Symptoms of running low on hormones

[Khatru]

Hi. I'm on nebido, and I get my injections every 10 weeks, and add a note in my calendar every time it's time to take them. This time though, I was an entire month off, (I should have gotten a shot 14th of March but my calendar says 14th of April) and I just discovered this miscalculation now that it's 13 weeks since the last shot. I'm getting my shot this afternoon, but since yesterday I've felt extremely tired, nauseous and anxious, and my mood has been very unstable. Is this a symptom of low hormone levels? Anyone else experienced this?

[Dani]

Nebido has a very long half-life. The manufacturer claims a half-life of 53 days, but other sources say that it is more like 16-20 days.

Getting your injection every 10 weeks is normal, but being late a few weeks is not that serious. Yes, your testosterone blood levels will be on the low side and you may feel the symptoms associated with low testosterone levels, but your the testosterone will not bottom out to nothing.

The symptoms you describe sound more like a psychological response, since you describe them as coming on right after discovering you are a few weeks late for your next injection. You will be fine as soon as you get your next injection and you will be back on schedule. That is assuming that there is nothing else causing the nervous symptoms.

[Magnus]

Yes. Barring the nausea, that's what it feels like to me (especially when levels drop too fast. Tends to drop precipitously towards the end of full-life). It's one of the reasons I elected to go on a weekly schedule instead of a fortnightly one, even back when I was still doing IM instead of SubQ (Cypionate; half-life 7 days). Also, feeling hot/cold inappropriately.

Don't think it's merely physiological, per se. Used to take me a bit initially to even notice I'd been a couple days overdue and all the while, this was going on and I hadn't consciously been aware "oh, yeah I've neglected my T."

Now, even when I'm a few days over, I don't get that way (periodically skip a week; I have Hematocrit issues when I can feel that's a bit high and can't donate so soon, I skip). Level never drops off quickly enough now to trigger all that I think. And I DO think that's more to do with it than the outright lack of T, it's how quickly or not it's exhausted. Ideally, you'd taper off not outright drop off cold-turkey, that's never pleasant for a lot of medications even. Kind of a shock to the system the other way.

Anyway, it happens. You'll get better about not missing so often.

It's surely not pleasant-feeling, but it's not going to hurt anything.

[November Fox]

(Extreme) fatigue;
Brain fog / inability to concentrate on anything;
Being more emotional / weepy / moodswings
Sometimes, acné

It is possible (depends on your situation) that you need your shots closer togheter. I don't know anything about nebido though if you have these symptoms for a long time at the end of every shot, I'd discuss it with your endo.

[Khatru]

The symptoms you describe sound more like a psychological response, since you describe them as coming on right after discovering you are a few weeks late for your next injection. You will be fine as soon as you get your next injection and you will be back on schedule. That is assuming that there is nothing else causing the nervous symptoms.

No I discovered I was late AFTER I've started noticing my symptoms. But I've had my shot now and I'm feeling much better!

[ChrissyRyan]

I think that it typically takes four half lives for most medicines to be essentially out of your system.

But, please ask your pharmacist and medical doctor for your specific situation.


Chrissy

[Dani]

No I discovered I was late AFTER I've started noticing my symptoms. But I've had my shot now and I'm feeling much better!

Good for you! That is pretty much proof positive that you are back on schedule and your symptoms were due to low T.

[Dani]

I think that it typically takes four half lives for medicines to be essentially out of your systems.

When one half-life is past, the drug is 50% gone, two half-lives is 75%, three half-lives is 87.5%, four half-lives is 93.75% and five half-lives is 96.875% gone and so on. Where do you draw the line? Some people will experience symptoms of low T at at 60 or 70% gone and others much more or even less. We are all individuals and we each respond to the effects of drugs differently. However, drug companies do average the responses of many test subjects and that is the published numbers. How you respond depends on many factors. Absorption and elimination are primary, but also how sensitive you are to a given drug.