I was castrated March 2023, and after one month without hormones I was finally prescribed 50mg. Testogel / day.

Had my first bloodtest after 4 weeks, and it showed 20.1nmol, and free at 0.59nmol. Three months later my T dropped to 15nmol with full dose still.

I began testing a with my doses to try and lower my libido for a period, as an uncontrollable high libido was the very reason I was castrated, so I wanted to see for myself if I could do something myself to go low, but not dangerously low.

I have now been on full steady dose for several months now, but it seems to me that the effect of the testogel has tapered off somewhat. I’m beginning to feel very tired early in the afternoon again, and I struggle losing some weight…(maybe I should consider going on hunger strike for a couple of weeks…..)

Erections and horniness is also down, some mornings I do wake up with an erection, other mornings none, that doesn’t brother me at all.

But the tiredness is taking its toll on me.

I have an option of going on Nebido, but my first endocrinologist warned me of the rollercoaster effect Thant comes with this approach, and I opted for testogel as that should give me more stable levels.

I simply cannot afford to have too severe moodsvings….

Since you mention as why you got castrated specifically was to reduce libido / erections, have you considered switching from T based HRT to estrogen based? Both have the same benefits for bone health, mental health, and so on, except that E doesn't raise your libido.... It does have the downside of feminizing to some degree, and can lead to weight gain, but I haven't found those to be major issues....

I use E patches, that supposedly get me to the approximate average level of a pre-menopausal woman, (without the wide swings of a female cycle, so no PMS or other issues of that sort) and am much happier than I was pre-surgery when I was on T-gel supplementing my testicles to get to 'normal male' levels. I've seen several other members here that have reported liking being on E more than either T or 'hormone-free'

It might be worth discussing w/ your doctors...

WheelyFixed

WheelyFixed wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 4:32 pm Since you mention as why you got castrated specifically was to reduce libido / erections, have you considered switching from T based HRT to estrogen based? Both have the same benefits for bone health, mental health, and so on, except that E doesn't raise your libido.... It does have the downside of feminizing to some degree, and can lead to weight gain, but I haven't found those to be major issues....

I use E patches, that supposedly get me to the approximate average level of a pre-menopausal woman, (without the wide swings of a female cycle, so no PMS or other issues of that sort) and am much happier than I was pre-surgery when I was on T-gel supplementing my testicles to get to 'normal male' levels. I've seen several other members here that have reported liking being on E more than either T or 'hormone-free'

It might be worth discussing w/ your doctors...

WheelyFixed

Well truth being told, I have considered estrogen for a while, but abandoned this thought again. My boobs are already at a size which makes me uncomfortable going topless on the beach during summertime. I can only imagine estrogen will add more to this. Note, my boobs are from low T for a prolonged time, and too much food, and too little exercise.

Also, I doubt my endocrinologist will even consider estrogen to a male…

Anyway, I’m booked for a follow up in one month, bloodtest couple of weeks beforehand.

Will report back when I know my levels.

If you want the protective effects of T or E, stave off the menopause feelings and such, without any of those pesky sexual effects or breast growth, you might look into SERMs or SARMs. Those are selective, so they JUST affect the areas that you need them to without doing anything to places you don't. Know a few eunuchs who have experimented with SERMs in the past, and they've had good results.

Lenkusov (imported) wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2024 11:52 am If you want the protective effects of T or E, stave off the menopause feelings and such, without any of those pesky sexual effects or breast growth, you might look into SERMs or SARMs. Those are selective, so they JUST affect the areas that you need them to without doing anything to places you don't. Know a few eunuchs who have experimented with SERMs in the past, and they've had good results.

THX. I have read their testimonies, however I’m not there yet to ask such questions. It’s still less than a year since I was castrated. So for now I have to play ball as I’m expected to. I have tried though to decrease my dose of TRT for some short periods. But my struggle with my weight always made me change my mind.

In my experiences and from what I've heard from others, most of the weight issues are just related to "low T lowers your base metabolism" and not necessarily to you just gaining weight for no reason. I've been castrated 2 years, one of which I was on estrogen replacement and the last year's been spent almost exclusively no-hormones aside for a couple weeks before bloodwork so I could give my E to friends who couldn't get appointments. Only reason I gained weight recently had to do with a sleeping pill I was on lowering my weight even more and making me retain water.

If you're not on some other medication that messes with weight, like antidepressants or insomnia meds or whatever, you probably just need to either get a gym routine or dial back your eating a tad when you're tapering down your dosage. I just recently started going to the gym again to lose this medication weight, now that I've switched to a different one without that side effect, and I'm already seeing results.