Want to Quit TRT, Need PCT Advice

[PSFinAL]

I need some advice on how to proceed with quitting TRT. I’m 5’9”, have a medium build, and weigh 200 pounds. Before I get to why, I’ll try to post events in a chronological order:

FEB 2008: I had blood work done to test my testosterone levels. The reason I did it was to pacify my ex-wife, who I didn’t want to have sex with (didn’t want to be with her anymore). That aside, I had a great libido despite the following blood work. I know the levels were on the low end of normal but trust me, I felt fine. I was going to the gym regularly, weighed 180 pounds, had good stamina, low resting heart rate, and great blood pressure.

* Total Testosterone: 373 ng/dL (250 – 1100) -> In range percentage: 14.5%
* Free Testosterone: 47.2 pg/mL (35.0 – 155.0) -> In range percentage: 10.2%
* % Free Testosterone: 1.26 L (1.5 – 2.2)

DEC 2009: I experience a sudden drop in libido and became very exhausted. It turns out that for unknown reasons that I became hypothyroid, had horrible lipid panel, low testosterone, and low vitamin D. My doctor put me on Armour Thyroid, 150 mg Bio-identical testosterone, and vitamin D. He put me on TRT to provide a little relief from exhaustion knowing that I could probably quit after everything else was resolved. I also had a flare up from EBV (mono) too, which has subsided and I’m feeling much better…close to where I used to be. Results below:

* Total Testosterone: 352.0 ng/dL (348.0 – 1197.0) -> In range percentage: 0.5%
* Free Testosterone: 9.0 pg/mL (8.7 – 25.1) -> In range percentage: 1.8%
* Estradiol: 22.1 pg/mL (7.6 – 42.6) -> In range percentage: 41.4%
* Prostate Specific Ag: 0.4 ng/dL (0.0 – 4.0) -> In range percentage: 10.0%
* Vitamin D: 15.7 ng/mL (30.0 – 100.0) -> In range percentage: -20.4%
* TSH: 2.43 iUI/mL (0.45 – 4.50) -> In range percentage: 48.9% (needs to be around 1 or a little less)
* T4: 8.5 ug/dL (4.5 – 12.0) -> In range percentage: 53.3%
* T3: 142.0 ng/dL (71.0 – 180.0) -> In range percentage: 65.1%
* Free T4: 1.35 ng/dL (0.82 – 1.77) -> In range percentage: 55.8% (mid range is ok)
* Free T3: 3.5 pg/mL (2.0 – 4.4) -> In range percentage: 62.5% (needs to be at top of range)
* TPO Ab: 7.0 IU/mL (0.0 – 34.0) -> In range percentage: 20.6%


Fast forward to today, I have my thyroid under control, my vitamin D is higher (not tested yet but I’ve been on 5,000 UI/day), no signs of EBV (mono) infection, and I would like to believe that I can recover from the TRT. Why do I want to quit TRT? My wife and I are thinking about having a baby but we’re on the fence about that one. I know before everything went to junk in DEC 2009, I felt fine in the libido department and I don’t want to be on TRT unless it’s absolutely necessary. My doctor stated that I could quit TRT cold turkey and should recover in 2 to 3 months. He was against HCG, Clomid, and Nolvadex as his opinion was that regimen is better suited to those on much higher doses of steroids than myself. I have had no testicular atrophy during the time I was on TRT but I just never quite felt “right”. My doctor stated that the low dose of TRT was to “supplement what my body was already producing”. If I can get to where I was, I think I’ll be happy with that. I’m thinking of doing an herbal PCT like Post-Cycle by Protein Factory or Forged Post Cycle Therapy. I’m not interested in the muscle gains part since I don’t lift weights or anything…I just want to recover my libido ASAP when my TRT runs out in a few days. I will have blood work in 3 months. My questions are:

1) Will products like this help keep my libido (or possibly improve it)?
2) If it does help with libido, will it screw up my lab work coming up in 3 months (i.e. give me a false sense of what my norm is without TRT)?
3) Will products like these accelerate normalizing the HPTA/HPGA process?

Thanks!

 

[liffalot]

I need some advice on how to proceed with quitting TRT. I’m 5’9”, have a medium build, and weigh 200 pounds. Before I get to why, I’ll try to post events in a chronological order:

FEB 2008: I had blood work done to test my testosterone levels. The reason I did it was to pacify my ex-wife, who I didn’t want to have sex with (didn’t want to be with her anymore). That aside, I had a great libido despite the following blood work. I know the levels were on the low end of normal but trust me, I felt fine. I was going to the gym regularly, weighed 180 pounds, had good stamina, low resting heart rate, and great blood pressure.

* Total Testosterone: 373 ng/dL (250 – 1100) -> In range percentage: 14.5%
* Free Testosterone: 47.2 pg/mL (35.0 – 155.0) -> In range percentage: 10.2%
* % Free Testosterone: 1.26 L (1.5 – 2.2)

DEC 2009: I experience a sudden drop in libido and became very exhausted. It turns out that for unknown reasons that I became hypothyroid, had horrible lipid panel, low testosterone, and low vitamin D. My doctor put me on Armour Thyroid, 150 mg Bio-identical testosterone, and vitamin D. He put me on TRT to provide a little relief from exhaustion knowing that I could probably quit after everything else was resolved. I also had a flare up from EBV (mono) too, which has subsided and I’m feeling much better…close to where I used to be. Results below:

* Total Testosterone: 352.0 ng/dL (348.0 – 1197.0) -> In range percentage: 0.5%
* Free Testosterone: 9.0 pg/mL (8.7 – 25.1) -> In range percentage: 1.8%
* Estradiol: 22.1 pg/mL (7.6 – 42.6) -> In range percentage: 41.4%
* Prostate Specific Ag: 0.4 ng/dL (0.0 – 4.0) -> In range percentage: 10.0%
* Vitamin D: 15.7 ng/mL (30.0 – 100.0) -> In range percentage: -20.4%
* TSH: 2.43 iUI/mL (0.45 – 4.50) -> In range percentage: 48.9% (needs to be around 1 or a little less)
* T4: 8.5 ug/dL (4.5 – 12.0) -> In range percentage: 53.3%
* T3: 142.0 ng/dL (71.0 – 180.0) -> In range percentage: 65.1%
* Free T4: 1.35 ng/dL (0.82 – 1.77) -> In range percentage: 55.8% (mid range is ok)
* Free T3: 3.5 pg/mL (2.0 – 4.4) -> In range percentage: 62.5% (needs to be at top of range)
* TPO Ab: 7.0 IU/mL (0.0 – 34.0) -> In range percentage: 20.6%


Fast forward to today, I have my thyroid under control, my vitamin D is higher (not tested yet but I’ve been on 5,000 UI/day), no signs of EBV (mono) infection, and I would like to believe that I can recover from the TRT. Why do I want to quit TRT? My wife and I are thinking about having a baby but we’re on the fence about that one. I know before everything went to junk in DEC 2009, I felt fine in the libido department and I don’t want to be on TRT unless it’s absolutely necessary. My doctor stated that I could quit TRT cold turkey and should recover in 2 to 3 months. He was against HCG, Clomid, and Nolvadex as his opinion was that regimen is better suited to those on much higher doses of steroids than myself. I have had no testicular atrophy during the time I was on TRT but I just never quite felt “right”. My doctor stated that the low dose of TRT was to “supplement what my body was already producing”. If I can get to where I was, I think I’ll be happy with that. I’m thinking of doing an herbal PCT like Post-Cycle by Protein Factory or Forged Post Cycle Therapy. I’m not interested in the muscle gains part since I don’t lift weights or anything…I just want to recover my libido ASAP when my TRT runs out in a few days. I will have blood work in 3 months. My questions are:

1) Will products like this help keep my libido (or possibly improve it)?
2) If it does help with libido, will it screw up my lab work coming up in 3 months (i.e. give me a false sense of what my norm is without TRT)?
3) Will products like these accelerate normalizing the HPTA/HPGA process?

Thanks!

Good on ya for trying to recover on your own man, keep at it.

First thing I have to say is that you should even be considering Nolva simply because it is a junk supplement that has been proven to do more harm than good. Its somewhat outdated.

HCG and Clomid, however, are a different story. Both effective PCT drugs. With that said, I've never seen anyone need PCT coming off or TRT, but that doesnt mean you cant do it just to be safe.

In my opinion, I dont see clomid hurting you at all. It operates by blocking the pituitary from registering estrogen levels and therefore signaling it to make more LH and thus more test. HOWEVER, to answer your other question, this WILL skew your test results if you take them while on it - you will most likely end up with an artificially elevated amount of both test and estrogen. I dont see clomid aiding your libido a whole lot though - its mainly good for recovering and balancing hormone levels.

HCG on the other hands could do wonderful things for your libido afterwards, and wake your balls back up too. HCG also triggers your leydigs to make more sperm and more test. But again, it will probably skew your test results.

If you used one of those for a few weeks, I could see the benefits of just ensuring that your hormone levels remain balanced after coming off of long term TRT. Your doc isnt completely wrong, but running at a low dose for years and running at a high dose for weeks arent that much different when it comes to PCT.

What I would do is go the natural route. HCGenerate by Need2BuildMuscle is one of the best natural libido and sexual support supplements on the market. Maybe even try running one of the aforementioned drugs beforehand and then cruising out of it with this.

Good luck

 

[PSFinAL]

Good on ya for trying to recover on your own man, keep at it.

First thing I have to say is that you should even be considering Nolva simply because it is a junk supplement that has been proven to do more harm than good. Its somewhat outdated.

HCG and Clomid, however, are a different story. Both effective PCT drugs. With that said, I've never seen anyone need PCT coming off or TRT, but that doesnt mean you cant do it just to be safe.

In my opinion, I dont see clomid hurting you at all. It operates by blocking the pituitary from registering estrogen levels and therefore signaling it to make more LH and thus more test. HOWEVER, to answer your other question, this WILL skew your test results if you take them while on it - you will most likely end up with an artificially elevated amount of both test and estrogen. I dont see clomid aiding your libido a whole lot though - its mainly good for recovering and balancing hormone levels.

HCG on the other hands could do wonderful things for your libido afterwards, and wake your balls back up too. HCG also triggers your leydigs to make more sperm and more test. But again, it will probably skew your test results.

If you used one of those for a few weeks, I could see the benefits of just ensuring that your hormone levels remain balanced after coming off of long term TRT. Your doc isnt completely wrong, but running at a low dose for years and running at a high dose for weeks arent that much different when it comes to PCT.

What I would do is go the natural route. HCGenerate by Need2BuildMuscle is one of the best natural libido and sexual support supplements on the market. Maybe even try running one of the aforementioned drugs beforehand and then cruising out of it with this.

Good luck

liffalot, thanks for the confirmation and advice...I really appreciate it!

 

[muscleaddiction]

Good on ya for trying to recover on your own man, keep at it.

First thing I have to say is that you should even be considering Nolva simply because it is a junk supplement that has been proven to do more harm than good. Its somewhat outdated.

HCG and Clomid, however, are a different story. Both effective PCT drugs. With that said, I've never seen anyone need PCT coming off or TRT, but that doesnt mean you cant do it just to be safe.

In my opinion, I dont see clomid hurting you at all. It operates by blocking the pituitary from registering estrogen levels and therefore signaling it to make more LH and thus more test. HOWEVER, to answer your other question, this WILL skew your test results if you take them while on it - you will most likely end up with an artificially elevated amount of both test and estrogen. I dont see clomid aiding your libido a whole lot though - its mainly good for recovering and balancing hormone levels.

HCG on the other hands could do wonderful things for your libido afterwards, and wake your balls back up too. HCG also triggers your leydigs to make more sperm and more test. But again, it will probably skew your test results.

If you used one of those for a few weeks, I could see the benefits of just ensuring that your hormone levels remain balanced after coming off of long term TRT. Your doc isnt completely wrong, but running at a low dose for years and running at a high dose for weeks arent that much different when it comes to PCT.

What I would do is go the natural route. HCGenerate by Need2BuildMuscle is one of the best natural libido and sexual support supplements on the market. Maybe even try running one of the aforementioned drugs beforehand and then cruising out of it with this.

Good luck

Solid advice! Unleashed/Post Cycle would be a good addition as well...HCGenerate will bring the boys back for sure bro!!!

 

[liffalot]

liffalot, thanks for the confirmation and advice...I really appreciate it!

Anytime

I agree with muscle addiction; Unleashed and Post Cycle are also a good option as well.

 

[PSFinAL]

I have a follow-up question concerning using either HCGenerate or Unleashed/Post Cycle. In an effort to getting my HTPA as fully functional as possible, how do I use these products? For example, do I use them for about a month or so then cease using them? The Protein Factory instructions seem pretty clear cut but I can't find any useful information on HCGenerate. I want to buy either one or the other. My goal will be to accelerate the process of restoring my normal HPTA then hopefully cease use to see what my real number should be in about 3 months. Comparing how each of these work, it seems like HCGenerate would be the best option. From what I read, HCGenerate supposedly causes your testicles to produce more testosterone where Unleashed/Post Cycle lowers SHBG. Since I was on TRT, it makes sense to me use HCGenerate to "kickstart" my testicles. Maybe I've answered my own questions but what are your thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[liffalot]

I have a follow-up question concerning using either HCGenerate or Unleashed/Post Cycle. In an effort to getting my HTPA as fully functional as possible, how do I use these products? For example, do I use them for about a month or so then cease using them? The Protein Factory instructions seem pretty clear cut but I can't find any useful information on HCGenerate. I want to buy either one or the other. My goal will be to accelerate the process of restoring my normal HPTA then hopefully cease use to see what my real number should be in about 3 months. Comparing how each of these work, it seems like HCGenerate would be the best option. From what I read, HCGenerate supposedly causes your testicles to produce more testosterone where Unleashed/Post Cycle lowers SHBG. Since I was on TRT, it makes sense to me use HCGenerate to "kickstart" my testicles. Maybe I've answered my own questions but what are your thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help!

You've hit it right on the head from my experience bro; seems like with HCGenerate my libido rockets and with Unleashed I see more the other effects of increased free test aside from Libido. My bet is that HCGenerate would be better for you to raise libido and brings your boys back into action.

The serving size fro HCGenerate is 5 caps and there are 30 servings, which should work well for you. More than 6 caps is overkill and less than 2 is negligible. I would take 1 cap with breakfast, 2 with lunch, and 2 with dinner every day for 30 days and you should be set to go. You'll really be able to feel the effects almost immediately.

 

[PSFinAL]

You've hit it right on the head from my experience bro; seems like with HCGenerate my libido rockets and with Unleashed I see more the other effects of increased free test aside from Libido. My bet is that HCGenerate would be better for you to raise libido and brings your boys back into action.

The serving size fro HCGenerate is 5 caps and there are 30 servings, which should work well for you. More than 6 caps is overkill and less than 2 is negligible. I would take 1 cap with breakfast, 2 with lunch, and 2 with dinner every day for 30 days and you should be set to go. You'll really be able to feel the effects almost immediately.

liffalot, thanks for all the information and help. I just ordered some HCGenerate using a coupon code and saved a little. It sounds like a great product. I hope I can have a Ron Jeremy moment...in one of his old movies when he looked down after pulling out and said "what a mess"! I busted up laughing when I heard that.

 

[liffalot]

liffalot, thanks for all the information and help. I just ordered some HCGenerate using a coupon code and saved a little. It sounds like a great product. I hope I can have a Ron Jeremy moment...in one of his old movies when he looked down after pulling out and said "what a mess"! I busted up laughing when I heard that.

Haha I think your chances are pretty good! It really is a great product, I wouldnt bullshit about that.

Best of luck to you!