6 weeks on Testosterone Replacement Therapy - Remarked Results !!

Today marks my 6th week of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and the results are quite astonishing.  Although my current T4 levels stand at >15.00 ng/mL, I can say almost every major symptom I had just 8 weeks ago has either greatly improved or now manageable. 

1. Low Energy / Wanting to sleep - These symptoms are gone 80% of the time unless I allow something unimportant to get me down too much.

2. Depression - The overall haziness and foggy thinking that has plagued me for 2 years or more is basically removed from my daily activities.  Even if I do allow some random depressing situation to get me down and I allow myself to slip into oversleeping or a vegetative state, I can now quickly marshall up "internal fortitude forces" and get myself moving again.  This item had been a major stumbling block in my daily life the last few years and now seems to be on its way to eradication.

3. Libido / Sex Drive - This one seems like it should be through the roof with a T4 score of over 15.0, but still is lagging behind the other symptoms in recovering.  I am imaging that due to the combination of endocrine and psychiatric systems of the body involved, and I am recovering from painful hernia surgery and on a host of benzodiazepenes and Tylenol with Codeine for pain, this may be the last symptom to recover. 

Tomorrow, I have an ultrasound to check the abdominal wall integrity, and it seems that the TRT is replenishing my already still oily skin (even at age 51) and healing the hernia sutures quite rapidly.  As today was time for my usual Testosterone Propionate, 25 mg IM, I decided to add the additional IM injection of Testosterone Enanthate, 250 mg for additional recovery speed.  

I'll check back in with you all in 4 days ...

MAX

Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Prostate Cancer Risk? Come again??

Let's diverge for a couple of posts before we discuss various needle gauges and pain thresholds.  

Recently, I have heard more "rumorous" circulating stories of potential prostate cancer risk and TRT therapy.  One particular gentleman had low T levels 64 years old. His urologist started giving him a version of TRT, although I am unaware of the testosterone compounds used by the urologist.  Moreover, I would hardly recommend a urologist to treat low testosterone and if truly fine tweaking of the male hormone levels were necessary, an endocrinologist should have been consulted. Only they truly have the specialized knowledge necessary to understand the complex interactions of testosterone (T4, free circulating and unbound testosterone), estrogen, IGF-1, liver proteins, etc., that all should be considered when balancing the boundaries of each hormone. 

The gentleman apparently had months worth of 1 injection per month month and his T levels came back to normal. This is rather abnormal in itself due to the fact that TRT therapy interferes with the body's natural testosterone producing and regulating mechanism, often shrinking the testes and leading to months of post TRT therapy before T levels may resume to healthy and normal levels and often require the use of a type of "testosterone" reviver, such as hCG so that the testes never truly shut down and the patient can avoid the "crash" often associated with sudden TRT stoppage. 

The gentleman already had a good and reasonable sex drive for his age, but, a rather hectic physical sports regime of hobbies had him thinking he could use a boost in hormonal energy.  However, after 6 months of injections, he felt he was not experiencing any real physical improvements. 

After reading other blogs or non-refereed articles, such as this one, although being decidedly anti-TRT and reading about side effects and deciding TRT was a relatively new medical treatment and he wouldn't be a "test subject" anymore for an unproven and yet to be scientifically studied therapy.  Despite being very wrong in his decision about there being junk science behind the treatment and no studies in place demonstrating the medical benefits of TRT he stopped TRT and  claimed to 'feel just fine without it' and although his T levels went back to quite low levels he felt justified in not increasing the risk of prostate cancer or something else. He continues to feel justified in his not using TRT and paying for it down the road in what he seems to feel is the eternal chase after more muscle and increased sex drive in the here and now. In some aspects I doubt he has even been on TRT since he talks about large needles but no pain.  No doctor, including myself would use a large gauge needle for the actual injection of testosterone in an oily substance deep into muscle tissue.  

Moreover, both low and high testosterone have about equal chances of causing prostate cancer if you were prone to it.  When the male body experiences low T their estrogen levels can become out of sync and become quite high, and is often demonstrated through excess body fat, mammary tissue, irritability, etc., and there are numerous studies that show Low-T/High-E levels have a higher impact on prostate growth than high T with normal E levels.

2013-07-25 / Why go on TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) at 51 years old in the first place?

This is more of a teaser post of things to come and just a short summary of previous symptoms I was encountering and suffering through everyday,  most especially since my faithful companion,  Goldie, was stolen from me and sold to a family somewhere near Longmeadow,  Massachusetts - USA - by my thai female ex, Kittiya Khlaimalee, and there was nothing I could do in such a hardcore pro-women's State like Massachusetts.  This happened on 21 Oct 2009 and Goldie was hidden from me and sold to some family by 23 October. 

After this and other devastating events: tens of thousands of $ USD withdrawn from credit cards due to my perfect credit rating, the loss of my 10.0 M baht house, loss of my 3 cars in Thailand,  severe anxiety and deep depression,  general loss of enthusiasm in activities that held my interest before, stabbing and debilitating migraines,  loss of libido (sex drive), short-term memory loss and in general,  a completely unclear direction in life and overall daily foggieness that seemed to limit my ability to focus on any project longer than 5 minutes.

In summary thus far, it has only been 2 weeks since starting my TRT and the changes toward the positive and more than anecdotal.  The coming weeks and doctor's appointments should bear fruit on this study.

2nd Clinical Environment TRT IM Injections

Max Testosterone

Bodybuilders beware!! :) - My First 2 IM injections of Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Bangkok, Thailand

PLEASE NOTE:  The actual date of injections at the clinic was 22 June 2013. 
My first 2 injections of Testosterone Propionate (25mg) and Testosterone Ethanate (250mg) at a local Bangkok, Thailand medical clinic with nurses performing the injections and Medical Doctor supervising.

It should be noted, the cost of 1 ampule, 25 mg of the Propionate cost about $6.00 USD and the 250 mg ampule of the Ethanate cost me about $5.75 USD, depending upon the daily exchange rates.  It was just a sample purchase to start with to see how difficult it would be to obtain the hormones, but it was very easy to find the authentic Bayer-Schering product and it was even more inexpensive on my 2nd purchase where I purchased a slightly larger quantity.  To draw the oil-based testosterone out they used an 18-gauge needle and syringe, and for injection, the nurse used a 21-gauge needle and syringe.  I will discuss the pros and cons of various needle sizes in the next post, now that I can do it at my home in Thailand. 

The total cost for the 2 IM injections (not including the testosterone, as I supplied them with the testosterones) was 400 baht, or about $13.00 USD !!!  So inexpensive !!! The blood screening, CBC panel, hepatic and renal function tests, T4 testosterone levels, etc, cost the sum total of $40.00 USD !!!  Can anyone comment below what a typical blood panel costs now in the U.S., UK, Germany, Australia, etc.?

P.S. For those of you who are wondering why my writing is a mixture of medical tech jargon and everyday health chats at the coffee machine, it's because I graduated YALE Medical School back in the 90s, so I still have some of those terms floating around in my head .. :*-)

Click below to see my first two clinical testosterone injections --


My First Two Testosterone Therapy IM Injections