Low T still after injections

[bpt513]

Hi All,
I have been getting injection since June (200MG) twice/month. My T level in May was 174, late June 556 and as of 2/6 202. Any idea why it's still below normal after 6 months of injections? PSA came back normal .8. All other blood work is normal as well.

Going back to doc tomorrow for follow up but this has me very concerned. I haven't felt 100% since about October. Tired, depressed, low libido.

thanks

[Justin]

The issue you're having is the injection frequency, assuming you're using Testosterone Cypionate or Testosterone Enantate - those are by far the most common forms and are virtually identical.

When you inject either form of the above mentioned testosterone, your levels will peak approximately 72hrs after the injection and then begin to fall back to baseline. 72hrs is a very approximate number, some may peak sooner or a little later but it's a decent average. In your case, because you're only injecting once every 2wks, your levels are jumping up, crashing back down, remaining low until the next injection and then repeating the cycle over and over again. Yes, at some point during the monthly cycle you do more than likely have higher testosterone levels, but you cannot experience symptomatic relief unless you stabilize and maintain the levels.

With either form of testosterone mentioned above, it needs to be injected once per week, once every 7 days. The average dosing range for most men is in the 100-200mg per week range. That said, some men find it more efficient to split the dose into two weekly injections, say every Monday and Thursday. Some need this and some don't.

You may also want to consider HCG. HCG will produce a pulse of natural testosterone production along with your testosterone you're injecting. It's not enough to correct low levels such as yours, but it will help stave off any peaks and valleys in-between your testosterone injections. It also tends to help with libido a pretty good bit and will protect fertility, which may or may not interest you. One of the other positive effects is it will prevent any testicular atrophy that will often occur due to testosterone use. Testicular atrophy itself isn't harmful but many guys don't like it.

Lastly, it's very important to watch your estradiol levels when on testosterone treatment. You need a good balance between the two hormones, testosterone and estrogen. This is something many men tend to forget since they think of estrogen as a female hormone, but like testosterone, estrogen is needed by both men and women, simply in different amounts. If the balance is off, your treatment will suffer.

I hope this info has been helpful to you. Feel free to ask any other questions that come to mind.

[bpt513]

The issue you're having is the injection frequency, assuming you're using Testosterone Cypionate or Testosterone Enantate - those are by far the most common forms and are virtually identical.

When you inject either form of the above mentioned testosterone, your levels will peak approximately 72hrs after the injection and then begin to fall back to baseline. 72hrs is a very approximate number, some may peak sooner or a little later but it's a decent average. In your case, because you're only injecting once every 2wks, your levels are jumping up, crashing back down, remaining low until the next injection and then repeating the cycle over and over again. Yes, at some point during the monthly cycle you do more than likely have higher testosterone levels, but you cannot experience symptomatic relief unless you stabilize and maintain the levels.

With either form of testosterone mentioned above, it needs to be injected once per week, once every 7 days. The average dosing range for most men is in the 100-200mg per week range. That said, some men find it more efficient to split the dose into two weekly injections, say every Monday and Thursday. Some need this and some don't.

You may also want to consider HCG. HCG will produce a pulse of natural testosterone production along with your testosterone you're injecting. It's not enough to correct low levels such as yours, but it will help stave off any peaks and valleys in-between your testosterone injections. It also tends to help with libido a pretty good bit and will protect fertility, which may or may not interest you. One of the other positive effects is it will prevent any testicular atrophy that will often occur due to testosterone use. Testicular atrophy itself isn't harmful but many guys don't like it.

Lastly, it's very important to watch your estradiol levels when on testosterone treatment. You need a good balance between the two hormones, testosterone and estrogen. This is something many men tend to forget since they think of estrogen as a female hormone, but like testosterone, estrogen is needed by both men and women, simply in different amounts. If the balance is off, your treatment will suffer.

I hope this info has been helpful to you. Feel free to ask any other questions that come to mind.

Justin,
Even after my injection I don't really feel any different than I do say on day 13. I just had an injection on 2/6 and still feel like crap. This has been going on for months. I will ask doc about HCG when I go today. I understand the peaks and valleys but 202 seems way too low after being on it for 6 months. When I had a high reading of 556 back in June that was 7 days after an injection. I have most of the symptoms of low T except loss of muscle. I'm actually the strongest I've been in a long time (which is ironic) but still feel like crap everyday. I just push myself at the gym.

I'll will update what urologist tells me today.

thanks
Brent

[Justin]

When you take an injection of testosterone, this will not make you feel better. It's not like taking a pain pill or something like that. And even if you take injections of testosterone for weeks and months on end, if you do not reach a balance and stability in your hormone levels you are not going to feel better. For most men it takes approximately 3 months to experience noticeable symptomatic relief and that's assuming they are stable in their hormone levels. If they aren't stable yet then this time table can extend. Again, assuming stability, it can take up to a full year for the full benefits of TRT to be reached. From there it's simply about maintaining them. One of the biggest yet most common mistake I see guys make is they reach a better state, feel great and stop their TRT. It's hard to make yourself take something when you don't feel bad. But people often forget they only feel better because of the TRT, take it away and the symptoms come back and they have to start all over again. I see this every single day.

[bpt513]

When you take an injection of testosterone, this will not make you feel better. It's not like taking a pain pill or something like that. And even if you take injections of testosterone for weeks and months on end, if you do not reach a balance and stability in your hormone levels you are not going to feel better. For most men it takes approximately 3 months to experience noticeable symptomatic relief and that's assuming they are stable in their hormone levels. If they aren't stable yet then this time table can extend. Again, assuming stability, it can take up to a full year for the full benefits of TRT to be reached. From there it's simply about maintaining them. One of the biggest yet most common mistake I see guys make is they reach a better state, feel great and stop their TRT. It's hard to make yourself take something when you don't feel bad. But people often forget they only feel better because of the TRT, take it away and the symptoms come back and they have to start all over again. I see this every single day.

went to doc yesterday. Decided to increase dosage to 300mg every 2 weeks and get rested in about 7 weeks. Hope it works.

[Justin]

At any dose, no matter how high, if it's given once every two weeks you're still going to have significant ups and downs in your testosterone levels. Testosterone is meant to be injected weekly.

[Buster1]

Then why are so many docs saying every 2 weeks?

I am starting to feel the same way as bpt513. I have just had my 7th injection (2 week intervals) and have been feeling better. But for some reason, after this last shot, I have not had the typical swing to feeling good for about a week to 10 days. I'm just 4 days post shot and "off". It's like this last one didn't work as well.

We did bloodwork before the shot 4 days ago and I'm curious as to my levels. My level check at the 1 month point was lower that before I started TRT.