Base Testosterone levels

[qvamp]

I'm curious what other HIV+ guys here have as their base Testosterone levels, and whether they've noticed an improvement by increasing it.

I met with my doctor about experimenting with AAS to see what would happen. As nothing else had stopped my losing strength and energy, it seemed worth trying. My normal level is 621, so my doctor didn't recommend trying them... but as I've had problems for 5 years now, he couldn't really say 'no' either.

I've just gotten my second weekly shot of an additional 100mg, and I'm really feeling a lot better. My mood has improved, my energy has increased, I'm feeling more confident and I'm sleeping better. Ironically, I'm getting pissed off and blowing up far, far less than I was before.

In 2 more weeks I'm going to try going up to 150mg/week and see what that does.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Or is this even a common experience for HIV- people?

 

[nybb10001]

Hypogonadism (low testosterone) can be a common occurrence in men with HIV (and other conditions). Although your numbers may be in the normal range, it's not necessarily proven that your body's normal is that same as the statistical normal. it may be that your person set point is higher.

Then again, your improved mood from the increased level of testosterone may be the temporary "feel good" effect that naturally comes from initially boosting testosterone.

I'd encourage you to watch your mood over the next month. If your mood returns to what it was, then it may be that you don't need the extra testosterone. If, however, your mood stays good, then perahps you do.

One other thing...if you stop the testosterone therapy, you'll need to engage in a post cycle therapy (PCT) to boost your natural testosterone production back up to what it should be (while on therapy, you become dependent on that therapy...your natural production stops).

 

[qvamp]

My doc put me on a 10 week cycle. I was going to set up PCT during my next appt in 2 weeks. Is there anything recommended & that is generally covered by insurance?

 

[nybb10001]

Well, there's several options You're not on a terribly high dosage of testosterone although it is significantly more than the average male body produces in a week. I believe I read that the average male produces approximately 40-50mg per week under natural circumstances.

Still, a two-week cycle of Clomid would probably work just fine. I would think your doctor could prescribe it. It will depend on what type of testosteroe you're on as to when you would begin the Clomid (some esters are faster acting and some are slower. Propionate for example is fast. Cypionate and Enanthate are slow). If it's a slow ester, you'd wait a few weeks before starting the Clomid since the test. injections would still be in your body for a few weeks.

Another option...since you're on a relatively low dosage, you could probably just reduce gradually the amount you take until you get to zero.

The goal is to get your body to start producing its own testosterone again without having a significant drop in testosterone. A drop would make you feel depressed and tired.

 

[qvamp]

Thanks for the info. I just got shot #3 a few hours ago. My doc appt is next Wed, and I'll find out the type of testosterone then. I might as well try the Clomid to get used to it, since I told him that if I saw benefits from this cycle that I wanted to try 2 a 'light' cycle and a 'power' cycle from Built to Survive and just see what they did. He seemed open to trying that.

I'm pretty psyched about this, normal expenditures of energy aren't tiring me out any more, and I've even done a couple of workouts. I haven't noticed any body changes -- though at this light of level with only a few workouts might not offer me any -- but I'm gaining back confidence I haven't had in years.

 

[alanchiras]

I have quite a few thoughts about this subject. There are MANY ways of boosting your test levels and IV shots may not be the best solution for you. there are MANY different types of patches you can apply to different parts of your body daily for a more stable level of test in your bloodstream. Also there are two gels that are applied daily to give you the same, even test levels. Shots have a tendency to spike when first gived and dive shortly before your next shot. Also, is your insurance company covering this??? I'm currenty on Testim and I take a double dose every day until three days before my next trip to the doctors office so that when they draw my blood, i'm showing a dip in my test levels - giving my doctor the reason for treatment. If you get a blood draw from your doctor for test levels and they show in the high-normal and above, your insurance company may balk at paying for a test suppliment since you are showing high test results and you may have a fight on your hands with your insurance company in continuing treatment. I carry a couple of tubes of Testim in my backpack when I go to the doctor, so that after the blood draw and appointment are over and i'm on the traain going home, I go to the bathroom and apply thes test gel to get my levels back up ASAP. Also remember that AS work differently from test suppliment, and there are even different classes of AS that produce different results. Yeah, I know - a lot to think about, but you should keep some of this in mind when you approach this.

Good luck to you, Alan Chiras.

 

[qvamp]

Good point about the insurance company. They appear to be paying for it no, mostly because they've run out of any other option for the problems I've been having (complaining about 'low energy' for 5 years really helps build a case). But I should probably confirm it with them... though it sounds like Test is pretty cheap to pay for if I need to.

I had tried Androgel earlier on. While it had "some" effect, it wasn't as significant as the shots are. Plus, there's an upper limit to the dosage of the gels (I think they only went up to 10mg/day). So, unless I wanted to put it on multiple times a day (I don't), it wasn't strong enough. But it sounds like Testim goes a lot higher, so I could check into that. But it sounds like only a small percentage is absorbed, so even at 2 tubes / day, isn't that only totalling 70mg into your bloodstream/week?

My doc would have no problem waiting until I've returned to normal to test my levels. So, I don't think I need to worry about high levels being sent to insurance -- though I'll talk with him about this.

I'm willing to try some other ones out and see what happens. I was already going to try Deca along with Test to see what that did.