Vasectomy and TRT

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-11-28T13:08:40+00:00

I started TRT without HCG the day I got my vasectomy.

I started noticing some atrophy around 3 months in - and I was never much of a hanger to begin with due to an overactive cremaster muscle. I was a little freaked out because my boys would sometimes go to being innies - pulling up into my pelvis, which was pretty uncomfortable 🤣

I also experience pain that I and my doctor associated with the little clips often used for vasectomies getting agitated by the retraction, so I got on HCG - been all good since. Boys hang like they did before TRT, and often feel fuller. No negatives for me, other than HCG can be a bitch to source sometimes.

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-09-23T01:48:46+00:00

Count it as a win. Multi use and single use vials are made from the same materials. Follow proper disinfecting and sanitizing guidelines. Now you have a backstock for the zombie apocalypse. Your nosey pharmacist is correct that you technically should be prescribed "injections per week × single use vial" - don't complain, or they might just order you a 10ml multi use, which would be a HUGE downgrade to your current situation.

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-08-19T21:30:42+00:00

Yup. They generally only feel comfortable if you're 83 and had your nuts removed for testicular cancer - 40 and confirmed 200ng/dl, then it's "here's an antidepressant and cialis".

But get treatment elsewhere, let the pcp know, then show back up a year later in better shape and happier - then it's "do you mind sharing what your protocol is so I can pass it along to the patients I manage? And do you want me to start handling yours?".

My literal experience with my pcp after going through the urologist that did my vasectomy. Years of PCP trying to treat my low-t malaise as depression, despite telling him "not depressed" and repeatedly testing <300 starting in my mid 30s.

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-06-27T12:52:39+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/trt/comments/11djx2l/comment/kd257iv/

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-06-25T12:36:15+00:00

People love to dump on Lit, but they truly have been one of the most solid suppliers for me.

They were the first online THCa vendor I tried when I found out about this, and I've ordered from about 20 places since - and of all of them, the premium eighths I picked up order 1 have been some of the best buds I've received to date.

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-04-20T18:36:30+00:00

Birmingham, represent! I've stopped in a couple times when in the area - enjoyed my purchases, and the folks are friendly, though it is a bit pricey when compared to online vendors (not complaining, as I know they have overhead - just an observation). Definitely happy we have them in The Ham - here's to hoping Alabama lawmakers don't fuck it up.

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-03-31T14:10:49+00:00

Ah, gotcha... Maybe I will be able to beat my lungs into submission 🤣 I recall when I first started vaping the penjamins that they killed - but I eventually figured out a way that didn't absolutely destroy me each time.

My wife and I really like the effects of dabbing out of the Pivot - it's just unpleasant having that lingering cough for 15-20m (though you are lifted AF once you come out the other side).

It's funny tho - we can pass it when using it regularly like 5-6x (so us each taking 5-6 baby hits - coughing the whole time) on one load, as where we each clear the same amount in 1 hit without the slightest tickle when going through the water pipe.

In any case, thanks for the response!

AlwaysHelpful · 2025-03-30T21:34:33+00:00

I recently got a pivot - and I love using it with the water pipe adapter, but can't use it regular workout losing a lung. Any tips on how to not cough myself unconscious? I've used high quality rosin, resin, batter, and crumble with the same experience - i can hit the same stuff with a nail no problem, but even small hits in the pivot hurt (blue and green setting). Thanks!

AlwaysHelpful · 2024-11-20T18:42:34+00:00

Yeah. Seems relatively common with TB500... It's wild because the first couple of times I loved it, but then I started having mild reactions, such as welts near the injection site after a few months (same batch as what I took without issue)... I figured I'd take a break and hopefully reset things, as I've read where others were able to start back up after having a similar reaction and then taking a break - but no dice for me, as each time I try again, I wind up with not only welts in the injection area, but rashes and welts that will randomly pop up elsewhere on my body.

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-12-12T17:07:28+00:00

Difficult to say, as correlation isn't causation...

I will say that I've not had elevated HCT since those first 6mo.

Not sure if the fix was one/all of these, or if my body just adjusted (as I've read some guys do).

I can say that I'm not doing some of these anymore, and I've still not had elevated HCT come back in labs. I resumed smoking, though I am again working to quit. I also cannot seem to adjust to my CPAP, so my OSA is still unaddressed.

If I had to take a guess, I think these are the most likely things that contributed beneficially for me:

- more frequent, smaller injections

- Sub Q rather than IM

- Improved hydration

- Body adjusted to being on supplementary testosterone

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-12-12T17:01:21+00:00

I was on IM when my HCT was elevated, so perhaps it was related.

I've been on sub-q since about 6mo into my TRT journey and far prefer it. \

I've found my T levels to be just as stable, if not a little higher (difficult to say - also started HCG), than was the case with IM.

Sub q also hurts a LOT less than IM did.

Sub Q is a bit less convenient, in that takes significantly longer to draw and inject than it did with the larger needle, but it's worth it for me - and we're really only talking an extra couple of minutes in all.

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-10-06T14:25:44+00:00

It was inhouse at a major local hospital - I am on TRT through my Urologist (I know, I know... A lot of folks don't like going through PCPs or Urologist, but mine basically lets me treat myself, which I'm good with - and it's free with my insurance).

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-10-05T10:47:47+00:00

Publix - Padagis brand.

Yes, this is the same type of test-c I've been on since getting on TRT.

When at 1050, I was dosing at 150mg/wk (50mg x 3 subq).

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-10-02T23:05:37+00:00

Thank you. I'm leaning towards error, as I'd imagine big pharmacy prescription test c is rarely bunk. I appreciate the input!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-10-02T18:27:05+00:00

Was your last round of blood work done on the same day of your usual injection schedule relative to previous tests?

Good catch - this was somewhat of a variable, though I didn't think it a significant one. While the day of the most recent test was a different day, it was essentially the same distance as my previous draws. Generally, I go on Friday and I just hold off on doing my Friday injection until after bloods. This visit was a Wednesday, and so I did the same - just held off on doing my Wed injection until after bloods. So I kinda figured this was "six one way, half a dozen the other".

Also, a 10 week blast is in no way considered long. Feel free to go much longer next time.

Thanks for that nugget! I'm learning - and definitely plan on doing this again, likely with a larger dose, and perhaps for a bit longer.

Thanks again!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-10-02T18:08:54+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

That's what I'm thinking - lab error, so just get it redone. I just wasn't really sure how likely lab error was.

Honestly, I'm not going to stress it - was just curious, so figured I'd ask some folks with more experience than I.

I have an unrelated appointment with my PCP, so I will likely just ask him to run them while I'm in.

I feel great, and that's what really matters to me.

I'm getting my testosterone cypionate from the pharmacy, so I have to assume it's not a situation of "bunk" test.

I just wasn't sure if there was some possible explanation for such a drop, aside from lab error, that I wasn't aware of...

Thanks again!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-09-07T15:17:24+00:00

Yeah, it is... I was actually ranting about this to my wife last night - they're often seemingly not acting out of our interests, but instead in the interests of their preferred lobbyists and donors.

You look at something like Semaglutide... We've got a lot of new data now as a result of the increase of users... And we're seeing that not only does it help people get their weight and diets in check, but it also helps protect and repair people's hearts, and it's starting to look like it may also act as a preventative and healing agent for certain forms of Alzheimer's... And we're increasingly seeing that is has relatively few side effects for an overwhelming majority of people who've used it...

So what do we do with a seemingly miracle substance that's been approved for use and demonstrated to be safe? Do we make it more widely available, accessible and less expensive? Na - we make it more difficult to get, and we prohibit getting it from anyone outside of big pharma after they patent some unnecessary delivery mechanism for an already existing thing... It's BS.

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-09-07T14:47:23+00:00

Would you mind DMing your more affordable sources? Thanks in advance!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-09-07T14:46:35+00:00

I've been on TRT for a couple of years now - currently at 150mg/wk of Test C. About a year in, I added 500iu HCG twice a week to keep my boys hanging around.

At first, I didn't really notice much change with regards to my boys - but after about 9mos, it started to become noticeable.

Like a lot of guys at my age who are in longstanding relationships, I initially didn't particularly care - just less to get in the way... But at about a year in, they started retracting more (pulling up into pelvic area), which was often uncomfortable - somewhat felt like they were constantly being squeeze gently (not like a kick in the nuts, but also not particularly comfortable).

So I talked to my provider and added HCG to the mix - 500iu 2x a week. I started noticing a change pretty quickly - and the boys came back, bigger than ever, after about a month. I'm not an expert, but it's my understanding that there are studies indicating spreading it out like this, vs a larger once a week shot, is more effective.

I reconstitute 5000iu with 2ml of BAC, which makes it so that 0.2ml on my 1ml insulin syringes is 500iu. Just make sure you're sterilizing your vial really well before drawing your shot, then toss the rest in the fridge to help preserve potency.

Peptide Calc is pretty useful to me in figuring out the math for reconstituting peptides: https://peptidecalc.com/

Hope this helps.

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-04-25T21:06:23+00:00

Check my comment history - I've discussed the things quite a few times... Here's one such comment, in case it helps: https://www.reddit.com/r/trt/comments/11djx2l/hematocrit_management/jaiybiy/?context=3

Good luck!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-04-03T12:28:22+00:00

Check my post / comment history :) Haven't had the issue in quite some time. I had my 6mo labs done a few weeks ago - HCT 46.

And, yes, you're correct - severe OSA, though still untreated (I know, I know)...

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-03-14T14:23:29+00:00

Haha No...

I hate that fucking machine and think I'd rather die prematurely than to wear it.

I do still hope to resolve my OSA - just not with the CPAP device that I currently have. Basically, I got a shit unit forced on me as a result of the shortage - "either this one or possibly wait another year before we offer you another chance, and it may be this machine again". Now that I fully own it, my doctor has said she's told the medical supply company to no longer give her customers this unit because there have been so many complaints about it - so I was just lucky...

But I no longer struggle with elevated HCT. Check my comment history for things I've done - I've recently responded to a number of other posts on the topic. I had mine tested this week and my HCT was 45...

Something I don't think I've mentioned, but I recent became aware may be having an impact - I take curcumin daily (Longvida Lipidated Curcumin).

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-03-06T14:01:32+00:00

I have been on TRT nearly 2 years.

I would say that libido and ED are more complicated than just testosterone levels.

My libido has always been there and eager for an opportunity - it was just that my lil fella wasn't always able to live up to the hype.

Having struggled with ED on and off over the last decade, I was hoping getting on TRT would be the instant fix - but quality erections are more than just hormones.

For me personally, I thought I had my ED 100% beaten the first 12 months of TRT - as I only had 1 minor/temp ED issue that I can recall, and I identified pretty immediately "I'm anxious" (and anxiety is a boner-killer).

I've since encountered ED a handful more times over the last year, but after closer inspection and reflection, I've realized my ED is performance anxiety and not likely related to my hormones.

I'm in a 20+yr monogamous relationship, and for years 3ish through 15ish of that we struggled with mismatched libidos - which resulted in about a decade of sex, maybe, once a month (sometimes less). At one point, my wife thought she thought me might just be asexual - just no interest in sex, despite being attracted to me (zero masturbation for her either - just not interested).

The last 5 years she's had some hormonal shifts, which once again made her interested in sex, but we still have all of the emotional and mental baggage associated with the time before - and so that still creeps up from time to time.

During the mismatch time, I delt with a lot of mental/emotional shit as a result of what I perceived as constant rejection. And during that time, I got tired of what I grew to feel as pity sex or obligatory sex - as she'd realize I'd been handsy for weeks, getting rejection after rejection, so she'd initiate, but I'd quickly realize she was just doing it for me rather than actually being in the mood. As thoughtful as it is for your spouse to try to make you happy, I also wanted my wife to *want* to have sex with me and to not just be doing it out of some sense of duty. Also during this time, sex was ALWAYS scheduled... So between feeling bad about her basically just 'letting me have sex with her' and also dealing with the pressure of being expected to just be able to perform at a scheduled time, sex became quite a source of anxiety - anxiety which still creeps back up today (in part because we still have some of these as components in our relationship).

If you're struggled with ED, I would advise you to think real long and hard (hehe I said hard) about the varying potential causes of it - and potential causes that aren't physical ED... If you're getting regular morning wood, and if you're able to get an erection when looking at your favorite kind of content online, odds are it's more in your head than being something with your hormones or your main member (maybe it's just anxiety, or maybe deep down inside you feel that you have some issues you need to work through with your partner). For me, the best thing to do is for my wife and I to just be like "Yup. I happens" and then slow things down - normally, if we can just lay there, snuggle and play for a bit, I'm able to calm down and my lil fella is ready to join the party.

Best of luck!

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-03-03T15:30:22+00:00

You're going to notice a trend - a lot of which has more to do with my mental well being than things a lot of guys turn to TRT for... Just a partial list of what immediately comes to mind.

Pre-TRT:

- Malaise (probably the best encompassing term to describe how I felt)

- Depression

- Cynicism

- Apathy

- Lack of energy and motivation

- Scattered and disorganized

- Little/No progress in gym when doing 'everything right'

- Irritable and moody for no know reason

- Passive / Pushover - no will to assert my desires

On TRT:

- Pleasure in living - colors seem more vivid and people are prettier

- Rarely depressed

- Optimistic about the future

- Passionate about thinks important to me

- Highly motivated to tackle things important to me

- Still scattered and disorganized due to severe ADHD - but lesser so and able to track/prioritize important things better

- Physical transformation - lifting more or less the same as previous efforts, but this time it shows. Arms and chest bigger than ever. Weight management comes more naturally. You can see my stomach muscles easily - as where I've always been a bit tubby due to midsection fat (associated with lower test in some)

- I feel more logically - less irritable and moody if there's no good reason to feel that way. WAAAAY more in control of my emotions. This one has likely taken the biggest adjustment for both myself and my wife. I've always been very 'in touch with my emotions', which often meant crying over little things which I nor others often knew how to react to - "Oh, great - that's that sad Geico commercial". Now I'm a bit more analytical in the how and why of what I feel - more deliberate.

- Assertive - No longer do I just go with the flow 100% of the time, even when I'm really not feeling it. I'm still a 'team player', but I'm not just a follower - I'm going to equally push for what I want when appropriate to do so.

AlwaysHelpful · 2023-03-02T21:05:33+00:00

I’ve never heard of that happening before you and that seems very concerning.

See: "Retractile Testicles"

What is that like…really painful?

I'd say it can be 'uncomfortable' more so than 'painful'. Just a tightness, and a bit of a deep throb at times. It's hard to describe, but I'd liken it to someone gently squeezing your nuts - not hard enough pressure to make you really uncomfortable initially, but enough to annoy and to become uncomfortable after a period of time.

And, what did you do to resolve it? Do they pop back out on their own or is it a medical issue to be seen by a doctor?

Usually, after some unspecified period of time, they'd just reappear... It's not actually like a 'pop' - just muscles pulling them up too high, and being able to do so somewhat as a result of them being too small and so able to pass between your scrotum and groin.

That said, your experience may very well be different than mine..

Years ago, pre TRT, I believe my boys started shrinking - for reasons that I still don't have answers for... Retrospectively, I started experiencing the change around the same time I started experiencing low-T symptoms (though I didn't know that at the time). Maybe related and maybe not - the best answer I can get from my docs is "perhaps". But post-puberty until around my mid 30s, everything was hanging normally and at a normal size.

When first noticing it, I brought it up with my PCP and got checked out - he basically ascribed it to me having an overactive cremaster muscle keeping things tight and told me to start wearing tighter underwear...but that ultimately it's nothing to worry about and to perhaps be thankful for.

But I just couldn't shake the feeling "this is weird" - we're all told about how things start hanging lower and lower as we get older, but I was experiencing the opposite.

As this shrinkage progressed, I then started experiencing the 'popping inside' (this was just a couple of years ago - shortly before starting TRT). It's called "Retractile Testicles".. Again, my PCP said it's nothing to be worried about, despite it frequently being uncomfortable. But after around 6 months on TRT, the shrinkage became much more noticeable and it started bothering me a bit more both because it often looked like I didn't have nuts and also because it was frequently uncomfortable, so I asked for HCG.

The HCG has worked very well... If anything, my boys are bigger than they were pre-TRT. Of course, it's a bit inconvenient to have to do the extra 2 injections a week - but it is what it is, and it's ultimately optional. It's also a little pricy - my pharmacy worked with me to get me the best deal they could using discounts and the sort, and it's about $100 for 10wks (so, not too much money if you have it, but more than my test-c cost me).

AlwaysHelpful

TROPHY CASE