Taking testosterone for reasons other than getting bigger or stronger

[Joey]

I would say regular cardio and weight lifting 3-4 days a week plus avoiding opiates and meth binges would improve your energy levels and possibly testosterone but I doubt that. Usually guys your age that boost testosterone naturally were fat or obese then get to a healthy weight and build some muscle. There is also HCG which is a hormone women produce when pregnant. When men take it, it causes the testicles to produce testosterone and sperm even if taking tons of steroids.

I’m pretty slim but I could build muscle and further cut my body fat some. My base here is pretty good, was just curious. Thanks. HCG seems interesting and I’ll take a look.

I found a mens multivitamin by Johnson which is geared to promote testosterone and strength as well which actually got a majority good reviews regarding promoting good energy and such. I’ll probably be looking this sort of route and some basic exercise over steroidal solutions. I’ll take a look at this HCG.

 

[Genetic Freak]

"Disproportionate increases [compared to injection] in serum DHT are reported after administration of all transdermal testosterone products with the higher DHT/T ratio attributable to the strong expression of 5-alpha reductase in skin structures which foster the conversion of testosterone to DHT during transdermal passage. Furthermore androgens induce greater expression of the 5α reductase enzyme whereby administration of an androgen directly onto the skin creates a feed-forward (positive feedback) mechanism (Russell & Wilson, 1994; McNamara et al., 2013)."

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/andr.12357

Cardiovascular risks and elevation of serum DHT vary by route of testosterone administration: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC

Potential cardiovascular (CV) risks of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) are currently a topic of intense interest. However, no studies have addressed CV risk as a function of the route of administration of TRT. Two meta-analyses were ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Transdermal testosterone therapy in the treatment of male hypogonadism - PubMed

Five hypogonadal men were treated with transdermal testosterone therapy, using a testosterone patch applied to the scrotal skin. Daily application of the patch, which contained 10 mg testosterone, produced an increase in serum testosterone concentrations from a pretreatment value of 45 +/- 12...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

About testosterone applied to the scrotum. There's more research than this on the subject, but in essence, testosterone applied to the scrotum has multifold absorption over the standard 8-14% associated with upper body application, requiring much smaller doses to produce a similar effect.

Europe PMC

Europe PMC is an archive of life sciences journal literature.

europepmc.org

You are absolutely correct regards DHT conversion been higher....... I was incorrectly thinking about testosterone bioavailability... My apologies..!!!!

 

[Genetic Freak]

Interesting. It appears to be decent stuff and easy to source.

Are there any more holistic or herbal methods to boosting testosterone and energy levels you know of outside of the anabolic steroid class? I’m receptive to either or, in theory. Just wondering.

Apart from healthy nutrition.. No....!!!

 

[Genetic Freak]

How do you go about getting something like this prescribed? I’m already on the upper end of average in testosterone levels, and I know how to maintain a proper diet and exercise. My motivation levels are okay, but I’d like a bit of oomph if you know what I mean. This is only semi-serious, just thinking out loud.

What do I do? Just family doc request?

To be prescribed TRT you need to show below average testosterone levels... You might be best improving diet, increasing saturated fat, zinc etc, reducing adipose tissue..

 

[Joey]

To be prescribed TRT you need to show below average testosterone levels... You might be best improving diet, increasing saturated fat, zinc etc, reducing adipose tissue..

I agree. Thanks.

 

[negrogesic]

How do you go about getting something like this prescribed? I’m already on the upper end of average in testosterone levels, and I know how to maintain a proper diet and exercise. My motivation levels are okay, but I’d like a bit of oomph if you know what I mean. This is only semi-serious, just thinking out loud.

What do I do? Just family doc request?

I found an online clinic willing to do it.

But in general, no legitimate doctor would prescribe a guy like me testosterone since my plasma and free levels are already quite high (especially for a guy my age), multifold of what could be considered hypogonadism (and thus not medically indicated).

That said, I'm sure that there are "good" doctors that prescribe the stuff. But still, to prescribe a guy with 900ng/dl of testosterone additional testosterone isn't medically sound. In fact, it likely induces harm.

But my perspective is that, for a guy like me, who is used to naturally having elevated blood levels of testosterone, perhaps life is too short to live my 30's and 40's with less than the above 1000ng/dl to which I have been accustomed to since my late adolescence.

But the truth is, I don't know, this could be a big mistake.

 

[hardtack]

Testosterone good if you have deficiency but hell did so much Juice in the day Testosterone would be nothing even if I did big old 5 ML loaded because just about all other Roids pump the freaking Test throguh the roof . Best for me is still D-BALL and Primobolin ~! Methyl Test is not bad old Cypionate stuff or propionate .

Hey- this guys is all Natural ahhhhhhh!.... NOT A CHANCE lol!!!

 

[negrogesic]

Best for me is still D-BALL and Primobolin ~! Methyl Test is not bad old Cypionate stuff or propionate .

Yeah i read many years ago about the mood boosting effects of dianabol. Always thought it was strange since the demethylated version of dianabol (boldenone) was supposedly anxiety and depression inducing. Then again a methyl group at 17-alpha dramatically changes things in that class, so 17a-methyl-boldenone is an entirely different animal. Heard it has the most mood improving effects of all the AAS, fast acting too in that regard.

Scheduled some bloodwork this coming week to see what that gel did to me, curious what my estrogen is like.

 

[Ismene2]

Let us know how the blood look

 

[hardtack]

Yeah i read many years ago about the mood boosting effects of dianabol. Always thought it was strange since the demethylated version of dianabol (boldenone) was supposedly anxiety and depression inducing. Then again a methyl group at 17-alpha dramatically changes things in that class, so 17a-methyl-boldenone is an entirely different animal. Heard it has the most mood improving effects of all the AAS, fast acting too in that regard.

Scheduled some bloodwork this coming week to see what that gel did to me, curious what my estrogen is like.

Boldenone Ud great for mass gains but hated the JOINT PAINS..... omg that was the down side of it !

 

[negrogesic]

Well I got my blood results back.

That testosterone gel is no fucking joke:



No wonder why I started losing my hair. My total testosterone is nearly 2400 ng/dl. Clearly testosterone applied to the scrotum does indeed have very high bioavailability.

I switched to testosterone cypionate injectable. Been taking 50mg every other day, subcutaneous.

Also, my estrogen was in the 60s, so fairly elevated.

 

[negrogesic]

Let us know how the blood look

I came in at 2349ng/dl total testosterone

Its funny I saw my mom the other day (hadn't seen her in a while) and she said, did you gain weight, you look solid

Granted I have been lifting more since I started taking it, but I have no intention of getting bigger than that picture of me natural on the first page. I'm going for ripped/athletic these days, too many injuries for heavy weights. For instance, I don't think ill bench 3 plates ever again in my life.


I also have no intention on taking that gel again. Plus, my second shipment got seized by customs anyhow.

 

[CFC]

I mean, you coulda just used less you know

 

[negrogesic]

I mean, you coulda just used less you know

Yeah I suppose I was overcompensating given the common perception that the gel doesn't produce the same sort of blood levels as the injected form. I was aiming for 1500ng/dl, yet overshot the mark by nearly 1000ng/dl . That's like over shooting it by a whole person worth of testosterone.

I wish I had added DHT to the blood test in retrospect, must have been through the roof given the particularly high conversion to DHT via scrotal skin. Then again I suppose the evidence of those high DHT can be found in the drain of my shower (in the form of clumps of hair).

In any event, I feel better with 50mg of cypionate subcutaneously every other day.

 

[CFC]

For your experiment I might have been inclined to put the gel on only in the morning, or morning and afternoon, to see how it modified the side-effect profile, particularly wrt anxiety. Possibly something to try in the future.

 

[buuuurps]

Been following this thread as I am in a somewhat similar situation asking myself similar questions, so I'd be curious to know how you're doing on the test by now

 

[negrogesic]

Been following this thread as I am in a somewhat similar situation asking myself similar questions, so I'd be curious to know how you're doing on the test by now

Well, testosterone therapy didn't really help my anxiety much at all really. Though perhaps a little.

Did seem to have a bit of an antidepressant effect, but most notable was an increase in energy and a modest decrease in desire/appetite for drugs and alcohol. Alcohol consumption in particular went down significantly. Sex drive went up quite abit too.

So for those reasons, I decided to stay on it, but I ditched the gel and switched to subcutaneous injections of testosterone cypionate every other day (around 55 to 60mg), so around 200mg a week.

It got me taking care of myself a bit better in terms of my diet and exercise, and am now in the gym 7 days a week. I hadn't been lifting much at all (maybe 3x a week at most) when I started so I had lost weight, but since I started early November I've gained 16 pounds -- a significant portion of which is lean muscle mass.

Not surprisingly I have also been finding myself lifting way heavier than I had promised myself I would since I have a bunch of injuries (mostly from flat benching). I really need to keep away from the bench but I just can't get into dumbell presses.