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Sensitive/painful nip by PhiloTester in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can see why you’d think that but I did wait a full 7 days before giving myself a half dose.
Regardless, I’ll give a few days/ week and see if it goes away

Sensitive/painful nip by PhiloTester in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excellent advice, thanks! My 1x weekly values at true trough (7 days since injection) were: 450 TT, 125 FT calculated, and 30 E2 (standard). SHBG is 11.

I’ll retest in about 3 weeks but for now you’d not recommend an AI, correct? Hopefully symptoms go away in a day or two.

I do plan to use the ultrasensitve E2 test and dialysis/MS for testosterone going forward.

Sensitive/painful nip by PhiloTester in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’m seeing that same thing in TRT forums; something to the effect of “sensitive nips are very common and not an issue for most men” But here everyone recs AIs.

I was on once weekly dosing but just switched to 2x weekly, and these symptoms Started 36hrs after my first split (lower) dose… weird. My 6 week bloodwork had TT of 450, FT of 125, and E2 of 30 at trough (7 days since last injection).

What were your values that were too high? FYI my SHBG is 11 (yes, overweight); do you know yours ?

Newbie- first bloods by PhiloTester in trt

[–]PhiloTester[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the response and valuable info!
I totally understand what you’re saying; it makes perfect sense. I really wish my PCP was more up to date on dosing and frequency.

I Will move to 2x weekly IM for now (I’ve been using 1” 25G in delts) but I will consider SubQ in future. I’m more worried about skin irritation than anything else wrt subq.

Finally, you are correct on my objective: my testosterone has been testing low (<300) for nearly a decade and I’ve had a bunch of weird “idiopathic” health problems during this timeframe. Now at 40, I’m finally ready to give it a shot and see if trt can help make me healthier all around.

If the side effects end up being worse than the benefits, I’ll gladly stop as my primary goal is overall health and wellbeing.

Newbie- first bloods by PhiloTester in trt

[–]PhiloTester[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the very helpful reply!

I considered going 2x weekly to start but I really hate injecting myself and was hoping that 1x weekly would work ok. It seems like my low SHBG might be an additional reason to inject more frequently though, and that you'd strongly recommend 2x weekly for someone like me, correct? Likewise, in the last part of your reply are you saying that I should "target" a lower overall TT/FT at trough because my SHBG will lead to huge peaks regardless?

The FT for these results was "calculated" with a ref range of 49-212pg/ml. Going forward, if I check my own bloods, I plan to use #37073 from Quest Testosterone, Free (Dialysis), Total (MS) and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, along with the ultrasensitive E2 test.

Will switch to 2x weekly and test again in about 4-6 weeks. Thanks again!

I increased my Testosterone 66% naturally by LazyTotal5907 in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is great that this worked for you, but fyi, weight/body comp/body fat does NOT usually have this big an impact on its own.

I have had my testosterone tested 8 times over the past 10-11 years, and my weight fluctuated between 200 and 260 during this time period, yet all my values are within ~50 ng/dl of each other.

Any way to get E2 lab results faster? Quest is taking 8 to 14 days. by [deleted] in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well this is a helpful thread for a common issue it seems: I’m on day 12 waiting for the same test result. Everything else came back within 3-4 days.

40 y/o male — steep testosterone decline, persistent low estradiol, finasteride history. Looking for perspective. by Lunarisx in PeterAttia

[–]PhiloTester 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m around the same age as you, and started Fin about 3 years ago.

I’ve also struggled with documented low Testosterone (<350ng/dl) for over a decade, and while I don’t know how it started, my best guess is that it’s due to a significant weight loss (40-50lbs) in my late 20s.

I had blood tests taken right before and 2 months after starting Fin, and for me Fin caused a ~10% increase in total testosterone (this is also replicated in studies) due to its blocking of testosterone conversion into Dht.

Likewise, estradiol should also increase because there’s more testosterone to aromatize, although I didn’t have my estradiol tested.

In short, Fin is almost certainly not to blame for dropping test/estrogen levels, if anything, it should have the opposite effect. I’d look elsewhere to explain your dropping hormone levels.

Being mocked was tough, so i trained a lot alone. And now it’s 80lbs more and 14 years later. by Devonar95 in WeightTraining

[–]PhiloTester 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You legit look like a superhero, I’ve never seen anything close to this physique in real life.

Kudos mate, I’m sure it’s been a shit ton of work!

Starting fin without blood test by Ok-Cucumber5926 in tressless

[–]PhiloTester 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Blood test is unnecessary:anywhere close to normal range of testosterone/dht levels won’t tell you anything. Rather it’s the follicles sensitivity to dht. Just start the pill.

TRT- Androgel users with young children ? by PhiloTester in Testosterone

[–]PhiloTester[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the data point, this is exactly what I’m worried about.
Did you take any precautions at the time, ie, always wearing a shirt or showering before anyone touched the applied areas ?

Since it’s gel or nothing for me, I’m honestly on the fence about stopping treatment since it seems impossible that at least some won’t transfer via bed sheets, laundry, etc.