TRT not recovering Libido

[thepeoplespamp]

I've been on TRT for some years now to try and revitalize my libido. I've had many protocols in that time frame. Libido just has never returned for me.

My sweet spot for protocols seems to be around 120mg - 150mg weekly dose, injected multiple times a week. No HCG, No A.I. This helps me feel the best in all aspects of life except for libido, which is always low. However, libido is even more garbage if my protocol is bad.

Some background:

• 174lbs, 5'10", 32 y.o., male
• Diet is good, sleep is decent, stress is on the lower end
• Symptoms were ED and low libido that brought me on my TRT journey
• Pre-TRT my Total T was 182ng/dL (264 - 916) at 24 years old
• Jumped on TRT at 26 after spending a few years trying natural remedies for raising TT to no avail (diet, exercise, cardio, etc).
• My SHBG appears pegged at 19nmol/L (16.5 - 55.9). Keto doesn't raise it. Higher TRT doses don't lower it.
• I tend to aromatize quickly which has been an issue with HCG in the past
• When I've used HCG I've tried to keep it in check with A.I.'s but never felt good doing so

Previous protocol numbers:

• 210mg test Enanthate split into .15mg daily shots, shallow IM, No HCG, No A.I.
• TT: 1344 ng/dL (264 - 916)
• Free T: 32.3 pg/mL (8.7 - 25.1)
• Prolactin: 16.8 ng/mL (4 - 15.2) <--- this was a bit high, but may be an outlier, typically its around 10)
• Estradiol Sensative: 44.8 pg/mL (8 - 35)
• SHBG: 18.6 nmol/L

I'm currently on 20mg of Propionate daily to experiment with a faster ester and see if it aromatizes a bit less.

For those of you that have had libido issues on TRT, how have you best addressed it?

 

[Tiny]

My sweet spot for protocols seems to be around 120mg - 150mg weekly dose, injected multiple times a week. No HCG, No A.I. This helps me feel the best in all aspects of life except for libido,

This is similar to saying this asprin is working except for this headache


Tell your TRT doc. He'll increase the dosage if your numbers will allow

 

[thepeoplespamp]

We've discussed. Haven't met a doc ok with raising much over 200mg weekly. The currently doctor I am seeing is flexible with pretty much everything but still caps the total dose.

 

[Tiny]

We've discussed. Haven't met a doc ok with raising much over 200mg weekly. The currently doctor I am seeing is flexible with pretty much everything but still caps the total dose.

You're basing this on what? I'm sure the doctor didn't say that to you, so I'm guessing it's based on some other guys cousin's friend who also sees him?

Tell your doc you're having issues, then go from there. He's not just going to say "oh well, you're F'd". If he does, find a new doctor

 

[Bullseye Forever]

I've been on TRT for some years now to try and revitalize my libido. I've had many protocols in that time frame. Libido just has never returned for me.

My sweet spot for protocols seems to be around 120mg - 150mg weekly dose, injected multiple times a week. No HCG, No A.I. This helps me feel the best in all aspects of life except for libido, which is always low. However, libido is even more garbage if my protocol is bad.

Some background:

• 174lbs, 5'10", 32 y.o., male
• Diet is good, sleep is decent, stress is on the lower end
• Symptoms were ED and low libido that brought me on my TRT journey
• Pre-TRT my Total T was 182ng/dL (264 - 916) at 24 years old
• Jumped on TRT at 26 after spending a few years trying natural remedies for raising TT to no avail (diet, exercise, cardio, etc).
• My SHBG appears pegged at 19nmol/L (16.5 - 55.9). Keto doesn't raise it. Higher TRT doses don't lower it.
• I tend to aromatize quickly which has been an issue with HCG in the past
• When I've used HCG I've tried to keep it in check with A.I.'s but never felt good doing so

Previous protocol numbers:

• 210mg test Enanthate split into .15mg daily shots, shallow IM, No HCG, No A.I.
• TT: 1344 ng/dL (264 - 916)
• Free T: 32.3 pg/mL (8.7 - 25.1)
• Prolactin: 16.8 ng/mL (4 - 15.2) <--- this was a bit high, but may be an outlier, typically its around 10)
• Estradiol Sensative: 44.8 pg/mL (8 - 35)
• SHBG: 18.6 nmol/L

I'm currently on 20mg of Propionate daily to experiment with a faster ester and see if it aromatizes a bit less.

For those of you that have had libido issues on TRT, how have you best addressed it?

Add 150mg of Masteron/week and you’ll **** like a rabbit trust me!!

 

[Jin]

I find that so long as my test numbers are in range (500-1000) it’s really the e2 that i need to dial in to maximize libido.

I would start looking there.

How is morning wood? If you have strong morning wood and less desire to have sex I think all you need is some stimulation and you’d be ready to go.

Also, a lot of times this stuff is mental. So don’t rule that out.

Have there been times you’ve had a better libido while on any of your trt protocols?

 

[Jin]

This is similar to saying this asprin is working except for this headache


Tell your TRT doc. He'll increase the dosage if your numbers will allow

How was your libido when your test numbers were at over 1000?

I doubt more test is the answer. I have a higher libido on trt than I do a gram of test.

 

[Trump]

Have you tried a better looking chick?

 

[CJ]

I'm currently on 20mg of Propionate daily to experiment with a faster ester and see if it aromatizes a bit less.

For those of you that have had libido issues on TRT, how have you best addressed it?

Even though it's daily, you'll still get a higher daily peak with Prop than you would with Cyp. Higher peak usually means more estrogen conversion. Try daily Cyp injections for E2 management.

My libido is best on a TRUE TRT dose, where my blood levels are between 750-1000 ng/dl. I don't get a higher sex drive with higher doses. That's just me though.

 

[Naktakala]

So I've experienced this very same thing. There was a point where everything felt optimal then it got worst again even though my T was high. It's all estrogen (how else do some woman have high sex drives). If it was low I had no interest in sex, no morning wood and borderline ED. When the estrogen was too high by a bit my dick would stop working and I would start to lose interest. My doc started me on anastrozole (a little 1mg pill) once a day which was way too much then we dialed that back to once every 4 days. Nowadays I pop one pill one day after pinning cypionate and that seems to be optimal to curb the spike in T (and thus conversion). In any case you should ask your doc to give you Anastrozole/Arimidex, its good to have.

Incidentally, there are drugs that are DHT based and are androgenic AND anabolic, yet they cant aromatize and therefore they suck at providing estrogen. Nandralone alone doesnt work for TRT for that exact reason. It converts to a different estrogen that is less potent.

Check some videos from MorePlatesMoreDates, specifically the video about deca only cycle
Also check out the AnabolicDoc

 

[creekrat]

Your hormones are synergistic. Make sure you get them to test your albumin levels as well. Everyone is different so you will need to find that sweet spot for you. If you have no problem getting wood then maybe you just need to make the conscious decision to fukk over a period of time to get back in the groove.

I'll second what CJ said. I would use cyp ED or even EOD if you tend to aromatize more. The longer ester will yield more stable levels and keep you from peaking. Your highs would be lower but your lows would be higher and overall you'd be more consistent.

 

[Adrenolin]

I sometimes use that protocol for my trt - 30mg cyp daily, though I do subq, and will still occasionally use 250iu twice a week of hcg. Hcg will increase pregnenolone which your body will use to create its needed baseline of hormones. I also find proviron to be about the most effective sex aid for myself right next to tren... makes me ready to **** just about anything that moves

 

[midevil]

I had that issue once .. it lasted for too long.

I shot test prop twice a week and was back at it in the sack within the week (advice given to me by littlemags). Stopped the prop and was still good.

~or~ just bump up your test dose per week. Prop will make it happen sooner..

 

[NbleSavage]

Doubling down on the need to get yer E2 checked and dialed-in.

Yer E2 was a bit high in the bloods ye posted.

IMO ye may want to try a bit of exemestane (low dose - think 12.5 mg every 3 days to start) for a few weeks and then get bloods done again & have a think if yer feeling a bit more randy.

Same again as said above: if yer GP won't consider working with ye on upping yer dose because "reasons" then find one who will.

 

[thepeoplespamp]

Is it common for a GP to raise over 200mg weekly? I'm in the U.S. for reference. And as Jin mentioned, is more test actually better for libido? I'd assume more complications would arise.

I've had 4 serperate doctors. The one I'm currently with I'm happy with and he lets me experiment more than others have (daily shots, ester types, adding cream/hcg/ai etc). He doesn't like to go much higher than 200mg (which puts me close to 1350 Total T), but that's higher than the other's would go. They stopped if my Total T even touched 1000.

Also, I tend to feel better on lower doses, although I've never done a blast or anything to see. My low t symptoms all disappear at 120-150mg and I feel great aside from libido not returning. Any higher and I get complications from e2 which tend to make things worse. I haven't been able to dial that in just right.

Regarding e2, it's always been a bit difficult to figure out where I feel best on it. If my e2 is super high I feel like crap, but if my e2 is on the low end (not even tanked) I also feel pretty poor. Low end as in ~20 in this case (8 - 35). How do you get the Anestrozole dosages just right?

Regarding the propionate, it's been a bit of an experiment. After I get labs I'll likely switch back to cyp/E

 

[Adrenolin]

It's a long trial and error type of process with continual blood work at a given dosage and ai protocol. I don't use an AI on trt, and actually prefer my estrogen in the 50's.

I still highly recommend the hcg with proviron or the masteron that someone else mentioned.

 

[thepeoplespamp]

Yeah, curious about mast and proviron but haven't tried either. BTW can Anavar help? I've read it's similar to proviron. I can get Anavar much easier than proviron.

I'n the mean time I'll add some HCG to the protocol and see what happens. Maybe start it off at a low dose and monitor the estrogen side effects.

 

[Bullseye Forever]

Once my blood was checked for test Ethan na it was well over 1700 and my libdio sucked ,couldn’t understand it until I got my Estradoil checked and brought it down an then it was fine

 

[lfod14]

We've discussed. Haven't met a doc ok with raising much over 200mg weekly. The currently doctor I am seeing is flexible with pretty much everything but still caps the total dose.

If you're using a Uro or and Endo they won't. The go to blind "standard of care" cookie cutter treatment is 200mg. A TRT Doc / Optimization doc doesn't care about that. Most will have you in the 1200-1500 range. For me that's 250mg/wk.

 

[Texan69]

Jin hit the nail on the head
When testosterone levels are in range or even high and there’s libido issues or even erectile issue it’s usually estrogen which is the culprit too high or too low of estrogen can do this. Estrogen is a driving factor for a lot of things in this TRT journey