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testosterone replacement therapy

personal User

personal User

Active Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
531
Several years ago, my doctor said to me "I know you've got a big pair, and they are producing but not as much as they used to."
 
Suggested we start a regime to increase testosterone levels.
 
Fast forward to today, and I will share with you what I have learned. Many men will face this situation before they their mid sixties, and it is not something you see talked about very much.
 
After going up and down various paths, I today give myself a subcutaneous injection every third day of .18 cc of testosterone Cypionate, .25 cc of HCG every other day, and .5 milligrams of anastrazole every third day.
 
Cost is about $60 for 20 cc HCG, and $95 for 20 cc testosterone, anastrazole - generic is $40.00 per ten 1 mg tablets.
 
I am using about half the amount of testosterone compared to what some are taking. I am producing about half of the level expected for my age.
 
You need prescriptions for the above medications, and you need a doctor that is open minded enough to accept recent observations of what works even though there may not be specific clinical trials. You also need a doctor that is comfortable with you giving yourself injections.
 
I was fortunate to have all of those things.
 
I initially started giving myself the TT injections intramuscular once a week.  Then saw where some were doing it subcutaneous with lower dosages multiple times a week.
 
Why do testosterone replacement therapy?
 
Better quality of life, feel 20 or 30 years younger, more clearheaded. Sleep better, etc. is surprising how much better I feel. Oh yeah, sex is better also :thumbs:
 
Down sides? Well, while you're changing levels you can be much like a woman going through menopause.  Happened to me when I started, and again a few months back when I went to subcutaneous from Intramuscular.
 
Google it, there are potential negative side effects. Most of them appear similar to me as effects that men with high testosterone levels tend to have. Increased risk of prostate cancer, increased risk of BHP. The tradeoff for quality of life seems like a good one to me.
 
I don't wish to get into the merits or reasons to not do TRT.
 
However, if someone here is interested, does the research and wishes to pursue it I wanted to let them know what a good regime might be. The HCG amount is pretty much a standard, so is the anestrazole. The only way to determine the correct ammount of testosterone is to have levels tested when you have stabilized and go from there. There are several other levels that need to be checked also.
 
One excellent source for information is
 
http://tnation.t-nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_training_performance_bodybuilding_trt/trt_protocol_for_injections
 
Do not be put off by the fact that this is a body-building site. As near as I can tell, this is one of the few (only?) of those that want to do it properly and not over do it.
 
I found that site when searching for the best time of day to do a Testosterone injection ( It doesn't matter) and realized they have some very knowledgeable people posting there.
 
I was injecting intramuscular until I saw that a number of people there were doing subcutaneous.
 
BTW, best site for Intramuscular is Ventro-gluteal. Painless, safest. Basically, this is side gluteal. There are fewer nerves and blood vessels there, and is pretty easy to self inject painlessly with a  inch needle. I only changed because I began thinking about how once a week for the next twenty years would be sticking a thousand holes in my muscle.
 
Subcutaneous is easier to reach, easy to do, painless with a 1/2 inch needle. I use a 29 gauge, cheap, easy to find. Pain in the ass to load the syringe, the testosterone cypionate is oily and thick, difficult and slow to load on a skinny needle so sometimes I just place the bottle with the needle hanging upside down and come back to it in a while.
 
I cannot emphasize how important the doctor is in this. Many of them have no clue, and some of thing want you to come in to the office for a shot each week. Basically, if the doctor is open to suggestion and willing to look at and try a different way of going about things any GP can still be a great resource.
 
One of my doctors is not interested, another suggested it and then was open to further suggestion with information from that link.
 
As near as I can tell my pharmacies are if not the cheapest, among the cheapest and compounding pharmacies are often shipping out of state. You will need a prescription.
 
While these three posts have been somewhat involved, this is a somewhat involved subject. This has made a large improvement in my quality of life.
 
Thank you for sharing this. It takes balls. We will all go through it, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
 
Thanks for the kind words. One reason I thought about posting is that I know a couple of guys, one in early forties and another early fifties that have had to deal with it and had a difficult time doing so.
 
They found out the hard way that very few doctors have the knowledge or willingness to deal with it appropriately. It is also quite difficult to find in one place a proper and complete regime to follow along with reasoning and guidance.
 
Even if it happens years from now, if this post helps just one member of CP to avoid a bunch of grief getting there It will have been worth the effort.
 
At age 68, it's no biggie and a part of the game. A lot harder for some in their forties and even earlier to face.
 
Thanks for sharing the info. Totally thought this was a spam thread though. :)
 
I know a good friend who just died due to Testosterone injections by a doctor. He was taking the injections since 2004 I believe. We just buried him. He was only 68. He also past a month before his only son's wedding. Be careful. It's not worth you life.
 
comptalk said:
....died due to Testosterone injections by a doctor. He was taking the injections since 2004 I believe......
Click to expand...
one of the reasons I posted the thread is that I have come across and heard some weird stuff out there, with people singing the praises of regimes which I would not consider safe. I also have associates who "go to a doctor for series" of various injections including among other things human growth hormone, various other "beneficial" things.
 
FWIW, the only money my doctor makes no money on this, does not sell the injections, the only pay my doctor gets for this is for my annual and semi-annual visits where this is discussed along with the rest of my health care.
 
My Dr writes prescriptions for testosterone cypionate and HCG which I get filled at compounding pharmacies, he also writes a prescription for anastrazole which I obtain generically on the internet.
 
I do my own injections, and the Dr orders tests from the lab to check the levels. Medicare or I pay for lab testing, the Dr gets no cut. My Dr is not selling any of these products, the shots, or giving any of the injections.
 
FWIW, my Dr is a board certified Internal Medicine Specialist, MD, and certified under NC's Integrative Medicine Specialty.(plus, he is well thought of by an extended family member that is a physician in the same community, and a long time personal friend that is Nurse Physicians Assistant in the same community.
 
I do believe, however, that there is a certain amount of "quackery" within this area of health care, hence my purpose in originating the thread.
 
To be clear, for this to be done correctly lab tests must be done periodically to ensure dosages are at the correct level, and that by following the regime you are not causing worse problems
 
Not sure, just telling you what happened. The testosterone injections weakened his white blood cells to just six single cells. It basically destroyed his immune system. He was getting regular blood tests. However, from what I was told, then never checked his white blood cell count.
 
comptalk said:
Not sure, just telling you what happened. The testosterone injections weakened his white blood cells to just six single cells. It basically destroyed his immune system. He was getting regular blood tests. However, from what I was told, then never checked his white blood cell count.
Click to expand...
Or another way of saying that, might be that they did not monitor hematocrit levels. While I am not a physician or a medical technologist certified to work in a medical lab, I think what likely happened was that as a result of the testosterone injections his hematocrit levels increased to the point that the red blood cells crowded out or overpowered the white blood cells.
 
I will note that the last line of the linked post by the original poster posting the proper protocol says

"You need to monitor hematocrit levels as part of your routine lab work"
 
The linked original post of protocols is extremely well done, and I have yet to come across any reference that is nearly so good.
 
When I stated that many physicians are not knowledgeable about how and why to implement the proper and necessary protocols/regime I was not overstating the situation.
 
I will also note that in the original post he states "This is really a small part of what most guys need to know".
 
I will say in all sincerity that I am glad you made the post because I think people need to understand that if they are going to do this, they need to become knowledgeable about and stay on top of it under the supervision of a medical professional that is knowledgeable in this specific area or they may have serious issues possibly even resulting in death.
 
Of course, the same thing could readily be said about diabetes.
 
Very true and I agree. I am just posting the contrapositive to what you and others experience. I am sure there is a lot of good the HRT can do. However, on the flip side of things, it can also do great harm to where the person eventually pays the ultimate price if not managed 100% correctly. Remember, if the best doctor or nurse practitioner can and does make mistakes...
 
comptalk said:
Very true and I agree. I am just posting the contrapositive to what you and others experience. I am sure there is a lot of good the HRT can do. However, on the flip side of things, it can also do great harm to where the person eventually pays the ultimate price if not managed 100% correctly. Remember, if the best doctor or nurse practitioner can and does make mistakes...
Click to expand...
Totally agree.
 
personal User said:
Several years ago, my doctor said to me "I know you've got a big pair, and they are producing but not as much as they used to."

Suggested we start a regime to increase testosterone levels.

Fast forward to today, and I will share with you what I have learned. Many men will face this situation before they their mid sixties, and it is not something you see talked about very much.

After going up and down various paths, I today give myself a subcutaneous injection every third day of .18 cc of testosterone Cypionate, .25 cc of HCG every other day, and .5 milligrams of anastrazole every third day.

Cost is about $60 for 20 cc HCG, and $95 for 20 cc testosterone, anastrazole - generic is $40.00 per ten 1 mg tablets.

I am using about half the amount of testosterone compared to what some are taking. I am producing about half of the level expected for my age.

You need prescriptions for the above medications, and you need a doctor that is open minded enough to accept recent observations of what works even though there may not be specific clinical trials. You also need a doctor that is comfortable with you giving yourself injections.

I was fortunate to have all of those things.

I initially started giving myself the TT injections intramuscular once a week. Then saw where some were doing it subcutaneous with lower dosages multiple times a week.

Why do testosterone replacement therapy?

Better quality of life, feel 20 or 30 years younger, more clearheaded. Sleep better, etc. is surprising how much better I feel. Oh yeah, sex is better also :thumbs:
Click to expand...
I advise you to visit the site. Lots of useful information about hormone therapy. Analysis of various brands, pros and cons.
 
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