Hyde
Legend
How do you feel? Still alternating 7 & 8mg each morning?
Nothing looking worrisome that I can see. Platelets are on the low end, but pretty optimal otherwise.
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Nothing looking worrisome that I can see. Platelets are on the low end, but pretty optimal otherwise.
GreenMachineX
Well-known member
Yes, still alternating. I’m still waiting on the testosterone and e2 results, but this is where I am…
Sleeping well (for me, 6-7 hours), restful.
Anxiety fairly controlled.
Water retention low-mid.
Achy, mildly weakened.
Mood fine (unless kcal too low).
Libido fair.
I can feel every old injury I’ve ever had. Training recovery is slow (constant mild muscle aches/soreness). I’m going to guess my free test is right near the middle, or slightly above middle, unlike when I’m feeling strong in the gym and great recovery/no aches at 8mg daily. We’ll see.
Hyde
Legend
If you take 8 daily, does anything take a hit besides some elevation of hemoglobin/crit?
Perhaps DHEA could possibly be an option if you just need a bit more water/padding but don’t want to go to 8mg daily? You get more estrogen primarily, but also some neurosteroid drive on positivity & mental faculties slightly (without increasing blood thickness). This assuming DHEA isn’t already top of range.
Could just put a small squirt of XPG DHEA on the top of one of your feet/shin each morning, alternating sides.
Dustin07
Legend
do you see any difference with the change in the seasons? DST kinda screws with me because my normal 8:30pm routine bed time has been pushed to 9:30 (hard to go to sleep when its still full daylight out) but the alarm clock at 4:30am is harder now ironically lol.
GreenMachineX
Well-known member
I’m not sure if 8mg daily messes with my sleep anymore, but a couple months ago I would’ve said sleep. I’ve never done 8mg daily with calories this high (only 200-300kcal deficit usually now), so I don’t know what would happen really. 500kcal deficit plus 8mg daily means BAD sleep.
I bought the oral DHEA caps, or maybe it was sublingual, like you recommended a few months ago, but haven’t mustered up the juevos yet. That’s back on the menu now, just need to man up. Previously, dhea gave me awful brain fog/lightheadedness, but, many other things are improved now so it may be time. My dhea levels are confirmed low also.
Edit: I also reflux water alternating 7/8mg daily or anything below. I rarely notice it with food, and very rarely acid reflux, but at 8mg daily it never happens.
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GreenMachineX
Well-known member
Nah. Going to sleep is usually fine no matter what outside looks like, it’s just waking up too early. Unless, like I described above, if 8mg daily, and 500kcal deficit, I start crashing at 8pm, and if I fall asleep on the couch and wake back up at 9 or so, I’ll be stuck awake until 12am, then up at 4am anyway.
Dustin07
Legend
oh yeah thats a rough cycle. I could see waking up at say 3:30am and just making it a normal routine for whatever. coffee, bible reading etc. but being up in that weird time between midnight and 2am is no bueno. My folks are in a hardcore routine. usually up like 3-3:30am and bed between 7-8pm lol. not much can stand between them and that routine. during winter, early to bed is easy for me, but right now we have some long days.
GreenMachineX
Well-known member
Yeah, at our age, real life prevents a 8pm bed time. In addition, going to bed at 8pm then waking up at 3am wouldn’t solve the rest of “wired and tired” feeling that goes with it. It’s not a natural rhythm if you know what I mean.
Edited: stupid autocorrect. I meant going to bed earlier would NOT solve wired and tired.
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Dustin07
Legend
yup I get it. winter time here its dark by 4pm so going to bed between 8-8:30 is easy for me. in the spring, the sun is cresting about the time I wake up anyways so its the perfect rhythm. but then we get into daylight savings time. nights get longer before the mornings get earlier and it gets harder to sync up for me. I do love long days, I just wish we didn't do DST.
GreenMachineX
Well-known member
Check edit. Autocorrect fails.
Dustin07
Legend
I think its normal for modern society, I can't speak for you guys, but for me, lifestyle plays a big roll. spend all day sorta taxing the brain with legit fast paced multitasking in a high tech world, then by the time you get home and you 'should' be tired, you haven't done the primal tasks that make us legitimately tired. I get more like that Mon-Fri when life is mostly computer work.
Sat/Sun when I spend the day beating my body down with farm work, shoveling yard after yard of soil etc, I'm exhausted, have a big meal, and sleep like a baby. its a totally different kind of tired from hard manual labor vs all day whitecollar bs. Its healthier I think... also harder in a way, IDK. Like who TF chooses this in a day and age where uber can bring me food while I play video games? lol
GreenMachineX
Well-known member
Yes, exactly.
lol
That has worked on occasion, but the catch for me is I really have to eat to match the kcal I’ve burned when doing that, or else I just create a larger deficit which aggravates the issue.
Dustin07
Legend
yeah also true. and its even harder mon-fri after work. brain tired, body not. forcing the body to break down further so it can sleep correctly when brain already shutting down is hard and tbh I think it almost is creating an a.d.d. habit for me. its worked well for the past 8 months except when I do have days where I feel caught up and realize I have a couple hours of free time, I'm at a loss for what to do and TV now seems boring so I need to start programming myself to use that time for reading most likely.