Coming Off Hrt - Men's Health Message Board

IMWandering · 12-13-2007, 11:14 AM

Hi,

I am trying to come off of HRT now. I really haven't seen any benefits, but my testicles are smaller, and I have a lower semen production.

I saw 2 urologists. They both gave different advice. One said to stop cold. The other said to reduce my dosage and frequency over a couple months.

I am maintaining a total t level of 700 on only .5cc of test. per week. This doc. said that my natural test production is likely assisting my injections to maintain this level. I thought that the testicles shut down totally?

After 3.5 years on HRT, will my testicles start production again, or is it likely that I will need to stay on HRT?

I have gotten conflicting information from these boards and amongst the doctors.

Thanks for your advice!

Jinxy285 · 12-13-2007, 11:32 AM

Conflicting advice because everyone is differant. what was your level that made you start HRT? You are not going to be any higher than that, if your system does restart. if your level was at 700 and you still felt bad did you ever get your estradiol or prolactin checked? If either of these are high that could be why the HRT does not make you feel better dispite a high T level. If you are serious about getting off then you need to try the clomid test. Ask your Dr about it....

good luck

Bengie · 12-13-2007, 12:02 PM

yes your testicles do shut down. If they do start back up they will only produce what you had before you started taking the T. What are the symptoms that havn't gottne better? ED? energy levels?

Lots of times when the testes stop working the adrenal gland starts working overtime which can lead to adrenal fatigue (the HRT doesn't cause this I'm talking about before HRT) This effects energy levels and make you feel blah if its not addressed.

So before you stop taking T you might want your doc to do a full hormon panel and check everything. And if it was checked before you started taking T then sometimes it shows up later if it wasn't checked again. for example. When I started taking T the endo did another full work up and saw that the adrenal gland wasn't working right and that I wasn't producing HGH. once I was on all that for a few months (had to wait a couple of years for HGH due to worries about the pit tumor coming back) He did another panel and found that my Thyroid wasn't working right (which had been hidden until the HGH) So now I'm on a med for that.

Its all a fine balancing act and the doc your seeing may not know how to treat you correctly. Did he check your estradiol/estrogen levels? If they were on the high side of normal then you would feel crappy still.

hayfarmer · 12-13-2007, 09:56 PM

good advice above. I agree going off TRT may not be the answer for you. But to answer your question anyway....everyone is different. You may or may not be able to restart your testicles. I was on androgel 4 years and even with HCG could only get my T up to 300 .

Basically right now both your hypothalmus/pituitary and testicles are more or less shut down. There is a possibility your hypothalmus thinks 700 T is not high enough and is still stimulating the pituitary to make LH which in turn stimulates the testes to make T. This is not likely though because you started all this because you had low T (I assume) which for most men means the hypothalmus or pituitary is not working right. I'm assuming your testicles do work in this discussion since most men unless over age 50 do not have primary hypogonadism where the testes don't work well. Measuring LH while on T shots would tell you if your testicles are getting stimulated or not.

So, after 3 1/2 years you definitely have testicular atrophy (assuming LH is near 0). Some people can go back to normal (or whatever normal was before T shots) and some can not. Either doctor's method will work assuming your hypothalmus/pituitary and testes start back up on their own. If they don't you would need to take HCG to stimulate the testes and clomid to stimulate the hypothalmus. If that doesnt work then you probably can not restart with today's technology.

More likely you should look in to why the T replacement is not working for you. Maybe estradiol is too high, or some other hormone is off. What benefits are you looking for that you are not getting? You can't live with low T because of all the other health problems it will eventually cause.

IMWandering · 12-14-2007, 10:54 PM

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

It appears that some of these docs don't know enough...even a urologist.

My T-level was at 300 at age 34...after 2 years of testing T, I decided to try HRT. I used gel for 2.5 yrs., then switched to the injections at .5 cc / week.

I did have a recent lab done, and all the hormones seem to be ion check. My LH is at 0 basically...and so is FSH. The weird thing is that they were just slightly higher before I got on HRT....so maybe I needed something to stimulate the production of LH / FSH? What do you think?

I a mainly looking for sexual benefits. I am not totally dysfunctional by far, but I know how things should work. It goes back to the age of 17 when things changed "abruptly". Around this same time, I developed a varicoseille in my left testicle. I had an operation at age 20, but I don't know if this all has any relation. Before age 17, my erections were very normal. They became very poor soon after. I am able to use kegal exercises to help somewhat.

I suspected also that estrogen might be a factor, but the lab results show normal...I need to go back and see if it's "high-normal". Should I try some armidex, clomid, HGH, etc, in addition to test.?

I refuse to give up...so any advice you have, lay it on me.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayfarmer

good advice above. I agree going off TRT may not be the answer for you. But to answer your question anyway....everyone is different. You may or may not be able to restart your testicles. I was on androgel 4 years and even with HCG could only get my T up to 300 .

Basically right now both your hypothalmus/pituitary and testicles are more or less shut down. There is a possibility your hypothalmus thinks 700 T is not high enough and is still stimulating the pituitary to make LH which in turn stimulates the testes to make T. This is not likely though because you started all this because you had low T (I assume) which for most men means the hypothalmus or pituitary is not working right. I'm assuming your testicles do work in this discussion since most men unless over age 50 do not have primary hypogonadism where the testes don't work well. Measuring LH while on T shots would tell you if your testicles are getting stimulated or not.

So, after 3 1/2 years you definitely have testicular atrophy (assuming LH is near 0). Some people can go back to normal (or whatever normal was before T shots) and some can not. Either doctor's method will work assuming your hypothalmus/pituitary and testes start back up on their own. If they don't you would need to take HCG to stimulate the testes and clomid to stimulate the hypothalmus. If that doesnt work then you probably can not restart with today's technology.

More likely you should look in to why the T replacement is not working for you. Maybe estradiol is too high, or some other hormone is off. What benefits are you looking for that you are not getting? You can't live with low T because of all the other health problems it will eventually cause.