The fear that is often associated with beginning testosterone replacement therapy is that TRT is for life. It’s just not true. If you start TRT and decide to stop, you can utilize an HPTA restart protocol to “jump start” your natural, or endogenous testosterone production.

It’s no real secret that once you begin introducing exogenous hormones your endogenous hormones will diminish. Your Hypothalamic Pituitary Testicular Axis (HPTA) doesn’t need to continue attempting to pump out testosterone, so it doesn’t. But, fret not. You are still free to stop pinning if you’d like.

There are some caveats, however. First, if you find yourself wanting or needing to discontinue treatment, it’s you, not them. If administered properly, TRT is life changing and the side effects are minimal or even non-existent. It takes work, research and dedication on your end, but you’ll be better for it. That’s one of the reasons the TRT Community exists. We understand that TRT isn’t “one size fits all” and strive to educate both patients and doctors. If everyone involved goes into the process knowing what lies ahead, the outcome is typically better for everyone. I’ll give you some quick tips on “dialing in” your treatment protocol:

Quick Tips for Dialing In Your Protocol
  • There is no one specialty that will handle your TRT better than another. It is purely based on your physician’s experience level with TRT.
  • More is not always better. In fact, the protocols that work best often include small, frequent doses of testosterone (twice weekly, every 3 days, or daily injections are common).
  • Do not use testosterone compounded with an aromatase inhibitor. Managing Estradiol is too tricky to include it in your weekly doses.
  • Do not take an aromatase inhibitor before your labs (and physical symptoms) indicate it is necessary.
  • Pay attention to prolactin levels.
  • Get comprehensive labs done prior to starting TRT.
  • Go with injections. Topical testosterone and pellets are generally not the best administration method.
  • Be dedicated to documenting how you feel and keeping track of lab results.

If you insist that you’ve done your part and still need to discontinue treatment (which I don’t believe) than you can stop. However I don’t recommend stopping “cold turkey.” I’ve done it and it’s awful. You are much better off using an HPTA restart procol.

HPTA Restart Protocol

Since your HPTA has shut down you’ll need to wake it back up. You can do this with Human Chorionic Gonadatropin. Yes, it’s made from pregnant female urine. It’s ok, you don’t have to drink it. The general HPTA restart protocol would look something like this:

Within a week of your last injection you would inject 350iu of hCG daily with 20 mg of Tamoxifen, supplement DHEA and consider Cialis (you’ll need it).

After 30 days, as long as your testosterone levels are up, you can discontinue hCG and titrate Tamoxifen. That’s really it. There’s a pretty decent chance you’ll be back to your normal. You can purchase lab requisites here.