EFR 706: One Year of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and Why I am Stopping

Speaker 1:The following is an operation podcast production. Hey everybody, your host here at Chase tuning, and in this solo episode, I am breaking down exactly why I started over a year ago, my testosterone replacement therapy, my results, and why I am now stopping.

Speaker 2:This is your number one source for inspiring content from people who are putting a purpose to their passion and truly living a life ever forward. I am your host, chase tuning. This is Ever Forward Radio.

Speaker 1:Hey, what's everybody? Welcome back to the show. I'm your host, chase chewning. I'm your guest, chase chewning. We are rocking yet another solo episode for you all here today. And quick little update to the format of the show. If you haven't been able to tell by now. I am going to be dropping more solo episodes because, well, a couple reasons. One, I have quite a bit of life updates, personal health, wellness interest updates that I feel this platform is really the place that I want to share them. Now, if you have been checking me out on social media for any length of time, you kind of know that at least on Instagram, that's kind of my only main social platform these days. That is where, if you're following me and checking out my stuff daily at Chase underscore tuning, that is really where I'm sharing all the in-betweens, you know, day in, day out, what I'm doing, how I'm training, how I'm feeling, what's going on in my personal life, professional life, my workouts, my nutrition, my sleep, my sauna, my travels, anything and everything that makes me, me internally and externally.

Speaker 1:I'm an open book, and I do that for a couple different reasons. I do that because it makes me feel the most comfortable on social media. I feel like I am not throttling my personality. I'm not throttling my interests, I'm not throttling my truth, I'm not keeping anything from myself. And it's really a great form of accountability because when I choose to share damn near everything mostly it really does introduce a level of accountability for me that you know what Chase, you're putting this out there into the world. Someone is either going to get value out of it, they're going to connect with it, they're gonna learn something, they're gonna be educated or entertained, or they're gonna see kind of the downside, you know, the, the anti highlight reel. And I think that is so crucial. I think that's so important, especially when it comes to taking care of our bodies, our minds, our relationships, everything that I talk about here on the show that I believe together helps us move forward in life, all these little quadrants of our life to propel us forward, to live a life ever forward.

Speaker 1:And so you're gonna see a lot of information on there and unique to today's topic, all about testosterone replacement therapy or AKA TRT. I've been sharing my journeys with you all my journey, excuse me, with you all for over a year now. I, I started right at the beginning of 2022, so I guess technically now my t r t journey has been going strong for about 14, pushing 15 months. And so you've seen my dosages, you've seen my results physically, you've seen my numbers go up in the gym in terms of what I'm lifting, what I'm squatting, what I'm deadlifting. But you know what, I haven't really shared exactly everything. I haven't shared exact dosages I haven't shared, um, you know, how I'm administering it. I haven't shared any negative side effects or just, you know, what maybe I'm experiencing on my trt journey that I, I don't really like because, you know, sometimes there are side effects when you introduce something, especially an exogenous source of something that your body naturally makes.

Speaker 1:And anytime we really begin to mess around with hormones, best believe there's gonna be somewhat of a ripple effect. Well, not anymore in this episode. I want it to bring things from social media and just sit down in front of the microphone and share with you exactly why I started trt, where I was at mentally, physically, sexually, and then who I used to get started. What was my experience like, my dodging my lab results, my personal favorite benefits, and what has really kind of made me want to stop. You heard me, right? My testosterone replacement therapy journey is coming to an end and I'm gonna tell you exactly why. There are a couple main reasons why some of them might surprise you. Others maybe you can relate, but I am not keeping anything from you. I'm putting it all out there. So hopefully if you choose to make this journey part of your wellness journey, and this isn't just for guys, you know, a lot of women have issues with hormones and they might want to look at testosterone placement therapy as well.

Speaker 1:Testosterone is not just a male hormone. We're gonna get into this in a little bit here. Kind of define our terms. T is not just for the guys out there. We all go through fluctuations in our hormones, especially once we start crossing the age of 30 and or experiencing heightened chronic stress states or just life takes a different turn. So that is the topic for today. That is what you can expect to hear. And if any of this resonates with you, if you have questions about trt or hormones in general, and maybe you can relate, maybe you're experiencing some of these same pros or cons or just want to connect at a deeper level. I will say that I do open up my life in a way to communicate often as possible. And well within my scope of practice, I am still a certified health coach.

Speaker 1:I have all my degrees in, you know, health promotion and nutrition and exercise science. But anything outside of that, I probably would direct you to my experts and who has helped me with testosterone placement therapy. Um, whether you're a guy or a girl, um, there are two kind of houses in this organization I use and have a, uh, affiliation with this men's health company called Blokes, um, no longer, I'll say as of right now, April, 2023. Uh, there's no like official partnership. They are not sponsoring me. They're not sponsoring this episode. There's no financial transaction going on right here. Uh, the only thing I have with them and have had for quite a while is, um, you know, sharing the good word. I love the whole team over at blokes. I love the founders and, uh, they do provide my t r t and some other peptides that I use, um, complimentary in exchange for just sharing my experience.

Speaker 1: So that is just full disclosure where I'm at with this stuff. And then if you are a woman and you want to connect and learn more about hormones and even longevity and sexual health and fertility and all that, uh, the, the female side of the house is called Joy. Um, it's joi. And so I'll link all this information for you guys and girls down in the show notes, and they do have a great, I do have an outstanding link that you can click and, uh, a code to use that will get you a free consultation and as well as I believe 10, maybe even 15%, but I know it's at least 10%. But you, there should be still an active code for a decent percentage off of any service should you choose to pursue any kind of hormone health or weight loss or sexual health or longevity or unique labs that blokes or Joy offers.

Speaker 1:Okay? So, um, I'll have that link for you down on the show notes, but, uh, for the guys that's blokes.co, b l o k e s.co, uh, and then slash chase should take you to my unique landing page where you should be able to, like I said, schedule your free consult and then it should also just be code chase for that discount at the end. And then for the ladies, you can go to choose joy.co. That's c h o o s e j o i.co/chase as well. Um, and again, link to you down the show notes on episode resources. So that's kind of the backstory behind this episode, what you can expect. And without further ado, let's go ahead and jump into the episode. Show me the beef. Well, only if it's 100% grass-fed beef. And today's sponsor, paleo Valley has you covered, I'm talking about of course, there 100% grass fed and grass finished beef sticks that are my new favorite snack.

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Speaker 1:Head to paleo valley.com/ever scoop you up. Any one or all of their amazing flavored, delicious and nutritious grass-fed beef sticks at checkout. Make sure to use code ever forward. You're gonna save 15%. That's paleo valley.com/ever code ever forward to save 15% off of their grass fed and grass finished beef sticks. Okay, first and foremost, let's talk about why I even thought to pursue trt. So with that, let me take you back a little bit. Let's go back to my birthday, my 36th birthday back in October of 2021. This year was kind of an important year for me because quick little, long story short, um, I personally have a big affinity for the number 37. I even have it tattooed on my calve, and it's just kind of my number, my lucky number. And it has been for wow, pushing 20 years, actually no longer than that.

Speaker 1:And so I, you know, once I hit 36, I was like, you know what? I really want to go into my 37th year. I wanna turn 37 and just be the best me possible. And primarily, I was talking about physically I want to feel my best. Now granted, I was 36 years old, turning 36, and I have been making human optimization, wellness, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual wellbeing, a part of my daily practices for many, many, many years. And so I did feel pretty damn good. And I thought for a 35 going on, 36 year old, I looked pretty damn good. I could still move some heavy ass weight given, you know, my age. And given my prior history, or excuse me, my, my history with just injuries and having both my hips reconstructed, um, I don't need to go back into that story again, but basically I was like, I feel good.

Speaker 1:I think I look good and you know, I, overall I'm happy, I'm healthy. But what if I could just fine tune things, you know, maybe that's 10% better, maybe that's 1% better. But I really wanted more. I wanted to see what my body was capable of. And more specifically, I wanted to see how my mental fortitude could step up even more. You know, could I tap into another level of grit? Could I set a, a specific goal or push myself outta my comfort zone of just maintenance and see what I could do? And that's exactly what I did. So I began to get much more regular with my training. Um, I am one that has never really, other than like once or twice here and there, done a workout program, I'm just not adherent. I prefer to just walk into the gym and feel what I'm feeling know, you know what, I've already trained that week, so know what I need to do today and just kind of go from there.

Speaker 1:But I did begin to kind of get more regimented, I should say, with the types of lifts that I was doing the sets and rep range. And I was training pretty heavy, pretty regularly. And so I, me personally, like to stick to kind of compound movements or the core power lifting movements to start my workouts, dead lift, squat, um, bench press, or I should say, you know, like a dumbbell press bench press flat bench press for me kind of aggravates my shoulder. So, and then after that, I like to go into just fun accessory movements. And so I was beginning to get back into the swing of things and you know, I know how to, I know how to eat, I know how to train, I know how to recover, I know how to sleep, I know how to hydrate. But for some reason I just, I, I, I was struggling pretty quickly with keeping that level of motivation up, struggling with getting to the gym X amount of days a week that I said I was gonna go, struggling with doing the weight that I said I was gonna do, or just pushing myself beyond the rep scheme.

Speaker 1:And I really took a step back and I was like, okay, why? And I really wanted this goal to happen. I wanted to work my ass off for this next year. I knew what to do in the gym and, you know, I even have some great friends and fellow trainers that was leaning on, and I was like, something really isn't adding up. I feel like I'm, I'm trying way too hard just to barely kind of move the needle hardly at all. And I honestly felt like my body composition was really shifting in a way that I didn't like. It felt like maintaining muscle mass was all of a sudden over like a couple months becoming pretty difficult. I felt like I was getting kind of softer. Um, and, you know, even knowing, again, like I said, how to diet and proper nutrition, I don't, I didn't know what was really going on.

Speaker 1:And so I was like, you know what? I'm in my mid thirties now, I've heard of T r t and a lot of guys doing it, you know, especially after 30. Let me just see, I'm a big believer before going in to jump into change any variable in my life if possible. Let me get a baseline. So let me get some labs. So, um, I did, and actually at this time, I had a friend, uh, here in LA reach out to me letting him know, letting me know that he's like, you know, I just started actually working with this, you know, men's health optimization company. He's also in his like mid thirties and, you know, I'm, I'm checking out my T levels and like, I've never felt better. Sex drive is there, body comp is there. And I was like, you know what? This is actually really perfect timing because most of what you're talking about I'm going through.

Speaker 1:So yeah, man, hook it up. So I got connected with the, the guys over at blokes, shout out Dr. JC and Josh, uh, JC Folkers and Josh Whalen. And actually if you guys wanna learn a lot more about what they do and how they do it, uh, I had them on the podcast last summer, and I'm actually typing in the background, doing my own fact checking here. This was back in episode, oh, what number was this? Uh, six 10. So E FFR six 10. I'm gonna go ahead and link this down. The show notes for you guys. It was a great sit down conversation. And so what we did between, um, getting connected with them and actually sitting down on the podcast, I actually had a chance to get my labs and to kind of go over my results, um, via telehealth. It's all a fully legitimate telehealth company, and it was something that I really appreciated because it didn't really waste any of my extra time.

Speaker 1:Um, and you know what, actually, I think I lied, guys. I'm trying to find this episode, episode six 10, excuse me. Uh, episode six 10, Dr. JC Folkers and Josh Whelan on busting myths and misconceptions about unique men's health needs and testosterone replacement therapy. Uh, this is back in June of 2022. And so I got my labs and, uh, I'm actually looking at my lab report right now on my computer. And my original labs were taken on December 21st, 2021. So just shortly after my 36th birthday. And my total testosterone was 5 69. Now, the airport here, normal range for guys here is 2 64 to nine 16. Some labs might have a variance in the low and high end of the spectrum there, but 5 6, 5 69 out of 2 64 to nine 16 is really not that bad. You know, I'm more or less kind of somewhere in the middle there.

Speaker 1:But the main thing that matters most when we're looking at our testosterone is this other marker called your free test and percentage of free testosterone. It sort of, kind of doesn't matter how much total t we have, it matters how much is readily available for our body, um, to, to use. And this is where your free test and percent free testosterone comes in. So my free testosterone was a 16.1 out of a range of five to 21. So again, really not that bad, kind of like on the higher end of the middle there, but the free percentage was 2.83, and the range there is 1.5 to 4.2. Now I'm sharing all of this with you, and all my other labs were totally fine. My, you know, other biomarkers, cholesterol, this stuff was great. So we're just looking at testosterone right now. And so with this information coupled with that telehealth call and kind of just what prompted me to even consider T R t, um, the recommendation was made, you know, hey, based on these symptoms, based on what you're experiencing, based on what you're feeling, um, and your numbers, you know, we could certainly try a round of T r T and see how you respond.

Speaker 1:The thing with testosterone is your numbers can be on the super low end of the spectrum, but you're not symptomatic. They could be on the super high end of the spectrum and you're not symptomatic, or they could be anywhere in somewhere else in between or all over. And you could be symptomatic or not symptomatic. You know, you could be, uh, having super low energy, you could have very little to no libido, uh, some guys experience, you know, uh, hair loss issues and that might be exacerbated once you're on T R T, but we'll get to that stuff later. Um, but for me it was really energy motivation and body composition. And so despite knowing all the things that I know and having, you know, 20 years about of, you know, training and re being regularly active, my body should be pretty well adapted. It just wasn't.

Speaker 1:And so I decided to go ahead and pursue t r t, and I wanted to kind of begin slow and build up and just, you know, see, you know, their recommendation was we would start on a protocol and then test in three months, you know, reevaluate your labs, see if we need to adjust and fluctuate from there. And so before we get into the next section here of, you know, my actual experience and what I was doing and my dosage, just wanted to share with you all exactly where my mind was at, where my body was at, and why I chose to pursue testosterone replacement therapy. And no matter what you decide to do, if nothing else, please take home this important point right now. Check in with yourself. First and foremost, do a head to toe scan. Be very, very real. Be objective, be fair, even a little critical, but be nice, be fair to yourself, and just go, okay, what am I feeling?

Speaker 1:Where am I feeling it? What do I want out my day? What do I want outta my training? And just really compare that to what you're actually doing and not doing. Do not pursue anything in life that is going to be a quick fix. My, i i, my personal recommendation, my personal belief here and definitely how, uh, any of us live a life ever forward is it's choosing the hard right over the easy wrong. What I mean by that is if you're just wanting to, you know, get jacked real quick or you want, you know, potentially get jacked real quick or boost strength or boost body composition or boost libido or all these things, some guys do this in, a lot of guys do this too soon, like in their early to even mid twenties, um, just because they heard that some guy has some amazing results that they want do the work.

Speaker 1:Be very honest with what you have been doing, what you haven't been doing. I'd be willing to bet a lot of guys out there in pursuit of something such as t r t. Um, maybe they are not training as often as they really think they are. Maybe they're not training as intensely as they think they are. Maybe their nutrition is actually way off. Honestly, a lot of guys, my experience actually under consume calories compared to the amount of caloric expenditure that they have going out. Meaning you're working out, you're training hard, okay, you're hydrating, maybe you're sleeping well, but you're actually under consuming calories based on the amount of training that you're doing, uh, particularly the macronutrient protein. Um, so really just, you know, do your due diligence first with yourself, and then after that, please, I implore you to source legitimate labs. Um, you can go to your primary care provider if you have one.

Speaker 1:Uh, a lot of them, their general labs are not going to test for t r t, but you know, kind of sharing with your doctor what you're feeling, what you're experiencing, uh, getting that added on should not be an issue and it should not be an issue with most insurances. Um, but after that, there are such resources as blokes and joy, a lot of other ones out there that you know, are very legitimate. They send in the order, you go to the lab place, uh, you know, even some places will even send a phlebotomist to you. So please, first and foremost, scan in with your body, be fair, be objective. Get very real with what you're experiencing, what you want your results to be, um, and then pursue the appropriate course of action.

Speaker 1:Alright, now the next little segment here I'm gonna be diving into is my results, what I was feeling, what I was seeing, and everything in between. But before I do, I know we're talking about some external sources here that we can introduce to our bodies to really kind of ramp up our, our physique, our energy and a lot of different things. But again, like I was just saying, please check in with your body first. And there are a lot of things that we should be doing before looking for supplementation. Look it honestly, quite frankly, we don't need supplements to build muscle, lose fat and get healthy. But the right ones can absolutely help. And this is where I wanna bring your attention to this episode, sponsor my homies over at Legion Athletics. I've been working with Legion now for going on three years. I love absolutely every product they have that I use for my daily wellness, my, my training, my recovery.

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Speaker 1:Okay, here we go. So my initial experience with T R T was, I think very common, very similar to a lot of other people's in that I was, you know, getting my dosage going. And my dosage is, I'm looking at my bottle right now, it's a, um, the bottle is 2000 milligrams per 10 milliliters, so 200 milligrams per milliliter. And I was drawing when I first started about 0.7 milliliters, so 0.7 milliliters of this 200 milligram per milliliter solution. And I was doing that weekly once a week for I would say really about six weeks. Uh, in that, about six week mark, I started really noticing, oh, this stuff I think is working. Now again, I wanna say my training was very regular, my nutrition was on point, I was recovering well, sleeping well, and so I was taking this dose and I was seeing some pretty significant development, particularly in my upper chest.

Speaker 1:Um, now personally, my chest is naturally pretty well developed and it doesn't take a whole lot for it to, to really kind of pop again, but this was, this was different. I was getting much more like upper peck development. Uh, I was even getting some, uh, I don't wanna call it cleavage, but like I was noticing, you know, very unique to me. Some significant, I guess definition and separation in a good way in my chest. Uh, I was maintaining a lot more mass in my shoulders, um, and straight up for the first time. Once I started getting around to that eight week mark, um, I actually was noticing large arms, it's most likely genetics for me because my brother's the same way. I mean, the kid can deadlift over 600 pounds, competition weighed at like 163 pounds. So he's extremely strong. But our genetics just, they're not really there for building a lot of mass and bulk.

Speaker 1:We both have to train hard and eat a lot of calories just to gain weight. Um, so it was, this was pretty wild for me to actually see like, oh shit, my bicep pump is staying once I'm done, you know, doing my back workout, my pool workout, and maybe even doing a few dumbbell bicep exercises. Um, so my arms, my shoulders were actually building some mass and maintaining that mass. Um, and that was really great feedback for me. I love seeing who wouldn't love seeing, um, results, and I don't wanna say faster results or better results, but just results. Like, I've been working for this for so long. Finally, you know, I, I'm kind of getting like, I guess stroking the ego a little bit. You know, I like what I see in the mirror, I'm getting great feedback from my wife and friends, but it, honestly, for me, it was just this great, like, oh, finally, you know, I've been training so hard and doing these things and just maybe this was the one thing that was off.

Speaker 1:And so I do wanna say that for my initial purpose of I was losing motivation to train, I was just dragging my ass to the gym. I was very begrudgingly going to train. Um, and then just not really seeing the results that I wanted. This gave me that back. And I think whether it's testosterone, replacement therapy or anything we think or do or take that gives us that motivation, that gives us that positive feedback for me is a win. Because then I got so excited to go train every time and anytime we're excited or looking forward to doing something or, or happy going into, uh, that state we're going in not only with, with just feeling better, but our biochemistry is more in favor of the work that we're about to do. If I'm begrudgingly going into a task, I am stressed, my cortisol is elevated.

Speaker 1:And anytime we keep cortisol elevated chronically, well, it's a celebrity slope to a lot of bad things. That's why a lot of people are very, very, um, uh, it's very difficult for them to, to lose a, a lot of, you know, weight or that last few extra pounds because they're so stressed out about it. And you just have heightened cortisol running through your system. And the more cortisol we have in our system is actually kind of a red flag for the body to keep body fat and to not let go of that because it's like, are we, are we running from a saver tooth tiger? Are we gonna get food? You know, this is an immediate energy supply for me, and based on the signals you're, you're sending to me, I don't know if we're in a good place. We are not in regular homeostasis.

Speaker 1:So what that did for me was just that I was very happy to go train. I was looking forward to it. I was getting this positive feedback in a way that I haven't had in a long, long time. So that, that was about, um, I started in about like early January-ish. And so yeah, about mid-February going into March, I was really seeing the results. Um, my, I I never had libido, poor libido issues or low sex drive going into it, but lemme tell you this, whatever I had was more going into it. Um, the drive was real, the libido was there, and, uh, I'll just leave it at that. So for me, starting with t r t, definitely I noticed significant boosts in, uh, in the boudoir, well, let's just say that now. Let's fast forward a few more weeks going into about week. Um, I'd say like 10 to 12.

Speaker 1:So about the three month mark. Um, this is about, uh, April, may of 2022. I began to experience the real first and only con will say to testosterone replacement therapy. But let me preface this with one thing. My entire life, I more or less have kind of, I'll say, I don't wanna say struggled, but, um, skincare has always been a focus of mine. I, you know, when I was a teenager, I had, I'd say moderate acne, like 15 and 16 years old, uh, which I think is pretty common for a lot of kids. I, I've never been on a prescription medication, like a topical thing. Uh, I've tried over the years, like, you know, an antibiotic or something, but, you know, just, just cleaning up the diet, drinking more water, washing my face regularly and trying a few things. So personal skincare has always worked well, but I, I, and I, you know, on my face, but also I would get, you know, kind of periodic breakouts on my shoulders and back.

Speaker 1:Predominantly, this was triggered when I first started going into the military. Um, you know, again, a heightened stress state, just constant cortisol elevated all the time, coupled with just sweating all the time and moving and just having just gear on my back and stuff all the time. It really wasn't a great cocktail for success there. So I've sort of, kind of on, and again, off again, struggled with, you know, some breakouts here and there. But this is really when I started getting these kind of, um, like, I guess like cys, cys, cystic acne, um, these little, like nodules that sometimes would come to a head or other times wouldn't, and they would just, you know, kind of heal under the skin and then go away. But honestly, it was, it was a big blow to my self-conscious, and it was sometimes pretty painful and, um, just uncomfortable and awkward and, you know, embarrassing.

Speaker 1:And, uh, I got to a point to where, you know, we began to titrate down my t r t dose to hopefully adjust for this. So I went from going, uh, the 0.7 milliliters of the 200 milligram per milliliter solution, uh, down to, we even tried splitting it up. Some people had success instead of doing once a week injections, they would, you know, basically microdose. And so we split it up, and I did that for about a month, and it did a little bit. Um, I also at that time began to use just like a topical, um, just generic over the counter, um, like salicylic acid or, you know, acne body wash. I also just really focus on increasing my water and making sure after working out or after sauna, you know, anytime I was active and sweating, I would immediately change my clothes or just wipe my skin down.

Speaker 1:And it was helping a little bit, a little bit, but I was still getting new breakouts. And, you know, this was going into summertime and I live in Southern California, and I just, honestly, I, I lost, I lost a little bit of my, my luster to, to go outside. And although I was looking great and feeling great, I really didn't, you know, hit the beach much, you know, or going to a pool. And I, I just felt honestly a little embarrassed. Um, and, uh, that kind of negatively impacted my social life very slightly. Um, it definitely did not keep me from living my life. It definitely did not keep me from going in the pool or hanging around people. But, you know, it was something I was a little self-conscious of. And then, you know, shout out to my amazing wife who actually helped me, uh, some of those hard to reach spots, you know, actually applying.

Speaker 1:I did wind up getting some topical gels, I believe it's called Clindamycin. And, um, you know, it's like a small little cream that you put on. And now that did do a pretty good job, did a very good job, but I was just still kind of getting small breakouts here and there. And so eventually what we wound up doing was, um, you know, I then had my labs tested again, and my estrogen was a little bit elevated. It was like in, uh, the sixties. My testosterone was in like the 11 hundreds. And so out of concern for the rising estrogen, um, we began to titrate down to 0.5. So instead of going the twice a week at the 0.7, we titrated down to 0.5, uh, once a week. Again, also went back to once a week because I was just struggling to keep up with the twice a week injections.

Speaker 1:Um, I just was finding myself to not really be adherent, which is another huge thing to be mindful of. Anytime we're doing anything different to our bodies or our training or whatever, um, it can be a great thing, it can be a great habit, but are you realistically going to be able to keep up with it? And I just wasn't. So we brought it down to 0.5 milliliters, and then I was doing once a week and, you know, things were getting a little bit better. I I did notice a little bit, you know, that muscle mass and kind of just that saturation did drop down a little bit. Um, and so then I noticed that my back breakouts and shoulder was getting a little bit better, but ultimately I just was like, you know what? I, this is one of those things that I've always kind of felt some kind of way about with anything, uh, a supplement, a a a modality, a medication might help, might, you know, really help something that you're going through in the short term.

Speaker 1:But anytime that I do something for the short term that then causes a new problem that I now have to carry on in the long term for me, causes me to really think and take a step back and go, do I really need or want This is solving one problem, but creating another or creating a couple others really worth it. And so that brought us to, you know, kind of my full year. So I would go back, you know, another three months later, like late fall to get tested. Uh, and my total t so my total t approaching that year mark, uh, at that test time was 1157, which actually, excuse me, I, I missed a testing site. Um, was up from 7 64. So once we dropped down from the 0.7 to 0.5, uh, and I was actually then, you know, missing some sessions or some injections, excuse me.

Speaker 1:Uh, I was pretty high. 1157, dropped down to 7 64, which is still really solid. Uh, my estrogen was at 59. And ideally the marker here we're looking for is under at or under 40. And, um, this also was the time that I began to supplement with something to hopefully better regulate my testosterone, but also manage my estrogen. Because unchecked, high estrogen in guys can, can do a lot of different things. It's gonna really help, uh, I should say it's gonna really struggle. You're gonna struggle with the testosterone balance. Um, a lot of guys can experience chronically elevated estrogen with, you know, it's called man boobs. You develop some, you know, under pectoral fat, uh, and can even lead to certain things as like a hypogonad, I'm gonna butcher this word hypogonadism, you know, but you know, naturally a lot of guys are in experiences with, you know, uh, your testicles is where the majority of your testosterone is made.

Speaker 1:If you're getting it exogenously, then it no longer needs to do it, and the body's very efficient. And if it's getting it somewhere else, well, it's gonna slow down where it's being created. So, uh, testosterone will get throttled, testicles can shrink. And a lot of guys, I honestly, I experienced a little bit of that. Um, it was like, look, if you're a guy, you know what your downstairs looks like, okay, you hopefully, you know, are, are checking yourself out, um, you know, checking for lumps or just, you know, you're looking at your body from time to time. You know, I, if you're not, I would recommend it just to kind of know if something is different. And, uh, I did notice a, a, a slight change in testicle size, which was again, to be expected. Um, but it definitely didn't do anything else in terms of, uh, I had no diminished libido.

Speaker 1:Uh, it didn't give me any other issues in, you know, coming to completion during intercourse or any other kind of sexual activity. Um, I experienced nothing in terms of, you know, hair loss or increased hair, whatever. Um, but again, just unchecked, high estrogen is not a good thing for guys, you know, or women, you know, we want to have a good, healthy balance of our hormones. And so I began to supplement with this other product from this organization, this brand called Joy Mode. You guys ever heard me talk about joy mode before in their sexual performance booster. Um, it's kinda like this pre pre-workout for sex, which I love. Great product by the way. I'll link it for you down on the show notes. We actually got a code with them as well. You can use, uh, check out code ever forward to save 20%.

Speaker 1:But I begin to use their other product, it's called, um, their Testosterone Performance Booster. And so what that is one of the key ingredients in it, which if you're looking up testosterone placement therapy is called dim. A lot of people recommend supplementing with dim when on t r T or even just not, uh, if you're training a lot or you're just worried about potential imbalance in hormones, particularly estrogen. Um, also it's got ashwaganda, magnesium and zinc, all these other things that have been clinically proven to support healthy testosterone levels and guys and balance out, um, estrogen. There we go. Wow, chase, I'm running outta steam. We're getting close to the end here, fam. And so I began to supplement with supplement with that product, uh, three capsules every day. And then it really did wonders in my last lab. So in the last three months in running with this stuff, my total t dropped a little bit down to 9 0 6, but more specifically, my estrogen dropped to 41.

Speaker 1:So 41 down from 59, that's almost a 20 point drop, which is huge. Also, my free tea was 23.4%, which is really great. If you guys remember my original lab draw in December, 2021, my free tea was at 16.1, so originally 16.1. Now I'm at 23.4. That's a lot of available testosterone. The free t is really where you want to be now. Exactly why I want to kind of get towards the end here of why I'm stopping testosterone placement therapy. Really, it's two reasons. One, like I was saying earlier, I was having skin issues. And again, I do wanna caveat this by saying I in general, pretty much my entire life, ever since puberty, really, I remember it significantly being catalyzed by my time in the military around age 20, 19, 20. Um, this has always been kind of a thing for me. And so I do think that if you're someone that struggles with skin issues or acne or breakouts, this potentially could be something that you will struggle with when you go on t r t.

Speaker 1:So knowing this information, should you choose to go on t r t, just try to stay ahead of it. Um, make sure you're drinking plenty of water, even extra water. Uh, make sure you're getting out of dirty clothes, sweaty clothes as soon as possible, wiping yourself down. Uh, I would potentially even look into special topical skincare, ointments or cleansers that can really do a better job of controlling, uh, oil because also that's another thing that's happening. Um, you know, when you're on T R t is your temperature's going up, your oil glands are secreting a little bit more. And so it's very common for those glands to then get, you know, backed up and clogged and therefore turned into a breakout. So just, you know, be aware of it. Um, a lot of people have great success with, you know, a topical ointment and or, and, or something like an antibiotic or a capsule to take, um, orally.

Speaker 1:But then also, so I think the other big thing a lot of guys hear is, is it gonna make me sterile? Uh, can I have kids? And right now my fertility health is rising to the top of priorities over my muscle mass. Now I'm very focused still on training and maintaining a healthy body weight and just looking and feeling how I wanna look and feel. But right now, like a lot of things have over the years, for me, I have to get very real with what I want outta my life and where my life is going. And having conversations with my wife and us planning out our future and just where we're both at personally, professionally, um, you know, we're both now both in our thirties and wanting to very seriously look at starting a family in the near future. We both just want to do things that are going to make our fertility health as strong as possible.

Speaker 1:And so that is the second reason why I am now about 14, 15 months later, titrating down off completely of testosterone replacement therapy. It's super easy to do, and it's not like once you're on t r t you're infertile, you're not gonna be able to have kids. You, you're on it forever. No, just talk with your provider, which is exactly what I did my telehealth provider over at Blokes. And we're gonna begin to titrate down over the next several weeks. So instead of the 0.5 milliliter injection, uh, this coming week, I'll be going to 0.4 and then the following week 0.3 and 0.2, so on and so forth until I'm completely off. And then they say, you know, usually 30 to 60 gaze is kind of that sweet spot of your body kicking back into its, you know, endogenous production of testosterone and all of your, um, uh, I believe it's the sex binding hormone.

Speaker 1:Uh, basically just all of the, the natural activity that your, the guys testicles need to get back into to support healthy sperm count, fertility motility, all that jazz, um, comes back pretty quickly. She's like, I had a guy recently titrate off and him and his wife got pregnant in about six weeks. So I'm not looking to maybe get pregnant in six weeks, but again, right now my fertility health is just becoming a higher priority than my testosterone health. So I will be titrating down off completely. I am still gonna be using Joy Mode's Testosterone Support Complex because I'm really impressed with the results that I'm seeing. So for titrating down from 0.7 to 0.5 milliliters of that 200 milligram dose and to still be, you know, pushing a thousand total t I'm at 9 0 6 currently, and to have that estrogen drop, I really do think this thing is serving me well.

Speaker 1:Uh, and again, you can get 20% off, uh, with code ever forward. Uh, I love this brand, love this product cuz it's all formulated by like PhD doctors, so they do their research, it's not just some bullshit product. Um, and so pretty soon here about in the next what I guess four or five weeks, I will be off a T R T completely. And, um, that's my journey. Hopefully my fertility health increases and hopefully as I begin to titrate down more and more and off completely, my skin health improves. And I'll definitely keep you guys posted because everything I talk about here on the show and on social media, I wanna be as transparent as possible, what's working for me, what's not, what I love about it, what I wish was better, and, you know, the resources and people that helped me along my journey.

Speaker 1:So hopefully this resource can be contributing to your journey as well. Um, uh, that was kind of a whirlwind explanation of why I started my dosing, my my journey. Um, any other details you guys wanna know, I'm an open book. Feel free to reach out to me directly on Instagram at chase underscore tuning or if email is more your thing, you can email me chase ever radio.com. That's Chase, chase@everforardradio.com and I'll be happy to share resources with you or personal experience. Um, again, my experience with blokes has been incredible. Uh, the telehealth services, the, the company, the brands, the what they do for the community in terms of just, um, male and female health over at Joy, but I'll strictly speak to to blokes is that they genuinely care. Um, they, when I met Josh and my every conversation has just been like, you know, how can we get you to feel like you again, what do you want?

Speaker 1:What's realistic? Um, how can we focus on this one area of your wellness right here, right now? And hopefully, you know, add to your sexual health, add to longevity, um, healthy weight, all the above. So again, I'm gonna have that link for you guys down below is blokes.co, B l o k e s.co/chase and, uh, code chase to give you that discount and that free consultation. Um, so nothing against them whatsoever. Um, I'm still gonna be continuing on with blokes using some peptide therapy. Uh, love, love, love, love peptides. That probably single handling has been one of the most amazing contributions to my wellness, my strength, my recovery, my injury and rehabilitation. Um, so if be interested in that, lemme know. I'll probably do another episode just on the peptides I've been using particularly, uh, ilin Samor and, uh, BPC 157, uh, all orally, but I now I'm switching over to, uh, injectables for some unique reasons. So that's what I've been going through with T R t. Hopefully this helps you make a decision on starting TRT or what can expect and, uh, seriously can't recommend enough to do a scan of yourself, get some labs, and then make the best decision possible. Alrighty, fam, I hope this episode has been resourceful. I hope it has helped you live a life ever forward.

Speaker 3:For more information on everything you just heard, make sure to check this episode, show notes or head to everforwardRadio.com.