I’ve recently started training with a group of over fifty competitive power lifters. These guys train like animals and without exception are exceptionally muscular for any age, let alone for guys over fifty. They’re also all on prescription HRT and use either Androgel or Depo. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject and it seems that one of the possible side effects of testosterone therapy is estrogen dominance due to the testosterone converting to estrogen. Several of the guys also take Clomid to block estrogen binding but it’s obviously a sort of after-the-fact remedy and many of the guys tell me their HMOs won’t pay for Clomid for men. I’ll be talking to my doctor about HRT next week, but I’m wondering if there is any way to prevent the conversion of testosterone to estrogen and if not, then why isn’t an Androgel/Clomid stack a standard part of male HRT? Does adding Clomid to HRT raise or lower any of the risk factors associated with HRT? I’m already showing some of the signs of estrogen dominance and so I’d say it has become one of my major concerns. I’m just trying to get my ducks lined up before my consultation so any advice from those in the know is appreciated.
As a woman I’ve taken clomid- which has given me estrogen (or so I think) to ovulate…
What i researched was…
Clomiphene tablets maybe combined with steroid tablets to suppress androgen production.
“Structurally like estrogen, clomiphene binds to the sites in the brain where estrogen normally attaches, called estrogen receptors. Once these receptor sites are filled up with clomiphene, they can’t bind with natural estrogen circulating in the blood and they are fooled into thinking that the amount of estrogen in the blood is too low. In response, the hypothalamus releases more GnRH, causing the pituitary to pump out more FSH, which then causes a follicle to grow to produce more estrogen.”
Because it was originally developed for men who have actual testosterone deficiency and intended to be used to restore normal levels of the hormone rather than turn people into the incredible Hulk. When used as intended the conversion of testosterone into estrogen is a very small factor and not usually enough to cause the unwanted side effects.
Thanks. I’ve continued my reading and have discovered that Androgel has a very low incidence of side effects so it seems my concern was not well founded.
On rereading my OP I can see how I gave the wrong impression. The guys I train with are competitive power lifters, not bodybuilders and none of them are freaky huge like bodybuilders on juice. None could compete if their testosterone levels were above normal and from what I uderstand, no one looking to get freaky big would waste their time with transdermals like Androgel anyway. The impressive physiques of these guys are the result of years of hard training and not from being juiced up. Still, in the population at large, muscle atrophy is the norm for those over fifty, so none of them are “normal.”