TRT, any long time users here? How long have you been on?

[Freakenstien]

I was on for 3 years.. I have tried living with out TRT for the last year and its just too damn hard.. So Im going back on..
Im just wondering if there are any long term users in this forum? If so, how long have you been on for? and from what age?

[Kzoo Detector]

I'd like to hear from some long term users, too. I've been on TRT since January and it's helped quite a bit already.

[spoolin]

I've been running TRT the past year for the first time and I'm 41. Decided to try it to try and hold the gains more between cycles but will be doing PCT after this cycle of 10 weeks. I'm typically natty around 7-800 test from labs run and while on TRT of 125mg test E e4d I was testing out at around 950 or so.

[JACKFTYPE]

Yeah, been on for over 3 years since the ripe old age of 25. That's how poorly I managed all the gear I took when I was younger, the doctor said it would be literally 6 years or so before I recovered and I probably never would. He was cool as hell though and gave me a decent HRT dose of 300mg a week.

I have a hard time not blowing through the vial quickly though unfortunately, I have to supplement with orders from the good sponsors here. I'm officially fucked right now until I can get it refilled or get my paycheck and make an order, whichever comes first. Any test donations welcome XD lol

[Freakenstien]

Yeah, been on for over 3 years since the ripe old age of 25. That's how poorly I managed all the gear I took when I was younger, the doctor said it would be literally 6 years or so before I recovered and I probably never would. He was cool as hell though and gave me a decent HRT dose of 300mg a week.

I have a hard time not blowing through the vial quickly though unfortunately, I have to supplement with orders from the good sponsors here. I'm officially fucked right now until I can get it refilled or get my paycheck and make an order, whichever comes first. Any test donations welcome XD lol

Sorry to hear man, I think I did the same.. used deca wth out test and have struggled with lethargy ever since. Not sure if it was the deca but the issue with low energy seems to fit what I did with deca. I had a mate who did a cycle of god knows what and came off cold turkey. He told me he had depression for 4 years before he fully recovered. At least he eventually recovered. Would have been a miserable 4 years waiting it out though. I don't think he knew about pct.

Re tRT, I cant help but wonder if the longer we stay on TRT the less the chances of ever coming off properly but then its bloody hard to live with out it..

Not sure what the answer is..

I don't want to have to rely on trt for the rest of my life so Im looking for an answer and MAY have found something worth trying.. There was a guy I read about a few years back who came off gear and didn't recover properly. He ended up on TRT with low t level. His answer was to work out a proper exit strategy with some doctors using pct gear.
He tried it and it worked. He came off with no down time and his Test levels back to normal

Im going to give it a try.. Im going back on trt.. Going to do a cycle or two, then will try his exit strategy.. If anyone else is interested, I'll try to find it. dig it up for you guys.

[Freakenstien]

Found it... I'll post it anyway..

""As I have recently past my 2 year anniversary of HRT, I have spent some time reflecting on what I have accomplished with this program.
After extensive research, I turned to HRT a possible solution to my declining test levels in 2009. At the time Istarted HRT, my test level was 579 ng/dl. Not low by most standards but about 30% off my normal levels of 900+ ng/dl that I had maintain for some 15 years.
The symptoms of my declining test were as follows...
1. Frequent overtraining. I had reached a point for the first time in my bodybuilding lifestyle where about every 3 months, I would find myself overtrained. In 20 years daily committed train, this had never happened before.
2. Persistent and chronic minor illness. I had begun a steady process of developing repetitive colds and flu-like illnesses that were a function of #1 above.
3. Loss of muscle mass. Because of #1 & especially #2 above, I had drop about nearly 10 pounds of quality muscle.
4. Lack of metal focus. Again, I had never experienced this in my adult life in any capacity. Focus and will are the only things that I have ever possessed in abundance.

In my 2 years on HRT, I can say that I have remedied all of the above symptoms. So, I would declare my HRT a smashing success.
However, there is still one facet of my HRT that I have yet to assess my EXIT STRATEGY.
Like everything business related Ive owned and been involved in, I always have an exit strategy in the event that it is ever needed.
So, at this juncture, I am considering testing my HRT Exit Strategy to see if will indeed produce the results that I expect.
I am considering this not as a means to quit HRT but to reassure myself that I have covered all my bases and can proceed forward on HRT for the indefinite future knowing that if there is ever an issue down the road, I have already operationalize and tested my exit strategy successfully.
I started constructing my exit strategy based on some of my own previous research and personal experiences from my days using AAS to supplement by competitive bodybuilding. Also, Ive spent a tremendous amount of time and energy in the past 4 weeks discussing my exit strategy with several very knowledgeable physicians.
So, here is the plan that we have constructed and I will follow


Week HCG clomid Nolva letro
1 M/W/F/Su 2000 1.25 M/Th
2 T/Th/Sa 2000 1.25 M/Th
3 M/W/F 2000 1.25 M/Th
3 Sat/Sun 100 40 1.25 M/Th
4 Every Day 100 40 1.25 M/Th
5 100 40 1.25 M/Th
6 100 40 1.25 M/Th
7 40 1.25 M/Th
8 40 1.25 M/Th
9 1.25 M/Th
10 1.25 M/Th

I will take my last 100 mg shot of test cyp on the Monday one week before I start my exit. During the week before exiting, I will also have my blood work done for comparative purposes.
My blood work will be done again on the Friday of the 3rd week towards the end of the HCG treatments, again when I discontinue the clomid treatments, and finally, two weeks after I complete the Nolva treatments.
So, I hope to kick this exit strategy off on the Monday Dec 5th.
I will chronicle the results here for those who are interested."

[Freakenstien]

And his follow up.

"I want to add a couple of comment to the original post in this thread....

1) The exit worked exceptionally well for me. In short, once I executed the plan I was able to restore my natural hormone levels to pre-decline levels of about 900 ng/dl.

2) From executing the plan, there is one minor change I'd recommend based on my expereience - increase the letro dosage to 1.25 mg EOD as opposed to M/Th. My estrogen elevated to over 40 during my HCG phase. While not terribly high, this did create some negative feedback and ultimately kept my natural test production lower. Blood works throughout the processes supported this idea and once I actually increase my letro my natural test did actually continue to increase.

3) Because of #2, I extended my taper down of Letro to avoid any type of estrogen rebound. I actually add 4 additional weeks to my taper of letro at the end of the exit.

My last blood profile, March 5th, looked great...my test was close to 900 ng/dl and all my related levels (LH, FSH, E) were all in a normal and acceptable range.

I am now starting my 5th month since the completion of the exit protocol and I have a blood draw scheduled for July 6th at 7:30 am.

So, I'll report some additional information next week"

[Freakenstien]

Final follow up:

"I've corresponded with a lot of folks about my 'Exit' over the past 6 months and I wanted to reinforce one very important fact again.

Before I did my first steroid cycle at age 18 (yup, you read that correctly) my natural test levels were around 900 ng/dl.

I did a number of cycles from the time I was 18 until I quit competing at age 23.

After each cycle, which were never more than 12 weeks and never more than 900 mg a week total, I always follow an HCG, Clomid, Nolva PCT and had my test levels check via blood work. Without fail, I was always able to restore my natural test levels to +/- 900ng/dl using that formula.

From the time I was 23 until the time I started HRT in the Fall of 2009 (almost 17 years), I never cycled. I trained and dieted just like I always had but there was no reason for me to cycle since I was not competing.

In that time, my blood work consistently showed a natural test level of near 900 ng/dl.

So, that was clearly my normal natural level.

My point in stating this again is simple. It seems a lot of guys read my exit thread and think that if they follow what I did they too will get a 900 ng/dl natural test level.

Let me say this clearly. If you never had natural test levels that high previously, you are not going to achieve them but using my exit protocol. It very well may take you back to your normal natural test levels but it will not make you something that you never were.

So, if you are going to follow it as a "restart" which I know a lot of guys have done on the other site - your chances of success are pretty good that you'll get the HPTA up and functioning normally again. I know because I've had several guys from the other site do it and tell me it worked for them. One was even able to get his sperm count high enough to get his wife pregnant. Something the Drs told him he was not capable of doing.

That is well and good, just don't expect to hit a 900 natural test level if you have never had one previously..."

[spoolin]

This whole thing should be stickied. You should get with Pain and see what he thinks and if he thinks it should also be stickied.

[m.stone]

some hectic stories on here and a example of what cycles can do to young people. it aint no joke!

[Superax]

Pretty sure I watched a video on Dorian Yates a few years back and he stated that it took him many years to fully recover after he quit the gear completely.
I'd also be interested to see some long-term (10-20 years) users their bloods, perticulary their HDL/LDL levels.

[JACKFTYPE]

Freak thanks for the great info man!!!!

[jstone]

I have been on trt for a little over 6 years. I ran cycles young, but my test levels recovered even without pct. What did me in was opiates use from back problems. When my levels were tested my total tesl level was 89. This is a little before I turned 28, im 34 now. Bloodwork has only come back odd once, and it was when I tried epistane. I lost my insurance recently, and haven't had bloodwork for about 6 months, but I will soon. My hematocrit is always a little high, but other than that I have zero issues. I just donate blood regularly. If on trt keep a close eye on your hematocrit levels, and do not allow them to get to high.

I see one guy is using 300mg as a trt dose, that is not trt. That is just a light cycle year round. With trt less is more. Trt is a life long treatment, and if you truly need it there is no exit strategy. There may be some rare cases that more than 200mg a week are required, but its probably less than 1-100.

[Kzoo Detector]

About to go to the Dr's office for my treatment in about an hour. Always love TRT day...get my cyp and then a big brunch afterward...lol.

[enrod]

I'm curious how being on TRT affects libido for you guys. With cycling libido tends to slow down towards the middle or end of test only cycles. What's been your experience?

[jstone]

I have never had libido problems. Even when my test was at its lowest. Nothing seems to affect mine its always strong unless im pissed off.

[wook]

I'm curious how being on TRT affects libido for you guys. With cycling libido tends to slow down towards the middle or end of test only cycles. What's been your experience?

No libido problems at all... I'm in my mid 40's and have had zero problems in that area since my TRT began over 5 years ago...

[enrod]

No libido problems at all... I'm in my mid 40's and have had zero problems in that area since my TRT began over 5 years ago...

What's your TRT dose, and do you run an ai - at what dose?

[Kzoo Detector]

I'm curious how being on TRT affects libido for you guys. With cycling libido tends to slow down towards the middle or end of test only cycles. What's been your experience?
For me, libido does drop quite a bit toward the end of the first week after treatment. My TRT is administered every two weeks, which is less frequent than I would like. However, when I'm embellishing my TRT with "extras" it's obviously a much better scenario. My prescribed TRT is only 300 mg cyp every two weeks...

[wook]

What's your TRT dose, and do you run an ai - at what dose?

I run 200 mg Test C per week which keeps my numbers in the 900's... I do use Adex at .5 e3d as well!

[devildog]

I have never had libido problems. Even when my test was at its lowest. Nothing seems to affect mine its always strong unless im pissed off.

Lucky you!

[devildog]

Pretty sure I watched a video on Dorian Yates a few years back and he stated that it took him many years to fully recover after he quit the gear completely.
I'd also be interested to see some long-term (10-20 years) users their bloods, perticulary their HDL/LDL levels.

Been prescribed TRT for 12 years. HDL and LDL are in normal levels when I use 125mg/week or less test.

[Riles]

I have been on TRT for 4 years at 240mg EW keeps my total test level at 860-890 7 days post inj, HDL and LDL are fine at this point, I also use 1-1.5mg Adex EW, It has made all the difference in quality of life from test levels in 240-250 range when I started

[devildog]

I have been on TRT for 4 years at 240mg EW keeps my total test level at 860-890 7 days post inj, HDL and LDL are fine at this point, I also use 1-1.5mg Adex EW, It has made all the difference in quality of life from test levels in 240-250 range when I started

If you can use Arimidex and not have low HDL, you're doing great!

[Riles]

If you can use Arimidex and not have low HDL, you're doing great!

last labs showed HDL 60mg/dL reference range >40mg/dL so far so good

[Adman]

I've been on TRT for over 8 years now. Hell of a ride the Dr's have had me on, and to this day I don't feel like it is well managed by any of the MDs I see. From the initial diagnosis (37 yrs old) of T=276 ng/dl when the Dr. Said you're depressed and that's why your T is low. To the last Endo specialist who is head of the department at our teaching university hospital, it's been a tough path.

I've basically been treated like a junkie trying to get someone to prescribe what feels right. For me that's: 150mg Test Cyp per week, with as needed arimidex @ .5mg 2x per week for three weeks. I typically need the arimidex about every 60-90 days. You can feel body temp go up and mood turns negative, then it's time to manage E2. This Test dosage keeps my blood level at 1000ng/dl, and my doctors all say this is super physiologic, and therefore abuse. They won't prescribe but at 100 mg per week and target 700-Ng/dl blood level. And at that level I don't feel well at all. I have to take Adderal to stay alert, and within two weeks I'm strung out on it. I'm guessing the findings by Harvard Medical that say 1000ng/dl isn't dangerous or harmful aren't convincing enough to reconsider what they taught my doctor in the 80's.

The story line here is this - I dosed Test, very slowly over several months, increasing and decreasing until I found the dosage that eliminated a lot of primary symptoms. Foggy head, adhd, anxiety, lethargy etc. when I found my dose, I held it for a month, I asked for a blood test, (1050 result) the Primary care Dr. Said I was abusing and wouldn't treat me anymore. I happened to be working with a psychiatrist at the time to be sure I wasn't clinically depressed, I had stopped all medications and sleep aids, quit everything but Test. Best I've felt in years. It has been an ongoing battle to figure this out alone, but when you need hrt, you don't have an option and you don't have an exit plan. A year after first being on Androgel, I was still in denial that I had a life long issue, I tried to stop it and even with HCG and Clomid, I got my level to 305, and felt like shit.

The big lesson here is that, with the exception of people you will meet on boards like this one, you are on your own. Listen to your body, if your doctor will listen to you, stick with him/her. Maintain routine blood work, and when your moods become negative or you feel despondent, ask someone to check your levels and estradiol levels. Dr's don't typically treat you for high e2, so you may need to find an alternate source for this since anti estrogen medicines like Arimidex or Nolvadex are not indicated in males. I hope this is helpful.