TRT and Libido: Has Anyone Had Consistently Acceptable Libido?

[MarkM]

I inject @180 mg of testosterone cypionate on Wednesdays and @500 IU of HCG on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. SHGB is 11.8 (16.5 - 55.9 range), total testosterone is 1032 (264-916 range), free testosterone is 28.4 (6.8 - 21.5 range), and estradiol is 29.2 (8.0 - 35.0 range).

Falconberg,

That is a huge amount of testosterone (180 mg) to inject once weekly with having such a low SHBG of 11.8. As Gman stated, most with low SHBG do much better with ED or EOD injections. How was your injection protocol established? Is that how your doctor initially set it up?

 

[Vince]

I may not have been clear enough in my post, but I'm not talking about TRT being a magic cure for remediating low libido. I'm talking about TRT actually decreasing libido.

In my case, I and my partner were perfectly happy with my libido before getting on TRT. TRT then ramped it up beyond baseline, which was nice. But if it had simply returned to baseline, that would have been acceptable. But my libido (and erection strength) is actually much lower than it was before TRT, and that seems to be a common complaint across this and other forums.

I realize that there are lots of factors that affect libido, but I find it dubious when people raise their hands and say "you can never know." I have no more stress, am in no worse health, and am getting no worse sleep than I ever have. In fact, I have improved on those metrics in the past several years. My endo has tested me thoroughly and I am within range. But I am completely convinced that TRT (and not some other cause) has actively decreased my libido by altering my hormonal axis. I'm now chasing the right ****tail to fix that and am starting to lose hope. Hence my request for success stories.

I would have to agree with the others, with that low shbg number I will consider daily injections. I am not a low shbg guy but I do do daily injections. I inject 16 mg of testosterone cypionate daily, 500 IU of HCG twice a week and no AI.

 

[falconberg]

Thanks for the responses. I have always been on once-a-week injections of 170 - 200 mg. That started with the first low T center I visited, continued through my urologist that treated me for a years, and is now being continued by the endo that I see. Both the urologist and the endo have a very good reputation in our local area, but neither of them mentioned anything about SHBG or the need for more frequent injections. I am about to start care with Defy Medical to see if they can help dial it in.

Also, FWIW, the HCG is a relatively recent addition (about one month now). It seemed to help at first, but now I'm back in the same rut.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Low T Centre has a reputation for starting men on whopping doses of testosterone, all men without regard for SHBG levels or anything else. The reason? Most, though not all, will realize some sort of kick when - after being hypogonadal for some time - that exogenous testosterone hits them. The honeymoon period, what frequently occurs prior to complete shutdown of the axis, can be remarkably blissful. However, for a a low SHBG guy, reality sets in.

More is NOT always the answer in this game. You appear to have been ill-served.