Following dr. Crisler prescriptions, I started off with testosterone cypionate 120 mg. per week on December 28, 2009. Six days before I did a blood test with these results:
Dec 22, 2009
Type of test Results Range
FSH 2,46 mUI/ml 1,7 – 12,0
LH 2,23 mUI/ml 1,7 – 8,6
Total Testosterone 4,97 ng/ml 2,8 – 8,0
Free Testosterone 6,10 pg/ml 5,60 – 40,00
DHT 486 pg/ml 300 – 1200
3Adiol-G 7,50 ng/ml 3,40 - 22,00
DHEA 7,90 ug/dl 0,20 - 9,80
Prolactin 8,77 ng/ml 3,0 – 25,0
Estradiol 17 beta 24,96 pg/ml <62
Progesterone + 0,70 ng/ml 0,25 - 0,56
Cortisol 211,45 ng/ml 55,00 - 287,00
SHBG 27,9 nmol/l 13 - 71
A.C.T.H. 33,5 pg/ml 7,2 - 63,3
TSH 2,330 mUI/l 0,270 – 4,200
Free T3 5,50 pmol/l 3,10 – 6,80
Free T4 19,38 pmol/l 12,00 – 22,00
Somatomedin C – IGF-1 139 ng/ml 90 – 360
At the fourth week of T iniections (120mg./week for three weeks and 80mg./week in the last) I am perceiving improvements and worsenings:
- my anxiety level, nervousness, muscle twitching and trembling has decreased;
- I feel an improvement about energy, working capacity and wish to do physical exercises;
- the rank levels of chronic fatigue and muscle pain have strongly diminished;
- joint pain is still present (knees, ankles, hands);
- sexual symptoms have absolutely got worse and I don’t like it no way (testicles are shrinking, pelvic area is contract, erections are more difficult, penis is insensitive, eiaculation is unbelievably poor and sex drive - that was very low - is now at zero level).
Dr. Crisler was happy for the improvement of the physical problems and told me to continue with T for three weeks before doing another blood test and verify if it’s time to go on. Nevertheless I perceived the worsening of my sexual symptoms already from the second week of injections, so I did another blood test after three weeks (Jan 15, 2010). FSH and LH has gone down to 0,23 mUI/ml and 0,15 mUI/ml; Total Testosterone level has increased a lot (9,37 ng/ml, normal range 2,80 - 8,00) and Free Testosterone just a little (15,50 pg/ml); compared to the past, Cortisol has considerably lowered (85,92 ng/ml) and progesterone too (0,58); Estradiol is instead higher, above the normal range (75,43 pg/ml, normal range < 62,00). [Size=4]The most important datum regards 3-AdiolG level: it has incredibly rised (22,20 ng/ml, normal range 3,40 - 22,00), but my sexual symptoms have clearly got worse[/size]. May be this result could deny all the theories about the link between androstenediol glucuronide and finasteride side effects. In the past I had much lower levels of this indicator (see thread above), but felt sexually better than now. Besides it could be considerable that, although T comes appreciably up across the normal limits, my DHT doesn’t rise in a corresponding manner (644 pg/ml) and remains into the levels of all previous tests (from 486 to 656 pg/ml, never in the high part of the range). It is perhaps a signal of a bad 5AR2 activity.
My local endo retains that estradiol is not so high to justify an administration of Arimidex, not even at a low dosage. He indicated too the possibility to use HMG (LH and FSH together) instead of only HCG to treat the testicle’s shrinkage. I would like to know if someone of you knows the menopausal gonadotropine (ie Humegon or Repronex), their possible disadvantages and the reason for which we should generally consider only HCG in TRT, when my local endo informed me that only 20% of testicular volume depends from LH and well the 80% from FSH.
My conclusion, in short, is that 120 mgs/week of Testosterone have certainly improved my physical symptoms, but has surely decreased my sexual problems. For this reason I lowered the dosage to 80mg. at the fourth week and don’t know if to go on in the future, in spite of physical benefits. I’m afraid that this worsening could be due to a shutting down of androgen receptors in genital area and brain, as the intelligent user Awor is theorizing: the more our receptors are damaged, the less we will benefit from TRT. I don’t think, anyway, that the couse is my estradiol higher than usually or an altered T/E ratio.
Cheers
40
