Do you feel comfortable sharing your total and free testosterone levels?

What your Doctor might consider normal or good, is most likely not normal or good.

Testagen and HCG and kisspeptin would be for like a guy in his 30s that is actively trying to get pregnant, so testosterone wouldn't be the best option.

Or coming off test and wants to jump start everything to try and have a baby.

That's pretty much the only use case for those.

Yeah, honestly I assumed with 2013 in his handle that he was in his mid-30s. If he's in his 50s, then yes, I would say go ahead and jump on TRT.

backintexas2013 said:

---

Thanks at 55 my levels are good so getting a prescription probably won't happen so trying something else

---

As Moses said... unless your free T is just really high, I bet you can get a prescription for TRT.

2013 is when I moved back to Texas from the west coast. For sure not trying to get anyone pregnant

Then yeah, I think TRT is the way.

As Moses said, if you feel comfortable you can post your numbers, but I'm almost certain at your age you can get a script for it... maybe not from your GP or another insurance-focused doc, but you can get it.

I had the same problem. My PC said your number is low normal you're fine. Went to a urologist who does TRT and said yep you need to be on TRT. My numbers were 355 and I was 57 yrs old. Been the best decision. Feel so much better and insurance covers it.

Agreed. While I was 40 when I started, I also was barely in the "normal" range. I talked to a GP and a urologist, neither would prescribe me because all they looked at was the colorful chart saying "normal." A TRT clinic would prescribe it but I had to come in which doesn't work with my schedule. Eventually I found a telehealth clinic that works with insurance and it has been a game changer for me. Typically average just shy of 1000 when I do my bloodwork and I feel awesome.

sanitariex said:

---

Agreed. While I was 40 when I started, I also was barely in the "normal" range. I talked to a GP and a urologist, neither would prescribe me because all they looked at was the colorful chart saying "normal." A TRT clinic would prescribe it but I had to come in which doesn't work with my schedule. Eventually I found a telehealth clinic that works with insurance and it has been a game changer for me. Typically average just shy of 1000 when I do my bloodwork and I feel awesome.

---

Care to share the telehealth that works with insurance?

I decided to give it a try with Hone (random choice really.) I knew I would be in the 300s from past testing. Also knew that Straight TRT gave me bad chest and back acne. They prescribed Enclomiphene which is supposed to stimulate natural production and be more gradual to hopefully help with that side effect. They are not, however, working with insurance and seem to have lots of random charges. Figured I would try it to 6 months and then reevaluate. Would be nice to have it go on insurance.

Yeah, I've actually brought it up in past threads, and I think a few here have started using them. It's Rise Men's Health. They should really change their name since they treat women too.

Absolute said:

---

sanitariex said:

---

Agreed. While I was 40 when I started, I also was barely in the "normal" range. I talked to a GP and a urologist, neither would prescribe me because all they looked at was the colorful chart saying "normal." A TRT clinic would prescribe it but I had to come in which doesn't work with my schedule. Eventually I found a telehealth clinic that works with insurance and it has been a game changer for me. Typically average just shy of 1000 when I do my bloodwork and I feel awesome.

---

Care to share the telehealth that works with insurance?

I decided to give it a try with Hone (random choice really.) I knew I would be in the 300s from past testing. Also knew that Straight TRT gave me bad chest and back acne. They prescribed Enclomiphene which is supposed to stimulate natural production and be more gradual to hopefully help with that side effect. They are not, however, working with insurance and seem to have lots of random charges. Figured I would try it to 6 months and then reevaluate. Would be nice to have it go on insurance.

---

I was prescribed enclomiphene 25 mg, qd by Ways2Well. I'm having my prescription filled by MedSavers in Austin. I think it's about $80 for a 2 month supply. This was close to half the price that I had from Ways2Well's in-house pharmacy, ReviveRx.

Don't know what your options for getting your script filled, but MedSavers is saving me a lot of money.

Aggie Pharmer said:

---

Absolute said:

---

sanitariex said:

---

Agreed. While I was 40 when I started, I also was barely in the "normal" range. I talked to a GP and a urologist, neither would prescribe me because all they looked at was the colorful chart saying "normal." A TRT clinic would prescribe it but I had to come in which doesn't work with my schedule. Eventually I found a telehealth clinic that works with insurance and it has been a game changer for me. Typically average just shy of 1000 when I do my bloodwork and I feel awesome.

---

Care to share the telehealth that works with insurance?

I decided to give it a try with Hone (random choice really.) I knew I would be in the 300s from past testing. Also knew that Straight TRT gave me bad chest and back acne. They prescribed Enclomiphene which is supposed to stimulate natural production and be more gradual to hopefully help with that side effect. They are not, however, working with insurance and seem to have lots of random charges. Figured I would try it to 6 months and then reevaluate. Would be nice to have it go on insurance.

---

I was prescribed enclomiphene 25 mg, qd by Ways2Well. I'm having my prescription filled by MedSavers in Austin. I think it's about $80 for a 2 month supply. This was close to half the price that I had from Ways2Well's in-house pharmacy, ReviveRx.

Don't know what your options for getting your script filled, but MedSavers is saving me a lot of money.

---

Did it work well for you? Been taking for a week. Know it is slow, which was the point, first couple days I had a pretty bad headache, but that faded. Have to say I feel pretty good this week.

I believe the Hone script charge is $48 or so. They do play around and only prescribe 28 pills, which will necessitate an extra fill for the year. Not terrible. But there is a charge to use the service and that will add up and doesn't go toward my deductible or anything. If I stay on it, I will want to move it to something that hits my high deductible plan if I can

Absolute said:

---

Aggie Pharmer said:

---

Absolute said:

---

sanitariex said:

---

Agreed. While I was 40 when I started, I also was barely in the "normal" range. I talked to a GP and a urologist, neither would prescribe me because all they looked at was the colorful chart saying "normal." A TRT clinic would prescribe it but I had to come in which doesn't work with my schedule. Eventually I found a telehealth clinic that works with insurance and it has been a game changer for me. Typically average just shy of 1000 when I do my bloodwork and I feel awesome.

---

Care to share the telehealth that works with insurance?

I decided to give it a try with Hone (random choice really.) I knew I would be in the 300s from past testing. Also knew that Straight TRT gave me bad chest and back acne. They prescribed Enclomiphene which is supposed to stimulate natural production and be more gradual to hopefully help with that side effect. They are not, however, working with insurance and seem to have lots of random charges. Figured I would try it to 6 months and then reevaluate. Would be nice to have it go on insurance.

---

I was prescribed enclomiphene 25 mg, qd by Ways2Well. I'm having my prescription filled by MedSavers in Austin. I think it's about $80 for a 2 month supply. This was close to half the price that I had from Ways2Well's in-house pharmacy, ReviveRx.

Don't know what your options for getting your script filled, but MedSavers is saving me a lot of money.

---

Did it work well for you? Been taking for a week. Know it is slow, which was the point, first couple days I had a pretty bad headache, but that faded. Have to say I feel pretty good this week.

I believe the Hone script charge is $48 or so. They do play around and only prescribe 28 pills, which will necessitate an extra fill for the year. Not terrible. But there is a charge to use the service and that will add up and doesn't go toward my deductible or anything. If I stay on it, I will want to move it to something that hits my high deductible plan if I can

---

I was on straight comiphlene about 8 years ago for about 6 months. Took my testosterone from low 300's to above 800, if I remember correctly. Can't recall why I decided to go off of it.

W2W wants me on enclo for 3 months prior to doing a blood draw, so we will see where I'm at in early August or so when I get my next blood draw for them. At 51 years old, my T was about 410 back in February. I'd been feeling pretty dragged down, even with good sleep, so talked with them about both TRT and clomiphene as a way to get energy and mood back up. I was against non-endogenous T (creams or injections) and they agreed. So, I'm on the enclo journey now. After about 2 months on it, I do notice that with good sleep I feel a lot better than I did at this time next last year.

What's your issue with testosterone injections? It's bio identical to what your body produces.

MosesHallEnforcer said:

---

What's your issue with testosterone injections? It's bio identical to what your body produces.

---

I agree with you 100% that exogenous testosterone is bio-identical to the endogenous testosterone produced by the body.

Regarding injections, I think, for me, the main hang up is the IM injection itself. I'm just not a big fan of needles.

So where does that leave me on creams or topicals? I'm not against them, but I feel that the dose isn't as controlled due to the possibility of the ointment/cream transferring from skin to clothing. This is theoretical and nothing I have heavily researched or have experience with, just something identified by my own risk analysis.

My personal POV is that as long as my body's endocrine system is functioning as it should, can make testosterone on it's own, and can be helped to increase production by taking an oral tablet, there's no reason for me to consider exogenous testosterone.

From the wording of your question/statement, it seems like you may have some pretty strong opinions on the subject and I'm not asking you to agree with or adopt mine. Just answering your question.

Understood, I'm just curious where people come from sometimes, what their real objections or hang ups are on certain things.

Enclo kind of falls in that same use case category for an early 30s guy that wants to have a baby, but wants to indirectly raise his testosterone, so tries enclo, testagen, kisspeptin etc.

Test injections are just so easy and cheap and directly work, but if you have issues with needles then that makes more sense.

Also I would agree with you on the creams.

I took enclomiphene for a month or two and it gave me splitting headaches that wouldn't stop, so it didn't work for me.

I self inject my trt but the big secret I discovered is that you can do subcutaneous injections instead of intramuscular - the research I did shows it actually metabolizes a bit slower than IM so the drop on the back end isn't as bad.

Testosterone liquid is thick but i am able to use a 29 gauge needle and inject it into fat (inner thigh or love handle for me doesn't hurt at all). It's been the #1 thing that's helped me turn around my physical health - dropping fat and gaining old muscle back from my 20s. It definitely increases appetite so be careful on diet… my first few months on it I gained a bunch of weight because I became an eating machine, had to fix that.

I still do IM injections, but I agree on the 29ga needle. I was sent 25ga from my doctor, and those left me really sore afterwards. Now I draw with the 25ga and inject with the 29ga and it's much better.

Anyone tried the pellets?

Yes…that was the first thing I tried…horrible experience. First off, the pellets are much bigger than they say, second, they put in way more than they tell you at first…like oh you'll get a few…they literally put 12 in me. My ass cheek was so sore for 2 weeks I couldn't work out at all, and sitting was really uncomfortable. They numb your ass, cut into you then hammer the pellets in. I had nausea for a month because I think my testosterone was too high, but it didn't make me horny or want to work out, I just felt like crap. Then you feel good for a month or two then it tapers off and in months 5-6 you are back to zero.
I will never attempt it again.

SS-31 is super underrated

10 mg a day for 28 days!

— Jesse Morse, M.D. (@DrJesseMorse) June 5, 2026

Seems like a really high dosage.

My most recent run was 5mg daily.

Has anybody tried NaCl BAC water for certain peptides. Supposedly, cuts down some of the side effects.

Need some advice from yall - I'm coming up on day 40 of my wolverine stack. My dosage has been 250mcg BPC + 250mcg TB twice daily.

I've seen mild improvement in a few small injuries. Still chasing more relief in my shoulder & knee.

My plan was to take some time off and come back with 500mcg BPC + 500mcg TB twice daily (aka double my current dosage) for another 40 days.

Is a break in between necessary? If so, how long?

Should I change up my dosage at all?

For an injury we usually do 6 weeks on 1 week break then another 6 weeks.

You can for sure up your dose if you would like on your next round.

jmcfar_98 said:

---

Has anybody tried NaCl BAC water for certain peptides. Supposedly, cuts down some of the side effects.

---

Thoughts on this? My current stuff is rather annoying upon injection. Stingy and itchy for a while. Not terrible, but would be willing to try something wlse

Would be willing to try it with MOTS but only because I'm sitting on like 6 vials of it and cannot really use it right now because of my reaction to it.

I used to get red and itchy every time I cycled certain peptides.

Welts, swelling, sometimes even anxiety out of nowhere.

I thought the compounds were contaminated or my body just couldn't handle them, until I actually looked into what was happening (for research purposes…

— peptidedaily (@peptidedaily_) June 8, 2026

That's a really good post. Also, you can move injection sites as well. Upper thigh is a good spot, or back fat is another one. You can also do IM for any peptide you're having a bad reaction with subq and it will work.

I've done literally all of that and still get an edema-like reaction to MOTS-C. Oh well.

Yall that ordered from peptideplugs... how'd that go? Any issues? Surprises good or bad?

Was shipping fast inside TX?

I ordered on a Sunday, received shipping label the next morning and the package the next day.

Anyone with experience running epithalon? I've been curious about it for awhile and looking to run a cycle for the cellular benefits as well as sleep. Bought some tonight and Thinking about running 0.5 to 1 milligram for 20 days. Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated

I have not run it yet, but when I do I will probably do 1mg/day for 20 days. I have also seen good feedback from people running it together with pinealon.