This is the TRT Community Podcast, where we discuss All Things Testosterone.
What’s going on, guys? This is Brandon, host of All Things Testosterone. This is episode, what 22? I think of the TRT Community’s official podcast. Today we’re going to do a little bit of a Q&A. Sorry my phone’s ringing and it’s really screwing me up. We’re going to do a little Q&A session. I’ve gotten some, some emailed and some message messaged questions, so I wanted to go over some of those and give some answers, give some input.
First a couple of announcements. I’m getting a lot of you guys are requesting access to the Facebook group, which is awesome, but I don’t typically accept people into the group whenever … Well, okay, so let me back up. A lot of you guys are requesting access and it looks like you’re creating a Facebook account, like maybe you didn’t have Facebook before, just so you can access the group, which again is awesome, but I don’t really allow access to members that are new to Facebook just because of the nature of this business. There are a lot of scammers out there, a lot of guys trying to sell illegal drugs, so whenever you’re answering those three questions that we ask whenever you joined the TRT community on Facebook, mention the podcast in there so that I know that you’re coming from a good place and that you’re not in Nigeria trying to just sell underground testosterone and I’ll let you in. No problem. And if I have denied access to you and you’re legit, I apologize.
Free TRT Guides
Next announcement. I created a couple of free guides that you can download. I’ll link them in the description box, but I’ve got one on acne, one on a HPTA restart protocol. I actually don’t remember what the third one is, but maybe it was top 10 mistakes or something. But it’s free. You can download them and there will be links in the description below. Yes, I’m asking for your email address because I want to develop a personal relationship with you, but they are definitely free.
What else? Oh, just randomly. I tried to get Everlywell to send me one of their saliva test kits and they were all about it. I was going to have blood drawn and do the saliva kit on the same day, and once they found out when I was going to do with it and that told them that I was going to test the accuracy up against blood work, they absolutely severed that relationship and will not respond to my emails. So I’ve found that interesting. So at least you can know that I don’t know how accurate they are, but they won’t let me check so I won’t be using them.
Next, I want to shout out to a couple of guys that are fans of the podcast. Brian, Philippe, and nope, just those two. Brian and Philippe. I had a shout out on here, too. A guy that I was going to rip apart because of some stupid stuff that he says in the Facebook group. I’m not going to do that. I’ve thought better of it, I suppose. However, I will say this, if you’re in the Facebook group and you’re just super polarizing and especially if you’ve been removed from the group before and let back in, stop being polarizing. You don’t have to be a jerk. Just because you don’t necessarily agree with AI or HCG, doesn’t mean you have to tout your ignorant wretch shit as gospel every time somebody mentions it, your experience is not necessarily their experience.
Are Telemedicine Clinics Shady?
So let’s jump right into these questions. I’ve got a few of them, I don’t know, four or five and I’ll my best to answer them, to address them and we’ll see where we get. Nick says, “I listen to your podcast. Good stuff. I’m going through a process of likely using a clinic because the doctors in my area think 270 is a good number, AKA within range. But my wife is against using a clinic because she feels it’s sketchy. Maybe something you can bring up on a podcast is how our guys’ wives and girlfriends thoughts on TRT. I think the stigma is strong.”
I think what he’s saying is, can I say anything to assuage the concerns of a concerned wife or girlfriend when the husband or boyfriend is going to treat with a TRT clinic? Like I’m assuming he means a telemedicine clinic. And Nick, to be completely honest with you, I don’t have any words of wisdom here. My personal opinion, if you are talking about telemedicine clinics, there are a lot of really shady telemedicine clinics out there. I don’t have great things to say about them. I can say somebody like [inaudible 00:04:30] has been around for years and so they’re probably doing something right. But a lot of these other clinics, they come and go, they pop up, they become dominant because they offer the lowest pricing and then they fall off the planet.
And whether that’s because of their business model being poor or because of federal or state regulations or just because they’re just, I don’t know. But they come in, they go. So unfortunately I don’t have a lot to say. I will say that like I said, companies like [inaudible 00:04:58] and maybe even like Royal Men’s Medical Center, they’ve been around for a minute. They’re probably okay. But I think a place like Royal, you’re going to pay a little bit more than some of these overnight pop up clinics. But I think [inaudible 00:05:12] is fairly comparable. So maybe give them a try. Otherwise maybe, I don’t know if you’ve already tried to have me find a doctor near you, but we could do that. Or, you could call a compounding pharmacy and say, “Hey, this is my zip code. Who do you have that orders testosterone or HCG near me?” And they’ll give you a list and you can just start calling those doctors and that gives you a good indication that they are treating patients, at least with TRT.
How to Use GoodRX
So next question, Matthew says, “So random question, and I don’t know if this is too remedial to post. So I’m going to DM you. You talk about good RX and the app looks amazing, but is it true that most clinics won’t write you a script to use but make their money on packages that include the testosterone? If so, how do you find one that will give you a script so I can use the Good RX app. So to this, man.”
Matthew, I appreciate the question. I don’t think you’re going to find a clinic that will let you leave with a paper script or electronically called into the pharmacy of your choosing. So that leads me to believe that they are making money off the testosterone. Testosterone is cheap. You guys, most of you know that. So I don’t know, maybe they’re marking it up. Maybe it’s part of a convenience package. Maybe they feel like they’re able to charge us a little bit more because they’re in, it’s a turnkey, you get everything in the mail. I really don’t know. Maybe it’s part of the regulations. I’m not sure. But you won’t find, or at least I have not heard of a TRT clinic or a men’s clinic that will allow you to leave with a paper script. Otherwise, they would just be regular brick and mortar primary care physicians.
When to Test Testosterone Levels
Next question. Lucas says, “Brandon, first, congrats on your podcast. It reached Brazil. I never miss your episodes. Dude, I’m struggling with a question. Last Sunday I started TRT with 200 milligrams of testosterone [inaudible 00:06:54], 100 on Sunday, 100 on Wednesday. I tested levels on Thursday and Friday, 580 nanograms per deciliter for both days. Isn’t that too low for 200 milligrams a week? You think I should wait more weeks to test again or change the intramuscular?”
Lucas, thanks for the question. I would definitely say don’t test so quickly. You want to see what’s going on, not what is that next day after. He’s literally just done two injections and then he tests his levels the next day. You need to wait six or eight weeks and then see what’s going on. But, and even still, 508. Well, 580 the day after an injection at 200 milligrams a week is probably pretty low. But I’m the type of guy that I could trough at 580 on 200 milligrams a week. So if you’re doing a trough after eight weeks and it’s around that level, you’ll be fine. Again though, it’s really how you feel.
Which Labs do I Need Before Starting TRT?
Jeffrey says, “What’s up Brandon? How the hell have you been?” Hey, Jeffrey. Thanks for the comment question. I’ve been great. Adam says, “He’s going in for his first consult and he wants them to check testosterone, but wondering what else he should have them check via blood. Any suggestions?” Adam, I did a blog on this and that kind of covers a three or four-tier system, so I’ll link that in the description below. But the short answer is if you have insurance and they’re going to cover it, I would recommend that they check total and free testosterone, LH, FSH, PSA, E2, TSH, lipids, CMP, a CBC and prolactin. I mean, just have him run the gamut. And the reason for some of these, well it kind of varies. So obviously total and free testosterone so that what your levels are. Free testosterone, sometimes they don’t check it and it’s more important than total testosterone. Free testosterone is what makes you feel good. It’s what your body is actually, that is free for your body to actually use.
Some of these other things are there so that you can rule out some other issues. Maybe you know why you’re low, things like LH, FSH and prolactin. Prolactin is elevated, you might want to have an MRI done, look for a pituitary tumor, that kind of thing. And then the rest of this stuff really, it just gives you a good baseline, and I’ve said it before on the podcast, but it will allow you to know what your numbers were, to be able to tell what your ratios were before TRT. And I believe that these are useful after you start TRT if you shoot for the same ratios. A lot of guys want to squash estrogen. A lot of guys want to let estrogen go, but they probably don’t know where they were beforehand. If you had higher estrogen levels before, then you don’t, keep the same ratio after T. If your T goes up a 1,000 anagrams a deciliter, you’d want to have estrogen follow a little bit in the same ratio.
Big Fan of the Show – What Can I do to Help?
Casey says, “Brandon, big fan of your work. I’m an Iowa dirt farmer and stay-at-home dad, if you need help with anything, let me know. This is somewhat underground issue that needs to be brought to light.” Casey, thanks for the comments and the offer to help and I agree with you a 100%. I would say the best thing that we can do is share the show, share the podcast, send it to friends, post it on Facebook. Just get the word out there that we’re doing this and that would be a huge help.
TillyMilly is the Worst
Last one, this is not a question. This is a comment and actually it’s a review that we got on Apple Podcasts. So [inaudible 00:10:18] says, “She’s pro-TRT, but you guys are uneducated on the topics of estradiol, HCG, et cetera. She cringes as she listens.” Here’s the thing, [inaudible 00:10:29] … Oh, she also says, “That she’s clinic owner.” I was paraphrasing. She’s a clinic owner. She owns several clinics. I don’t talk about subjects that are controversial, except I guess for the fact that I talk about TRT in general, but I don’t go deep into the science behind a lot of this stuff because I don’t consider myself an expert.
I don’t want people to think that I consider myself an expert. There are a lot of folks out there that do go deep into the specifics and they get really scientific behind a lot of the controversial topics and I have a feeling that you follow them, because that’s what you’re looking for. They’re super polarizing and can be downright off-putting to new guys. They cater to guys that are already on TRT and that’s the key here. Most guys that have a TRT-related following, alienate an entire audience of new guys by either talking above their heads or literally telling them they can’t ask new questions.
What I try to do is offer a base level and slightly beyond safe place for men to start their research and then understand that they can feel better safely. So I’m trying to cast a wide net to help guys realize it’s a safe alternative to feeling like crap because nobody else seems to want to be doing that. They all want to talk about the science. It’s like everyone’s ego is so inflated. They want to talk about, they want everyone to know how smart they are in TRT, “I’m the expert. Follow me, I’ll optimize your hormones.” That’s not me.
I’m just here to tell the everyday working guy, “Hey, here’s a little bit of research, here’s why it’s safe and here’s what you can do to get started and hear the top 10 kind of touching on the top 10 type issues that you may want to avoid.” I honestly have no idea what kind of ammo you would have to say that I’m not educated on the topic because I don’t go there. I don’t talk about stuff that takes much education. If you cringe when you listen, go listen to Jay Campbell. I don’t know what to tell you.
That’s really all I’ve got today, guys. I would appreciate it if you would rate and review the show so that we can offset [inaudible 00:12:33] one rating, that would be great. See you next week.
Thank you for listening to the TRT Community Podcast. You can find us online @facebook.com/groups/trtcommunity.
