side effect of awakening in the middle of the night ruminating over meaningless things. I tolerated these minor side effects for about a year even after informing my former doc of them. While I'm certain he meant well, at the end of the day, he's just the kind of a dude who doesn't love when I question the protocol as it relates to how I feel. And I'm of the attitude of "life's too short," and I'll find someone who's both a cool dude AND who knows this stuff, treats a ton of guys, and listens to me.
That said, I made an appointment w/Rand McClain and brought my recent LabCorp labs reflecting my former above protocol:
Total T: 880 (264-916)
Free T: 13.1 (6.8-21.5)
E2: 44 (7.6-42.6) (NOT ultrasensitive assay) Note: 6 months prior, my Quest ultrasensitive E2 test was 32.5 (Quest range <29)
DHT: 100 (30-85)
IGF1: 233 (67-205)
LDL: 100 (0-99)
HDL: 40 (>39)
Hemoglobin: 16.9 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit: 49.9 (37.5-51.0)
Rand and I rapped for an hour about all this stuff. Again, he was a very cool dude and answered every question I had. He, like any good doc, mentioned multiple times we aren't treating numbers. His take was generally that he felt with a free T of 13.1 that I was still sub-therapeutic. And he felt with an adjustment in dosage I'd feel better and reap the intended benefits of TRT. He said most of his guys happen to do better with an estrogen somewhere around the low 20's. (while he did have some guys who felt better at higher ranges around 30.) He felt in order to get me up to a higher Free T, I should try moving to a 1x week 200mg cyp shot which would indeed spike my estrogen again, so he advised the 1mg A.I every other day. We agreed to meet again in 4 weeks for retesting, as he was most interested in dialing in my estrogen as it pertains to how I was feeling. Worth mentioning is he said, "you can always go back to where you were in terms of dosage, so give it try and nothing will be lost." He also suggested I donate some blood between now and the retest.
We hear the phrase "where the rubber meets the road," often as it pertains to Free T. But the phrase also applies to this forum, where 1000's of guys are sharing their experiences with what's working for them and what's not. And that's the reason I seek answers in this wonderful forum. So the heart of my question is not to second guess my doctor, but at least try and find some correlation between what I've been prescribed by my new doctor, and what a large sample size of guys are actually doing with their protocol- all while trying to keep in mind each individual has different responses to various protocols. But, honestly, I'm just not seeing where guys here are like, "yeah, 1mg A.I. every other day is the key."
Btw, in case anyone's interested, here's a video link with Nelson asking a pointed question about Anastrozol to Dr. McClain. It's about 7 minutes long. I didn't see this video until AFTER I had my initial consultation with Rand:
https://youtu.be/7KQlq9bGO04?t=22m9s
So do I go against my doc's recommendation, and start lower at .5mg A.I. every other day, or give him a fair shake on the retest coming up in 4 weeks, and follow his 1mg every other day protocol?
....I hope it works out for Diggs and I am sure it will. Maybe Diggs could speak with Dr Rand and explain his concerns as he has some good feedback from the community.
