Androgel Users .... Support and Results

[beckerj]

I am hoping that this thread can be a place where we can share the experience of Androgel ....

I started Androgel on April 4, 2008 after a long haul with bilateral varicocele.

3 months after the surgery to correct the varicoceles my T level was 293 (241-827) LabCorp .... The Urologist finally gave me Androgel and ordered more blood work in 30 days ....

My first 2/3 days on 4 pumps was GREAT .... I noticed an imediate change in mood and a slight increase in my libido and energy .... One week on it and i was a rabbit in heat .... Two weeks on it and still a rabbit, but less so ....

Third week and what everyone calls the crash .... From what I have read this is due to the fact that the body's own production of T is shutting down .... Most people from what i have read, if they go and get their T tested will find that they are LOWER than where they were when they started androgel .... At this point most are saying that they up their dosage to 6 pumps a day ....

Today April 22, 2008 I upped my dosage to the 6 pumps ....

So what has other experiences been like ?

Has anyone else experienced the "CRASH" ?

Has anyone else esperienced the "Eurphoria Effect" ?

 

[JanSz]

I am hoping that this thread can be a place where we can share the experience of Androgel ....

I started Androgel on April 4, 2008 after a long haul with bilateral varicocele.

3 months after the surgery to correct the varicoceles my T level was 293 (241-827) LabCorp .... The Urologist finally gave me Androgel and ordered more blood work in 30 days ....

My first 2/3 days on 4 pumps was GREAT .... I noticed an imediate change in mood and a slight increase in my libido and energy .... One week on it and i was a rabbit in heat .... Two weeks on it and still a rabbit, but less so ....

Third week and what everyone calls the crash .... From what I have read this is due to the fact that the body's own production of T is shutting down .... Most people from what i have read, if they go and get their T tested will find that they are LOWER than where they were when they started androgel .... At this point most are saying that they up their dosage to 6 pumps a day ....

Today April 22, 2008 I upped my dosage to the 6 pumps ....

So what has other experiences been like ?

Has anyone else experienced the "CRASH" ?

Has anyone else esperienced the "Eurphoria Effect" ?

You already know about existence of crasch.
Why have you not asked dr for HCG?
Other than being unpleasant experience, your testis are already under enough stress.

You know that Androgel is going to raise your DHT, unless you are low on DHT, Androgel is not long term solution for you.
May as well start on injections from scratch.

Some people have other problems (mainly thyroid), they do not respond well to transdermals.
See Table #5
http://androgel.com/pdf/500122-500127RevDec2007_1.pdf


5grams --> 555
7.5grams ---> 601
10grams --> 713

If you do not get at least that much, you may have other problems.

Always test at least for
TotalTestosterone
SHBG
Albumin

You want to have at the minimum
FreeT>160
preferably up to 300
using this calculator
Free & Bioavailable Testosterone calculator


.
.

 

[beckerj]

I plan to ask at the end of the 30 days .... The Dr. I am dealing with, I felt I was quite lucky to even get him to give me the Androgel .... I am going to bring up the fact that I would like to try the HCG, as long as it is covered by my insurance ....
My thought was that I wanted the T to at least see if that is what is wrong with me .... After the 1 1/2 week of "WOW" I now know for sure that the issue is my T and nothing else .... With all the Dr's I have been too, I was on the verge of thinking this was indeed all in my head .... But now that I have once again experienced what it is to be normal .... I know what the issue is ....
If he says no to the HCG I will continue on the Adrogel until June 30 when I have an appointment with another Endocronologist .... Which I hope will be more open to the ideas that we have all shared here .... Including the HCG ....
You know as well as I do that we can ask all we want, but in the end it is up to the GODS of medicine to give us a blessing .... If you know how or where to get the HCG PM me .... I might be interested in trying it on my own .... After the 30 day trial with Androgel ....
I just upped my dosage, based on the feedback from other users of Androgel that experienced what I have with the WOW and CRASH .... To 7.5 .... Just this bump today has done me right ....

My SHBG was very low the last test I had .... 18 (13-71) LabCorp

My Calculated Bioavailable T was 183 ng/dl
My Calculated Free T was 7.81

I have no idea what my Albumin is ....

My TSH was .935 uIU/mL (0.350-5.500)

I just wonder if I have early stage Thyroid Disease .... Although the Endo said I was fine .... "Within Normal"

Thanks Jan - Always a source of good info man ....

 

[JanSz]

I plan to ask at the end of the 30 days .... The Dr. I am dealing with, I felt I was quite lucky to even get him to give me the Androgel .... I am going to bring up the fact that I would like to try the HCG, as long as it is covered by my insurance ....
My thought was that I wanted the T to at least see if that is what is wrong with me .... After the 1 1/2 week of "WOW" I now know for sure that the issue is my T and nothing else .... With all the Dr's I have been too, I was on the verge of thinking this was indeed all in my head .... But now that I have once again experienced what it is to be normal .... I know what the issue is ....
If he says no to the HCG I will continue on the Adrogel until June 30 when I have an appointment with another Endocronologist .... Which I hope will be more open to the ideas that we have all shared here .... Including the HCG ....
You know as well as I do that we can ask all we want, but in the end it is up to the GODS of medicine to give us a blessing .... If you know how or where to get the HCG PM me .... I might be interested in trying it on my own .... After the 30 day trial with Androgel ....
I just upped my dosage, based on the feedback from other users of Androgel that experienced what I have with the WOW and CRASH .... To 7.5 .... Just this bump today has done me right ....

My SHBG was very low the last test I had .... 18 (13-71) LabCorp

My Calculated Bioavailable T was 183 ng/dl
My Calculated Free T was 7.81

I have no idea what my Albumin is ....

My TSH was .935 uIU/mL (0.350-5.500)

I just wonder if I have early stage Thyroid Disease .... Although the Endo said I was fine .... "Within Normal"

Thanks Jan - Always a source of good info man ....

Well at least your SHBG is helpfull.
If you use 10grams Androgel/day you should be able to get where you want with FreeT, assuming that you respond well.

When my only source of T was Androgel (and no hcg) I was using 10 grams/day.
I have prescription plan that paid for Androgel, but also a co-pay.
It is less expensive for me to pay for my depo-T cash, they do not cover HCG or Depo-T.
I am telling you, it is about Big-Pharma conspiracy, they make money on Androgel hand over fist.

I am using 500iu HCG EOD. That is =500*7/2=1750iu/week
One of this days I will double my dose and check my testicles.
I had TT~320 when I was starting my TRT.
I already know that 500iu is not raising my E2, so I know I can go higher, and if need be, control my E2 with Anastrozole.
.
.

 

[beckerj]

Okay now that we are getting better with the HRT ....

How do we fix the whole bedroom situation ....

I can't be the only one that is nervous and scare of going back into the bedroom and making love ....

IT's been over a month and a half since me and the other half have done the actual deed ....

Last night I played with my flesh light and the other half watched .... And kinda helped a little bit .... Later on, about two hours or so i was hard again and playing in the general area and was getting hot and bothered again .... My partner didn't want to so a little later I was able to get it up and off again while being watched ....

Now this morning I'm told let's do it this evening .... I am nervous now ....

HAs this happened to anyone else and how do you overcome it ?

 

[JanSz]

Okay now that we are getting better with the HRT ....

How do we fix the whole bedroom situation ....

I can't be the only one that is nervous and scare of going back into the bedroom and making love ....

IT's been over a month and a half since me and the other half have done the actual deed ....

Last night I played with my flesh light and the other half watched .... And kinda helped a little bit .... Later on, about two hours or so i was hard again and playing in the general area and was getting hot and bothered again .... My partner didn't want to so a little later I was able to get it up and off again while being watched ....

Now this morning I'm told let's do it this evening .... I am nervous now ....

HAs this happened to anyone else and how do you overcome it ?

You only hope is frequent E2 testing and kee ping it in thae correct range.

Are you using Cialis?
.
Head games are terrible, tell me about.
Women have no idea what we are against.
.

 

[beckerj]

yeah I took one this morning .... I find it actually lasts about 4 to 5 days for me .... 20mg ....

I guess we are expected to be the provider of "WOOD" SMILE

Woudn't be bad if the tools shed wasn't robbed and you have only started to put the peices back together again ....

I have a new Endo I am going to see on June 30 and hope to get more direction from as to the course of treatment .... I have tog et the urologist on board with the testing of my E2 though ....

 

[tnt tony]

what is dht and hcg ?

 

[MAxximal]

what is dht and hcg ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrotestosterone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin

 

[tnt tony]

I am using androgel for low test it was 260 and has gone up to 565 with 5 mg per day. It is surprising that my doctor wouldnt explain some of these things.

 

[tnt tony]

I started working out about 7 months ago and feel like i am having some slow gains is there something i could take with the androgel that would be safe?

 

[bomb402]

My gripe with gel in general is 1) the short half life 2) the fact that you have to apply it twice a day 3) the fact that it is extremely hard to gauge how much you are putting on 4) the fact that it is hard to dial yourself in at high normal levels without converting excessively to estrogen since it hits the receptors on the skin.
For these reasons I think gel is a joke. I mean my levels are barely at peak for several hours before the stuff is wearing off. To me it is like a permanent roller coaster that I did not enjoy riding. Of course after shut down you are going to need more. I have rubbed the cream all over before and nothing happened - you just can't tell when estrogen is going nuts or what the hell is going on because the half life is so short. Get on cypionate and hcg. I think you'll see way better results on injections since you can pretty much make your levels whatever you want with better control.

 

[Gutterpump]

My gripe with gel in general is 1) the short half life 2) the fact that you have to apply it twice a day 3) the fact that it is extremely hard to gauge how much you are putting on 4) the fact that it is hard to dial yourself in at high normal levels without converting excessively to estrogen since it hits the receptors on the skin.
For these reasons I think gel is a joke. I mean my levels are barely at peak for several hours before the stuff is wearing off. To me it is like a permanent roller coaster that I did not enjoy riding. Of course after shut down you are going to need more. I have rubbed the cream all over before and nothing happened - you just can't tell when estrogen is going nuts or what the hell is going on because the half life is so short. Get on cypionate and hcg. I think you'll see way better results on injections since you can pretty much make your levels whatever you want with better control.

T-shots increase estrogen far more than gels. Gels raise DHT higher than shots. It's the DHT receptors/enzymes which are in higher concentration in the skin, not e2 receptors. Think you have it confused. Gels are much better for people with E2 issues. Having high DHT also helps to combat E2 since they work inversely to each other.

 

[MAxximal]

T-shots increase estrogen far more than gels. Gels raise DHT higher than shots. It's the DHT receptors/enzymes which are in higher concentration in the skin, not e2 receptors. Think you have it confused. Gels are much better for people with E2 issues. Having high DHT also helps to combat E2 since they work inversely to each other.

Great

 

[Gutterpump]

I started working out about 7 months ago and feel like i am having some slow gains is there something i could take with the androgel that would be safe?

You started working out 7 months ago and you're already wondering what you can take?! Solid training + Lots of clean food + lots of sleep = 80+% of where your gains are going to come from.