I´ll discuss this with the doc next week, but it´s Sunday and it´d be good to know if other guys experienced this...
Initially I started on a very low dose - because I did not have an endo, the GP was working with me, but they have limited knowledge of T. Everything went well, amazingly well in fact - my anxiety and depression were completely gone.
I increased to a normal dose since. But honestly it´s as though the T is just converting back into estrogen - I have all the symptoms of low T - brain fog, anxiety, feeling depressed, extreme fatigue.
I was wondering if any of you experienced this and whether it´s normal or whether you went back on a low dose. I understand that it is not the same for everyone so I´ll get my levels checked this week anyhow.
Hey, you were the guy on half a dose of gel right? I started and am still on a full dose of gel. It took me a good couple of months for the dysphoria to go away as well as the 'brain fog'. I think it just takes time for your brain to read adjust. My depression and anxiety are slowly improving. I had to miss my daily dose recently and the brain fog plus dysphoria returned. The next day as soon as I applied the gel that lifted.
Hey Elis,
Yeah that was me. But I went on a normal dose a couple of days ago.
At first on the half dose I actually felt really great, had tons of energy, lot of appetite. But since the normal dose I feel pretty low energy, with the brain fog, depressed, no appetite and no libido. Something seems off, especially since at first the T was working so well.
I had huge issues with fatigue after my hysterectomy. My T dose was way too high. I was exhausted, irritable, didn't want to do anything (even things I liked). My doctor did lower my dose by 20% at the time. I am planning to go back and see her around the end of this month to have it looked at again, and I imagine we'll be cutting it again by 20-25%.
She said her typical route when this happens is to immediately halve the dose, but I wasn't willing to outright jump to that.
That sounds a lot like what´s happening. Especially considering I was so energetic last week.
I found an endocrinologist who is willing to help with my levels (my GP was helping but as I said she lacks experience) so that´s good news, I´ll soon be able to discuss these kind of things with him. In light of this it wouldn´t surprise me if a lower dose is better for me.
Just thought I´d update this because I figured out a different approach.
Today I just used half the packet and then in the evening (15:00 pm -ish) the other half.
I feel way better. No brain fog. Maybe I just don´t tolerate high doses at all once all that well.
Good to hear something that works for you :)
Your intuition about what was going on with your hormones (T too high, aromatizing into something nastier) was probably correct.
It´s weird that I´m okay when I distribute the dose over the day though. I still feel vaguely sleepy from time to time, but the fatigue and the brain fog are completely gone.
I guess it´s possible that when you use one dose at one time, it´s too much at once and so your body converts some of that back into E.