New to TRT - Not Sure it's Right For Me

[trtguest]

Hi Guys,


I am 37 yrs old and diagnosed with primary hypogonadism. My blood work shows my free testosterone level are 44 pg/ml (normal range: 60-166pg/ml). My LH is 23 mIU/mL (normal range: 1.2-12.0mIU/mL). My endo has suggested me to do TRT.
From symptoms perspective, i am experiencing brain fog and lack of energy (especially around afternoon) which sometimes make harder to complete my day to day tasks. I don't have any lbido or ED issues.
Couple of questions


1. How long generally it takes for your hormone system(fertility & testosterone) to completely shut down after being on TRT?
2. After how long, you are "totally dependent" on TRT? If i do a test/trial for let say a month, will i be able to come off it?
3. If let say i start TRT & later in life (probably 5 years or so) i decide to come off it. Will i feel how i feel now or will it be worse?
4. My doctor won't be prescribing HCG with it but i want to retain fertility and my testicular size. Once on TRT, my FSH & LH will start to drop but does it drop all the way to 0? if i take let say low dosage of testosterone per week, shouldn't it just augment my natural testosterone supply or i am oversimplifying it?
5. How long after starting TRT people start seeing testicular atrophy?

 

[Vince]

Everyone is different, but testing should be done after at least 6 weeks of starting a trt protocol, at that time you will be completely shut down. If you would like to remain fertile you need to add HCG into your protocol. After being on trt for a long time you need to do a restart to hopefully get your hormone axis working properly again.

 

[Vettester Chris]

Hi Guys,


I am 37 yrs old and diagnosed with primary hypogonadism. My blood work shows my free testosterone level are 44 pg/ml (normal range: 60-166pg/ml). My LH is 23 mIU/mL (normal range: 1.2-12.0mIU/mL). My endo has suggested me to do TRT.
From symptoms perspective, i am experiencing brain fog and lack of energy (especially around afternoon) which sometimes make harder to complete my day to day tasks. I don't have any lbido or ED issues.
Couple of questions


1. How long generally it takes for your hormone system(fertility & testosterone) to completely shut down after being on TRT?
2. After how long, you are "totally dependent" on TRT? If i do a test/trial for let say a month, will i be able to come off it?
3. If let say i start TRT & later in life (probably 5 years or so) i decide to come off it. Will i feel how i feel now or will it be worse?
4. My doctor won't be prescribing HCG with it but i want to retain fertility and my testicular size. Once on TRT, my FSH & LH will start to drop but does it drop all the way to 0? if i take let say low dosage of testosterone per week, shouldn't it just augment my natural testosterone supply or i am oversimplifying it?
5. How long after starting TRT people start seeing testicular atrophy?

Curious, what was your total testosterone serum?

Your LH is 23, which is obviously high, and with low testosterone it would be an accurate assessment for a 'Primary' diagnosis. So, your testicles are not responding to your endogenous LH, so HCG isn't going to do you any better. As you probably know, HCG is just an analog of LH.

Here's my take ... If you need testosterone replacement therapy, then that's what you need, why speculate about coming off of it? You're 'Primary', so I'm sure your testicles won't be showing a significant amount of atrophy, unlike you would if your diagnosis was secondary hypo.

So, yes, if you come off of it in 5 years, you will probably feel worse 1) Simply because you've been feeling the optimal benefits of TRT for 5 years. 2) Your HPTA will be suppressed completely, so there won't be any natural production to speak of, which at this point you have some, although currently it is sub-adequate.

 

[trtguest]

Curious, what was your total testosterone serum?

Your LH is 23, which is obviously high, and with low testosterone it would be an accurate assessment for a 'Primary' diagnosis. So, your testicles are not responding to your endogenous LH, so HCG isn't going to do you any better. As you probably know, HCG is just an analog of LH.

Here's my take ... If you need testosterone replacement therapy, then that's what you need, why speculate about coming off of it? You're 'Primary', so I'm sure your testicles won't be showing a significant amount of atrophy, unlike you would if your diagnosis was secondary hypo.

So, yes, if you come off of it in 5 years, you will probably feel worse 1) Simply because you've been feeling the optimal benefits of TRT for 5 years. 2) Your HPTA will be suppressed completely, so there won't be any natural production to speak of, which at this point you have some, although currently it is sub-adequate.

HiChris,

Thanks. My total testosterone was not ordered so don't have those numbers.
The thing that bothers me is that i will be depending on something for my personal happiness & well being (for my entire life)

 

[CoastWatcher]

HiChris,

Thanks. My total testosterone was not ordered so don't have those numbers.
The thing that bothers me is that i will be depending on something for my personal happiness & well being (for my entire life)

You can look at it that way, or you can be pleased to live at a time when medicine offers you a reasonably simple way of correcting a problem that limits your enjoyment of life.

 

[johndoesmith]

HiChris,

Thanks. My total testosterone was not ordered so don't have those numbers.
The thing that bothers me is that i will be depending on something for my personal happiness & well being (for my entire life)

With LH being that high, you don't have a choice. We depend on MANY things for our happiness and well being, water, electricity, air, food, sanitation(soap and water is a miracle), heating, air conditioning and indoor plumbing to name a few. If you lost anyone of those things, you'd have a serious impact to your happiness, so essentially you will be dependant on them for the rest of your life.

So you have 2 choices, suffer hypogonadism, or not suffer from hypogonadism with the slight chance that your access to testosterone is cut off thus causing you to suffer from hypogonadism again.

I see it like this, in one choice, suffering is guaranteed, in the other, it's a risk, but if you have 10 years less of suffering, is that not a win?

 

[meelord]

You can look at it that way, or you can be pleased to live at a time when medicine offers you a reasonably simple way of correcting a problem that limits your enjoyment of life.

Well said.

 

[Vettester Chris]

HiChris,

Thanks. My total testosterone was not ordered so don't have those numbers.
The thing that bothers me is that i will be depending on something for my personal happiness & well being (for my entire life)

Yes, exactly!! You're one of the very first generations that has the option to treat and optimize testosterone deficiency, getting a little bit of an edge on the whole aging process. There is nothing addicting about it, you don't get the shakes or withdrawals if you come off. All it does is just restore and balance a vital area that helped make us who we are as men!

In contrast, some people need HC therapy when their adrenals don't produce adequate cortisol, some people need thyroid medications because their thyroids (or pituitary) won't produce adequate amounts of hormone. Women have been taking progesterone and estrogen therapy for decades, helping with endocrine disorders that are peri and post menopausal related. For some reason all those and many others are looked as awesome and viable therapies, but for some reason people (and even many physicians) see TRT as the boogeyman! 8 years for me, not going back!! (which was a lack of personal happiness & well being)

To concur with JDS, we need so many things to actually achieve happiness and well being (water, food, warmth, and for me bikes LOL).

 

[Vettester Chris]

Plus ... Isn't it crazy how many doctors and patients will discount and demonize TRT, because you will have to take it for life!! So instead, they prescribe and take synthetic SSRI's like candy, for life, all for the sake of achieving happiness and well being