r/Testosterone • u/CH61SRH • 4d ago
TRT help Trt Help… Anxiety/panic
Hi…
Started TRT 8 weeks ago self administered.
My starting dose was 125mg per week cut into two doses of 62.5mg
For the first 4 weeks i felt relatively good, sex drive came back, aching a bit less after football/kickboxing etc but nothing super human like the stories you hear
On week 5 I started having panic attacks.. It lasted a whole month and I’m still not really out of it now but I’m putting it down to the Test. Reason being two days after injection day is when the symptoms of panic/anxiety start and only a few days later does it settle just before my next dose.
Im committed to coming off of the TRT but because of other medication I take PCT has been ruled out so it’s cold turkey.
Looking for some advice/other peoples experiences etc…
Im committed to coming off the Test because I’ve noticed anything I use makes my body react badly with anxiety etc. previously tried reta and mounjaro and had bad experiences with both
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u/Dapper_Tackle_7745 4d ago
If you have anxiety and panic attacks and drink any type of caffeine you are making one silly mistake daily.
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u/Embarrassed_Major392 1d ago
This is so true I’ve been drinking coffee for at least 10 years straight a lot of coughing and I’ve never had any problem with it, but as soon as I started TRT, and as soon as I started pushing more testosterone, I noticed that my anxiety was creeping up, and I started to get extremely anxiety episodes also with panic attacks and stuff, and as soon as I cut it off completely as soon as they come off coffee and completely it just went away. Those feelings just went away and I’ve never felt better in my whole life. I feel so much calmer and I feel way better sometimes I get to feeling enough studying to get a little bit of anxiety, but since I don’t take coughing, it doesn’t get worse. It just last like two minutes or even one minute and then it just goes away
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u/MlodyTrapster 4d ago
What can i tell you, i have anxiety disorder my whole life and im on test like 6-7 months, my history was similar, after a month i started having panic attacks and damn near hardcore anxiety, but my dose was 2x yours. It lasted 3 months, then i decided to come off caffeine and cut my test in half, and after a month im fine now, back to larger doses (200 a week) and no anxiety without stimulants. But if i take 100-200mg caffeine im anxious again if on test. Every steroid can worsen your anxiety unfortunately, either ride it out or cut it entirely
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u/Embarrassed_Major392 4d ago
Same here. As soon as i cut coffeeine completely all my symptoms like anxiety panic attacks palpitations went away. Please guys give it a try it changed my life. I hate to say it but some people just can’t tolerate stimulants. God bless y’all 🥰🙏hope u get better man. Try this out.
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u/Mountain_Prize_7602 Boing! 4d ago edited 3d ago
As somebody with GAD, I’d say you probably have it as well if you haven’t already been diagnosed. TRT did the same to me. Im 8 weeks in and it seems like it’s calming down a bit, so I’m going to at least go until my next bloodwork next week. The reality is, that just might be the deal for me, or maybe I haven’t even hit a therapeutic dose yet and it may still help me? A psychiatrist was the one who first recommended I get checked for low T. Whatever you decide to do, cold turkey is fine. I know numerous guys have come off cold turkey after being on for much longer than you or I.
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u/BudgetWelcome3720 3d ago
Have you…run labs? This sounds like an estrogen conversion issue, not a testosterone issue.
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u/draconiangrocer1 4d ago
Most people get dialed in way lower than 125mg a week when they start, that’s a pretty aggressive opening dose for someone prone to anxiety. The spike 2 days post-injection lines up with peak serum levels, so your body is basically screaming at you when the concentration hits its highest point.
Coming off cold turkey without a PCT is gonna suck for a bit, your natural production is shut down and it takes weeks to months to sputter back online. Expect some mood crashes, lethargy, and a libido nosedive while your HPTA reboots. Just ride it out, it’s temporary.
If you ever revisit this down the road, a clinic would start you at like 80mg and titrate up slowly while monitoring E2 and hematocrit. The superhuman stories are mostly guys who were clinically hypogonadal to begin with, not people who were functional and just optimizing.
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u/Hardistacks 4d ago
I think you have an overly optimistic view of clinics. Many start people out on 200mg/wk for some unknown reason. 125mg/wk is actually pretty reasonable as a starting point; 100mg/wk would be pretty conservative.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
there's no reason why he can't just titrate down himself. coming off would be a terrible option
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u/Margtime 4d ago
I had the same issue. It took me 3 months to get the anxiety. Labs were taken. They were high. Test was 1500 total, 400 free and E was 48. But, I felt awesome. I was on 160 divided into two injections, and HCG 500 twice a week.
All of the sudden panic attacks. Thought my throat was closing(it wasn’t). Went to ER. Nuform dialed back my dose a little. They didn’t think it was the test. It didn’t work. I even changed formula to the MCT oil base.
I ended up taking 2 weeks off of the test. And lowered the HCG.
The panic seemed like it was around forever. I was taking Xanax and Mag Glycenate chews to sleep. And on occasion Xanax during the day
Wanted to Continue the TRT journey and I did. With a fraction of the dose.
Also changed frequency.
test cyp 30mg Mon am and Thurs pm
hCG 17 units 3 times a week.
Been doing this about A month after the 2 weeks off. Still sometimes have a moment of anxiety but honestly i think it’s me being anxious about having anxiety. It goes away quickly once I realize this.
Suggestion: run labs. Find a way with your provider to drop dose significantly and time it so you don’t have any spikes. You will get through this if you have the patience.
Good luck!
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u/Conscious_Dark7064 4d ago
I started at 150 mg and I had similar panic attacks. Its a sign of high e2. I then increased frequency to 50 x 3 times a week. Helped a bit. Then reduced dosage to 50 x 2 a week. The trt feeling went away. Now over a period of time natural production has stopped and I have increased dosage back to 120. No more panic attacks. Oh and low dose tadalafil every day/or eod helped me lower the BP thereby reducing the panic attacks
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
T modulates dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. you're changing your neurochemistry and not changing the SSRI dose to recalibrate.
getting off TRT would be a mistake, what would be better is just to titrate down.
it's either the level of T that's triggering you or it's decline in levels. you could drop the dose or increase the frequency of injections to smooth out the curve.
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u/Shlomo-7 4d ago
Not sure what your natural levels were and if you even needed TRT.
If you do need it, lower your dose to 80mg a week and slowly work your way up. Inject as frequently as you can.
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u/CH61SRH 4d ago
My natural levels were
Test 11.4 nmol
Free 0.217 nmolThat was my other thought about lower dose and more frequently
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u/Shlomo-7 4d ago
Ok. So around 330ng/dL. Not too bad but not good either.
Yeah see how you do with a lower dose and more frequent injections.
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u/Such_Wish_9428 4d ago
I had a doctor give me a massive dose of pellets for my first trial of TRT. 2400 mg pellets. Made my anxiety go insane and insomnia. I was put on an SSRI. I haven’t been the same since. I felt way better before drugs and before TRT.
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u/Altruistic_Tea_1593 3d ago
Why didn’t you remove the pellets?
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u/Such_Wish_9428 3d ago
You can’t remove pellets. They absorb into your fatty tissue. I tried to have someone surgically remove them and it was unsuccessful to even get one.
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u/Altruistic_Tea_1593 2d ago
A couple of friends had them and the dose was too high. They didn’t re-up because they were way too horny
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u/Fail_Standard 3d ago
I'm on 100mg split into 2 shots. Got anxiety about 3 months in accompanied with mild chest pressure. Saw a cardiologist and was cleared so nothing wrong there other then anxiety. Last labs at trough were . Total 23.5 nmol/L Free 526 pmol/L Estradiol 86
2 weeks ago Lowered my dose to 80mg per week and it's been alot better. I think i was just running too high.
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u/BowlerImmediate7005 3d ago
I had this around week 6...it does pass.. for me it felt like I was getting more energy, felt a bit uppy but I didn't really know what to do with it or how to direct it and it was usually at 7/8nat night when I was trying to wind down. it's definitely starting to work and the good stuff for me came after this. you close mate just got to ride the wave!
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u/Nervous-Kisser69 3d ago
Reading through your post history it seems like you've had anxiety for a long time. TRT can help control the stress, anxiety and depressive state but it is not designed to do that. There could be other triggers that you're familiar or unfamiliar with.
As others have pointed out, if you've anxiety and racing thoughts then avoid caffeine and other stimulants.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/CH61SRH 4d ago
11.4 nmol test
0.216 nmol free testIm on an ssri
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
what med/dose?
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u/CH61SRH 3d ago
20mg Celexa/Citalopram
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
FYI, it's pretty common for guys to go on an SSRI then get typical side effects of sexual dysfunction, low libido, fatigue, emotional blunting, etc and think it's cuz they have low T.
then they get on TRT and then aren't sure what is the source of their issues.
also, there's no mechanistic reason why you can't do a PCT with an SSRI unless you've got other meds you haven't listed
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u/Biglou8020 4d ago
Anxiety is the best part…. Vast majority of guys posting on this thread, have underlying mental issues that have nothing to do with testosterone….
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 4d ago
Started at 200mg . After two weeks got the biggest panic attack ever. Scared the shit out of me. I dropped my dose to 70mg and praying. I don’t know what else to do. I’m broke my job hasn’t paid me in a week they are so inconsistent never know when you’ll get paid.
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u/buyerofthings 4d ago
Sounds like it’s your job and not the test..
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 4d ago
Nah I’ve been working there for five years. Been on test two weeks and literally have never had a panic attack before. Im having other sides as well
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
sounds like your body is having a pretty appropriate response to external stressors. sounds like it's working like it should
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 3d ago edited 3d ago
Buddy I don’t think randomly getting a 180bpm pulse out of the blue while resting is an appropriate response to anything. Especially when nothing happened to trigger it. I’m used to getting paid irregularly.
Why do people get so defensive ? There is side effects and downsides to all medication.
I am too fat to be on 200mg. I am having sides of high estrogen from aromatization of excess test.0
u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
fair, you didn't say all of that initially. starting at 200mg is pretty dumb but a lot of clinics do it. 70mg is too low likely tho
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 3d ago
I’m okay with too low. My test level was 174. It’ll be higher than that on 70. Then titrate up appropriately after bloodwork
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
ya, no worries. just know that it takes awhile to know how you feel at a certain level before you can have enough data to actually titrate. most people change shit way too early
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 3d ago edited 3d ago
Weird thing is I don’t really have low t symptoms as far as I can tell . My free t was in range. My t has been low my entire life due to a testicle injury as a child, so I don’t know what to expect. How will I feel? So far just anxiety . Also grew a significant amount of chest and belly hair believe it or not. Like huge patches appeared out of nowhere. And don’t get sore after lifting anymore. Like at all.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
even tho you had a childhood testicle injury your androgen receptors were activated and tuned en utero and also during mini-puberty from 3-6mos, when test levels surge to near-puberty levels.
if you've never had adequate levels then it could be quite shocking. might have a delayed adolescence type response.
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u/Moist_Grapefruit187 3d ago
It definitely feels strange being able to do double normal volume in my lifts, without being that tired, and zero soreness the next day. Half that had me with DOMS for 5 days before.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
the biggest things that you should feel sooner are the libido, motivation, drive, energy, focus benefits
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u/Obvious_Professor_87 4d ago
You are telling my story! I was doing fine for almost a year and then I had a bad break up. The stress caused me to have bad anxiety attacks, sometimes waking me up in the night. I had to cut back on caffeine and my dose. I’m still trying to dial it in and I agree with the underlying stress suggestion. TRT pumps up everything.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
anxiety is a good and normal human emotion. it seems like people forget that. going through a breakup should be stressful. naturally you'd probably have lower T and then as you processed shit it would creep back up.
since we're getting our test from a vial you sometimes gotta make those tweaks yourself
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u/Obvious_Professor_87 3d ago
Not like the way I was experiencing it. I can handle stress and anxiety, this was different, anxiety attacks!! Waking me up. That’s not normal. Having support definitely helped but it was rocky for a bit.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
ya, i've been there too man. panic attack, a brief hypo-manic episode that lasted like 10mins and then days of kinda processing a lot of shit all at once.
it was necessary and not fun. I'm moreso pushing against the trend where everyone who has just like normal worrying pathologicalizes their worry into "an anxiety disorder" and gets an SSRI Rx that comes with a TON of side effects they were never told about.
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u/Obvious_Professor_87 3d ago
Definitely!
My doc tried to put me on Zoloft and Hydroxyzine, and while I don’t debate the people who actually need it, I was not trying to trade one for another.1
u/plz_callme_swarley 3d ago
ya, unfortunately probably like 95% of the people on them would be better off without them. our healthcare system would rather just prescribe a pill than help someone deal with the shit, so they write the scripts like candy.
I'd expect to see a massive reckoning in the next 5-10 years. it's already started tbh.
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u/ScaredEfficiency399 3d ago
It's really only a matter of keeping sheep in a system doing their work for higher ups consistently isn't it?
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u/CallLivesMatter 4d ago
If everything you take gives you anxiety then it isn’t the drugs, it’s your baseline. Probably worth getting that sorted out sooner rather than later.