Swapping To 1 Injection Per Week.

[WhatSayYou89]

I'm just going by what I've heard. It seems like if you wanted to remove hCG potency / efficacy as a variable from your results, you would want to use Pregnyl. Some of the disussion that led me to this conclusion was here, and some I think on Reddit also.

Empower vs Pregnyl HCG

Hey guys, having a bit of trouble with my TRT protocol. I'm just not feeling as good as I was and the only thing that has changed is the brand of HCG I'm using. For the longest time I was using Pregnyl HCG because it was covered by my insurance and only cost me $12/mo even when I was getting x3...

www.excelmale.com

Is HCG enough to backfill pathways?

Hey guys, I’d like some feedback on this, as I’ve heard arguments from both sides . I’m currently on TRT and supplement with HCG 350 ius twice a week . I’ve never tested my pregnenolone levels or Dhea levels, but am aware that exogenous Test can disrupt the pathways and potentially lower...

www.excelmale.com

About to find out here in a few weeks. It will be my first time using Pregnyl vs compounded.

I know this thread has been going for a while. But I should mention I have a friend who injects once every two weeks. He likes the way it makes him feel and he has no reason to switch. So he keeps injecting every two weeks. While I'm just the opposite and I do daily injections.

Yeah, I’ve definitely felt worse on trt rather than I do now. But I’m not gonna stick with this routine forever. Just not gonna pay for medication to make me feel lesser than what I was without it.

With that said I’m not throwing in the towel on trt again anytime soon.

Your levels can't be "perfect" If you're missing libido, mental clarity, drive, etc
you're not dialed in and even if your lab values are "spot on" it means nothing if your symptoms aren't resolved.

I agree, by that I was just trying to say there is nothing that I see that could be changed based off numbers to make any difference imo.

Trying to skip the portion of the conversation of looking at numbers and tweaking those numbers to hit this and that range.

Looking to jump straight into what others feel based off the changes they made with going to a injection frequency of once a week.

 

[WhatSayYou89]

I have higher shbg, I have tried everything in the past 7 years, I feel my best with 120mg of T Cyp once a week IM

Interesting, bc usually you hear higher shbg folks would benefit from more frequent injections since your system is going through that testosterone quicker.

 

[Cataceous]

...
Now lets talk injections of long acting esters:

Low variation of levels between shots (frequency high):

Reports come in of "feeling flat" all the time. Especially with higher end doses and high T 24/7. All the complainers on these forums.

Does this imply that older men in general should feel more "flat" due to the age-dependent decline in testosterone's diurnal variation?

...
SO, perhaps the original developers of the injections did some testing and felt feeling good for some percentage of the time is better than not feeling all of the time? And then came up with these infrequent protocols. I'm almost certain the creators played with this stuff on themselves. Hell, per wikipedia a Havard prof named Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard did a subq inject of animal testicle mixture and felt well. For a while. Pretty sure those Pfizer guys were using the stuff off the record too and used the best protocol (for them, at the time) for the leaflet.

The more mundane explanation is that it was originally assumed one would go to a doctor for the injections, which nobody wants to do very often. So they tried to strike a tolerable balance, with the added condition of not letting trough serum testosterone get too low. High peaks were perhaps regarded as a necessary evil.

 

[Belekas]

Interesting, bc usually you hear higher shbg folks would benefit from more frequent injections since your system is going through that testosterone quicker.

I hear on the contrary. High SHBG - lower injection frequency, low SHBG- higher injection frequency/microdosing.

 

[WhatSayYou89]

I hear on the contrary. High SHBG - lower injection frequency, low SHBG- higher injection frequency/microdosing.

You’re correct. I definitely typed that up wrong. Brain fog has been horrid for me today. Thanks for the pointing that out.

 

[bixt]

Does this imply that older men in general should feel more "flat" due to the age-dependent decline in testosterone's diurnal variation?

Observationally, older men in general do have less zest for life than younger men, sufferer from anhedonia, depression, less energy etc more than younger men. We put it down to the ageing process. Perhaps one reason is less diurnal variation? Its so hard to say given the multitude of other changes due to old age. But if I had to develop some "elixir" for old age mental sharpness it would certainly include some kind of daily peaking testosterone (and mindfulness meditation to keep the dopamine system sharp as well, of course).

 

[bixt]

This is what I’ve been saying but it seems as though some people on this forum would rather pin everyday (makes no sense and not how the drug was intended to be used… duh)

Just dont lose track of there's still other reasons to pin daily. For example to combat "E2 symptoms". For me I get rid of ankle water (shin splints) which affect my running. So many cannot win. For example daily protocols solve the E2 issues but cause low libido and flatness. So those people have to make a trade off.

I'm strongly inclined to be led from personal testing and current posts here that the best solution would be daily peaking protocols which would allow one to enjoy everything.

 

[Belekas]

Just dont lose track of there's still other reasons to pin daily. For example to combat "E2 symptoms". For me I get rid of ankle water (shin splints) which affect my running. So many cannot win. For example daily protocols solve the E2 issues but cause low libido and flatness. So those people have to make a trade off.

I'm strongly inclined to be led from personal testing and current posts here that the best solution would be daily peaking protocols which would allow one to enjoy everything.

It makes good sense to me but hopefully I'll do just fine with 2 weekly E3.5D injections. My SHBG is 64 so I'm giving it a go right out the gate when I start in 1-2 weeks time. Very valid points and must be taken under consideration. Will see how I feel, how blood looks after 8-12 weeks and put notes in my thread as well for anyone interested. Lets see what happens. Figers crossed.

 

[M.J]

The reason I started daily injections. I was trying to stop donating blood every 8 weeks. Going to daily injections did work for me. Once I started I never had to donate blood again. So far it's been over five and a half years. I know it doesn't work for everyone but somehow it worked for me. Plus I do have a strong libido, good energy and no brain fog.

I recently switched To daily also, eod managed to control hematocrit but hemoglobin keeps going up, I was feeling ok on eod honestly. “May have to do with me stopping hcg every three weeks.
But my final blood test showed high hemoglobin had to donate and ferritin went down to 20 from 60 I guess.
Doing 10mg daily now.

 

[Willyt]

I recently switched To daily also, eod managed to control hematocrit but hemoglobin keeps going up, I was feeling ok on eod honestly. “May have to do with me stopping hcg every three weeks.
But my final blood test showed high hemoglobin had to donate and ferritin went down to 20 from 60 I guess.
Doing 10mg daily now.

Were you previously on 20mg EOD? Do you feel any subjective difference between EOD and daily? As I recall, you mentioned in past that protocol changes seem to jump start you, something I've been interested in.

 

[M.J]

Were you previously on 20mg EOD? Do you feel any subjective difference between EOD and daily? As I recall, you mentioned in past that protocol changes seem to jump start you, something I've been interested in.

yes 20mg EOD plus 500 hcg and 75 fsh.

my libido increases due to change of protocol,, I think because stopping hcg which I do every three weeks for 10 days or a week. Cuz I travel almost every month and can’t take hcg with me.

Or maybe hcg by it self kills my libido for some reason.

If for example hcg is increasing my estrogen and killing my libid, the daily protocol will lower my estrogen. So may turn out better. Though I don’t think it will !

The main reason I switched to daily is to control hemoglobin hematocrit is stable around 49 but hemoglobin went up to 17,4.

Hopping for the best though.

 

[M.J]

Were you previously on 20mg EOD? Do you feel any subjective difference between EOD and daily? As I recall, you mentioned in past that protocol changes seem to jump start you, something I've been interested in.

I just started daily this week, nothing good if anything I feel worse, but maybe because I am back on hcg. I will see when I stop hcg again in two weeks.