Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below I have been prescribed Testim 1% Test with instructions on applying one tube containing 50 mgs per 5 gram tube- Can anyone help me with the actual amount of test I will be getting? Pros and cons of Testim? Most of the guys here use injectables but my Dr. is not into that yet- My levels ran consistently around 250 prior to being prescribed the Testim- Last question, Is there anything besides HCG - human chorionic gonadotropin - that I can take that will help with BB Balls?
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HRT with Testim 1%
- Thread starter r15
- Start date
Yep! I'm here!
Testim? This is new to me so I went over to Google, found the web site and read.
This seems like Androgel, but uses a bio-identical test. Based on my experience with topicals, they work. You are just limited in the amount compared to injections, but that is OK because HRT is supposed to be low dose.
In my opinion, the dosage the Dr gave you is very light, way less than Androgel and a compounded test. Looks like 7g a day. Normal test output is 2-11, so he put you in the middle. You'll get a hit from this over 30-90 days and see it in your blood testing.
HCG? I have no experience with this product. When I asked for it, my Dr said I was on HGH and didn't need anything else.
Testim? This is new to me so I went over to Google, found the web site and read.
This seems like Androgel, but uses a bio-identical test. Based on my experience with topicals, they work. You are just limited in the amount compared to injections, but that is OK because HRT is supposed to be low dose.
In my opinion, the dosage the Dr gave you is very light, way less than Androgel and a compounded test. Looks like 7g a day. Normal test output is 2-11, so he put you in the middle. You'll get a hit from this over 30-90 days and see it in your blood testing.
HCG? I have no experience with this product. When I asked for it, my Dr said I was on HGH and didn't need anything else.
After finding out I have low T levels my doc perscribed an unlimiited prescription to Androgel @ 5 gr/ed. Definitely not anywhere close to im. I stopped applying due to it's ineffectiveness. A return visit w/blood test and still low T levels. Doc perscribed Testim @ 10 gr/ed (Just started 6/18). The Testim comes in small tubes and is very difficult to remove all the product i.e. toothpaste. It's easy to apply but stay's tacky/sticky for 10-15 min after application unlike Androgel. The jury is still out but docs are unwilling to perscribe anything injectable.
As a physician who prescribes a lot of testosterone, you really want to avoid the injectable T. You may feel great on it but it has its problems, especially with aromatization, so you would need to take either Arimidex or Femara twice a week to keep estradiol levels down to healthy levels. I would avoid the estrogen blockers, since you NEED estradiol for health but at youthful levels, i.e., 20 - 40 pg/mL.
I don't like Testim more because of the smell. Androgel is a great "one stop shopping" but some men require two packets (or 8 pumps) a day of the goop. If that becomes an issue, you can get it compounded at 150 mg/g and apply one gram a day to the inner arms OR you can get pellet implants of testosterone. The implants are easy to do but not many physicians do them due to unwillingness to try anything new. Remember that if you have to go to your physician for the injection, he collects more money that way than if he were to prescribe something for you or implant pellets. Some are greedy and some just plain don't want to learn.
The biggest problem I see (sorry for the rant) is that once the diagnosis is made of hypogonadism (low testosterone) and therapy is started, most docs don't know how to follow up blood work except to do a "free T" perhaps. Few look at estrogens and no one looks at DHT/3AG levels. A big clue that something may be going wrong with your metabolism of T is if you felt great at first but then started to feel lousy later on. Since you are a human male, you MUST respond to testosterone (when given in the proper doses). You don't develop a resistance to it so if it works well at one dose, then, barring anything unusual happening, it will always work well at that dose. If you think it is no longer working correctly, then one of the metabolic pathways has opened up too much and the T is being directed incorrectly down either the aromatase or the 5AR pathways too much. These should be monitored with blood work and given either an aromatase inhibitor or WEEKLY Avodart (never daily - too strong).
Dr. Work
I don't like Testim more because of the smell. Androgel is a great "one stop shopping" but some men require two packets (or 8 pumps) a day of the goop. If that becomes an issue, you can get it compounded at 150 mg/g and apply one gram a day to the inner arms OR you can get pellet implants of testosterone. The implants are easy to do but not many physicians do them due to unwillingness to try anything new. Remember that if you have to go to your physician for the injection, he collects more money that way than if he were to prescribe something for you or implant pellets. Some are greedy and some just plain don't want to learn.
The biggest problem I see (sorry for the rant) is that once the diagnosis is made of hypogonadism (low testosterone) and therapy is started, most docs don't know how to follow up blood work except to do a "free T" perhaps. Few look at estrogens and no one looks at DHT/3AG levels. A big clue that something may be going wrong with your metabolism of T is if you felt great at first but then started to feel lousy later on. Since you are a human male, you MUST respond to testosterone (when given in the proper doses). You don't develop a resistance to it so if it works well at one dose, then, barring anything unusual happening, it will always work well at that dose. If you think it is no longer working correctly, then one of the metabolic pathways has opened up too much and the T is being directed incorrectly down either the aromatase or the 5AR pathways too much. These should be monitored with blood work and given either an aromatase inhibitor or WEEKLY Avodart (never daily - too strong).
Dr. Work
yeloiron said:
wworkmd said:
Total is 1104 and free is 39. My lipids are a little high but actually better than pre HRT. Now taking Zocor for that. If I can get my H&H under control I'll be good. I've always been prone to polycythmia, current at 17.5 and 51, and that's 3 weeks after donating 2 units of whole blood, platlets are normal on 80mg aspirin daily. I hate to cut my test dosage but I may have to to get my RBC's in check.
Sorry for Hijackin the thread, my bad....
I find this a bit odd. Using hormonal pellets for both women (estrogen replacment) and men(testosterone replacement) has been around for nearly sixty years. So while it may be new to some doctors becuase they did not learn of pellet based HRT, it is by no means new to the medical world. The steady state release of testosterone pellets and the reduced aromitization of T into E are well docuemented, and T pellets are pretty cheap when compared to grossly overpriced (due to patents on the release mechanism) Androgel and Testim.
At this time Bartor Pharmacutical has the only FDA approved commercial product for sale here in the US, and the product Testopel is only available in 75 mg pellets. In Europe you can get 200 mg testosterone pellets, and here in the USA you can get 200 mg pellets from a few of the remaining compounding pharmacies.
Dr. Charles Vincent MD did a great deal of the FDA research on the use of Testopel, and he is a respected authority on the use of pellets for TRT. My MD consults with him from time to time on my TRT program.
I agree that most MD's do not know how to set up and administer a TRT program. Many will not test E2 let alone request the sensitive test so that you can measure under 30. Most have no idea of the importance of the T/E ratio, and they believe the armidex only works on women with breast cancer.
Oddly enough I have found several endocrinologists who were equally clueless about how to administer a male TRT program, and to them the use of HCG or HMG to rehab a mans testicles was unheard of and almost medical blasphemy as those are "reproductive medications" and they are "very expensive"
Well this is a bunch of uniformed hogwash as both of these preparations are distilled from the urine of women-pregnant women for the former, and post menapausal women for the latter. Also, if it were the doctors testicles or breasts that were shrinking to a shadow of their former size, thier minds would be much more open to the use of HCG and HMG as well as a custom blend of injectible rLH and rFSH for testicle rehab.
As you are an MD, do you have any inside information on why Andractim has not made it to market? The androstanalone gel was going through clinical trials here in the US a few years ago, but there is not much more being said about it.
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