Julianne Arreola
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If properly managed, your levels can be normalized with the first dose, possibly in just a few days. It has been our experience that failure to respond to treatment is very rare (when the person is committed to staying consistent with appointments and recommendations). Testosterone Replacement Therapy is a safe and effective way to treat these symptoms, but how quickly will TRT take effect? You don’t feel well, and you want to get back to feeling like yourself again as quickly as possible. Since you are suffering from physical and psychological symptoms like chronic fatigue, low mood, and low libido, your quality of life isn’t what it should be. We’re going to address the most pressing questions our patients ask right up front.
Your provider should test your blood repeatedly (anywhere between once a month to once a quarter), and they should also know about other types of hormone replacement therapy and be willing and able to manage your other hormones as necessary. The goal should always be to improve symptoms while improving testosterone levels from deficient levels to normal ones. Especially with injections, response to therapy has nothing to do with "waiting for your testosterone levels to come up." While there is no hard-and-fast rule here, most patients feel significant improvement in symptoms within 4-6 weeks of starting treatment for Low T, and improvements often continue to build as treatment is continued.
"By that, I mean how you, the patient, are feeling. To determine what’s a good testosterone level for your age, you also need to look at the clinical picture. I gave you the hormones to become an adult and to reproduce’ and they start to slow down," says McDevitt. The same thing happens to men; it’s called andropause." "After 35 years old, we see hormones start to drop," says McDevitt. At its peak, during your adolescent years, a normal range for your testosterone is anywhere between 300 and 1,200 ng/dL (4).
This includes monitoring your testosterone level and getting other blood tests to make sure TRT isn’t harming your health. Before starting TRT, your healthcare provider will make sure low testosterone is an accurate diagnosis. TRT involves taking manufactured forms of testosterone to regulate your levels of this hormone. Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can help improve the symptoms of low testosterone due to male hypogonadism.
Blood tests allow your doctor to monitor your testosterone and other hormone levels, such as estradiol (E2), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and prolactin. Your doctor will prescribe an initial dose based on your testosterone levels and symptoms. Each man’s body responds differently to testosterone, so it’s essential to customize the therapy for optimal results. A blood test is the most reliable way to measure testosterone levels.
If you’ve been experiencing low testosterone symptoms, then it may be time to explore TRT. During the ramp up, you should expect to test every 90 days until your levels get to a good therapeutic state, as determined by your doctor and how you feel. Our simple test gets mailed to your home and uses a few drops of blood to test for a wide range of biological markers, that are crucial to understanding your hormonal levels.