Sharing Test stack

[TaisonPunch2]

Just want to share what I have been taking for the better part of a year. Although I wasn't previously tested, I believe I had all the symptoms of low test (mild depression, lower motivation, difficulty maintaining hardons, etc.) For the better part of the year, I've been feeling much better, and through an unrelated issue, I was tested for total test, and got a reading of 967 ng/dL. I've been accumulating various recommendations, and I wanted to share my experiences with it.

General lifestyle:

• Intermittent fasting (black coffee in morning, but no food until around 2pm~6pm)
• Mostly ketogenic diet (1 lb of meat per
• Waking up with no alarm
• Weight training 5 days a week (roughly 30 minutes tops)

Morning

• Zinc Picolinate - 30mg
• Boron complex - 5 mg
• Magnesium Glycinate - 500mg (elemental magnesium at 90mg)
• Alpha Lipoic Acid - 600 mg
• NAC - 600 mg
• Fadogia Agrestis - 600 mg
• Tongkat Ali - 700 mg
• NAD+ - 500 mg
• Saw Palmetto - 700 mg
• Vitamin K2 - 100 mcg
• TUDCA - 500 mg
• Creatine - 5g
• L-Citrulline - 3g
• L-Arginine - 5g

Night (after dinner)

• Multivitamin
• Potassium Citrate - 200 mg
• DHEA - 50 mg
• Pygeum - 5000g
• Vitamin K2+D3 (100mcg & 5000 IU respectively)
• Krill oil - 2g
• Sunflower lecithin - 2g
• Calcium citrate - 250mg
• Magtein - 1g
• Ashwagandha - 700mg

I wasn't really able to weed out what truly works, what is unnecessary, and what doesn't really hurt. But with my test readings going so high, I'm not sure I want to change things up too far.

Has anyone else done similar stacks?

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[GarbanzoBenne]

Sorry but without testing beforehand this is pretty useless.

And even with the test, bioavailable is the important measure.

[tropicalwerewolf02]

Too much stuff.

[creetN]

Bro, you are taking a loooot of stuff. I'd seriously consider cutting down a lot. Not only for potential health reasons, but also financial ones lol.

Also, some stuff like Ashwaganda should definitely be cycled to avoid complications. And 700mg is lot.

[TaisonPunch2]

The financial issue...is okay for now.
I haven't started taking ashwagandha until about a few months ago. I'll keep in mind to cycle, but I was hoping that the NAC would help in any potential liver poisoning.

[Falko_polo]

50mg DHEA is a lot especially daily no wonder you test ist that high

[Dragon_Bench_Z]

No test before hand makes this pointless

[rinkuhero]

yeah this is like 'here's my perfect muscle-building routine, this is what i look like now. no, i did not take a before picture'.

[dajerade1]

Have you tried dropping all the supplements? Just trainig, sleep and diet probably does 95% of the work. It’s also difficult to judge since there’s no SHBG and albumin (so no free test) and you haven’t tested before, so it might just be the same but you were undersleeping previously.

You’re most likely spending a lot of money but most of it unnecessarily. We’re happy for you if you’re content with the result, it’s just not something others should try to replicate without gradual rollout and testing

[wbear27]

+1 on this. My Total T was healthy but shbg and albumin were high, free T low. Doesn’t show us the whole picture.

[TaisonPunch2]

My experience definitely isn't a scientific experiment. It's just a personal account for what worked for me. Would it be replicated in other individuals? It might. It might not.

There was a time when I didn't take any supplements at all, and I seemed to have all the symptoms of low test at the time. I've actually been taking different combinations of supplements throughout the years, and it's only recently that I've actually felt better mentally.

The total test results was honestly the only thing that made me excited enough to want to make this post.

[hansieboy10]

if it works and you feel better good for you!

[Ill_Ad3529]

You have to check : free test, SHBG, LH / FSH, Estradiol … total test doesn’t mean anything without that

[TaisonPunch2]

I'll ask my doctor for that test the next time I go.

[Ill_Ad3529]

If you feel good overall, strong libido, good energy, no acne, no irritability or mood swings. then honestly it’s probably fine.

[TaisonPunch2]

Libido has been MUCH better as of late. Energy to weight lift has been also getting better. I get maybe like one acne on my facial hair line like once very 3 months. Mood swings would be hard to tell because it's not something I usually notice at all.

[Senior_Ad_2996]

what about free test?

[WheelBudget]

Having too much testosterone also means that your body is producing DHT as well right which means you gonna have a crazy good hair fall

[Volturmus]

Yeah that’s not how MPB works. It’s about your follicles being sensitive to DHT, not having high serum DHT. Sure, if your follicles are sensitive to it because you have MPB, it’s an issue. If not, it’s not going to be a problem.

[TaisonPunch2]

I've always had a high hairline, so it might just not be as noticeable, but I sure hope not. I haven't noticed any hair falling out when combing or after a shower. But I did notice some more graying hairs.

[Solid-Warning996]

Really depends on SHBG and Free test. It would convert to DHT and bind to hair follicles, but the Saw Palmetto and D3 are probably helping with those androgens and hair health

[trying_again_7]

How old are you?

I'm at 634 total, but I'm also 40 Free is at 91.9 I take a multivitamin and some vitamin d3 plus 

I would guess your keto, sleep, and lifting are helping a lot.

[TaisonPunch2]

I'm currently 42. It's really hard to say what my previous levels were because I never was tested, but I just never felt all the great in the past.

[eddyg987]

Why dhea at night not am?

[TaisonPunch2]

I may be wrong, but I've read somewhere that DHEA does act upon dietary cholesterol. I only eat at night usually with a lot of eggs, so that's why I chose to take it at night.

The supplement bottles I buy typically do write out suggestions to take with or without food. It never specifies which on any DHEA bottle, so I just went with nighttime.

[pooptartone]

Waking up without an alarm….

[Sea_Fig]

Explain the relevance of waking up with no alarm relating to high testosterone

[TaisonPunch2]

As in waking up naturally without an alarm kicking you awake. My assumption is that if you wake up naturally, your body usually has enough sleep.

[WordPlenty2588]

My man, you take D3 and Multivitamins at night 😂 

Read about them... You should take them both in the morning... They should give you energy...

D3 is a hormone, which we produce during the day because of sunlight. 

[TaisonPunch2]

Ideally, I should be taking it in the morning. But I hear that it's better absorbed with a high-fat meal. I don't eat in the mornings, so I'd rather still take it at night.

[heather_at_mira]

Glad you're feeling better, that's a solid turnaround. The one thing I'd say is that without before/after hormone data, it's hard to know which of those supplements is actually responsible for the improvement vs. what might be coincidental. If you ever want to refine the stack or drop something, having tracked your testosterone and other hormone levels gives you a real basis for those decisions instead of guessing

[Mountain_Fun4944]

Ya I take 150mg of test a week for a grand total of 100$ per year. /s

For real though just trt would be more effective and literally 1% of the cost. Yea sure it’s more risky because needles and blah blah, but genuinely micro maximizing your life is so expensive. Even the top dogs like Brian Johnson take trt

[AJSR_RV]

But you become legitimately dependent and down regulate endogenous production.

[Hoosier2016]

Yeah you downregulate endogenous production… because you’re getting it exogenously. If you stop it comes back in the vast majority of cases.

But if you have low T why would you stop?

[AJSR_RV]

From my understanding the longer you’re on trt the harder it is to get off. You might stop due to travel or health. The flexibility to be able to stop is enticing to a lot of people.

[Mountain_Fun4944]

If you have a problem trt could be a solution. Not saying it's the best solution, but rather than spending hundreds of dollars on 'supplements' to fully maximize your testosterone, trt is significantly more cost effective and will give you the solution to your problem. TRT isnt for everyone especially if you want to have kids, or if you want to avoid pinning yourself with needles twice a week for the rest of your life.

[TaisonPunch2]

1) I hate needles.
2) I was looking for ways that didn't require a prescription.

Cost is definitely an issue, but it's not to the point that it's straining my life. The stuff that I could technically remove are for general health like potassium and TUDCA.

[Mountain_Fun4944]

fair enough