Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is referred to as the replacement of female hormones, such as estrogen, usually after menopause. The medical definition can be found here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormone_replacement_therapy_(menopause)
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is referred as the replacement of male hormones such as testosterone. It is usually prescribed, but not always, to aging men with low T levels, AKA Low T, or men with testicular function disorder. The medical definition can be found here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone_replacement_therapy
Moving forward I will be discussing TRT for the remainder of this discussion and we are not talking about topical gels, rubs, or lotions here either folks.
Sooo, one just doesn't raise their hand and volunteers for TRT do they ? Actually YES and NO.
- Lets go with YES first. If someone cycles year round, does not incorporate PCT, or does not incorporate PCT correctly, then there is a super good chance they will shut themselves down and join the LOW-T or NO-T club....By choice. That's right, by not running cycles/PCT correctly or trying to turn into Arnold overnight, they have screwed themselves up and are now committed to TRT for life. Having the resources we have today, there is absolutely no reason why anyone should do this to themselves.
- NO, I didn't raise my hand, volunteer, or screw up with cycling so why are you bitching at me ?? This group of individuals either have testicular disorders or their natural-T levels have just dropped and they need to supplement them. Welcome to getting older, this usually, but not always, starts to occur over the age of 40. This, of course, would be justifiable without shame or embarrassment and TRT would be beneficial to you. The commercial says " Talk to your doctor about LOW-T", and that's exactly what you should do. He/she will run bloods on your free-T and total-T levels to determine it you are a candidate for TRT. Your blood-work is a crystal ball to see what going on inside you. Not just for Test and E2 levels, but blood cell count, PSA, shbg, insulin, and a host of other valuable levels. (Plenty of online blood-work avenues, TRT or not, everyone should be getting bloods if cycling steroids) Blood-work is essential and follow up blood-work is mandatory to get you on the correct dosing protocol. Without it, your levels will be all over the place and you will probably feel worse rather then better. Plus, Doc isn't going to keep writing you scripts without yearly bloods.
- So in conclusion, if you don't have LOW-T disorder and you properly plan your cycles/PCT, then there is no need for TRT. If you are one of those guys that want to jump on the "Blast/Cruise" roller-coaster because you think is the way to cycle, and you are not a TRT candidate, good luck and I hope you are done having children. However, if you ARE a candidate and jump into TRT, then remember its for a lifetime commitment. Not a bad thing, just something you don't want to bring on until necessary.
