Testosterone Charts of Cypionate/Enanthate, Fortesta, Aveed/Nebido, Androgel, Testopel Pellets

Testosterone ChartsWhen most of us men first start on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), we just do what our doctor says without questioning because we do not know any better.  Now there are some fantastically knowledgeable doctors out there, but here in the U.S., that is the exception.  Even endocrinologists, who have great head knowledge, often do terrible protocols in my opinion.  This is the reason that I have put together a nice list of testosterone charts for you by different kinds of testosterone, i.e. different delivery systems.  Below you will see what various types of injections, topicals and even pellets do to your testosterone by day or hour after administration.

Maybe you are a newbie and have no idea what I am talking about.  If so, I can only tell you that, as time goes on, you may not feel as good as you believe you could or perhaps experience a side effect of your protocol.  That’s when you’ll want to understand a bit more about how the testosterone you are using behaves, and the charts below will help you get a general idea.

Please keep in mind that testosterone levels are affected by many factors and these charts are just dealing in averages.  Here are just a couple of examples:

–If you are on topicals, the amount of testosterone that you absorb through your skin is quite variable.  Some men go on Androgel, for example, and their testosterone rockets up to 900 ng/dl.  Other man will get almost no change whatsoever and may be below 400 ng/dl.  And, when it comes to testosterone injections, low and high SHBG can significantly affect the half life of the ester you are dealing with.

Testosterone Enanthate / Cypionate Chart“When does testosterone cypionate peak – on day one or day three / four?”  This has been a oft debated topic on The Peak Testosterone Forum. Some people say you peak on day one and still others a few days later. Turns out that everyone is right in a way according to one study, because there is very little difference in total testosterone on any of these days. Below is a graph showing what happened after 9 Japanese males were give 125 mg of testosterone enanthate. Note that 125 mg of enanthate is the equivalent of 100 mg of cypionate. [4]

Fortesta ChartThis big name pharmaceutical topical (transdermal) is typically applied to the inner thighs. It has not been terribly popular on the forum but it is a good example of just how a topical acts: [1]

Of course, this chart of Fortesta could not be more different than that of undecanoate – see below – peaking at just 4 hours post-application and then rapidly tapering off afterwards. By 10 hours after the application, you are pretty much hypogonadal again. Please note that this (from what I can tell) is showing testosterone levels is someone just starting on Fortesta.  See the Androgel chart below for what happens when you have been on a topical for about 2-3 weeks.  (It takes 2 – maybe 3 weeks for steady state testosterone levels to be achieved on a cream or gel.)

Testosterone Undecanoate (Aveed / Nebido) ChartTestosterone undecanoate is a long-lasting ester, and physicians typically try to inject on an every 6 week or 2 month protocol. Some of the men on The Peak Testosterone Forum have done much lower dose but more frequent injections but that is certainly not the norm out there.  The big brand names for the undecanoate ester are Aveed and Nebido.

Here is a sample chart resulting from the typical dosage of 750 mg (3 ml):

As you can see, you peak after about one week and after just four weeks you have dropped down to 500 ng/dl. Below this level, many men will not do that well – been there!  (I did a round of pelletes before I went on testosteorne cypionate.)

Androgel ChartOf course, the mother of all topicals is Androgel. (That’s actually not true as compounded topical testosterones have been around for just about forever.) Below is an Androgel chart that you will see is similar in characteristics to Fortesta (as expected). [2] However, notice that we got a testosterone peak about 2 hours after application.

Now this chart shows something much more useful that the Fortesta chart in my opinion. In this case, they are showing testosterone levels 30 days into using Androgel. Of course, in that case one has reached a steady state, stable testosterone level, which is why the baseline testosterone levels above are so much higher. For example, the average testosterone of the men prior to Andrgel was around 300 ng/dl and steady state levels are in the upper 500’s and upper 700’s with 5 and 10 milligrams of Androgel, respectively.

Testotserone Pellets ChartTestosterone pellets are placed under the skin via an in-office urological procedure. I discuss the pros and cons on these pages: Testosterone Pellet Information and Interview About Testosterone Pellets. Pellets essentially ramp your testosterone right up and then you slowly fade over the ensuing months.  Check out these charts: [3]

REFERENCES:

1) FORTESTA- testosterone gel, metered; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESCRIBING INFORMATION; These highlights do not include all the information needed to use FORTESTA safely and effectively. See full prescribing information for FORTESTA; FORTESTA (testosterone) Gel for topical use CIII, Initial U.S. Approval: 1953

2) ANDROGEL Product Monograph, Date of Revision: January 28, 2015 ; Control No. 178980

3) Journal of Andrology, 33(5), Sep/Oct 2012, “Pharmacokinetic Evaluation and Dosing of Subcutaneous Testosterone Pellets”, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2164/jandrol.111.016295/pdf

4) Endocrine J, 2006, 53(3):305-310, “Hormone Profiles after Intrasmuscular Injection of Testosterone Enanthate in Patients with Hypogonadism”, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/53/3/53_3_305/_pdf