Recently I’ve been trying to optimize my TRT protocol and minimize the side effects of estrogen, something which my current Testosterone Replacement (TRT) protocol was not doing.

By following this, you can:

Avoid having to use Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) such as Arimidex

Feel more consistent, happy and energetic by balancing hormones

Minimize the potential side effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy.

So first things first you definitely want to get some bloodwork done and look at all of your levels and figure out if everything is in the right ballpark. This article is targeted at those who are want to go that step further, seeing how different protocols might work out for them, aiming to minimize peaks and troughs.

Understanding Your Cycle

So we need to understand how the compounds (testosterone) are being released into the system and at what rates. A great tool I discovered to do this is SteroidGraph, it allows us to put in what compounds you are taking and see the distribution across many weeks.

I was prescribed Sustanon at 125mg / 0.5ml, every 5 days and I felt that although my bloodwork was coming back in range I was having huge fluctuations in how I was feeling throughout the week, some days my libido, mood, and energy were much better than others.

Sustanon

Sustanon is quite unique in that 1 milliliter of the testosterone blend contains 4 different testosterone esters, each with a different release rate. Some are slower, meaning that the ester takes longer to break down, releasing less mg testosterone into your system daily. Others are fast acting meaning you get a surge of testosterone day 1, giving you quick effects.

Here is the breakdown of Sustanon 250:

Testosterone propionate, 30 mg

Testosterone phenylpropionate, 60 mg

Testosterone isocaproate, 60 mg

Testosterone decanoate, 100 mg

As I was using 0.5 milliliters (125mg) every 5 days I split the above and entered the following into SteroidGraph over a 6 week period:

Sustanon 0.5ml Break Down

Sustanon Peak

34.7mg Peak — Sustanon 125mg (Every 5 Days)

Sustanon Trough

9.4mg Trough — Sustanon 125mg (Every 5 Days)

As you can see, I was getting a peak of around 34.7mg with my current protocol and from what it looked like, a pretty heavy drop to 9.4mg by the time I was due to have my next injection!

On cycle, we want to maintain consistent levels of testosterone or whatever compound you decide to take. For me, a drop of 73% (25.3mg) was far too much and explained why some days I’d feel great and others pretty average.

Also, a surge of testosterone day 1 causes a cascade of other hormone effects with Estrogen, Prolactin, and others. For example, if high estrogen is not controlled by an Aromatisation Inhibitor it can lead to Gynecomastia as well as all these other side effects:

Soft erections, inability to maintain an erection

Water retention (less frequent urination), leading to excessive sweating, blood pressure spikes or high blood pressure (from the water retention)

Insomnia

Hot flushing (flushing around the ears or on the face)

Night sweats (from estradiol lowering, causing loss of water retention)

Bloating; brain fog (like your head’s in a bubble)

Testicles seem smaller than usual

Although it might sound easier to just take another pill, it’s much better to try and control estrogen in other ways as drugs like Arimidex also come with another list of side effects.

Testosterone Enanthate / Cypionate

Due to this, I decided to look into more slow acting esters of testosterone that would give me a smoother, more consistent level. For the next section, although I used Enanthate, both Enanthate and Cypionate are relatively similar in terms of their release rate.

Testosterone Enanthate 125mg (Every 5 Days)

Here I decided to see what exactly the same protocol on Enanthate would look like, 0.5ml / 125mg every 5 days.

Once settled in around day 21 we can see it has a peak of 25 mg and a low of 12.5mg giving us a difference of 12.5 mg over the 5 days. Much better that 25.3mg with Sustanon but still not ideal… and I wanted to do better!

Optimizing Your Cycle

So I’ve been doing TRT a while and it’s good to keep a journal of some sort to record how you’re doing. Personally, I keep a spreadsheet with a couple of different columns so that I can monitor the things that are important to me like Energy, Mood, Libido etc and then keep a basic score on each of them (Good, Average or Bad)

By doing this I’ve found out I felt good typically on Days 3 / 4 around the 20mg mark and wanted to construct a cycle that would keep me around this point as much as possible.

Enanthate (Twice a Week)

Testosterone Enanthate 75mg (Every 3.5 Days)

A great way to stay more consistent is to do smaller injections more frequently. Here I tried every 3.5 days which in reality works out to twice a week so every Monday and Thursday as an example.

Typically you want to play around with easy dosages for you to do in real life. My testosterone comes in 250mg in 1ml, so 0.1ml is around 25mg and these are the increments I’ve been using to theoretically test different protocols.

Enanthate (Every 3 Days)

Testosterone Enanthate 75mg (Every 3 Days)

Here we have a peak of 22mg and a low 15mg giving us a fluctuation of 7mg!! Far superior to where we started and also it’s much more centered around the 20mg daily value I felt best.

Every Other Day and Beyond

Testosterone Enanthate 50mg (Every Other Day)

The next step is every other day, or even daily, although every 3 days for me is a great balance between stability and not getting in the way of life.

Jump Starting Your Protocol

As an added bonus, you can also use this to help jump start your protocol / cycle. Typically when starting you have to wait for the testosterone to build up in your system. That's why we’ve been looking at 6-week graphs so we can see when it stabilizes and the levels are consistent.

One way to fix this and feel the effects faster is to “front-load” your cycle/protocol and take a larger dose day 1. Here I have done an additional 100mg on top of the allocated 75mg.

Before

After

Here we reach the target dose of 20mg almost instantly on day one! Much easier and quicker.

Questions and comments? Let me know in the section below!