question from a user
I started TRT about 3 and a half weeks ago (37 and very active) and am curious about dosing and was hoping you could clarify. My initial T levels prior to treatment were 504 ish with a free T of about 7 and I felt like garbage every single low t symptom. Initially I was prescribed 80mg/week and after 3 weeks my levels were 725 total and 15 free. The test was done just prior to my injection (every Tuesday). That being said I do feel significantly better than initial, but still feel as though I could benefit from a little higher dose. Is the affect on T levels linear or not, as in for 80mg I saw an increase of roughly 220 which would correlate to 3/mg of test, or is it not necessarily linear in nature? I’ve always had relatively high test in my younger years, but after some injuries and with age it appears to be falling off quickly. My goal was to be around 1,000 with a free >25. The provider is on board with increasing, but my question is would 160 be the correct amount if my math is right or would I be way off? Also would I be better off doing the IM injections 2x/week or keep to my weekly? I do start to feel “worse” around day 5 and I feel my best 2 days post injection, but even then my overall week is still incomparable to pre TRT as in I feel so much better that it’s unfair to compare. Sorry for the long post and all the seeded questions, I’m just trying to better educate myself in an area of medicine that I am not very savvy. Thanks in advance
AlphaMD's Answer
No worries about the long post, happy to help.
First, it's important to focus on how you feel rather than shooting for a goal number or anything like that. Every single man will have a different ideal Testosterone level, some 100s above or below the other. So lets start there.
Yes, you should change your regimen to be twice weekly, it is the standard for a reason when working with Testosterone Cypionate because the half-life of the medication can cause a deep valley between once weekly injections, potentially even lower than before treatment. Whatever your dose, split it in half and do it twice a week. That should help a lot with that worse feeling on day 5. It will also help control Estrogen better since you don't have a crazy high spike on just 1 day a week.
It is not always linear, there's a rough estimate of how much Test you get per mg of dose per week, but it's personal. Benefits decrease per mg the higher you go and side effect chances increase at a higher rate the higher mg you go. There's a "sweet spot" for most men.
If you're at 160mg a week (after you've changed to 80mg twice weekly for a few weeks) and don't feel good, then you could look at increasing your dose, as it sounds like you're a relative hypogonadal individual which means you need a higher dose to overcome the natural suppression you will experience. Again though, let how you feel be the guide, not just shooting for a number. If you do increase, go 10-20mg at a time for a few months. You're looking to find the spot you feel the best with the least amount of side effects.
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