Hello everyone,

I had two questions:

1) My doctor prescribed me Testim about 2 months back. He's upped the dose to 100mg (2 tubes). I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it might be more beneficial to apply the gel twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening (half the total dose each time), because that helps keep a more stable level of testosterone in a 24 hour period. I tried searching but couldn't find anything on this. Could someone point me to the right direction, or post some insight on this?

2) I know that applying the gel affects serum testosterone levels pretty rapidly. My follow-up blood test is in one month for free and total testosterone level. Should I apply the gel before I take the test? Or wait till after the test to apply it? What is the general recommendation for this?

Thank you for your help.

I have not used testim but I think it is fairly similar to androgel. Androgel gets your level up in about 2 hours and keeps it there for 24 hours before the level starts to decline. So, if testim works the same, it does not matter if you apply it once or twice a day......and it does not matter if you apply it before your blood test or not. This is assuming you use it daily anyway. For the blood test, just keep doing what you do normally. So if you apply it in the morning, keep doing that....if at night, keep doing that.

Be aware any T replacement will cause testicular atrophy and most likely infertility. If this concerns you read up on the many posts about that on this board.

Agree with Hayfarmer (and I do use Testim) as to the application and testing.

No atrophy yet (4th month of therapy) but it is a concern. I do believe that not everyone is affected though.

I used to use Androgel and I called the on call phamacist at the AG mfg once and he stated that you should draw blood PRIOR to appling gel, becuase your Dr should see your "shelf" level of T from the gel. So take that for what it is worth. I agree or disagree that the Gel peaks 2 hours after apling, so you could get a false reading if you are near that window... Also, keep in mind that conventional wisdom about gels is to apply once a day. I had an Endo that had me on 12 pumps of AG per day, 8 is the rec max, 6 in the AM and 6 in the PM becuase my levels would not rise. Turned out that I had a pituatary adenoma that was secreting prolactin and was suppressing the T, both endogenous and exogenous... Make sure your Dr knows what he is looking for... good rule of thumb is if he is just testing T and Free T he is pretty much clueless!!!

Hello everyone,


1) My doctor prescribed me Testim about 2 months back. He's upped the dose to 100mg (2 tubes). I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it might be more beneficial to apply the gel twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening (half the total dose each time), because that helps keep a more stable level of testosterone in a 24 hour period. I tried searching but couldn't find anything on this. Could someone point me to the right direction, or post some insight on this?

2) I know that applying the gel affects serum testosterone levels pretty rapidly. My follow-up blood test is in one month for free and total testosterone level. Should I apply the gel before I take the test? Or wait till after the test to apply it? What is the general recommendation for this?

Thank you for your help.

I take 2 tubes of testim.

1) you take it all at once one tube on each shoulder. that will keep your levels up all day long. the split dosage is for shots where they say only take one shot a week which gives a rollercoaster effect. by giving yourself smaller shots over that week you even out your levels and reduce the rollercoaster effect.

2)you apply it before the test. your doctor wants to see what your levels are now with meds. he knows you are low with out so doesn't need to see that. I usually apply mine an hour before the test so I have some absorbtion going on and get a better reading. (mine stays in the 755 to 800 range)

Agree with Hayfarmer (and I do use Testim) as to the application and testing.

No atrophy yet (4th month of therapy) but it is a concern. I do believe that not everyone is affected though.

took about 6 months for mine to atrophy.

Almost everyone see some atrophy, but how much varies a lot from man to man. Severe cases can lead the the testicles shrinking to the size of a raisin. Mine was not nearly that bad.

Almost everyone see some atrophy, but how much varies a lot from man to man. Severe cases can lead the the testicles shrinking to the size of a raisin. Mine was not nearly that bad.

went from golf ball size to large grape