Took testosterone at 18 years old for two months. Now I'm 20 and I feel like it may have messed things up. Is this true?

[jayjones0722]

I'm not going to go into extreme detail, but basically, I took testosterone at 18 years old and my levels went from 793 ng/dl to 1300 ng/dl. I started off with 200mg a week of Test C, then I switched to 150mg of Test E, and eventually I stopped because I didn't like the side effects (water retention, constantly worrying if E is too high or low, etc.) I did this for about two months before hopping off. I didn't notice any terrible side effects when I initially hopped off.

However, 6 months **** completely changed for me. I stopped enjoying going to the gym, my workouts felt like ****, my sleep was fucked (hard to stay asleep, and needed 10-12 hours of sleep everyday to feel normal), difficulty focusing, holding massive grudges against people, and many other things. This didn't make sense, as I was able to workout for 6 months after stopping testosterone, and even go on a cut to the point where I was ripped and chiseled with an amazing physique, so I was wondering how all these effects could come about so suddenly. Along with this, my libido was still fine and I had no issues with erections or getting horny.

I would also like to include that I smoked weed frequently for about 4 months, and stopped two months before I started feeling the things I listed above. I will get my levels checked soon, but I just want to know if everything I'm feeling is because of the testosterone, the weed, or a combination of both. Help would be appreciated.

 

[happychillmore]

I mean...from a physiological standpoint it almost certainly did mess you up in that you'll inevitably crash after your cycle. I'm sure without a legitimate PCT afterwards that transition is all the more abrupt. That being said, at 18 it would be fairly irregular not to bounce back eventually. I think the main thing that would help us gauge your situation is how long ago this was. It can take 6-18 months to normalize so if you're in that range then you're body's likely still adjusting. I wouldn't blame the weed. But if you take the hormonal crash and add some demotivation and suboptimal sleep from the herb then that could definitely be a contributing factor. The disparity between being on test and off test is somewhat demotivating in and of itself too- it's hard to have the same enthusiasm to get in the gym everyday and life like your life depends on it once you've tried the secret sauce. Try your best to work out regularly, on a schedule. Lift heavy- you're young and can push yourself harder than you probably think. The foremost and obvious thing to do (which you mentioned) is to just get your bloods done. Don't be too heady about it though. Exogenous hormones always carry some degree of risk, we all know this-- but you're young and it would be more on the rare side if you didn't bounce back. May take a bit to adjust (mentally and hormonally) but hang in there, you'll be alright.

 

[DinnerTable]

Get bloodwork done to see where you're at.

 

[ZLB70]

Get bloodwork done to see where you're at.

This, bloodwork will tell you any issues

 

[botk1161]

Get bloodwork. I have a strong feeling that the bloodwork will be fine or within range. And that you will be able to move on to finding the real reason for how you feel. At 46, my test was under the low range and my estrogen was over the high range, but I felt fine mentally and had energy, was very strong etc. As an ex addict and now 55 year old, I smoked allot of weed at your age among other things. I am getting the feeling this is more about how you are coping. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Smont]

Get bloods, honestly, I don't think it messed anything up, you didn't even take enough testosterone to really build any muscle, your total test barely left the natural range.

You did however do something very stupid by turning off your own testosterone just to basically replace it with a normal amount of testosterone.

There is a possibility that you did not recover properly but I say it's highly unlikely, even if you came off cold turkey you should be 100% recovered by now and if anything this could just be mental.

It's not abnormal for a man under 25 to go back and forth from feeling great to feeling like crap. It's just part of life sometimes, there's a million factors that could contribute.

Do you drink
Smoke
Use recreational drugs
On prescription medications for anxiety
Meds for depression
A history of anxiety or depression
Break up with a girlfriend/boyfriend around the time you were recovering hormone levels


Any of those could also be a contributing factor.

But no1 here can give you even remotely close to an accurate answer without guessing.

Bloodwork would be step 1
Acknowledging any of the situations I mentioned above would also be of importance

 

[Quest]

Sounds like me 26 years ago.
You will bounce back bro, you are young.

Next time build your cycle backwards.
Pct drugs, support supp, then get your aas.
Get bloods asap

 

[Scottfalcon]

You said you went on a super hard cut post cycle for 6 months before you felt like ****. If you really ended up thaylt low of BF and "chiseled" that might be your answer there. Maybe you were fine post cycle because it was such a light dose, but then an aggressive cut messed you up. Dropped BF and cals really low eventually messes with your endocrine system, adrenals, cortisol, all that stuff.

 

[CasperKValentine]

I stopped enjoying going to the gym, my workouts felt like ****, my sleep was fucked (hard to stay asleep, and needed 10-12 hours of sleep everyday to feel normal), difficulty focusing, holding massive grudges against people, and many other things. This didn't make sense, as I was able to workout for 6 months after stopping testosterone

I would also like to include that I smoked weed frequently for about 4 months, and stopped two months before I started feeling the things I listed above.

Focus and holding massive grudges I doubt has an once to do the the test you ran six months ago. Withdrawing a bit from the weed you quit would be my guess.

 

[BCseacow83]

" I stopped enjoying going to the gym, my workouts felt like ****, my sleep was fucked (hard to stay asleep, and needed 10-12 hours of sleep everyday to feel normal), difficulty focusing, holding massive grudges against people, and many other things. This didn't make sense, as I was able to workout for 6 months after stopping testosterone"


Get a complete lab panel including total and free t, E, LH and FSH, DHEA as well as CBC, CMP.

IF everything is within range the above sounds POTENTIALLY mental health related. Mental health issues CAN come out of no where and while I personally am a proponent of cannabinoids for various uses including rec. use they CAN trigger MH issues in those susceptible.

Don't forget the world is in total chaos and the last two years have been a big dumpster fire for most of us and IMO NO ONE has made it through this completely unscathed mentally.

You are very young and will recover from one cycle 99.9999999% of the time and chances are your just in a rut. When you find yourself in a rut just keep going as NO rut is endless!

 

[Smont]

Another thing I want to make note of, if you had water retention on a hormone replacement dose of testosterone then there was something wrong, body fat might be way too high to begin with or just terrible food choices, but nobody should have water retention on a hormone replacement dose of testosterone, at least not significantly and the doses you ran were pretty much hormone replacement therapy doses.

Another thing to make note of as I see someone else mentioned above, how close did you go on a cut after your cycle ended, because the worst thing you can do when you're trying to recover your natural testosterone levels outside of not doing a PCT, the worst thing you can do is drop your calories down low because when you're in a caloric deficit your testosterone levels are lower. So basically you're trying to recover your hormones without supplying your body with the things it needs to make those hormones.

Sorry to keep beating a dead horse here but you got to go get blood work if you want a real answer

 

[Rad83]

Man all these replies are fuckking money!
This forum really is epic!

I just wanna add, I don’t know why you decided to cycle so young…..(I mean I consider it young,…I’m 39 and on the conservative side) But, if it was anything to do with this social media/Instagram BS, get away from that nonsense. It’s seriously doing damage on people of all ages minds.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”

Tonite I had a kid at gym want to work in on something with me….I said sure. He was born in 2006,….I see his gym bag wide open near the weights…had 3 sarm bottles!

 

[BCseacow83]

Man all these replies are fuckking money!
This forum really is epic!

I just wanna add, I don’t know why you decided to cycle so young…..(I mean I consider it young,…I’m 39 and on the conservative side) But, if it was anything to do with this social media/Instagram BS, get away from that nonsense. It’s seriously doing damage on people of all ages minds.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”

Tonite I had a kid at gym want to work in on something with me….I said sure. He was born in 2006,….I see his gym bag wide open near the weights…had 3 sarm bottles!

SM has absolutely made this worse but I started with androstenedione in 1999 at the ripe age of 15/16........ and there was no social media at the time what so ever. Young undeveloped brains simply make poor choices at times if not most times. At least the chit I was using was bioidentical with 50+ years of use/history and not some sarm that has never been tested in humans and made illegally now in china.......