How to counter Immunity drop during TRT

[Love_T]

My Test dosage is 70 Mg/ week split in to two doses. I don’t have high estrogen or symptoms. But my immunity has dropped considerably and I am getting frequent cold/cough/UTI while on TRT. Had to take antibiotics and takes a long time to cure. I believe this is because of TRT. In terms of life style, I am not lazy, super active with plenty of walking, cardio and strength training. The only thing I could improve is sleep. I don’t have sleep apnea, just finding it hard to fall sleep. Stil manage to sleep for 5+ hours

How to increase immunity while on TRT? Supplements?

 

[Vince]

TRT restores your testosterone levels to a healthy, normal range, which generally helps the immune system function efficiently rather than overreacting or underreacting.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

The basics of innate immunity IME are Vitamin D (preferably around or above 50), at least a gram of Vitamin C per day in multiple doses, Zinc from food or supps, magnesium, selenium, Vitamin A and IMO Quercetin. If I feel anything coming on I immediately add in Liposomal Vitamin C and Zinc lozenges (zinc in the nose throat area is helpful above an beyond zinc in the cells) and up my intake of normal Vitamin C to at least 4 grams per day. Ozonated Glycerin is also a good add-on since Ozone is one of the most potent anti-microbials in existence and doesn't AFAIK disrupt the gut microbiome the way antibiotics do.. I doubt TRT is your issue unless your estrogen is very low (estrogen is key for immune function.) There are other things as well that have been well-publicized, but I would start with the list above. Note that extended cardio (over an hour or so) reduces immunity.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

I forgot about Nasal Irrigation, but then coincidentally the article below appeared to remind me. Reads can skip down to start at the heading "Airway Disinfection".

The Respiratory and Sinus Treatments You Were Never Told About

May's Open Thread

www.midwesterndoctor.com

 

[Cataceous]

In case you do have a significant testosterone / immunity link it's simple to experiment with lower doses. The one concern with injecting twice a week is whether pre-injection trough levels end up too low for you at the lower doses. Otherwise the 70 mg TC per week is still above average natural production for healthy young men. This means that more than half of these healthy men are producing less, on average. So if you were in the cohort who naturally do well with lower production then even the 7 mg T/day you're currently averaging could be too much for you.

We see with the Xyosted product that when 75 mg TE/week is considered to be too much then the dose is lowered to 50 mg TE/week. So there is a proven precedent for going lower within the healthy physiological range. Anecdotally I can tell you that I do better overall at doses of < 5 T mg/day (equivalent to 50 mg TC/week) in comparison to anything higher.

Be aware that rapid rather than gradual dose reductions can lead to some temporary symptoms, which resolve over weeks to months.

 

[Phil Goodman]

You answered your own question; improve your sleep. Adequate sleep is crucial for optimal immune function, and less than six hours per night is not nearly enough for the vast majority of people. This is especially true for active people who are also doing strength training. Did the sleep issues arise after starting TRT, or did they exist prior? Either way, start with sorting that out. There are lots of good resources out there that can provide tips on improving sleep hygiene. Getting up to around or over seven hours per night will almost certainly lead to improvements in immune function.

Another aspect that may be impacting it, though this is probably less likely, is that your body is reacting to the carrier oil and causing a strain on your immune system due to the reaction. What carrier oil are you currently using? It’d be worth looking into other options to see if it causes improvements. But again, sleep seems like the most likely culprit.

And Guided By Voices also outlined some great additions to your supplement stack to help with immune function, but those won’t address the underlying issue of inadequate sleep.

I’d be hesitant to make dosing adjustments if you aren’t having any other issues. If anything, you could try splitting into 3 doses instead of two to see if that helps with sleep, but again I see no reason to lower dose if there aren’t other concerns… as it is a rather conservative dose and better sleep habits will almost certainly result in improvements to immune function without losing the other benefits you’re seeing from trt.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

Two other things...raising glutathione via Liposomal Glutathione and NAC supplementation is worth doing. Also, Anti-biotics can deplete the microbiome and the microbome is a critical part of immune function. Fermented foods such as Kefir, Yogurt, Kombucha, and Sauerkraut can all help re-populate the gut.

 

[Love_T]

Wow. Fantastic Responses. Thank you all for taking time to respond. I apologize, I was traveling overseas, so couldn't respond earlier.

 

[TornCallus29]

Hey man, how's it going with this now? I used to not think sleep was that big of a deal either, but like the guys said above, it's honestly a huge piece of the puzzle

 

[FunkOdyssey]

But my immunity has dropped considerably and I am getting frequent cold/cough/UTI while on TRT.

The only thing I could improve is sleep. I don’t have sleep apnea, just finding it hard to fall sleep. Stil manage to sleep for 5+ hours

Case closed, I'm with Phil here. Sleep like you're getting is devastating to immune function.

 

[Love_T]

Thank you again everyone for great suggestions: Summary from your posts: I am going to look at

1) Improve sleep (Already started with Magnesium L-Threonate, sleep getting much better)
2) Liposomal C/Vitamin D3/Zinc supplementation
3) Pin more frequently
4) Try Changing the Carrier Oil - Currently taking Test Enanthate that has arachis oil

 

[t_spacemonkey]

so yeah, since i started TRT 3+y ago, my cold/sickness frequency reduced by like 90%. i used to get colds every 3 months, i am lucky if i got 1 in a year now. look for problems elsewhere