Working out/Testosterone Levels/Therapy/Steroids/Thoughts?

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Blood work in this past week. Everything looks good. Organs are all functioning healthy. Cholesterol is a little high (was before), so is blood pressure (again, was before). At first my GP and I were slightly concerned about the amount of weight i've lost in such a short period of time (36 lbs now in just over 2 months). He said he was surprised at how well my neck and back reacted to his mobility test. He said the weight loss seems fine and that I look better than I have in the time I've seen him.

My testosterone level(s) were non-surprisingly high. My estrogen was a little high (that's normal that it will go up along with test). He prescribed me 2 meds that will remove any excess estrogen. He's agreed to keep seeing me every 2-4 weeks or if I feel there's an issue. So far he's still not going to do the shots himself, but I think I've got my foot in that door and it's a matter of time.

Exercise continues to go great, worked out my legs so hard yesterday and they've already recovered! The wife's home this whole week, so hopefully that means I can double my cardio

Is the high testosterone a dosage issue? I think if I were doing your thing I'd want it in the high normal range, but not above that. I mean if my BP was 135/85 I'd be concerned but not as concerned as if it was 195/90.

 

[Godless Raven]

Blood work in this past week. Everything looks good. Organs are all functioning healthy. Cholesterol is a little high (was before), so is blood pressure (again, was before). At first my GP and I were slightly concerned about the amount of weight i've lost in such a short period of time (36 lbs now in just over 2 months). He said he was surprised at how well my neck and back reacted to his mobility test. He said the weight loss seems fine and that I look better than I have in the time I've seen him.

My testosterone level(s) were non-surprisingly high. My estrogen was a little high (that's normal that it will go up along with test). He prescribed me 2 meds that will remove any excess estrogen. He's agreed to keep seeing me every 2-4 weeks or if I feel there's an issue. So far he's still not going to do the shots himself, but I think I've got my foot in that door and it's a matter of time.

Exercise continues to go great, worked out my legs so hard yesterday and they've already recovered! The wife's home this whole week, so hopefully that means I can double my cardio

Have your PSA measured. Don't have sex for at least 3 days before your blood is drawn. It can mess up results.


Yes, in a heart beat, if I could have the body I had when I was in my 20's, I'd do it in a heart beat and also immediately schedule another tubal. I'd love to go back to a 23 inch waist again. I'm sure my husband would be thrilled as well.


I get the whole fountain of youth thing. I truly do.

Eating well and being active is the best thing you can do for yourself.

The rest is just ego. I understand the appeal of that, but it's ego. Not health.

PSA level at 1.1, which apparently is good for my age.

I agree with your post, and eating well and being active is the best thing you can do for yourself, agreed. That's what my wife has been doing during the last couple of months I've been doing my thing. I'm eating healthier than ever myself and more active than ever. I'm trying to hold back a bit though. Because of the huge increase in red blood cells, I can take in really big breaths of air (I can sing along with songs for an hour on the treadmill, even while running), I am concerned my heart isn't in as good of condition as my lungs are telling it that it is. I've cut the amount of running I was doing back by replacing it with brisk walking for now.

I can't disagree with you about the ego part either...it is part to do with ego. I know that. I'm not an egotistical dick either, but it's really nice to have something to feel that good about, particularly my body after not treating it so great for years.

Ego aside, I had a dangerous amount of body fat only 65 days ago and I have literally melted the shit right off of my body (more accurately the fat cells shrunk, but whatever) It probably would have taken me 2-3 years, if I could have even physically done it without the route I took. It's kind of hard not to see that as a huge health bonus.

 

[Godless Raven]

Blood work in this past week. Everything looks good. Organs are all functioning healthy. Cholesterol is a little high (was before), so is blood pressure (again, was before). At first my GP and I were slightly concerned about the amount of weight i've lost in such a short period of time (36 lbs now in just over 2 months). He said he was surprised at how well my neck and back reacted to his mobility test. He said the weight loss seems fine and that I look better than I have in the time I've seen him.

My testosterone level(s) were non-surprisingly high. My estrogen was a little high (that's normal that it will go up along with test). He prescribed me 2 meds that will remove any excess estrogen. He's agreed to keep seeing me every 2-4 weeks or if I feel there's an issue. So far he's still not going to do the shots himself, but I think I've got my foot in that door and it's a matter of time.

Exercise continues to go great, worked out my legs so hard yesterday and they've already recovered! The wife's home this whole week, so hopefully that means I can double my cardio

Is the high testosterone a dosage issue? I think if I were doing your thing I'd want it in the high normal range, but not above that. I mean if my BP was 135/85 I'd be concerned but not as concerned as if it was 195/90.

Yeah, totally a dosage issue. I expected this. The basics as to why I expected it are that the blend I use consists of 3 diff test esters each with a slightly different half life and life span. The purpose is to keep the level in your blood as stable as possible. The shortest ester is 6-7 days, the longest 10-12. I was dosing based on the 6-7 ester, so taking a dose every 7 days. I did realize while doing this, the level was going to be a little higher than "medium-high" range, and did it intentionally. It's one of the reasons I've been losing body fat while getting stronger at this fast of a rate. I have already made the necessary adjustment so the next time I go for bloodwork I should be in the "high" range for normal. I did this by changing the shots to every 10 days and lowered the dose by .2 cc's. As soon as the bloodwork comes back perfect, I'll know exactly the right dose and use that going forward. It's not going to have that big of a difference to my recovery and results at this point.

JD, I meant to mention this to you the other day...one thing to consider with TRT/HRT is a common misconception. People think if you take 100 mg or 200 mg (common theraputic dosages) you take your current test level, add that new dosage and that's what is in your system. Instead, you have to subtract the amount your body will stop producing due to the exogenous TRT. So what you end up with doesn't really settle in until about 6-8 weeks of therapy when your body settles in to how much it's going to contribute to the mix. Natural level - decrease due to body recognizing new inflow of test + dosage amount = Test levels on TRT/HRT.

Not sure if you were aware of that or taking it in to consideration.

 

[Godless Raven]

Some new changes in the last 2 weeks:

1. I check my blood pressure a couple of times a day. It's been going down, and for a week it's been in the healthy zone for a male my age. This is fairly new for me, even with BP med's I'm usually right on the borderline. I'm feeling great!

2. Pulled a muscle in my back doing bent over rows. I immediately stopped the exercise and iced it. I was able to switch to a diff body part and complete my workout without discomfort. I left my back alone for 4 days and it's completely healed.

3. Sex drive still increasing. Had a 4 hour sex-a-thon yesterday early evening that I'm pretty sure I couldn't have pulled off in my 20's.

4. I've been cutting back calories the past 2 weeks to try burn off the last bits of fat I can't stand. It's slightly reduced my energy and slowed down gains in my lifts, but it should be worth it.

5. Cardio has been getting harder lately. I was easily doing an hour a day for a couple of months, but I'm struggling to go beyond 30-35 min at the moment. Could be reduced calories, could be the amount I'm burning during sexathons. Not sure. So I've been trying to do one session in the morning and one at night to make up for it, but it's been a bit of a struggle.

All in all, things are going great! I have an appointment for more blood work and one with a sports doctor for this week, so I'll know more then.

 

[EricB]

Good to see the progress that you are making.

 

[Godless Raven]

Good to see the progress that you are making.

Thanks Eric,

If I recall correctly, you have experience with AAS's right?

I just got more blood work done and the results showed that I have elevated white blood cells and my red blood cells are elevated (I expected that, Test does that and so does something else I've started taking with it) but that they were "small". My red blood cells appear to have shrunk.

He's running a whole bunch more blood plasma tests to see what the cause is. It's very possible the red blood cells shrunk because I reduced calories and my iron levels went down (although they shouldn't have shrunk as much). A few things are possible. Just not sure which.

Any thoughts?

 

[DrZoidberg]

I've a friend who's a doctor as well as an ex-bodybuilder and steroid user. He said that therapeutic steroids for old age should be cycled. Just like regular steroids. Otherwise you won't get as much benefits. He also said it'll shorten your life a lot. Testosterone (even the natural form) kills us.

But it's good you're going through a doctor. According to him steroids could be virtually risk free if all users were monitored by doctors. It's fiddly getting it right.

Good luck

 

[Godless Raven]

I've a friend who's a doctor as well as an ex-bodybuilder and steroid user. He said that therapeutic steroids for old age should be cycled. Just like regular steroids. Otherwise you won't get as much benefits. He also said it'll shorten your life a lot. Testosterone (even the natural form) kills us.

But it's good you're going through a doctor. According to him steroids could be virtually risk free if all users were monitored by doctors. It's fiddly getting it right.

Good luck

Good advice.

I plan to cycle and use Clomid/Nolvadex during that time to return natural levels close to what they were.

It could possibly reduce a few years off of my life, but on the other hand, I'm now 61lbs lighter and no longer a high risk for a heart attack or stroke. So in that sense, I've probably increased my life span significantly (I was 298lbs and ready to bust out of my own skin).

Having the doctor (and now an athletic therapist too) has helped me feel much more confident. I'm still tinkering with some things, but I'm feeling really fortunate I live somewhere where my doctor can give me blood work every 2 weeks and I don't have a bill at the end of it.

Thanks for the advice/heads up and well wishes!

 

[DrZoidberg]

I've a friend who's a doctor as well as an ex-bodybuilder and steroid user. He said that therapeutic steroids for old age should be cycled. Just like regular steroids. Otherwise you won't get as much benefits. He also said it'll shorten your life a lot. Testosterone (even the natural form) kills us.

But it's good you're going through a doctor. According to him steroids could be virtually risk free if all users were monitored by doctors. It's fiddly getting it right.

Good luck

Good advice.

I plan to cycle and use Clomid/Nolvadex during that time to return natural levels close to what they were.

It could possibly reduce a few years off of my life, but on the other hand, I'm now 61lbs lighter and no longer a high risk for a heart attack or stroke. So in that sense, I've probably increased my life span significantly (I was 298lbs and ready to bust out of my own skin).

Having the doctor (and now an athletic therapist too) has helped me feel much more confident. I'm still tinkering with some things, but I'm feeling really fortunate I live somewhere where my doctor can give me blood work every 2 weeks and I don't have a bill at the end of it.

Thanks for the advice/heads up and well wishes!

We have such a fixation about the length of life in our culture. The quality of the life is ignored. I'd buy fem years of awesome over a hundred mediocre years easy.

Sweden sucks for this. You can't just go and get blood work done. It's complicated hoops to jump through. The way our system is set up, if you're sick everything's great. But if you aren't, it's just a wall of non-help.

 

[EricB]

Good to see the progress that you are making.

Thanks Eric,

If I recall correctly, you have experience with AAS's right?

Yes.

I just got more blood work done and the results showed that I have elevated white blood cells and my red blood cells are elevated (I expected that, Test does that and so does something else I've started taking with it) but that they were "small". My red blood cells appear to have shrunk.

He's running a whole bunch more blood plasma tests to see what the cause is. It's very possible the red blood cells shrunk because I reduced calories and my iron levels went down (although they shouldn't have shrunk as much). A few things are possible. Just not sure which.

Any thoughts?

Surprised about the white blood cell increase. Have you been sick?

I am assuming he is checking your iron levels? A full spectrum serum mineral assay is not a bad thing if you can get him to order the test.

 

[Godless Raven]

Thanks Eric,

If I recall correctly, you have experience with AAS's right?

Yes.

I just got more blood work done and the results showed that I have elevated white blood cells and my red blood cells are elevated (I expected that, Test does that and so does something else I've started taking with it) but that they were "small". My red blood cells appear to have shrunk.

He's running a whole bunch more blood plasma tests to see what the cause is. It's very possible the red blood cells shrunk because I reduced calories and my iron levels went down (although they shouldn't have shrunk as much). A few things are possible. Just not sure which.

Any thoughts?

Surprised about the white blood cell increase. Have you been sick?

I am assuming he is checking your iron levels? A full spectrum serum mineral assay is not a bad thing if you can get him to order the test.

Yeah, I've been fighting off an allergy to a Bunny I bought my wife. It's taken a couple of months to get better. I was taking Betamethasone for it. Other than that, nothing I can think of, but it could be that. I did have a flu shot a few days before my blood work.

He's checking iron levels and some other blood related things. He said iron levels may be the culprit. I was eating pretty good and clean before that blood work though, so I don't know. Most of my protein bars and shakes have a decent amount of iron. I hope that's all it is, I have no problem increasing iron rich foods or taking iron tabs.

Whatever cause those two changes, I can't say I feel it physically. I feel great right now, both mentally and physically. I just had one of the best weeks of my entire life.

Thanks for the comments and info!

 

[Godless Raven]

So it was my iron levels that caused my red blood cells to shrink/reduce in numbers. I've added raw broccoli to my diet 2-3 times a day, some more spinach, pistachios and almonds as well as a quarter cup of black beans in the morning. That should fix the problem in in a few weeks.

White blood cells must have been up to fight allergy I have or a slight infection I had for about a week. Otherwise, not sure, it's back in the normal range, so nothing seems out of place.

Cholesterol continues to go down...thank you high quality salmon oil and lots and lots of cardio!

BP continues to go down...thank you lots and lots of cardio and my wife, since every time she takes care of me my BP goes down for several hours if not an entire day.

Body weight: 237lbs (started at 298lbs). Lost a little muscle during all the weight loss. Wife begged to take me out to buy new clothes. I fought her tooth and nail. She said my stuff was too baggy (it was), but I fought her all stubborn like. She eventually got really pissed and told me she thinks I'm built like a Mega Man now and that she wants me to wear form fitting clothes to show off all my hard work and results. I felt uncomfortable. It's been a long time since anyone has looked at me like I was a hunk of meat and here's the one person on the planet that I want to and she was. So I went shopping. She bought me two new wardrobes, one of dress clothes and one of...very tight...t-shirts and jeans. Some of my shirts are size medium. Large is the biggest. When I started this I was wearing xxxl's. I hate clothes shopping, but this time was fucking awesome. I looked great in almost everything. My wife ogled me like a piece of ass she wanted to tear up and I loved every fucking second of it. I can't wait to go again and do a fashion show for her (got my brains fucked out last time, I highly recommend!)

I'm back to doing a 45 minute work out of 2 body parts followed by a half hour cardio first thing in the morning on empty stomach (doing this right after this post), then late in the evening I work out 1-2 more body parts and abs followed by 30-45 min of cardio. I am trying to do this 6 days a week. I've noticed that I'm getting incredibly vascular in my legs, particularly my calves. I can also see so much definition in the muscle...more than I've had there before. It's wicked awesome!

I really need to add size to my shoulders, lats and neck to make my proportions ideal. They aren't way out, but just a little more attention would look really good I think.

I've been feeling better since I added more veggies to my diet. I was relying a little too much on proteins (although good quality protein).

I've increased my test dose by .2 mg's and changed from every 7 days to every 10. The purpose is to see if I can do the shots less frequently with the same effects. Will know more in a couple of months.

 

[Godless Raven]

Updates:

1. My weight loss and muscle/strength gains have leveled off a bit. I'm still doing both, but not at that super accelerated rate...the last bits of fat and major muscle building take time, even with chemical assistance. I've also noticed I'm doing so much cardio it may be stealing energy I need for work outs. I'm still tinkering here and there with the balance.

2. Ugh....so many salmon steaks, boiled eggs, cans of tuna, chicken and turkey breasts...aside from tuna, those three are normally 4 of my favs but after 4 months, I'm starting to go cra' cra' up in this mofo. lol

3. My wife still can't keep her hands off of me. Every time we pass each other just walking around the house, or when we are out, she has to stop and squeeze my arms or rub my chest. It makes me feel like a Super Hero. There's only a few things I can think of that give me a better feeling. (although if you read down to the bottom you'll see rubbing my chest is about all she can do right now!)



Now for a horrific, or perhaps serious shadenfreude for others, story about "manscaping".

I am a physically big guy. I have some body hair, but I'm definitely not "hairy". I've got a little on the chest, a bit of a treasure trail, I can grow full facial hair if I want to. Basically, my Sherwood's forest has gotten a little to unkempt over the years and I was greatly disappointed in it. I'm...proportioned properly for my size, so it's not like the forest was hiding Robin or his two Merry Boys, but it just looked way to 70's for my new sleek physique. So first I used a trimmer just to get things under control. It looked WAY better. Like notably better...only my wife said "he" looks too intimidating now that everything is in view (which was hardly an insult to me!) Anyway...so I started reading up on what bodybuilders use. I was also interested in finding something for my face and head now that I like to keep my head bald all the time.

I've shaved my head and face with a good razor for years, but I get some shaving bumps on one side of the lower part of my face that drives me nuts and gives my wife stubble burn. I was hoping a cream like a Nair was avail for mens faces/heads as well as bikini area/pubes.

I ended up reading about a bunch of products and shoppers reviews and decided to order Magic Hair Removal Powder in Extra Strength as well as their Gold cream product to try them. My wife agreed to let me be her gardener (nummy!)

She went first about a week and a half ago. It turned out FUCKING AMAZING! Damn...I'm like an artist! Both of us were really happy with the results.

My turn was this past Saturday Night...luckily I applied mine after getting laid early in the morning and after getting a late afternoon BJ...because...I had a SEVERE reaction to this product. I mean SEVERE! Like nothing I'd read anywhere. First of all...I have some allergies and have had chemical reactions to hair dye in the past (although the ingredients were not the same). But I did the 24 test on my leg and it cleaned the hair straight off without stubble and worked like a charm.

Anyway...the cream was applied...it then turns to sort of a stucco type texture. It stays on for 6-9 min, but because it took so long to apply it was on much longer than that...maybe 14 min total. By minute 3 it was burning in one spot on my right nut...but I had read many people got tingling and slight burning. By minute 4 it was more intense and the left one started hurting. I have a high tolerance for pain so I basically said "bring it on". At about the 8 minute mark it felt like someone had taken a pin, held it under a lighter for a minute, then repeatedly stabbed both of my balls, particularly the right one and the pain and fire were starting to spread up the left side of my shaft! FFS WHat did I do!!!????

I jumped up and ran to the shower...

When we did my wife, we covered her and then I used a tool to scrape everything off when the time was up...then you shower up and you're all clean and shaven. When I ran in to the shower, she immediately started scraping and I could see fucking BLOOD! I can take pain, but seeing what appeared to be my nut sack, covered in grey drying clay, with blood seeping through the cracks in the clay...I seriously almost fainted. I told my wife to "get the fuck out of here, NOW!" because I really, really didn't want her to see what I'd just seen. It was a fucking horror show for sure.

So there I was in the shower, slowly scraping away at skin that was so chemically irritated that it could barely stand the breeze of the air let alone a scraping tool. Every time I scraped I could see more bright red that looked like blood, but I had no choice, the longer it stayed on the worse it was getting and other areas of less concern were starting to burn. I gritted my teeth and just fucking went to town scraping. At one point, I literally thought I saw part of my scrotum scrape off and hit the shower floor. I can't even articulate what that felt/looked like. I was basically preparing myself for a very embarrassing incredibly painful hospital journey.

I managed to get everything off and it hurt worse than before. It looked like blood, but it was actually really red blood vessels that looked ready to blow, in between all the wrinkles of my scrotum would be this blood look. My penis, which decided to get fully erect during this process (because of the Testosterone it's quite normal) I was able to look in the bathroom mirror at what the bottom of it looked like by holding it up even higher and the right side was completely skin colored while the entire left side from nuts to head was as red as rudolph's fucking nose!

I was in so much pain for the first 3 days I had to go through about a dozen ice packs a day and I tried several ointments including Polysporyn w/Lidocaine. The lidocaine seemed to help at first so I told my wife to apply it everywhere in and large amounts, which she did. An hour later my entire dick was numb! It stayed that way for about an hour then started to tingle really weird, by this time my wife was getting ready to head to the hospital. I decided to wait another hour to see if it got better. I ended up using Penaton Cream, it worked great! I'm all healed up now 100% (thankfek!)

 

[thatsneakyguy]

So there I was in the shower, slowly scraping away at skin that was so chemically irritated that it could barely stand the breeze of the air let alone a scraping tool. Every time I scraped I could see more bright red that looked like blood, but I had no choice, the longer it stayed on the worse it was getting and other areas of less concern were starting to burn. I gritted my teeth and just fucking went to town scraping. At one point, I literally thought I saw part of my scrotum scrape off and hit the shower floor. I can't even articulate what that felt/looked like. I was basically preparing myself for a very embarrassing incredibly painful hospital journey.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

 

[DrZoidberg]

You're not the first I know who's had this experience. Basically, those should be avoided. You can do some serious damage. My ex-wife had to lay off anal sex for over a year after doing that. And she loved it up the pooper

 

[Godless Raven]

- - - Updated - - -

You're not the first I know who's had this experience. Basically, those should be avoided. You can do some serious damage. My ex-wife had to lay off anal sex for over a year after doing that. And she loved it up the pooper

Good advice!

- - - Updated - - -

So there I was in the shower, slowly scraping away at skin that was so chemically irritated that it could barely stand the breeze of the air let alone a scraping tool. Every time I scraped I could see more bright red that looked like blood, but I had no choice, the longer it stayed on the worse it was getting and other areas of less concern were starting to burn. I gritted my teeth and just fucking went to town scraping. At one point, I literally thought I saw part of my scrotum scrape off and hit the shower floor. I can't even articulate what that felt/looked like. I was basically preparing myself for a very embarrassing incredibly painful hospital journey.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Thanks man! Super appreciate it.

 

[Godless Raven]

I just realized it's been almost 2 months since my last update on here. Here's what's new:

1. My body fat % is at an all time low 12%, which I am incredibly happy with. I was estimating that it was closer to 15-17. I've got veins and muscle serrations all over in places I didn't even know I had them.

2. My body weight is currently 225lbs (I started this in August at 298lbs) but I feel "thick" and strong as fuck.

3. I did increase my dosage slightly approx 2 months ago, setting it back to what I had originally started with. My anti-estro meds have kept my E levels nice and in check.

4. One day I thought my testes had shrunk and got all paranoid, but it must have just been really chilly that day, because there's been no noticeable change and I'm still sexually active pretty much every day now. I'm still able to have erections on command and they last as long as I chose (and then some). Note to self: I may be wearing my wife out!

5. My lifts have tapered off. The problem is that I'm doing so much cardio and losing so much weight that my weight training is basically maintaining my current strength, but until I decide to train for bulk and strength it's hard to add more muscle mass. What is there is keeping itself on and is looking pretty decent. I have been taking a lot of photos, but I'm not ready to upload them anywhere at this point.

6. I've started targeting areas where I've had injuries and where my muscles aren't as strong or big to try make my body completely balanced and proportioned (so far it's working well, but sure takes time). This is mainly my shoulders, lats, abs and back. Shoulders are starting to look big, the rest is coming.

7. As for cardio, I am currently doing 35-45 min in the morning, which starts with a 10 min brisk walk then a full on jog/brisk run for 25-30 min and a cool down. Every other day I do an evening session too which is similar.

8. My blood work keeps coming back good now. My red blood cells are no longer in an abnormally shrunken state, my white blood cells are at a normal level. My liver and heart are showing up really healthy. My hearts currently healthier than I can remember. My blood pressure has been lower than normal for months.

9. My general mood remains way happier than I had been before I started this home therapy. I'm in a really good mood almost all the time now. I still get stressed out over things way less and I wake up in better moods all the time now.

10. I am contemplating adding an oral called stanazolol for 4-6 weeks to bust through my plateau...but not before a lengthy discussion with the wife. If she kibosh's it, it's a non-starter.

11. My diet is dialed in pretty tight now. Instead of eating super clean 75-85% of the time, it's more like 95% of the time now, and it feels great (even if it doesn't taste great all the time lol)

 

[gmbteach]

I am glad it's working for you. And I am glad it's showing such wonderful benefits. Keep it up!

 

[Godless Raven]

It's been a while since I've updated my experiences on this thread, so I wanted to add some new information and things I've encountered.

I weigh 209 lbs as of this morning (actually lighter than I'd like to be). I have been as low as 207 last week. I actually can't remember how old I was when I first reached 207, but I couldn't have been more than 11 or 12. Whatever it was, that was also the last time I weighed 207 until last week.

I'm actually losing weight too fast now and I'm having troubles eating enough calories on some days. A struggle I never on Earth thought I'd know. It's as if my body now burns calories like a furnace, where as when I was hovering close to 300 lbs it was lethargic. I'm able to have 2 cheat days in a week and eat pretty much what I want and any weight is gone within a day or two.

I've also had some health concerns in the past couple of months. My doctor still checks my hormone levels and makes sure my organs are functioning properly and during testing he found there were more issues with my red blood cells (I mentioned something about them on an early post). But it got worse. Much worse. My doctor said I'm anemic. So the concern was whether or not there was internal bleeding taking away the iron to my blood. I still had far too many red blood cells and they were shrunken. When I did a follow up test after that it came back as ZERO iron. Nothing. So I take potent iron pills 3 times a day now. And it's becoming apparent I've had something seriously wrong with my iron for awhile, because I started feeling more energy and now that I've been taking them (for a few weeks), I'm losing weight faster and my muscle is getting more dense. It's not a direct correlation, but something seems to be going on there (probably my bloods ability to provide goodies to the muscle). Unfortunately the pills are brutal on the stomach, but I can live with that.

Strength wise, I'm as strong as I've ever been. I had some really bad injuries from bodybuilding and power lifting from my 20's. Torn tendons, injured muscle in my left forearm, right shoulder and both knees. The testosterone I had been taking was helping my muscles get a lot stronger but tendons take a lot longer. I reinjured the arm pretty bad 2 months ago. So I went to an athletic therapist (first time I've seen one) and she's been working on these 20 year old injuries. The pain was enormous for the first month but now I'm way more flexible and stronger than I was. MY knees aren't giving me any problems and she's fixing old connective material. I'm lifting heavier than I did before the injury now.

Hormone wise...I'm taking a couple of things to keep my estrogen levels in check and my doctor is watching it. So now I'm entering another phase where I really have to decide whether I want to stop the hormone therapy and allow my natural levels to build back up before returning to the therapy, or whether I've decided I'm going to be doing this forever. That's a huge decision, because I don't like signing up for very many things forever...and if I continue without taking the proper steps to come off and gradually go on I will almost definitely do permanent damage to the part of the brain that regulates testosterone and will require exogenous testosterone permanently regardless. On the other hand...I have never felt better. Not physically, not mentally...everything is going so great...I don't know why I'd want to stop unless I really think I'd ever want to go back and I don't. It's not a decision to take lightly and one I've given lots of thought to, but I still want to take a little more time before I decide. My wife supports either decision but has made the level headed point that I could go off and make sure everythings still working properly and that it returns to normal hormone levels and then still decide to do it permanently later.

Decisions.

I hope the rest of you are doing really well. I miss you fuckers, but I've been far more busy than I normally am. I started a new job not that long ago and they are already promoting me, but I'm working 10-12 hour days half the time. But I miss you fuckers

 

[spikepipsqueak]

This is mixed news but I'm really glad to know you're busy, not crook.

Your wife does make a good point, why make an irrevocable step when you can keep your options open?

I'm glad you have professional help re the anaemia, also that the rest of life seems to be chugging along splendidly.

It's good to see you, GR.