My Experience With TRT: Erasing the Negative Stigma Associated With Testosterone
Don’t suffer in silence
Erasing the stigma around Testosterone Replacement Therapy
There has been a stigma against men who use TRT.
The stigma usually says that testosterone makes men angry, red-faced, aggressive, and other similar accusatory stereotypes.
TRT = Testosterone Replacement Therapy
A Population of Declining Testosterone
The facts are the facts, over the course of decades the testosterone of men have been on a steady and somewhat rapid, decline. While there are many causes of the decline, this article is not about the details of why they are declining. It’s to explain my experience with TRT with the intent to show that we need to erase the negative connotation connected with hormone therapy.
My Experience before TRT:
During my mid to late 30s, my wife and I owned a personal training gym. Together we created an awesome community of beginner athletes who felt like a tight-knit family. It was some of the best years of our life that gave us purpose as we helped others unleash their inner superhero.
It was also incredibly stressful trying to balance the business while growing in size, working harder but making less as we grew because we needed more programs and software to track, schedule, do accounting, etc.
During this time we had started out as a beginner only gym, to creating more advanced versions of classes to graduate into and we had a focus on Strongman as another branch to the business. Many of us were competing in competitions for Strongman or Obstacle Course Races such as Spartan and Tough Mudder.
I was noticing that I wasn’t getting the results I should have been getting from my workouts anymore. I was losing focus and motivation more easily, I was dealing with more inflammation that I was used to and so I had blood work taken with the test showing that my testosterone was in the low side of normal. Since I had an HMO plan, they wouldn’t consider TRT at all. Considering I was a high performing entrepreneur who worked out hard, ate healthy and lived a healthy and active lifestyle, it was sad to know that I had the testosterone levels of a person who lived a sedentary lifestyle, but I continued on with my life. I had a second test a couple of years later, still the same results and still they wouldn’t consider treatment for me. This is where I have to say, rather than correcting low testosterone levels, the medical industry just expanded the “normal range” to include lower numbers as the new normal. The side effects of low testosterone can be severe for some men, as it can cause severe depression which sadly, suicide has ended the lives of too many men that couldn’t get the help they needed from our medical system.
Eventually after 5 years in business, we chose to close down the commercial side of the business and keep a select handful of clients that we trained from our home gym/Quonset hut. In hindsight, it was a great decision to close when we did, because less than a year later was when Covid closed down all business in California for months. We would have gone out of business within weeks of Covid closures.
After the closing of the gym, this is when my depression was getting worse. I felt like a drone and not my motivated self. Kind of just going through the motions of life, became a regular employee with no hopes or dreams anymore. Basically I became someone I never was.
California was becoming a dumpster fire with the insane politicians destroying that state. Paradise became a hellhole thanks to Gavin Newsome and his cronies. Lisett and I finally decided to leave the state in 2021 and came to where we are now, Arkansas.
My experience after TRT
Country life has done us good! I found a new doctor out here and after being tested again, he prescribed me testosterone. Now I am a firm believer of trying to avoid medications when possible, but when necessary, try to find the lowest effective dose.
Side Note: Most doctors will prescribe the exact same protocol for all patients. It’s usually 200mg a week as a single shot (or worse spread out over 2 weeks!) along with some kind of estrogen blocker. I told the doctor I wanted to start slow to find my effective dose and I wouldn’t take an estrogen blocker unless my blood work showed abnormalities. Even as men, we need a certain amount of estrogen so why would I want to block it if I was still in the normal range and not feeling the side effects of aromatization?
I started at 100mg a week. In the beginning I did my shot 1x a week, but I noticed I felt crappy by the time it was a day or two before my next shot was due. So I started dividing my dose into twice a week to give more steady levels, and that helped big time. I wasn’t feeling so crappy before the next dose was due.
It takes a few weeks of treatment before you’ll notice any type of benefit.
For me, the first things I started noticing was brain fog was starting to clear up. I could think a little clearer and my memory was getting better. Later I started feeling a boost in mentality. I started feeling like my old self again as the depression washed away after a few months and the motivation to get back to working out came back. I started feeling like my old self. At one point I even competed in a strongman competition in the masters division with just a few weeks of training under me. This was after more than 6 years of not competing or training.
The longer I was on TRT, the better the results were getting. I noticed the complete opposite of the stigma, I was actually a lot more calm than I was prior to TRT. I was introspective and I wasn’t allowing outside circumstances interfere with my good moods. I started going out in public, or at work with the intentions of helping spread positivity and get people to laugh or smile. “I am a tuning fork. My objective is to help spread positivity to others”.
Knowing how dark things were getting for me prior to TRT, I can say I believe it saved my life. This is why I will always be an advocate for TRT and I will continue to encourage men to get their levels tested out. I do wish more men were honest and would speak about their experience with TRT, but most men hide in the shadows and won’t even admit when they are on it. I choose to be open and honest because it might save somebody’s life as it did mine.
I’ve been on TRT now for about 2.5 years at this point. I feel great!
TRT is usually a lifelong commitment.
So please take this decision seriously if you’re going to go this route.
My suggestions for best results:
-Don’t take Clomid in place of testosterone (if your Dr suggest this, get a second opinion)
-Don’t go straight to the highest dose (more doesn’t mean better)
-Don’t take an estrogen blocker right from the start, get regular blood work because you might not need to take the blocker at all
-Injections only. No pills, no patches, no creams.
-Inject subcutaneously instead of IM to avoid big needles
-Workout regularly
-Eat a whole food diet
-Read books and listen to self-development videos/podcasts
My best tip:
Once you find out your best weekly dose, divide it into an EOD (Every Other Day) dosing schedule. This will more similarly mimic the way our body would naturally release testosterone and avoids the big peaks and dips in level.
Cons:
-Lifelong commitment
-Injecting yourself multiple times a week
-Injections can occasionally be painful or the oil can leave a lump which will be tender for days
-It wont do the work for you, you still need discipline to improve your health
The challenge:
I have been feeling better than I have in about 20 years. The combination of TRT plus my new eating habits for these past 5+ months have been amazing. Most of these results have come via the diet. Better cognitive function, way more energy, more motivation and drive, less inflammation and just overall a better appreciation for life.
I wish I knew about this way of eating before I jumped on TRT because I’ve seen many men increase their levels and not need to get on TRT by choosing to eat the way I do.
With that said, I am challenging myself to come off of TRT.
I will be starting a PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) to help facilitate my body’s testosterone production.
I have already started weaning my dose down while also spreading the doses further apart. I will be including HCG which will tell my boys to start getting back to work again. Then after a few weeks I will introduce Nolvadex for about 1 month.
My belief is that my body is healed enough to produce testosterone again in more standard levels.
This will allow me a few more years of being natural before I have to consider getting back on TRT for life.
The first month or 2 may be a little rough while the body gets acclimated but we will persevere.
In the worst case scenario, if after a few months things aren’t feeling right, I can always just jump back on the meds.
I will be documenting my experience of quitting TRT on my YouTube channel.
Subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon so you get notified of new uploads.
You can check out my intro video to this challenge here.
Final words:
Men, do not be ashamed to get your testosterone levels checked if you are experiencing depression, lack of motivation, brain fog, stiffness or inflammation, and of course, if you’re experiencing any kind of erectile dysfunction. While still somewhat in the shadows, TRT is becoming more talked about and we need to support our brothers who need the help. Men should not die in silence due to stubbornness. Get help because your family depends on you!
If you have questions, reach out to me on social media or email: dave@higherfrequencylife.com
Keep watching YouTube for the next update!
Raise your frequency
-Metahuman Dave
Coach
