gaffney
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I'm 45, in good shape, and active athletically, and am interested in "optimizing" my hormone levels for anti-aging purposes. But I also don't want to do anything really reckless. So, I've been seeing a doctor at an anti-aging clinic for about 3 months now. The doc says she likes to get men up to around 900 total test, and above 180 free test. And I can't remember the target range she specified for IGF-1 -- over 200, I believe. So far, I've taken some kind of "initial" steps in terms of treatment, and gotten blood work done several times now. But I now seem to be at a critical point where I need to make bigger decisions. Here are the details on my blood work and treatment so far:
Initial blood work:
Total Test: 638
Free Test: 136
Estradiol: 28
DHEA: 178
IGF-1: 124
Treatment protocol
HCG 50 units (insulin syringe) 3 times per week
DHEA tabs daily
Sermorelin sublingual daily
Blood work after 5 weeks
Total test 647
Free test 133
Estradiol: 35
IGF-1: 110
At this point, the doc said she thought I'd need to go to Test Cyp injections because the HCG was not going to work. I was hesitant though, because my levels are not really all that low (although not optimal), and I'm worried about shutting down my natural production. So we agreed to give the HCG another shot with a new protocol.
Treatment protocol
HCG 50 units daily
DHEA tabs daily
Sermorelin 30 units (insulin syringe) daily (this was changed because now that I was comfortable with the injections, there seemed to be no reason to continue with the less effective sublingual tabs).
Blood work after 2 weeks
Total test: 838
Free test: 157
no test for estradiol or IGF-1 this time
The doc is now saying that she still feels like HCG is not going to get me to optimal test levels -- particularly free test, which she says she'd like to get above 180. Obviously, I had a big jump in total test, and a moderate jump in free test, from the daily HCG...but she says that's not sustainable, and she doesn't like to have people on daily 50 unit HCG injections anyway. She says that's risky as it can lead to "burn out", which she says is worse than shutting your testicles down altogether with TRT because in the former case, it can lead to long term damage, while in the later, baseline can almost always be regained if TRT is stopped. Given that, she said she believes if I reduce the amount of HCG I'm taking (either taking smaller daily injections, or cutting back to 3 times a week with the 50 unit injections), my levels will likely drop back down again. So, she really thinks the best option for me is TRT.
I'm still concerned about starting TRT, and shutting down my natural production, when I'm basically producing pretty strong levels for a 45 year old guy. That said, I'm pretty interested to see how I'd feel at "optimal" levels, and am quite committed to trying to do whatever I can to stay active and vital for as long as possible. So, if TRT is the path I need to go down, I feel like I want to do it. But...I'm nervous. It seems like a huge step, and I don't want to do something I'll regret later. I also feel like all the discussion I see online about TRT involves guys who had levels that were pretty low -- below 400. I can't find anyone who has been in my situation -- who has decent test levels, but wants to optimize them and choses TRT to do so. I'd really like to read about some experiences of people like that, because sometimes I'm wondering if I'm just being foolish.
Any thoughts?
By the way, regarding the sermorelin and IGF-1, she tells me that it takes about 3 months to really have a substantial impact. I've only been doing the injections for 3 weeks or so (with about 5 weeks of sublingual before that). So, hopefully in about a month or so, I'll start to feel some significant impact as far as growth hormone. In many ways, I think the growth hormone is my bigger problem...in that case, my levels really ARE low (or on the low end of the "normal" range, at least). Any thoughts or experience with this would also be greatly appreciated. Perhaps I should hold off on the TRT until I can see how I feel with some better GH levels?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Initial blood work:
Total Test: 638
Free Test: 136
Estradiol: 28
DHEA: 178
IGF-1: 124
Treatment protocol
HCG 50 units (insulin syringe) 3 times per week
DHEA tabs daily
Sermorelin sublingual daily
Blood work after 5 weeks
Total test 647
Free test 133
Estradiol: 35
IGF-1: 110
At this point, the doc said she thought I'd need to go to Test Cyp injections because the HCG was not going to work. I was hesitant though, because my levels are not really all that low (although not optimal), and I'm worried about shutting down my natural production. So we agreed to give the HCG another shot with a new protocol.
Treatment protocol
HCG 50 units daily
DHEA tabs daily
Sermorelin 30 units (insulin syringe) daily (this was changed because now that I was comfortable with the injections, there seemed to be no reason to continue with the less effective sublingual tabs).
Blood work after 2 weeks
Total test: 838
Free test: 157
no test for estradiol or IGF-1 this time
The doc is now saying that she still feels like HCG is not going to get me to optimal test levels -- particularly free test, which she says she'd like to get above 180. Obviously, I had a big jump in total test, and a moderate jump in free test, from the daily HCG...but she says that's not sustainable, and she doesn't like to have people on daily 50 unit HCG injections anyway. She says that's risky as it can lead to "burn out", which she says is worse than shutting your testicles down altogether with TRT because in the former case, it can lead to long term damage, while in the later, baseline can almost always be regained if TRT is stopped. Given that, she said she believes if I reduce the amount of HCG I'm taking (either taking smaller daily injections, or cutting back to 3 times a week with the 50 unit injections), my levels will likely drop back down again. So, she really thinks the best option for me is TRT.
I'm still concerned about starting TRT, and shutting down my natural production, when I'm basically producing pretty strong levels for a 45 year old guy. That said, I'm pretty interested to see how I'd feel at "optimal" levels, and am quite committed to trying to do whatever I can to stay active and vital for as long as possible. So, if TRT is the path I need to go down, I feel like I want to do it. But...I'm nervous. It seems like a huge step, and I don't want to do something I'll regret later. I also feel like all the discussion I see online about TRT involves guys who had levels that were pretty low -- below 400. I can't find anyone who has been in my situation -- who has decent test levels, but wants to optimize them and choses TRT to do so. I'd really like to read about some experiences of people like that, because sometimes I'm wondering if I'm just being foolish.
Any thoughts?
By the way, regarding the sermorelin and IGF-1, she tells me that it takes about 3 months to really have a substantial impact. I've only been doing the injections for 3 weeks or so (with about 5 weeks of sublingual before that). So, hopefully in about a month or so, I'll start to feel some significant impact as far as growth hormone. In many ways, I think the growth hormone is my bigger problem...in that case, my levels really ARE low (or on the low end of the "normal" range, at least). Any thoughts or experience with this would also be greatly appreciated. Perhaps I should hold off on the TRT until I can see how I feel with some better GH levels?
Thanks in advance for any advice.