Latest labs after switching to 'new' form of TRT

T800

T800

Member
The Free T3 is low. I didn't take my Armour before the test. Do you guys? I don't remember if I used to or not. Last time I had it checked was at noon (doc insisted) and I had Free T3 at 411 (this was after 1 grain of Armour + 2mg of Medrol that morning).

Invalid Link Removed

Not sure what happened to DHT, but it seems like an error. Libido has been tremendously improved on this protocol vs Nolvadex alone @ 20mg/day.

Sonny
 
Rick: You've been nothing but supportive and cool ever since you started posting here. I appreciate it and am glad to hear that you are doing well vs where you were before.

Sonny
 
T800 said:
The Free T3 is low. I didn't take my Armour before the test. Do you guys? I don't remember if I used to or not. Last time I had it checked was at noon (doc insisted) and I had Free T3 at 411 (this was after 1 grain of Armour + 2mg of Medrol that morning).

Not sure what happened to DHT, but it seems like an error. Libido has been tremendously improved on this protocol vs Nolvadex alone @ 20mg/day.

Sonny
Click to expand...

Yeah - your Free T3 is looking low. Normally no Armour the morning of the test, I take mine all in the morning, so it's 24hrs after my last dose when I draw blood.

Your testosterone levels are comparatable to the novla, although - its only been 2 weeks right ? Be interesting to see over a longer time period.

DHT does seem low, but you say libido is great - which is a defiante bonus :) So you coudl be right - that its a lab error

Your chol & HDL has come up too, have you changed your diet recently ?

How are you feeling in general compared to the Novla protocol ?
 
Thanks, Sonny and yes, I am feeling really well.

Few more tweaks with Dr. Crisler and I should be good to go!
 
coz said:
Yeah - your Free T3 is looking low. Normally no Armour the morning of the test, I take mine all in the morning, so it's 24hrs after my last dose when I draw blood.

Your testosterone levels are comparatable to the novla, although - its only been 2 weeks right ? Be interesting to see over a longer time period.

DHT does seem low, but you say libido is great - which is a defiante bonus :) So you coudl be right - that its a lab error

Your chol & HDL has come up too, have you changed your diet recently ?

How are you feeling in general compared to the Novla protocol ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, given the half-life of Nolva, there is still some in my system. I tapered off of it like this:

Weeks 1-12: 20mg/day
Week 13: 10mg/day + 5 pumps Dermacrine Sustain
Weeks 14-current: 5 pumps Dermacrine Sustain

The labs were taken at the end of week 15.

Chol/Diet: I have changed my diet. I am no longer taking fish oil and instead am taking about 7g/day of Cod Liver Oil. Dr Mariano is not satisfied with my level of Vitamin A and says that in the absence of sufficient cholesterol, Vitamin A can help. I take it along with E and D to reduce potential toxicity. I take enough Cod Liver Oil to get 25,000 iu of Vitamin A. Since starting to take it, I've noticed a tremendous improvement in my skin. Everyone has commented that it looks really healthy. I also have made an effort to eat butter and red meat. When my Chol was at its lowest, I had pretty much cut butter and red meat out of my diet.

I feel good on this protocol. I felt kind of restless during the first week or so, but I know my body is adapting. I'm sleeping a lot better, too. Some of it is clouded by the fact that my kids have been sick for the past week, so I've been dealing with a cold.

phatkid: No test...just what is in my sig.

Sonny
 
Glad to hear your starting to feel good on this protocol.

How are you taking the 7gm Cod Liver - capsuls, liquid ? Are you taking any Vit A suppliments seperrately ?

You may need to look into adding a bit more Armour, if your Free T3 doesn't come back up. How are you temps running ? Interestingly low thyroid is meant to make absorbing transdermals more difficult, I wonder if improving T3 will change anything then ?

How do you find applying the dermacrine Sustain ? I've never liked the idea of having to apply trasndermals every day.
 
Even though the lab disagrees, I feel like I'm at an adequate dose of Armour @ 2grains/day + 50mg of Iodoral per day.

I normally take 1 grain in the AM + 1mg of Medrol and then my 2nd dose at around 4-5 pm. Again 1 grain with 1mg of Medrol.

Yesterday, I tried 1.5 grains in the AM. Around noon I checked my armpit temp. It was 98.9 and I had the 'pounding heart' feeling that seems to recur if the dose of Armour gets too high.

Applying every day isn't bad. The first bottle I used was an older formula (bought in Sept). The solution was very runny and little oily. The newest batch (bought last week) is much more 'lotion-like'. Doesn't run, leave my skin oily afterwards, and seems to soak in very well.

I'll give it another month and see what happens. I've had good results with many things, but lasting good results have been hard to come by.

For the Cod Liver Oil, I take 10 gel caps of NOW's double strength preparation. That gives me 6.5g total of Cod Liver Oil, 25,000iu of Vitamin A, 2700 iu of Vitamin D, and then I add in 2 NOW Vitamin E's at 400 iu/each (800 iu total).

Sonny
 
A 1/2 grain increase might have been too much for you, maybe a 1/4 would be better. Although if you're feeling fine, maybe wait till your next labs to recheck.

Have you always split your dose of Armour & Medrol ? Dr M told me to take all mine in the morning, and especially after a hard day I do feel more worn out at night. What benefits do you feel from splitting ? Any issue with sleeping ?
 
coz said:
A 1/2 grain increase might have been too much for you, maybe a 1/4 would be better. Although if you're feeling fine, maybe wait till your next labs to recheck.

Have you always split your dose of Armour & Medrol ? Dr M told me to take all mine in the morning, and especially after a hard day I do feel more worn out at night. What benefits do you feel from splitting ? Any issue with sleeping ?
Click to expand...

I go dancing in some evenigs.
Often after hour and half I do not feel like continuing, I am not really tired but sort of and not really enjoying my time.
Lately, I take 5 mg of Cortef before I leave house, last night I lasted 4 hours and would have keept going, but it was closing time. I missed only one dance during whole evening and did not break much sweat.

Suggestion, on top of usual dose of Medrol, keep Cortef on a side, it is fast acting (and quick out of the body), use it when you feel like you need little boost.

T3 in Armour last only few hours, I split mine in two, some people split dose three ways.
 
coz said:
A 1/2 grain increase might have been too much for you, maybe a 1/4 would be better. Although if you're feeling fine, maybe wait till your next labs to recheck.

Have you always split your dose of Armour & Medrol ? Dr M told me to take all mine in the morning, and especially after a hard day I do feel more worn out at night. What benefits do you feel from splitting ? Any issue with sleeping ?
Click to expand...

I used to take it all in the morning (4mg of Medrol + 3 grains of Armour). I found that I felt overly stimulated and at times had a hard time switching my focus...like I couldn't let go of what I was thinking about. THen in the evening, I'd feel reeeealy tired.

So, I've switched to a morning/afternoon protocol that is much more steady. Dr Mariano was ok with this.

I think it depends on the individual and how quickly you process T3. I don't have issues sleeping, but I do notice that being a 'night owl' (something I've been for most of my life) is not a problem any more.

Sonny
 
coz said:
DHT does seem low, but you say libido is great - which is a defiante bonus :) So you coudl be right - that its a lab error
Click to expand...

DHT is low because estrogen is low.

The body often makes DHT to compensate for high estrogen.
 
Sonny,

Glad you're doing better on the Dermacrine. Do you think the theory that you're just very sensitive to E2 spikes is what is behind all of this? I noticed your E2 went from 28 to 21 and your tot T took a major hit. Even with this greatly decreased total T, however, your libido is much better (hopefully owing to the fact that your E2 came down quite a bit)...which makes me wonder how you would have done on the same test. cyp/HCG protocol WITH some Arimidex thrown in. Didn't Dr. M even say that was a possible option for you? Nonetheless, if something is not broken, don't fix it, as they say. I hope this one works for you, man. Oh, also, does this mean that you're going to have to change your forum name to T500? Sorry, it's late in the day, and I'm punchy.

Jim
 
Hey Jim:

I'm a little skeptical about comparing the E2 readings from the last Test + HCG reading vs now. The scale was different, it was done in a different lab, and the result took a looong time to get (vs the usual 2 days). The range for all of my E2 tests has always been 13-54.

Test + HCG probably was the best in terms of the things that mattered to me (strength, libido, body composition, self confidence, etc). When the problems started though, the protocol was probably the worst in terms of impact on daily life. I wouldn't rule out going back on it now that I have a prescription for Arimidex. However, I do think that preg cream is mandatory. My labs revealed heavy pathway suppression. The HCG alone wasn't enough to rebalance.

Sonny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top