Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

[Mr.X]

Let's discuss HRT here and your thoughts on this weeks' announcement.

[Mr.X]

based on this announcement
http://forums.isteroids.com/announcement.php?f=11&a=54

[phatrr]

HRT is good stuff. Literally has saved my life. I went from extreme depression, and doing all the negatives things that mental state will encourage, to a healthy, optimistic outlook.

There's some online questions somewhere (I'm too lazy to look) that can give you an accurate assessment as to whether you might need HRT.

I'd toss in some specifics: bloodwork. I think that, depending on your case, bloodwork can be quite difficult to interpret. For example: what's the difference between Free T, Total T, and Bio Available T? What if one is high, and the other is low? How do these correlate with SHGB and E2?

I think that finding a good doctor can eliminate a lot of the guesswork, and help you learn what works, how it works, and why it works. You might only use the doctor to establish a baseline, and then use the knowledge you gained to run your own HRT protocol.

Another thing the doc is good for: it's quite difficult to conduct a DRE on yourself and get meaningful results! DRE = Digital Rectal Exam, and is a quick and easy way to check for prostate enlargement. Any abnormalities here are one sign that you might have some issues; if your PSA is high on the bloodwork, you might have to take further action, like having an ultrasound done. It's thought that elevated DHT causes prostate enlargement; another school of thought - which appears to be more correct - is that excess E2 levels cause the enlargement.

Consider the use of low dose HCG. Exogenous test is going to cause testicular atrophy, even at HRT dosage levels. While you'll continue to function (ie, erections and ejaculations will be fine), there's something just so nice about nice, big balls - I know my wife loves to play with mine! HCG can plump those nuts right up, and give you a boost of endogenous test as well.

One thing I've learned about me: even at HRT dosages of Test, (100mg TestCyp/week) I require .5mg of Arimidex EOD. That puts my E2 levels down at the low end of the normal range. So - guidelines are just that. You have to know how to interpret that bloodwork, and sometimes make some unorthodox calls.

Don't expect overnight results. It's going to take a few months, minimum, to stabilize and start to feel normal. In my case, it took about 3-1/2 months and a couple tweaks of dosages to get levels stable.

[Mr.X]

phatrr, now that's an informative post.

How much of an estrogenic response did you have from 100mgs test cyp /week?

[phatrr]

How much of an estrogenic response did you have from 100mgs test cyp /week?

E2 was at 67, upper limit is 50 - so pretty much off the chart.

[Mr.X]

E2 was at 67, upper limit is 50 - so pretty much off the chart.

Strange, a lot of aromatase activity I'm assuming. Were you usually estrogen /gyno prone?

[phatrr]

Strange, a lot of aromatase activity I'm assuming. Were you usually estrogen /gyno prone?

Most likely, yes, although never measured. Circumstances of growing up meant that when I started to develop an estrogenic body type during puberty the docs tested my total T, and said "You're fine."

When I cycled in the early 90's, and had bloodwork done, obviously there was no way to tell what was natural and what was caused by cycling. And we didn't have anti-e's back then, so...and since I was getting ready for a show, I was pretty low BF.

Didn't bother with bloodwork outside of that. Frankly, no regular family doctor was interested. Wasn't until I went to an HRT specialist, who took one look at me and said "Whoaa. Something's wrong, I've never seen a guy look that estrogenic before" that I knew I wasn't right. However, I do suspect that something happened in the last couple years to step up the aromatase activity.

[Mr.X]

phatrr, tell me your thoughts on the article too. I'd like to know what you would have added to it from your point of view.

[phatrr]

phatrr, tell me your thoughts on the article too. I'd like to know what you would have added to it from your point of view.

I'm really, really not trying to bust your balls with this question Mr.X, but: who is the intended audience, ie, what level of knowledge do they have?

For me, with my knowledge, I would like to see a reference answering those questions I listed in my first reply: basically, great, I have bloodwork, now tell me how to interpret it.

However, if this is an introductory article, that sort of explanation might be inappropriate - too much, too soon.

An intro-level article should, IMO, mention something about health risks and what to watch out for if you're self-monitoring your own protocol, eg., what about the prostate exam; what about blood pressure, when can it rise; what about cholesterol levels.

I'm also a big fan of the low dose HCG protocol I mentioned; I think that should be in an intro article, maybe explained that not all doctors follow it, but it can be beneficial.

If it's a really basic intro article, like for somebody who was in my shoes in October of last year, it would be great to include a checklist of common symptoms indicating HRT. I had all those symptoms, and I had no idea what was causing it, my family doctor told me it was just age and stress, and that I should up my cardio and stop lifting.

[djsf]

If novice readers or people with no steroid experience whatsoever are going to see that article, then it would also be good to mention A) that steroids in low doses are not only safe, they are actually beneficial (there is so much fear of steroids these days in the media so that is important to mention) and B) that it's actually a legitimate medical condition that can and should be treated, and that steroid with a doctor's prescription is both appropriate and 100% legal.