New Here, Question about "Cycle" from my Doctor

[chase01]

Hello All...

Had maybe a non-typical question and was hoping you guys may know the answer.

Dr. said my Testosterone was at 299, she wanted to get it back up to hopefully close to 1000. She gave me BioTE Testosterone pellets (inserted)

Since taking them I've been eating pretty clean, not perfect but pretty good, and lifting pretty heavy.

Its been exactly 5 weeks and I'm up 15lbs. Some water I can tell, but I'm also making pretty decent mass and strength gains.

I'm wondering how the losses and gain fluctuations might be. in other words if they would work the same as a normal Test. Cycle, or are they a totally different animal? FYI these pellets last approx. 4 to 6 months before I have to go back.

If anybody has any experience in this, I'd be appreciative.

Thanks

Marc

 

[mike33511]

You've been gaining 3 pounds a week? If your test levels are still in the normal range, you are not really doing a "cycle." A test cycle would have you at supraphysiological levels, which allows you to gain lean mass very quickly.

If your test levels are still in the normal range and you're gaining 3 pounds a week, a good amount of that will probably be fat.

 

[ChocolateClen]

You're on TRT. You could cycle your TRT and get your test levels way above normal, but for now you're in the normal range using trt

 

[chase01]

Im not sure what my test levels are, like I said Im not supposed to go back for 4 to 6 months, although I do think I have a blood test coming up.

Im just wondering how much and when approx. this extra water weight will come off. I know Ive made some lean muscle gains its noticeable, but so is the water weight. Like my watch and wedding ring almost strangled my hands to death. Does the water weight just disappear one day? when the 4 months is up? gradually over time? etc etc etc

Sorry I may not be explaining it too well.

Thanks again

 

[ChocolateClen]

Depends on what your on really. itll come and go with diet as well but done compounds make you hold more water then others

 

[mike33511]

Is it possible you might just be eating too much? That could be causing the bloating.

TRT simply puts you in the normal range. It is nothing like an AAS cycle. In 5 weeks, a natural lifter would be lucky to gain 3 pounds of muscle. So you've probably gained at least 12 pounds of weight that isn't muscle. Could this be all water weight? Maybe. But I can't see TRT causing that much water retention. I've been on TRT for more than 2 years, and I've never experienced anything like that.

 

[chase01]

Wow, this has me a little concerned now.

Im a little skeptical of the eating too much theory simply because I cut down to 2000 calories, then even 1600 calories just seeing if I could shed some of this.

THe diet is pretty clean too. My daily meals look about like below +/- (not in that order)

2 Chicken breasts, 2 protein shakes, 1/2 sweet potato, 6 egg whites, spinach salad, 1 apple, 1 banana, 1/2 cup oatmeal

Now I will add that I travel a lot during the week and sometimes I get caught out and about without meals, and in the last month I've broken down and got fast food 3 times. But even then that's a lot of weight to gain.

Workouts have been 6 days a week, HIIT cardio on 4 of them for 20mins

Thanks for the input, appreciated

 

[mike33511]

I didn't realize you were eating so little. It's crazy that you have gained 15 pounds in 5 weeks only eating 2000 calories a day.

Perhaps the TRT is causing the water retention. You should definitely speak to your doctor about this.

 

[chase01]

Ya going to call her tomorrow. Thanks again for the input.

 

[The_Old_Guy]

That Testosterone you are using, is what's known as "Bio Identical". You can research what that is - seems to *possibly* be something women would want (as opposed to horse urine), but seeing that it is all marketing on the male side of things. I'm also seeing the pellets giving highly inconsistent levels over the life of the implants - massive spike after first inserted, then rapid decline. Why don't you see if your doc can switch you to weekly Test Cyp injections?

 

[ChocolateClen]

So maybe the massive amount of water weight is due to the pellet then. I'd see if you could switch over to injectables, assuming you aren't afraid of needles.

 

[chase01]

@ the_old_Guy Thats exactly what happened. The first 2-3 weeks was feeling like a million bucks. Now I haven't "Crashed" by any means, but not nearly as energized as I was.

She did say I could take injections and I think one other option, but she followed up with this is just a lot easier, consistent yada yada so I said if its better lets just do that. Not afraid of needles, just the way I heard it this was better.

My guess is I did get some weird spike and am holding a ton of water

Thanks guys..

 

[Kevnev]

Is the test level still in the normal range when you take 300mg 4-andro a Day?

 

[The_Old_Guy]

@ the_old_Guy Thats exactly what happened. The first 2-3 weeks was feeling like a million bucks. Now I haven't "Crashed" by any means, but not nearly as energized as I was.

She did say I could take injections and I think one other option, but she followed up with this is just a lot easier, consistent yada yada so I said if its better lets just do that. Not afraid of needles, just the way I heard it this was better.

My guess is I did get some weird spike and am holding a ton of water

Thanks guys..

You're the first guy on here that I've ever heard of, using Bio Identical Implants... that should tell you something If she is down for switching you, I would do that for sure. You'd also be able to get a lot more advice on here in the future - since almost everyone is using Test Cyp injections for TRT.

I am *not* on TRT BTW, I just like to research and looked up your product and situation on GOOGLE

 

[Sparkss]

That Testosterone you are using, is what's known as "Bio Identical". You can research what that is - seems to *possibly* be something women would want (as opposed to horse urine), but seeing that it is all marketing on the male side of things. I'm also seeing the pellets giving highly inconsistent levels over the life of the implants - massive spike after first inserted, then rapid decline. Why don't you see if your doc can switch you to weekly Test Cyp injections?

@ the_old_Guy Thats exactly what happened. The first 2-3 weeks was feeling like a million bucks. Now I haven't "Crashed" by any means, but not nearly as energized as I was.

She did say I could take injections and I think one other option, but she followed up with this is just a lot easier, consistent yada yada so I said if its better lets just do that. Not afraid of needles, just the way I heard it this was better.

My guess is I did get some weird spike and am holding a ton of water

Thanks guys..

You're the first guy on here that I've ever heard of, using Bio Identical Implants... that should tell you something If she is down for switching you, I would do that for sure. You'd also be able to get a lot more advice on here in the future - since almost everyone is using Test Cyp injections for TRT.

I am *not* on TRT BTW, I just like to research and looked up your product and situation on GOOGLE

My doctor is about to put me on the BioTe pellets, which until now I had read good things about and was excited to try (my last T levels were 260, IIRC). I will check GIYF, but wanted to see if you had any links to the dosage inconsistency reports. That really bums me out and I thought "consistent dosages" was one of the pros for the pellets. *sigh*

 

[ChocolateClen]

You'll get way more consistency if you inject I haven't seen a way around it as of yet

 

[The_Old_Guy]

My doctor is about to put me on the BioTe pellets, which until now I had read good things about and was excited to try (my last T levels were 260, IIRC). I will check GIYF, but wanted to see if you had any links to the dosage inconsistency reports. That really bums me out and I thought "consistent dosages" was one of the pros for the pellets. *sigh*

I didn't save any links man, sorry. Just use Google - I think I used the search term "Bio Identical Testosterone".

Edit: I was bored, this looks good - talks about levels. After scanning it, I still say injections are the way to go.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431706/

 

[Sparkss]

This one talks about adding generic arimidex to extend the pellets, in some cases pushing the need for dosing more from 4 up to over 6 months.

Coadministration of anastrozole sustains therapeutic testosterone levels in hypogonadal men undergoing testosterone pellet insertion.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
TT level at 6, 15, or >15 weeks from TP insertion.
RESULTS:
Thirty-eight men with 65 insertions were analyzed. The TP AZ group had significantly higher TT and FT levels than the TP group at >120 days (P < 0.05). The TP group had significantly higher E2 levels at all time points (P < 0.01). GTP levels remained stable in the TP AZ group. Average time to reinsertion in TP AZ was 198 days vs. 128 days in the TP group.
CONCLUSION:
Men on TP AZ maintain therapeutic T levels longer than men on TP alone and have significantly less GTP suppression.