Burly's TRT journey

[Rulk]

Scope, do you eat right before bed?

[burlyman30]

Not a major update, but just wanted to let you know what I'm up to. Physical symptoms are the same as on my most recent update. I am in the gym again this week, but again, extremely light with high reps and a fast pace. Superset back/chest today with calves afterward. Again, I bookended my training with 20 minutes light cardio before and after training, keeping my heart rate between 120 and 140. Total gym time was less than 1.5 hours. I'm very weak, but it just feels good to get some blood pumping. I'm on no deadline. I know it will all come back in time.

[Rulk]

Slow and steady wins the motherfucking race.

[burlyman30]

A couple of notable items I wanted to bring up.

It seems my estrogen is too high. I am starting to get some tenderness and minor swelling under the nipples. I've noticed this for the past 3-4 days, but wanted to make sure I wasn't just being paranoid. I put in a call to the Endo today, hoping to ask if they wanted to see me for this, or just prescribe an AI. Unfortunately, their office was closed today. I will call them back on Monday. The pre-gyno is not severe, but it is present. A few more days won't hurt me. I have some OTC stuff I could take, but if they want me in for a blood test I do not want to skew those results. So I will wait it out.

Over the past two or three weeks, I have hovered between 182 and 184 lbs. Today I weighed 186. Things are trending upward. Bodyfat is the same. I think muscle memory is taking effect. I'm noticing a little thickening of some muscle bellies. It's slight, but I can tell.

My weights continue to be extremely light and high rep. I am easing into this. The burn from the high reps (15-30) is a great pump. I'm not concerned at all with the amount of weight I am moving. I'll have time for that later.

My libido is up just a bit, but nothing major. A little more than none at all is still not enough. But it's at least trending in the right direction.

Energy/vitality is about the same as the previous week. It's not bad, but I feel like there is more to be had.

Mental clarity seems to be just a bit better. It's been ages since I had the clarity of thought to do the kind of writing that I have been doing in my "I Love Steroids" thread. I think the memory seems a bit better, but the jury is still out on that one.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Feel free to ask questions.

[Rulk]

The mental clarity issue... Now you notice some "clarity", but when you didn't, was the "non-clarity" an issue, and were you aware of it? I wonder if I have some "brain-fog", and if one day I will be like, "wow, what a difference", after taking something.

[burlyman30]

The mental clarity issue... Now you notice some "clarity", but when you didn't, was the "non-clarity" an issue, and were you aware of it? I wonder if I have some "brain-fog", and if one day I will be like, "wow, what a difference", after taking something.

I was very aware of my brain fog and poor memory. It was one of the biggest reasons for starting TRT. If you have it to any degree, you know it.

[Rulk]

I was very aware of my brain fog and poor memory. It was one of the biggest reasons for starting TRT. If you have it to any degree, you know it.

Most days I feel great and don't really notice any type of brain-fog, but before I started using my cpap, oh hell yes I had brain-fog! The cpap machine has worked wonders for me though. Just checking off my list to see how ready or close I am to talking to a TRT doc...

[burlyman30]

Just checking off my list to see how ready or close I am to talking to a TRT doc...

Pretty much all you have to do is get a blood test, bud. That tells most of the story right there. At your age, it's not likely what you need. It's a 50 year commitment. Don't enter into it lightly or without real cause. It's not the "holy grail" to making things better if you don't really need it.

I have a friend who is now on TRT for the last 5 months. His levels were well within range (500+), but he went through an expensive TRT clinic to raise them. He pays them a lot of money to implant testosterone surgically about every 12 weeks. He spent a couple thousand to get the process started. I asked him tonight what changes he has seen. His answer: "Libido is higher than before, but I never had a problem with that anyway. I recomped a little. And I seem to be in a better mood."

If it were me, I would be severely let down if that was the only difference. His results aren't remarkable because he didn't really need it. The same results he got could have come from a walk in the sunshine, a glass of wine, and a little more cardio.

On the other side of things, I have a friend who tested at 200, uses the topical gel daily, and after 5 months of treatment he feels 35 instead of 45. It's pretty clear his levels warranted usage. His results confirm it.

[burlyman30]

before I started using my cpap, oh hell yes I had brain-fog! The cpap machine has worked wonders for me though.

My friend lost 80 lbs and was able to get off his CPAP completely. I know one of your goals is to lean up. Maybe you can kill two birds with one stone.

[Rulk]

Pretty much all you have to do is get a blood test, bud. That tells most of the story right there. At your age, it's not likely what you need. It's a 50 year commitment. Don't enter into it lightly or without real cause. It's not the "holy grail" to making things better if you don't really need it.

I have a friend who is now on TRT for the last 5 months. His levels were well within range (500+), but he went through an expensive TRT clinic to raise them. He pays them a lot of money to implant testosterone surgically about every 12 weeks. He spent a couple thousand to get the process started. I asked him tonight what changes he has seen. His answer: "Libido is higher than before, but I never had a problem with that anyway. I recomped a little. And I seem to be in a better mood."

If it were me, I would be severely let down if that was the only difference. His results aren't remarkable because he didn't really need it. The same results he got could have come from a walk in the sunshine, a glass of wine, and a little more cardio.

On the other side of things, I have a friend who tested at 200, uses the topical gel daily, and after 5 months of treatment he feels 35 instead of 45. It's pretty clear his levels warranted usage. His results confirm it.

My friend lost 80 lbs and was able to get off his CPAP completely. I know one of your goals is to lean up. Maybe you can kill two birds with one stone.

Damn... When you put it that way ( 50 year commitment ), it definetly makes me realize there is so much I have to look into. I'm just mentally getting everything lined up though, as I think in 4 years I may look more seriously into TRT ( I'll be 40 by then ). Yes, when I weighed 240lbs, my snoring was completely gone and I slept great. I plan on dropping below 240lbs as well.

What do you think about running a low dose test cycle, ( thereputic dosage ), just to test the waters and see how big of a difference it could be?