No symptoms like you mention in the 6 weeks that I have been on the testosterone gel.
No improvement neither. Not at the beggining, not now. Unfortunately, I am exactly as I was before.
The only thing that brings a bit of improvement is exercising and wellbutrin, of which I am having 300mgs a day. It helps a bit with concentration and I noticed that I have more frequent morning erections ( 3 times a week) when I am on wellbutrin .
postfinsufferer,
Are you still doing well with your recovery? Are you still on the same regimen with TRT and the other meds?
Hi Boston,
yes I’m still on the full ‘Hertoghe regimen’ (without HGH) and making further progress. My muscle power and energy may be at 75-80% of normal now. Libido is very good but surprisingly erections are somewhat weaker and hurting now although I raised to 300mg T a day. I’ll discuss this with Hertoghe in February at my next appointment. Maybe I’ll need HCG too.
Meanwhile, after having read this very interesting thread http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2577, I did a 3-Tesla-MRI of the grey matter regions of the spinal cord and wait for the results now. I’ll keep the forum informed.
Best,
Oliver
Hi everybody,
just want to give you an update on my progress. As anounced, I did an MRI of my spinal cord and, fortunately, it showed no damage of the grey matter or other parts. I also sent blood to a special lab in Germany which tests allopregnanolone but I haven’t results yet.
Furthermore I had my next appointment with Hertoghe two weeks ago. Here are my recent blood tests:
img707.imageshack.us/img707/3797 … 101101.jpg
img13.imageshack.us/img13/4562/h … 101102.jpg
Daily treatment when blood was taken:
This time Hertoghe did’t want to chance very much. He thinks that my E2 is a bit too high because I take too much thyroid hormones (which amplifies conversion of T into E2). So he recommended me do decrease L-Thyroxine to 175-200µG a day. Besides that I should raise Arimidex to 5 times a week 0.25mg. And he once again proposed me to take a small amout of HGH (Zomacton, 0.04mg a day) because although my IGF1 level is above normal range my IGF-BP3 is a bit too high in his opinion. I’m not convinced that HGH is part of my problem and it is very expensive but I’ll try it this time after they recommended it twice.
Interestingly, my total T still didn’t exceed normal range although I take a huge amount of T. But my Adiol-G has increased slightly which may be an important factor for my further improving muscle power. My libido has stayed very good but my erections were somewhat weak before the Hertoghe appointment. Now, after increasing Arimidex dosage, they became stronger again. Hertoghe also proposed me to take Melanotan2 to support my erections but I’m sceptical to add a ‘lifestyle’ hormone to my regimen without proven deficiency.
Best,
Oliver
Hi Oliver
so how long are you planning to stay on this protocol. do you have any plan to stop it some time in the future and see if your body keeps going on it’s own?
SPS
Hi SPS,
at least the thyroid hormones I will have to take for lifetime because I have Hashimoto’s. I hope to quit cortisone and DHEA in 6 to 12 months when the adrenals may have recovered. If I can ever get away from TRT and Arimidex may depend on the question if 5AR-2 gets stimulated enough to work properly again. Maybe I’ll have to try a HPTA restart in 1 or 2 years to quit TRT. But for the moment my prior aim is to get back an acceptable life quality.
Best,
Oliver
How are you doing oliver?
Hi everybody,
just another update from me. As announced earlier, I found a German lab which tested my allopregnanolone. Well, the test wasn’t very specific because they do it very rarely and don’t have a reliable reference range, but at least they confirmed me that my allo level was under their measurement limit - which may indicate a low allo level. Since, on the other hand, my progesterone is above normal range although I don’t substitute it, this might be another indication that my 5-AR is still not working properly. But I have no idea how to treat that probable allo deficiency.
Besides that, I’m still on my Hertoghe regimen and experiencing further (slow) progress. Maybe an interesting information for you: I tried HGH for 2 weeks (Omnitrope in the smallest dosage of 0,05mg per day) and it had a significant impact on my sexual functions. I had strong noctural erections and very much libido at that time. But I did’t tolerate it very good. It seemed to affect all my other hormone dosages heavily and made me feel somewhat uncomfortable (‘heavy’ muscles, less concentration, bad mood, high blood pressure). So I quitted it for the moment and try to optimize my other hormones first.
Presently I take daily:
270mg T (2,7g liposomal testogel)
3,5mg methylprednisolone
30mg DHEA
225µG thyroxine (T4)
and 0,25mg Arimidex 4 times a week.
Best,
Oliver
Interesting…I wander if IGF-1 supplementation would help? Also, Oliver, look at my posts in regards to the drug “Ganoxlone” it’s a drug in phase II trials that corrects allopregnolone deficiencies…
Some other studies showed that a low dose of Prozac can help as well…
Thanks for the hint on Ganaxolone, Anonnn! I’ll be curiously watching its development. Since you mention Prozac, do you think St. Johns wort may be worth trying as a more ‘natural’ approach?
Could be bro…Whatever helps, I would take…
We are getting there…
How did you get hold of HGH? and out of curiosity how much is all this testing etc coming to, money wise?
My doctor prescribes me HGH. I pay around 5.000 Euro per year for testing, hormones etc. Normally Merck should pay it …
Post,
Have you considered taking a lose dose of Dexamethasone (.25mg) every other day instead of predinisone? My thinking is Dexa has a long half life and is a bit stronger…It may give the body enough of a surge to find it’s way back to normal…Just a thought of course…
Anonnn, I take methylprednisolone (Medrol) which is more potent than prednisolone. You are right that dexamethasone is even more potent but it suppresses the pituitary resp. ACTH much more than methylprednisolone does. Since I want to quit cortisone therapy sooner or later I don’t want to shut down my own feedback loop too much.
hey man
nice to hear about your story
i too had a huge increase on testogel (3 grams also) of adiol-g, with 2x250 iu hcg… also test went to 40 (8-35) which is good, i did have more libido, but also more hairloss, and still ED
turned out my estradiol is skyhigh and arimidex helps in this regard, i got wood without viagra and could use it for sex so arimi is def helpful
switched to injections and will have to see what this brings
i am interested, how the HGH affects libido and wood, you said it was way better. but even on a superlow dose (BB-ers use up to 5-6 iu a day!) you had improvements, this makes me want to consult my doc for the price and try it out!
deeper sleep as well right? more refreshed when you woke up? i too had this when i was on my regime of 5-htp, zma and mucuna pruriens before bed… the mucuna made all the difference
do you get morningwood now on the arimidex?
i just got my hardest morningwood in months this morning… just had my second injection of testosterone sustanon 250… and took .25 arimidex yesterday, it wouldn’t go down, come on!
what are the lab values for adding in HGH by your doc? i want to try urinary GH as well…
also what dosage on melanotan 2 does he want you on? i was considering this as well but it could make you sick/nauseous and a way too bad tan.
isn’t melanotan2 the same at pt-141 without the sides?
please keep us updated!
and jairus, please keep us updated as well and add in the arimidex ftw!
youve never used fin right?
you sir are correct
ive been impotent for 9 years now without propecia
when u started ur journey I think u were a lot better. what did u learn and what you would like to share with us.
I don’t have a problem with cumkwakka being here but this belongs in another thread…
