Quote: (05-17-2016 07:50 PM)joost Wrote:
During one month, once a year I used to take testosterone to bulk up.
I'm not young anymore and I'm taking testosterone injections as a therapy. I started three weeks ago and my testicles are quite smaller.
Is there any way to avoid that?
There is HCG but I was looking for a solution that does not increase DHT nor the risk of gynecomastia.
Sometimes I wish I could put some heavy marbles as implants.
Any guy here on TRT for a while who can chime in?
The answer is hCG. Your comment "I was looking for a solution that does not increase DHT nor the risk of gynecomastia" makes no sense. TRT obviously increases DHT--far more than the addition of hCG would (hCG--as you know--is close enough to LH that the testicles respond to it as if it were LH; it causes them to "start up" again after having been mostly or entirely "shut down" by TRT.). The risk of gyno from TRT either with or without hCG is very small--the reason being, of course, that the doses of testosterone used in in Testosterone REPLACEMENT Therapy put one's test levels (back in) the normal physiological range, so estrogen levels resulting from the aromatization of testpsterone to estrogen are not likely to be very high. Nevertheless, it is recommended that you monitor your e2 levels via blood test; if they are too high (above 30 is often cited) you can reduce e2 by use of (a very small dose of) anastrozole--or you can reduce your doses of testosterone and hCG.
Transdermal testosterone converts to DHT at a higher rate than subcutaneous or IM testosterone; as DHT is an anti-estrogen, however, the risk of gyno would be lower as a result.
DHT is not all bad--the neurological effects of testosterone are mediated largely through DHT--libido, focus, etc. will presumably be higher with a form of test which is more easily converted to DHT than one that is not (the anabolic effects would be slightly lower). Patrick Arnold wrote a great article on DHT a while back--I'd search for it or ask him for it.
Whatever you do WRT DHT, I do suggest you stay far, far away from 5α-reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) such as Propecia (finasteride) and Avodart (dutasteride).
If you wish to avoid DHT because of concerns about hair loss, there are ways to minimize hair loss (Nizoral, Minoxidil, etc.) that don't touch hormones; I would opt for these approaches...
I find Dr. John Crisler to be one of the best sources of info regarding TRT--Google him & search for him on FB.
