New to TRT, more questions than before I started

**Danx43** · 11-01-2018, 06:28 PM

First i'm 43 years old, will be 44 in a couple days. A little overweight at 220lbs, but not too bad. Had all my blood work done and my t levels came back at 434 and 64 free testosterone. I have all the symptoms of low t. No energy, no motivation, depression, anxiety, ed, no sex drive, etc. My doctor, of course, said my levels were in the normal range so wouldn't prescribe anything. I'm not a bodybuilder or trying to be one, but I do go to the gym on a regular basis, my strength gains have been minimal. Even going 3-4 times a week, after a couple months I still can't even bench a single plate (135lbs), my pr is 115, which in itself is really sad lol. That was before starting trt, shoulder injury has kept me from the gym recently. So I came here, found a reputable source and ordered some Test-C. Been pinning for a couple weeks now, 125mg twice a week.

So what has changed after 2 weeks of doing this? My leg is a bit sore most of the time and my blood pressure has gone up some. That's about it. No noticeable change to my mental health. No improved sex drive, no change in depression/anxiety. Hard to tell about my energy levels as I work some strange hours, usually 12 hour graveyard shifts, so my sleep schedule gets screwed up a lot.

So i'm confident that the test is legit, comes from a good source here with great reviews. I'm sure 250mg per week is a good amount for trt, more than most doctors would prescribe.

So my questions.. Why isn't it helping? The only things I can think of are.. Maybe my estrogen has spiked too much with the test and it's kinda canceling out the positive benefits, if that's something that can even happen. I have noticed my nipples have felt irritated/itchy in the past week. I have arimidex, but haven't been taking any yet. Another possibility is that I haven't given it enough time to raise my test levels. However I've read people saying they feel great within a couple days of their first dose.

Maybe my testosterone levels were fine to begin with and stabbing myself twice a week isn't going to help. I ordered hcg, but it's not arrived yet. I don't know if adding that will make a difference, or if I should just use it as pct and stop the test since I'm not gaining any noticeable benefit from it anyway. And if I do quit pinning the test, should I be taking anything else for pct, or have I not been on it long enough to matter?

**Droid1988** · 11-01-2018, 06:48 PM

Well it sounds to me like your symptoms weren’t caused by low t in the first place. And based on your natural test levels you definitely don’t have low t especially for your age, those are decent numbers. 250mg/wk should have you feeling drastically better with fatigue, sex drive, motivation etc.

All that aside, if you want to know what’s going on in your body you’re going to need bloodwork. I recommend this for everyone. Especially if you think your estrogen is high, the only way to find out is getting bloodwork. Privatemdlabs.com is a great way to order and buy your own bloodwork without going through your doc again. Estrogen can be a bitch but you’ll never know until you see some numbers.

EDIT: Unless you frontloaded, 2 weeks isn’t enough time to see the full benefits anyway. You should just now start to see the beginning of the effects. If your nipples are sensitive start taking .5mg adex with each shot to get ahead of the increased estrogen.

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**Danx43** · 11-01-2018, 07:01 PM

Yeah, the estrogen is the only thing that wasn't tested. I was going to wait until week 4 to get test and estrogen levels checked, but I guess I should get it done sooner.

Of course that brings up another question. If my estrogen levels come back high, that's easy to lower. But if it is high is it high because I am pinning test, or was it high to start with and the cause of my issues? I guess the only way to know would be to bring the estrogen levels down and quit the injections. I should probably quit them anyway since they are not doing anything for me. And after a couple weeks of pinning test, I don't want to just stop and have my levels crash to nothing, or have I not been doing it long enough to worry about pct? Will the HCG be enough or should I add something else to help get my natural testosterone production back?

**Couchlockd** · 11-01-2018, 07:26 PM

Stop the test, don't worry pct.

Research more

**Droid1988** · 11-01-2018, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by Couchlockd

Stop the test, don't worry pct.

Research more

This!

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**Danx43** · 11-01-2018, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Couchlockd

Stop the test, don't worry pct.

Research more

So which is it? One person says 2 weeks isn't enough time to see benefits from the test and you say to stop the test, while others say that 250mg per week should have me feeling amazing. I've done research, but there is so much conflicting information that apparently the only way to really know is to try. I've also read other people have used just hcg, or hcg and clomid and had good results without injecting test. My main goal with this was to just feel good because I feel like shit all the time. I feel old and I don't like it. I have hcg already on the way, so I think using it couldn't hurt. But i'm new to all this, so I have no clue really. That's why I post on here and ask questions.

**Couchlockd** · 11-01-2018, 08:02 PM

You don't know what you're doing.

Your jamming drugs into your body at no benefit other than turning you more unhealthy.

I'd say your sedimentary lifestyle is causing your lack of wellbeing.

220 @ 115lb bench says you are blaming mid-range test levels for your problems.

Try exersizes without steroids. To loose weight.

With your body fat your converting most of what you are injecting into estrogen more than likely.

Just skip the drugs, and add moderate cardio 3x a week and weights 4x a week.

**Danx43** · 11-01-2018, 08:37 PM

I'm not blaming low T for my struggles in the gym, it's just an added symptom that I have along with so many others. I don't remember saying I have a sedimentary lifestyle. I have a great life actually, good job, drama free, and until my shoulder injury about 2 months ago was going to the gym 4 times a week. Yes I need to loose a little more weight, but don't just assume I'm some fatass sitting around playing video games all day while injecting test in the hopes it will 'fix' me..

After my blood work I thought trt could help my symptoms, but since everyone is different there was no real way to know without trying. Some people feel great at 400, some people feel like shit at 600, it seems to be very person specific. It hasn't worked for me, but at least now I know. I'm going to have my blood work done again and this time get my estrogen levels checked as well. After I get the numbers back I can go from there.

**Delta5** · 11-01-2018, 08:54 PM

Ive not read EVERY reply here....but I will say this....first and foremost is how u feel. That number don't mean shit, if u have all the symptoms of low T and are feeling like shit. The range is also, not age adjusted. If your nips were itching, your E2 is spiked, no doubt from your 1st/2nd pin. Your night shift is also working against u...but we gotta do what we gotta do. And yes, u should give it another week or so and see how u feel. Personally I wouldn't fuck with Adex...I use aromasin!! BUT...that's just me.
As DROID said,,,get some blood work done and know for sure whats up.