Comment by valdiorn | Hacker News Reader

Comment by valdiorn | Hacker News Reader

Somewhat unrelated, but getting on TRT has been the best thing to ever happen to me.

I've suffered very low test levels (well below reference range minimum) for a long time, due to being in SSRI meds for anxiety. Those meds do their jobs but crushed my test levels. Symptoms included lots of belly fat and man boobs (put on 30lbs in 2 years despite regular exercise), but the major issues were all psychological; low mood, low self esteem, no drive to do stuff.

Finally got on TRT and it's turned everything upside down in the best possible way. I'm more assertive, but calmer, less anxious but also willing to tackle issues. Way more drive and motivation to do stuff. Horny like a teenager. Belly fat is melting away and exercise is showing incredibly fast results. I'm so incredibly motivated to work out because I can literally see progress in the mirror on a weekly basis.

I do this all under doctors supervision (using a well known trt clinic in London), and have had no negative biomarker results, in fact quite the opposite, my lipids have gone from "you need help" to optimal. Even managed to knock up the wife. (I'm on HCG as well to maintain fertility).

Guys, get your hormones checked. It will transform your life.

From my understanding: these meds will suppress testosterone production from your own body and you might be dependent on such meds for the rest of your life. So if there is no medical need, just healthy living (get enough sleep, exercise and eating good food) is the better approach to keeping testosterone levels up.

You are correct - unless there is an actual need for exogenous testosterone, you should avoid TRT. However, natural T levels will drop with age, and it's not too uncommon for men to hop on in their 40's or later. Sure you'll need to take it for the rest of your life, but it's generally worth the improvement of quality of life.

Usually people get it if it already is down.

A couple of years ago I lived for half a year in Pattaya, Thailand and it seems these kinds of therapies were advertised everywhere. I was thinking perhaps here in Thailand these therapies might be used by people that don't really need it, perhaps to gain more muscle mass or such.

Hence I made the remark.

Post cycle meds have improved a huge amount and can reliably restart test production and get you back your normal baseline so that you are not stuck on them. But if you’re normal baseline is low then you’ll go back to needing TRT.

And drinking onion juice. People laugh, but a 300% increase in rats should be enough of a reason for futher inquiry. https://www.ergo-log.com/onionjuice.html

and also "the only human study that directly link between onion and testosterone reveal a positive effect of onion extracts on testosterone" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6406961/#!po=9....

Everyone knows this. Raw onion juice is a meme on 4chan for a reason.

> these meds will suppress testosterone production from your own body and you might be dependent on such meds for the rest of your life.

Dependent while taking them, sure. Need a cite that says testosterone production won't restart upon cessation.

This is also operating under the assumption that you have anything to suppress: if you're <=200ng/dl, you're not losing much in my humble opinion.

The benefits of exogenous testosterone far outweigh the lifetime commitment aspect.

> Guys, get your hormones checked. It will transform your life.

If someone is severely deficient, then yes.

However, a lot of TRT clinics will essentially give anyone who walks in the door a prescription. Going from low-normal to normal or even high-normal levels via TRT won’t be anywhere near as life changing as going from being severely deficient (like you) to normal levels.

It also comes with a lifelong commitment to TRT.

If anyone is not extremely deficient, they should be exhausting normal methods to improve testosterone levels (diet, exercise, reducing alcohol consumption, and so on) before trying to replace their natural production for the rest of their lives. Obviously it’s a different story for people who have absolutely crushed testosterone levels for other reasons.

I went on it and the only thing that happened is my sex drive went from zero to low. I wish I got the psychological effects and all but I didn't.

What is your delivery mechanism, dose, dosing schedule, and resultant blood free/total testosterone concentrations?

If you're not 800-1000 ng/dl and injecting yourself regularly, you are doing it wrong and need to find a new doctor.

(Disclaimer: subjective opinion - not a medical professional: find a licensed professional who directly specializes in this area of medicine and has current training. Many do not report feeling anything at all on monthly injections, creams, etc. that were obtained from their local endocrinologist)

>If you're not 800-1000 ng/dl and injecting yourself regularly, you are doing it wrong and need to find a new doctor.

If you're not a doctor, don't give medical advice on HN. (Actually, don't do it even if you are a doctor, as you don't have access to the poster's medical history.)

Edit: this post was made before OP edited in their disclaimer.

I gave a subjective assessment of the current state of medicine with the recommendation to find a licensed, competent medical professional.

If I believe someone is being mistreated by his doctor, am I not allowed to suggest finding a new one? What if his current doctor wanted to perform a lobotomy?

"Find a new doctor" is not "medical advice" as much as you would like to conflate.

There are a lot of TRT protocols that non-specialists prescribe which are universally understood to be counterproductive, and one doesn’t need to be a doctor to know that.

The really bad ones are either dosages which are just high enough to shut down one’s natural production but not high enough to replace it, or infrequent dosages (weekly or less) which cause a brief spike of healthy T levels and then a long trough of being too low. Some patients don’t respond well to creams or topical treatments, either.

I think I draw the line at giving someone specific advice regarding how much testosterone they should be injecting themselves with. You shouldn't be doing that unless you have the relevant expertise and know the circumstances and goals of the patient and their medical history. In any other situation it's just irresponsible. However common it may be for random anonymous people in the internet to give out unsolicited medical advice, I can't agree that it's ok. It certainly doesn't contribute anything of value to the discussion.

Can you please quote an amount which was specified - "how much" would imply a dose? What drug? How often?

I suggested a subjective target physiological result with absolutely no specific means to get there beyond "find a doctor."

Do you think the original anxiety was due to low T levels? Did you get a hormone panel prior to getting the SSRIs prescribed?

You might want to look in to prions potentially being passed via HCG, just as an FYI. Last I read there’s at least a chance.

I also had to take it for fertility - Clomid is the other option but I felt like absolute crap on it.

What age did you test at? I’m knocking on 40 and thinking now would be a good time.

I absolutely would get a hormone panel and a CBC too in your shoes.

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