I am not an expert. I do not pretend to be one. There are far more experienced and knowledgable people here than myself. So at best, anything i say is simply an opinion biased by my own limited experiences and research.
Most will say 500mg/wk is a beginners cycle. But they say this without knowing anything about the beginners experiences or goals. After years of working out and multiple cycles, it would not be surprising to have many of these same people tell you they now use much less each time and still make gainz.
If you are young, in your prime, and your body is still producing strong amounts of test naturally then it may just require 500mg/wk to make a substantial difference. If, like me, you are in your mid to late 40's and have low T then it takes much less /wk to make a substantial difference. I believe in finding the MED. Minimum Effective Dose to achieve your goals. If you plan on sticking with the gym thing for many years to come, and you are happy with slow and sustainable growth while keeping your long term health in mind, then perhaps 500mg + var/wk is not required.
If your blood work comes back with low T then the first recommendation I would make would be to try and see an endo.
I would also suggest if you haven't already, read about proper pct protocols.
If you decide to take the plunge it is highly unlikely it will be your one and only go. If you start high, where will you go next time? And then the time after?
Then again, if you want the Captain America instant transformation then have at er. Eat big, train hard, get it in ya!
Agree with Keto. If this is an initial cycle you can get great results with half, or less still, especially if you are already experiencing low t issues.
Also agree with obtaining a legit diagnosis first. It's far better to have a medical professional to assist with labs and prescriptions. Here is the main benefit with medical legitimacy. You have a prescription, and you will be on test long term, i.e. lifetime. If you do it right, you can have all the benefits, and then play a bit on the side, taking care to make sure to cut back in time for bloods for your endo. If you jump on gear now, you can still consult with an endo after your cycle, provided you let your system crash. Think of that as gaming the process to obtaining medical legitimacy.
So, do bloods now, and if you have low t, then your next stop is to obtain a referral to an endo. If you don't care, then jump on gear, but I'd want to know how my system responded to small amounts of test before jumping on heavier doses. Your estrogen could spike, which can be a pain in the ass to get a handle on without access to labs. Plus, you want full CBC done as well, to make sure all things stay in balance.
If you were 26, I'd say do the cycle, b/c you're likely going to do it anyway, lol. But, you're not, and I believe moderation is generally best.
Socrates said it best, Everything in moderation, including moderation.