Hi I’m Mark 56 years of age and appreciate bring able to discuss my situation with you experienced people
I started going through divorce in January, 2025 I’m at the end of 2025. I started getting very stressed over it all and was thinking maybe my testosterone levels were low, I have had a super healthy diet for over 20 years now no alcohol no smoking a steak every day eggs every day row Keffer raw milk and so on just to give you a picture of myself and I am low body fat, so I went to a local clinic in the UK to get tested and this was the result picture attached
The clinic I’m using suggested I start TRT and I know I should’ve done more research but it’s too late for that now so I started eight weeks ago on 125 mg weekly of sustanon and I know it’s early days but I’m not feeling it and I wanna stop now before I do my natural testosterone production any more damage but I am in a dilemma. I am going on holiday in four weeks with my daughter and grandchildren, if I stop this TRT now which as I said I have had eight weeks so far eight injections of 125 mg a week. How hard when it hit me if I go cold Turkey or what do you advise? Help much appreciated
Addressing your suspicion of low-T was a smart move as your TT 265 ng/dL is at the bottom end and far from healthy.
Even then although TT is important to know FT is what truly matters here as it is the active unbound fraction of T responsible for the positive effects.
The only way to know where your FT truly sits would be testing it using the most accurate assay the gold standard Equilibrium Dialysis especially in cases of altered SHBG.
If you do not have access to such which would be more common if you live outside of the US then you would. need to use/rely on the next best testing method the go to calculated linear law-of-mass action Vermeulen (cFTV).
Seeing as you are living in the UK your FT was most likely tested using the calculated method and as you can see it is sitting on the bottom end of the reference range.
You can easily calculate your FT using the cFTV online as it is available for free to the general public.
Just need to plug in your TT, SHBG and Albumin.
If we take your bottom end TT 265 ng/dL, normal SHBG 30.7 nmol/L and Albumin 4.3 g/dL (default) as you never had it tested then your cFTV 5.39 ng/dL it sitting right at the bottom end.
Even then keep in mind that cFTV tends to overestimate slightly so if you had it tested using the gold standard ED assay it would most likely be lower as in <5 ng/dL.
Regardless your FT is dismal and far from what would be considered healthy.
Most healthy young natty males would be hitting a cFTV 13-15 ng/dL or a FT 12 ng/dL tested using the gold standard ED assay.
Just to put this in perspective!
FT <5 ng/dL would be considerd low.
FT 5-9 ng/dL would be considered the grey zone where some men may experience symptoms of low-T.
FT 10-15 ng/dL would be healthy.
FT 20-25 ng/dL would be high-end/high!
The majority of men will do well with a trough FT 15-25 ng/dL depending on the injection frequency.
Again your FT is low and seeing as you are 56 and are still in descent shape, eat healthy and avoid some of those bad habits your FT is not going to get any better.
Lack of quality sleep, exercise, excess stress (physical/mental) and excess body fat can easily hammer down your natty T but even then you have addressed some of the things which can have a negative impact.
Getting quality sleep and minimizing excess stress (mental/physical) is critical here.
Seeing as you have been injecting 125 mg T (mixed ester) for 8 weeks your HPG-axis is already suppressed as your LH/FSH will be next to nil.
Not sure why you want to stop therapy as you will just go back to baseline once the exogenous T is out of your system and you will end up struggling with low-T symptoms which is a shitty situation to deal with and more importantly you are at a huge disadvantage here when it comes to your overall health (mental/physical) especially cardiovascular and bone health.
More importantly, its metabolites estradiol and DHT are needed in healthy amounts to experience the full spectrum of testosterone-beneficial effects on (cardiovascular health, brain health, libido, erectile function, bone health, tendon health, immune system, lipids, and body composition).
*Natural testosterone is viewed as the best androgen for substitution in hypogonadal men. The reason behind the selection is that testosterone can be converted to DHT and E2, thus developing the full spectrum of testosterone activities in long-term substitution
You quality of life is what matters here and addressing your low-T would improve your overall health especially long-term.
If anything I would wait until after your vacation to stop otherwise you are going to experience a crash if you stop now once the exogenous T is out of your system.
This can be a very bumpy ride for some when stopping cold turkey and chances are you will struggle mentally and physically (energy, mood, libido, erectile function).
Yes some men will just bite the bullet and deal with it whereas others would implement a light PCT using a SERM (clomid/emclomiphene) and hCG.
Even though you have only been injecting 125 mg T (mixed ester) for 8 weeks the T will still be in your system for a few weeks due to the PK.
Once your T levels get closer to bottoming out you will start to feel the negative effects.
The last thing you want to do here is run into low-T when you are planning on a vacation with your daughter and grandchildren.
You deserve to enjoy this precious time with them.
What issues are you experiencing that makes you want to throw in the towel 8 weeks in?
