i had been using Androgel for many years, then stopped it for several months.

I felt no consequences from stopping except for the following:

I felt no libido at all , no sex drive, no frustrations as I had been feeling while using Androgel.

I liked this very much.

Even when taking Androgel I was unable to get an erection.

I did NOT like this very much.

Then I restarted the Androgel and now I have a libido, a sex drive and again I am sexually frustrated.

I still am unable to get an erection thus I am very tense and sexually frustrated yet again.

Now, while I would consider stopping Androgel again, for the emotional benefits,but before I do I am concerned how long I could or should stop using it; eg how long does it take for the negative health impacts of no testosterone such as osteporosis, etc, to take effect.

Hi Photoglenn, I am going through pretty much the same journey as you. As a chemical eunuch, my T levels have been very low for some time. I developed anemia, fatigue, and osteopenia.

I was put on Androgel and Fosamax to slow / reverse osteopenia since 2019. My bone density scans came back with improvements and I was told to stop Fosamax.

However, like you, I did not like the effects of Androgel, with the return of libido, sex drive and sexual frustration. On top of that, recently, I have been diagnosed with enlarged prostate.

As every person's mileage may be different, I can't tell you how long you can go without TRT before onset of osteoporosis.

I can only share with what I did.

Actually, the key, for me, was to work with my PCP. Had my T level tested every 6 months at the beginning, and subsequently once a year.

Also, show the doctor that I have had low T for quite some time and convince the doctor to prescribe a bone density scan just to make sure you don't have it already. Unfortunately, my fear turned true when that scan discovered osteopenia.

I was originally prescribed to take 2 pumps of Androgel each night. I really did not like its effect on my sex drive. With the doctor's knowledge, I cut it down to only 1 pump a day about 2 years ago. From my blood tests, my T level remains at the low end of the range for a male at my age group. And as I said, my osteopenia seems to have improved nonetheless. My T effect is lessened but not all gone.

I am planning to discuss with my PCP about alternatives to TRT, but also without feminization. Will have to see what he has to offer. My hope is something like Evista.

Thank you very much for your reply and some useful information.

I feel like I am caught in a catch 22.

With a full dose of 2 pumps of Androgel per day, my libido is very high, but I can not achieve sexual satisfaction since even with the Androgel, and high libido, I can not get an erection, but my high. libido that goes unsatisfied, makes me feel emotionally and mentally sexually edging.

But when I stopped the Androgel for several months, I felt great, No libido, no emotional sexual edging, and of course no erections.

So it is a debacle.

I have never had a bone density test, just testosterone test every 6 months.

It goes up and down even though I use the same amount of Androgel each day, so something else in my diet of hormones must be affecting that.

At this point, for now, I shall continue to use the Androgel, even though it causes me mental and emotional frustration, it does increase my libido, which results in me enjoying X Videos of gay men. I lost all interest in that when I stopped Androgel, so at least being on Androgel, gives me some mental enjoyment and entertainment.

At least with no balls, we have an opportunity to use, not use, increase, or decrease our testosterone as needed/desired, which of course fully intact men can not do, so in that regard there is some small benefit.

Best of progress as you proceed with your adaptations.

I share similar sexual frustration at 1 pump of Androgel. I guess I made a few adaptations.

When my partner wants sex, I took Viagra and gave myself an extra pump or two of Androgel. Erections are not always hard enough for penetration, but enough to have a good time and reach climax as a bottom. (I used to be more a vers.)

When I am just playing with myself, I learned to enjoy the long long journey, with a soft and shrivel penis, eventually to reach orgasm. Sometimes, only at the very moment of orgasm that my penis actually got a little bit hard, but not always. As my circumcised penis has shrunk so much, the shaft skin becomes a new foreskin. I can roll the soft penis between my palms and find great pleasure doing so. And I can reach orgasm this way.

Alternatively, I use a lot of lube and roll my soft penis with skin pulled back. And I can reach orgasm that way too.

While young, I liked to edge for a long time before accidentally going over the edge. Now, with my soft penis, after playing a long time, I can reach the edge several times, but often feel satisfied just getting to that state without ever reaching climax.

I've been on Androgel for 8 years or so. I had trouble with insurance paying for my prescription last year, so I started "rationing" and occasionally taking smaller or even skipping a dose here and there. I developed some kind of (self-diagnosed) body dysphoria and considered switching to Estrogen covertly (some of that thought process is on this forum). I'm glad you didn't have anything other than loss of libido, because that has not been my experience. I take it for my mental well-being.

My T is at the very low end of normal. Spontaneous erections are rare, but do happen sometimes if I'm trying to cause them with a video or erotic story. I bat about .700 getting "up and over" with stimulation, and twice a day is possible about 3 days a week. I'm not sure how to describe my libido. I want orgasms, but it's more because it "resets" something in my psyche than the primal urge I had in my 20s.

Somewhat like you , I can only get a mild orgasm in the shower by stroking my soft penis with hair conditioner.

I tried using personal lubricant liquid, but it was so messy I had to shower afterwards anyway, and using it in the shower does not work because it is water soluble.

But the hair conditioner is quite slippery. Even so it does take quite a while to work up to obtaining a very mild not very satisfying orgasm.

I am often on the edge and eventually I go over the edge, but nothing of course like when I was young and hung and hot and horney.

Be thankful for what you've got... When I was first injured I could get it up quite easily, and get to the 'edge' of being about to orgasm, and then NOTHING... If I kept going past that point it would get painful, as if I had tried to keep going after an orgasm w/o having a 'rest'...

It was worse in some ways than not being able to do anything at all, and pretty soon I stopped trying just to minimize the frustration.... It was a factor in my starting the journey - if they don't work, what's the point in keeping them?

WheelyCurious

In my opinion, Androgel is much too weak and expensive. When I did my research on hormones, I came to the conclusion that it was much cheaper to buy testosterone base (in powder form) from china. I wasn't planning on consuming it orally so I was willing to take a risk. Consuming testosterone base would have had very little effect because it is not modified to sty longer in your system like most other types of steroids, which are manipulated on a molecular level to make it harder for your system to break down.

Anyway, after I got my order from China, which was shipped to me in disguised 3 in 1 coffee packets, I mixed it with a bit of pure alcohol and moisturizing cream I bought at the store. I made my mixture at a 3% testosterone concentration. It only cost me about $80 for 200 grams of base testosterone powder, which lasted me for a couple of years. That was about 12 years ago, so the prices might have gone up a bit, but it is sure to be less expensive and much much more effective than Androgel.

I surfed the internet and found many websites in China selling these products with very eager sales people. I originally told the sales person that my purchase was a sample with the possibility of a much larger purchase at a later time, but I never did buy anymore after as I switched to female hormones.

I think Androgel is much too weak a formula and way too expensive. The cream I made worked very well on me for years. It took several weeks until I started to notice the changes. More energy, extremely high libido, physical strength, more stamina, etc, etc, .... Testosterone applied through the skin really does work, but your body needs much more than what Androgel can provide (3 to 5 times more).

castrationdesire (imported) wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:56 am think Androgel is much too weak a formula and way too expensive. The cream I made worked very well on me for years. It took several weeks until I started to notice the changes. More energy, extremely high libido, physical strength, more stamina, etc, etc, .... Testosterone applied through the skin really does work, but your body needs much more than what Androgel can provide (3 to 5 times more).

"

You are probably correct. One thing I just found on the web is that if you apply skin cream after the Adrogel dries, of after an hour, it increases the absorption by 13 to 18 percent, so I am trying that now. My insurance only charges $10 for a 3 month supply of Androgel, so money is not an issue. Since I do not like needles being stuck into me I won't be trying the injections of testosterone. My dermatologist sticks needles into me to inject lydocol (sp) before taking a skin biopsy to check for skin cancer and this is most unpleasant .