too much testosterone side effects

R

Rocky

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just a reminder to those using trt that too high levels can give some negative side effects as well

i was feeling super tired and didn't know why, at first I thought it was actually low testosterone as my dose was lowered to 2.5g of androgel per day (25mg testosterone gel) which is super low. For reference the typical prescribed dosage is 5g-10g per day, so I was already taking half the usual "low" dose, but I did bloodwork and turns out my testosterone was 1.5x the upper limit

I stopped taking the androgel and already feel much better, might do bloods again and see where I am in a week, if I need it i'll take 2.5g of androgel eod

i used to think gear/testosterone, higher the better, but after quitting bodybuilding and using testosterone more responsibly, I realized the human body just needs enough and it feels way better when you have normal amounts, at least for me. Looking back I don't know how i was functioning on grams of gear and I can't imagine the damage I did to my body. Hoping this post can help someone out there who could benefit from lowering their dose if it is indeed too high, of course its everyones own decision what they do so do whatever works for you
 
I call the fatigue associated with high androgen levels "hormone pressure" - I stole this term from some article/blog I read decades ago, but I feel it does a good job explaining how too much androgenicity can lead to fatigue and mental burnout. I originally used it to explain the fatigue I felt on tiny (but not negligible) doses of the highly androgenic compounds (Tren, etc) in my younger years.

But now on a more steady HRT schedule, I can absolutely tell the difference between an overdose and an optimal dose of T: Overdosing manifests as unnatural hunger, longer sleep periods and shorter REM periods (as tracked by a fitness band) and general fatigue, despite an increase in burst strength. I'm not 25 anymore, so fatigue is no longer an acceptable trade-off for bust strength in the gym. In a very physical line of work, I need my daily endurance more than I need 4 solid days of lifting.

Rocky said:
Looking back I don't know how i was functioning on grams of gear and I can't imagine the damage I did to my body.
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I'm not a big dude, and I'm highly sensitive to androgens, but I've tracked all sorts of metrics on total androgen doses up to 320mg/wk. I can't imagine what sort of sides y'all feel at the 800-1000mg/wk doses. I don't know how y'all do it.
 
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Arcygenical said:
I call the fatigue associated with high androgen levels "hormone pressure" - I stole this term from some article/blog I read decades ago, but I feel it does a good job explaining how too much androgenicity can lead to fatigue and mental burnout. I originally used it to explain the fatigue I felt on tiny (but not negligible) doses of the highly androgenic compounds (Tren, etc) in my younger years.

But now on a more steady HRT schedule, I can absolutely tell the difference between an overdose and an optimal dose of T: Overdosing manifests as unnatural hunger, longer sleep periods and shorter REM periods (as tracked by a fitness band) and general fatigue, despite an increase in burst strength. I'm not 25 anymore, so fatigue is no longer an acceptable trade-off for bust strength in the gym. In a very physical line of work, I need my daily endurance more than I need 4 solid days of lifting.



I'm not a big dude, and I'm highly sensitive to androgens, but I've tracked all sorts of metrics on total androgen doses up to 320mg/wk. I can't imagine what sort of sides y'all feel at the 800-1000mg/wk doses. I don't know how y'all do it.
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The body eventually adapts. Thats why i feel its a good idea to grow into higher doses. But regardless of that, you might get some flu like symptoms for a week tops and then all is good.
 
CoolRick said:
The body eventually adapts. Thats why i feel its a good idea to grow into higher doses. But regardless of that, you might get some flu like symptoms for a week tops and then all is good.
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What? So just keep increasing the dose? Sorry but No that doesn't work...
 
I have never had issues with too much gear and burning out. Sides like my prostate swelling maybe, but I feel damn good on more gear.
Now I may want a nap in the evening before I train, but my body is trying to grow and needs the extra growth time.

I am the opposite, I feel so blah on trt. Now I do it because of health, but I could live on 500 mg a year long.

Shows how we are all different.
 
Sorbate said:
I have never had issues with too much gear and burning out. Sides like my prostate swelling maybe, but I feel damn good on more gear.
Now I may want a nap in the evening before I train, but my body is trying to grow and needs the extra growth time.

I am the opposite, I feel so blah on trt. Now I do it because of health, but I could live on 500 mg a year long.

Shows how we are all different.
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I believe this is what I've been experiencing. I was on 50mge3, which gave me solid energy, libido (albeit not that reliable, and consistently needed cialis or viagra), good sleep, and a great appetite. I was vascular, lean, and cognition was on point. For the past 4 months I haven't been able to get things nailed down. I had high E2 for the first couple despite having no symptoms aside from constipation, which I've never had when high. Now that I've dropped to 60e4 (105/wk) I still have some digestion issues, but more so I'm dealing with fatigue, loss of motivation, focus, and drive. I feel really good on higher less freq doses, but it's a bitch to get my libido on line.
I also feel as though I need to be on a dose that requires the use of an AI to benefit from trt. I will likely go back to 50-55e3.
 
Arcygenical said:
I call the fatigue associated with high androgen levels "hormone pressure" - I stole this term from some article/blog I read decades ago, but I feel it does a good job explaining how too much androgenicity can lead to fatigue and mental burnout. I originally used it to explain the fatigue I felt on tiny (but not negligible) doses of the highly androgenic compounds (Tren, etc) in my younger years.

But now on a more steady HRT schedule, I can absolutely tell the difference between an overdose and an optimal dose of T: Overdosing manifests as unnatural hunger, longer sleep periods and shorter REM periods (as tracked by a fitness band) and general fatigue, despite an increase in burst strength. I'm not 25 anymore, so fatigue is no longer an acceptable trade-off for bust strength in the gym. In a very physical line of work, I need my daily endurance more than I need 4 solid days of lifting.



I'm not a big dude, and I'm highly sensitive to androgens, but I've tracked all sorts of metrics on total androgen doses up to 320mg/wk. I can't imagine what sort of sides y'all feel at the 800-1000mg/wk doses. I don't know how y'all do it.
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Everyone is so different. "normal" levels of most lab tests have quite a range and even then they are for the majority of the population, not everyone. Gradual titration and experimentation is likely the best and safest way to find what works for you, and this itself can change over time and it will as your body chsnges with age and demands placed on it. I've been running test for several years consistently at 800-1000mg a week and find it works best for me. I used to get Pharm grade test from a physician but it was pointless as he wanted to measure my levels to make sure they were 'normal" and I wasn't aiming for normal everyday civilian levels so gave it up. So also depends on your goals. Even when I was at the high end of "normal" I felt like shit. It wasn't until I was "supraphysiologic" until I felt better.

Somewhat related - I also take T4 (through a physician) and he also just looks at whatever the "normal" range is and keeps me there. But fortunately met a specialist who believes that within the normal range there's a specific smaller range probably best for each person and he tries even harder to keep you there. Still within normal but even more customized to you. So goes to show you even within medicine there's differences in the best approach.
 
Rocky said:
just a reminder to those using trt that too high levels can give some negative side effects as well

i was feeling super tired and didn't know why, at first I thought it was actually low testosterone as my dose was lowered to 2.5g of androgel per day (25mg testosterone gel) which is super low. For reference the typical prescribed dosage is 5g-10g per day, so I was already taking half the usual "low" dose, but I did bloodwork and turns out my testosterone was 1.5x the upper limit

I stopped taking the androgel and already feel much better, might do bloods again and see where I am in a week, if I need it i'll take 2.5g of androgel eod

i used to think gear/testosterone, higher the better, but after quitting bodybuilding and using testosterone more responsibly, I realized the human body just needs enough and it feels way better when you have normal amounts, at least for me. Looking back I don't know how i was functioning on grams of gear and I can't imagine the damage I did to my body. Hoping this post can help someone out there who could benefit from lowering their dose if it is indeed too high, of course its everyones own decision what they do so do whatever works for you
Click to expand...

Man I'd get off that andro gel shit right now and get on needle.. I used andro gel for awhile and wow I couldn't get stable blood work.. If I were you, I wouldn't even consider if that blood work says you have 1.5x the test your supposed to and that's causing the issue until you switch to injectable..

Other than that, yes when I used to cycle with higher doses I would get lathargy sometimes depending on the compound I used and the dose. But again, I wouldn't take any blood work while on andro gel as being an acurate reflection of what's consistently happening in your body.
 
Rocky said:
just a reminder to those using trt that too high levels can give some negative side effects as well

i was feeling super tired and didn't know why, at first I thought it was actually low testosterone as my dose was lowered to 2.5g of androgel per day (25mg testosterone gel) which is super low. For reference the typical prescribed dosage is 5g-10g per day, so I was already taking half the usual "low" dose, but I did bloodwork and turns out my testosterone was 1.5x the upper limit

I stopped taking the androgel and already feel much better, might do bloods again and see where I am in a week, if I need it i'll take 2.5g of androgel eod

i used to think gear/testosterone, higher the better, but after quitting bodybuilding and using testosterone more responsibly, I realized the human body just needs enough and it feels way better when you have normal amounts, at least for me. Looking back I don't know how i was functioning on grams of gear and I can't imagine the damage I did to my body. Hoping this post can help someone out there who could benefit from lowering their dose if it is indeed too high, of course its everyones own decision what they do so do whatever works for you
Click to expand...
I think the higher test would bring your estrogen up higher than your body likes. That's how it works for me anyway. If my estrogen gets even a bit high, my energy is lower than when I had average test levels. Even on 500mg/week.
 
Cheapshot said:
What? So just keep increasing the dose? Sorry but No that doesn't work...
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I think he's talking about how the body up-regulates androgen receptors in response to having higher androgen levels over time. So more test could theoretically be utilized by your body before spilling over and just metabolizing into estrogen/dht and stuff like that.

So maybe after a few years he might be able to up his dose without aromatizing so much, which I think is the cause of his lower energy levels at the higher dose.
 
Sauced said:
I think the higher test would bring your estrogen up higher than your body likes. That's how it works for me anyway. If my estrogen gets even a bit high, my energy is lower than when I had average test levels. Even on 500mg/week.
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Did you end up reducing the dose or adding in an AI?
 
Sauced said:
I added in an AI and it's night and day. That was the difference between having to lie down periodically throughout the day vs having endless energy.
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That's awesome. Do you cycle on and off the AI? I've never found the need really but am curious now.....
 
steve23 said:
That's awesome. Do you cycle on and off the AI? I've never found the need really but am curious now.....
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No I just stay on. The dose goes up and down with my roid use. I'd give it a shot man, plenty of guys give up on TRT altogether without playing around with their estrogen. Which i think is the biggest factor in feeling great on trt for lots of people.
 
Sauced said:
No I just stay on. The dose goes up and down with my roid use. I'd give it a shot man, plenty of guys give up on TRT altogether without playing around with their estrogen. Which i think is the biggest factor in feeling great on trt for lots of people.
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I'll definitely give it a shot. I'm committed to trt at these doses for life (it's already been close to a decade) and run a couple of var cycles every year. So will try some arimidex very soon once I educate myself on a good regimen.
 
steve23 said:
I'll definitely give it a shot. I'm committed to trt at these doses for life (it's already been close to a decade) and run a couple of var cycles every year. So will try some arimidex very soon once I educate myself on a good regimen.
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Glad I could shine some light on AIs for you buddy :)

It doesn't work for me personally (I'm an outlier), but I'd recommend aromasin over adex since it's healthier. I've heard it's harder to crash your estrogen on too, but don't quote me on that.

The hard part with AIs is that everyone's different. Very different. Like I mentioned aromasin doesn't work for me at all, but that's rare. And I need way more AI than the average person. I need 1.3mg of adex eod on only 500 test/week... Maybe someone more normal can help you with a starting dose. But I'd say start low and titrate up slowly using a mg scale to dose exact.

You'll know when you hit your sweet spot, but to get super dialed use the mg scale and caps like I said, and get estradiol sensitive testing.
 
Slow and steady for sure. Always a good way to try things out. Looks like I've got some reading to do.

I run test 800-1000 a week and a couple of var cycles a year but lower doses (60mg is great but even 40 works for me as I'm a leaner build and too fragile to try to bulk lol but it works well for me so no complaints!).

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers!
 
steve23 said:
Slow and steady for sure. Always a good way to try things out. Looks like I've got some reading to do.

I run test 800-1000 a week and a couple of var cycles a year but lower doses (60mg is great but even 40 works for me as I'm a leaner build and too fragile to try to bulk lol but it works well for me so no complaints!).

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers!
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Do you run a gram of shit with no AI? I'd have bigger tits than my girl 😂

Oh I love anavar for the recovery. My body gets fragile as fuck on a cut and it really holds me together.

I'm gonna be experimenting with mk677 next week to compare. Apparently it's great for recovery, cutting and injuries but I've never seen anyone compare the two for these goals.

Who knows, maybe with some anavar and mk you could bulk easier 🤷‍♂️ testosterone fucks up collagen synthesis and ligament/tendon integrity at the higher doses which I think the combination might attenuate nicely.
 
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