Francis "Frank" Castle

Maybe I read it wrong but I read the post with the mention of the $300 min to be that applying to special pricing for board members but you had to min order $300. To just order off of the site at a bit higher prices there wasn't a minimum? If someone could pls clarify.

All of this info and advice is really making the difference for me. Already it has saved me from making a pretty big mistake with my plan of attack, and in addition to everything else, as economics right now are a big factor for me, every penny counts so I can't afford to absorb any stupid mistakes. All of you have my sincere thanks for your help.

@BobTheOldLifter @Shelbysdad Thanks guys, really appreciate the advice/input :{)=

100% agree. I didn't have any reason to think that this new Doc would be an issue until I saw her attitude pull a 360 the minute I mentioned the TRT. She definitively has bias against men in this area. So means to an end it seemed like the best way to deal. Turns out it didnt help a damned bit anyway so....and she did exactly what i thought when she threw the being a little tired and low libido at me like it was meaningless....looking for a new doc now as this wont change sooo...

@Davis1891 Oh no bud I fully agree with you on the Libido thing, trust me, my wife is ugly as hell about it. I just meant that I read my doc as likely trying to use that against me as a vanity thing, not that important (her attitude made me feel that would happen) and 100% not that it wasn't important. As a married guy too I know where you are coming from 1st hand ! We are definitely on the same page I was just trying to end run around her shitty attitude.

I told my new doc something pretty much like that, except I left out the libido part as I didn't want her to have any ammo for any sort of claim of vanity, and she couldn't have cared less. I basically spelled it out for her exactly what was going to happen if we didn't get my levels up ie pain levels go up, pain meds efficacy goes down, no "little bit tired" about it if it is left long enough I'll be bedridden, mental state will drop down a deep dark hole and best case scenario I end up in the hospital. None of this is conjecture on my part as it already happened ONCE because after that my old doc and I kept it in check and my records show that. A few minutes later in the conversation she actually looked at me and said "Being a little tired and low libido isn't enough reason to go on Testosterone Replacement Therapy". I couldn't believe my ears but I'm stuck with her for now because of my other needs. Been a day today though today. Found out my Endo referral that I asked for is end of January, First of February at the earliest and a clinic I was going to go to tomorrow for a consult might just as well be a "time share" seminar as that's basically whats gonna happen if I even bother to still show up for the consult. I asked my pharmacist to look into them because their website is really vague and when I called to ask questions I couldn't get any straight answers, all of which had my gut telling me nope, no way this isn't gonna be good., Anyway my pharmacist is the best dude, and he made some calls to other pharmacists I guess and they clued him in to the racket they have going where they are basically charging for stuff that could be billed to OHIp but they are calling it consultations and evaluations etc etc to getaway with it.They basically size you up at the consult and try to figure how much they can get out of you and try to sign you up for "packages" with the price getting better the more you buy lol. So basically that means now that unless something else presents itself, as in my finding a new doc, I'm going to be doing this myself until at least end of Jan/Feb. At least now I know and can plan it out without being unsure in the time frame etc.

I think volume is important however I think that content is equally as important. I don't think anyone here would take issue with you folks deciding on the over-all merit of posts ie if someone posts a question and then someone else posts a relevant answer, the quality of that answer should weigh in maybe even more than the count of 1 you get for posting it. Like someone asks "What's the best way to boost NO pre-workout" and someone responds "Have you tried Arginine?". Someone else responds 'Well you should try Agmatine, at X dose and try taking it x minutes before work-out and stack it with x and y and if you aren't seeing the results you want boost the dose to here safely etc etc" you get the idea. I think that answer should be weighed more heavily in addition to the credit for the volume count. Some people can attend the board more than others so in this way the ones with less time to attend the board won't necessarily get punished in their chances to win a prize. If the quality of their content makes up a lot for a lower quantity then I think reward for that is good but you guys will have to decide the ratio/merit etc. Also, rewarding the quality of the posts will only benefit the quality of the board by perhaps instilling a sense of actually writing better content every time you post, and definitely not saying there is any issue in that area but any benefit will always be good/better for the community over-all. You definitely don't want people being overly verbose just for the sake of it, and some of us will yak your ear off given an opportunity ( looking in the mirror here lol) but again, that will be for the mgmt to decide where the sweet spot is in any given post etc. Anyway, as a really new guy here I'm slowly working my way through the already posted content and trying to post in where I can contribute something of value but what I have seen so far is a lot of really good content. I think the contest will only make that better, and a little bit of friendly competition driving folks, now and again, is always a good thing IMHO. Cheers

I have used Modafinil fairly extensively. It's bloody awesome except for one very serious shortcoming. You develop tolerance to it so quickly that you really can only use it effectively for short bursts. You can raise the dose some but that is short lived for benefits and you eventually just have to take a break and let your tolerance reset. It has very high bio-availability, even orally, although the exact % isn't really known due to solubility factors but I know peeps who have taken it both orally and intranasal with equal over-all effect just the nasal route had faster onset. My own experience with it was pretty damned good I must say and I wish the tolerance thing wasnt such a factor but I guess you can't have everything lol...The over-all effect on alertness, cognitive function, is a major boost although for actual fatigue it isn't as good, for me anyway, as Ritalin or Dextroamphetamine, both of which I take regularly by prescription, not concurrently but I rotate back and forth. If you get a chance I say by all means give it a go. it's not the "Limitless" drug but it's pretty enjoyable if you like that sort of thing.

Welcome. Lived 9 years in Amherst going back a bit, love the East Coast. Great place here, I'm sure you'll find it as enjoyable as I have.

Welcome! New myself but I can tell you everyone I've met here so far is great. Enjoy!

Super. Thanks, I have a mail drop in the US so its not that much trouble to pop over if its a good savings vs having it shipped. I'll check it out.

I have bought from them when I get their sale flyer and something is on at a real deal. They're kind of a like Popeyes in that it's really the only time that you can buy there where you can't get a better price someplace else. the local Popeyes I buy stuff on sale when I can for price and because I like to support local business if I can but it's not that often.

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I'm finding it very interesting how everyone has their own experience with this stuff and even the docs are on both sides of the questions. As a noob it makes it kinda hard but the learning is really interesting.

@Rosconow @Nissan Thanks guys, much appreciated. After watching that video I looked some stuff up and saw some absolutely horrifying pics lol. I think glutes is the way to go for IM. Thankfully I'm tall so I can use the mirror in our bathroom, cuz I can't imagine trying to do it without that lol....

@Rosconow @NorthernLifters Yikes! All the vids I've watched of people saying ya this is where you do it and not a single one mentioned anything like that. Then here you have Dave Palumbo who even I know who he is (me not being into building or lifting) so no doubt he knows wtf he's talking about. You have no idea my luck man, that would happen to me 1st shot I guaran f'ing tee it, lol... So for a noob like me whats your advice on the best place to stick the pin?

@Rosconow @Blitz Do you guys ever do the IM in the thigh, and if so do you aspirate? I've seen/heard the same mixed advice on that aspect as well.

Thank you, I appreciate your input. It looks like I'm just going to have to try both and see which works for me. I need to watch some more videos of IM injections in places I can reach myself as my wife will never help with this lol....I think alternating thighs is probably the easiest to do by yourself.

Thanks man. Oh crap, I had no idea and it would have never occurred to me in a million years. The man looked amazing in the video I watched. That sucks. From my research he was a real pioneer.

Ya Popeye's is anything but reasonably priced lol and the local one the owner is always hanging about. he's a nice enough guy but he's always got the stuff they are sitting on taking up a big pile in the middle floor and pushing samples on you lol...it's no big deal really but I could do without it as I always know what I need when I'm there and I speed shop hehehe...In and out in a flash with only what I planned on getting.

Thanks mate. I'll take a look. Even if they don't have agmatine, I buy other stuff aside from that and the Citrulline, so always looking for good sources . Much appreciated :{)=

2 of the supplements I take regularly I take in fairly large doses. The doses are large enough that I need to buy them in bulk sizes as there is never enough in Pre-Workouts or other products to do it economically. I bring them in from the US currently and although that isn't a huge issue as I am right on the border basically with Niagara Falls NY and have a mail drop there, if I could get them to my door in the same, or close, price range that would be even better. Citrulline Malate and Agmatine (Preferably AgmaPure or AgMass) are the only ones I need to buy in bulk. The guy at the local Popeyes here near choked on his tongue when I said I needed to source something that would satisfy my 3gram per day Agmatine dose economically lol. The Citrulline Malate is 9/10 grams/day to yield the dose of Citrulline I need (Usually its 2:1 so that gives me 6-7 grams of Citrulline) so even that larger sizes available here normally really aren't big enough to satisfy that without breaking the bank. I've not been able to find anything Canadian that I can verify as a solid source at these doses and good price. Any help greatly appreciated. Cheers.

So while I'm researching trying to learn as much as I can about doing my own TRT I have come across a lot of info and a lot of conflicting info regarding subq vs intramuscular as the methodology for injecting your Testosterone. Dr John Crisler who is a highly respected doc in the industry not only supports subq but also uses that method himself while another highly respected doc Dr Rand Mcclain, while he doesn't condemn it does not support it and is quite clear about his feelings that it is not the way to go. There's a great video of Dr John Crisler actually injecting himself subq and he makes it look super easy and there is lots of research stating efficacy is as good or better that intramuscular. The dude is 60 years old and looks absolutely amazing. Dr John Crisler Subcutaneous Testosterone Injection Demonstration To a beginner like me, subq looks to be easier and less chance of messing up. So anyone that can comment from 1st hand experience I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to respond as I have some 1st hand experience in this area. My sister has thyroid issues and has struggled for years as her tests/bloodwork kept coming back without issue. A close friend of mine same deal. My sister got fed up with being told it wasn't thyroid because the labs kept coming back ok and this is from 2 different Canadian Labs in Ontario, yet she was convinced thyroid was the issue. My friend had tests done from 2 different Labs as well. She had periodically gotten hold of meds or thyroid, whatever it is yu treat with, I'm not knowledgable in that area, and she would feel better after having some of that but as soon as she ran out, BOOM, back to feeling like shit. So my sister decides to go down to the US and have bloodwork done there from now a third lab and guess what, the results came back showing a clear problem. She asked them how the F could she have multiple labs and tests ran on multiple occasions and they all came back showing no issue now here is yours showing the exact issue that I believed was in play. Apparently the lab folks said they see this all the time from Canadians and that the most common labs up here, and primarily CML/Lifelabs use shit equipment to run the assays, their policies on site are rubbish and samples are far to often contaminated, or lost/destroyed and instead of saying that they just send results back showing something in the normal range. Now I can't speak to the veracity of this or say it applies to any other tests they do, but that is what she was told regarding the Thyroid stuff. So she decides that this one test wouldn't be enough to sway her doc so she goes and gets another from a different lab in the US and low and behold, same results as the first US lab and now we have 2 US labs vs 2 Canadian labs with the US labs showing completely different results.. She was due for more bloodwork at CML/Lifelabs in Canada, goes and gets it done and wouldn't you know it comes back same as the rest before, showing no issue. So she goes to the lab and waves the US results under their nose and they stuttered and stammered and had all sorts of reasons why this could have happened but given how many tests came back wrong it had to have been pretty much as the US lab described it or how else could it be possible. So CML/Lifelabs "promises to get to the bottom of it" lol, takes more blood and WOW, it's a bloody miracle, now their test results come back same as the US ones! Their story is that they identified a flaw in the firmware of some such machine or other, ya right, but it's fixed now. Ya ok, I'm sure that's it. Anyway, finally my sister gets the meds she needs and is way better off. So once I found this out I told my buddy and said man, scrape up the cash and head to NY and get this shit done. He does and same deal, results show Thyroid issue that previous labs didn't show. He couldn't afford any more testing or trips to the US but he took those labs back to his doc and told the doc everything I told him and got put on meds and was hugely improved as a result. So this was a couple of years ago and no idea what the state of things is at CML/Lifelabs with this or I think the other lab is "Dyna" or something like that. But in my sister's case she hasn't gotten incorrect labs from CML/Lifelabs ever again, for this issue anyway or anything else that she is aware of. Sorry for the long story but maybe it's worth trying for you and who knows. Cheers

Excatly, the whole normal range, as defined by these labs is nonsense anyway. They take 12 months of data, throw out the top 2% and the bottom 2% and what is left is the range. So you end up with a great depiction of the results from guys who were there being tested because they were either already low or suspected to be so and some who were undergoing therapy and being tested again to evaluate results. 0 Clinical relevance. Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum who is likely the world's leading authority on Fibromyalgia has a great analogy for this stupidity. the normal range of shoe sizes for women say are 6 to 10 and you were a size 9. If I give you a size 7 shoe and say there you go, you aren't going to have much luck with that shoe, wearing it, and then when you tell me it's not the right shoe and describe all your issues as a result of it not being the right shoe well I'll just respond with "But it's in the normal range so you should be fine. Now run along" lololol

Ok, once Tuesday is out of the way I'll know how I have to act for the immediate time and then go from there. North GTA wouldn't be an issue so that could be of help and after Tuesday I make take you up on that so thank-you. I'm not sure where you get the DHEA here but that's a dead easy one to get from the US for cheap if that helps you at all. It boggles my mind we have to pay for some of those tests and CML/Lifelabs doesn't even offer the sensitive estradiol test. There's a lab in Niagara Falls that does and it's like $50 but you are over $200 by the time you pay for all the required ones that as far as I am concerned should be covered by OHIP, or my extended benefits but they arent.