TOPIC: The Thin border between PE and TEA

astroboy wrote: Sounds amazing. Any photos?
I\'m actually getting Fraxel laser treatment in Thailand in a fortnight.

Hi Astroboy,
I posted a picture of my hand after just about the harshest settings which could be dialed in. The forehead had almost as much to avoid having to resort to expensive annual shots of botox. He told me that each syringe of Botox costs him an uncompressible 150 Euros (over $200) and that since in France only plastic surgeons and Dermatologist are allowed to inject it that they\'ve done price fixing to protect this lucrative business. His usual pricing is about 400 Euros ($600) for each injection.
So he was helpful and understanding when I said I wanted to avoid such repeated costs and dialed in a very high setting to better retract the skin of my forehead so that any residual folds when raising my eyebrows wouldn\'t happen anymore. I just took a snapshot in the mirror to show you what it looks like after day 4 of healing. It isn\'t nearly as red as it was before and I\'ve used up a lot of healing cream with Hyaluronic Acid.
Target foldsI would advise to be very cautions when undertaking laser treatments for the skin. It can be either the best or the worst of procedures. I researched it widely through internet forums before deciding to go forth and try it myself. What became rapidly apparent is that beyond the type of machine and technology, what really matters most is the competence and know-how of the person giving the treatment.
Smooth forehead
It is important that you have this done by a medical doctor, and not just any doctor either. It shouldn\'t be a plastic surgeon unless they are highly experienced and specialized in this. The skin is an entirely different field and I recommend having it done as I did, by a leading Dermatologist. Mine is a pioneer in this field heading up hospital research in the applications of laser for Dermatology. It is largely for this reason that my results are splendid, many people have had their skin ruined and suffered permanent damage from lasers which can be extremely aggressive.
The harshest but most effective of machines is the CO2 fractioned laser which he tells me isn\'t the same thing as the gentler Fraxel laser. This is what he has used on me, and it corresponds in effectiveness to a \"medium\" intensity chemical peeling. The Non Fractioned CO2 laser used to be used only for serious medical cases, and required 3-months of hospitalization in a burn victims facility.
And now your turn to tell us, Astroboy how did your sessions go in Thailand?
HC

Note:
For those who read this thread some days back there have been some pictures and links added, in case you want to browse back to previous pages.
HC

Testosterone shot 1-day update
I felt fine upon awakening the day after last evening\'s 250mg Testosterone shot. However, during the day I was grumpy, irritable and griping away. I wondered what had put me in an irascible mood, thinking of a number of things in my life which might be bothering me more deeply, and it suddenly dawned on me: it was probably the Test shot.
I had heard of guys doing test boosting for muscle building workouts getting so irritated that they\'d punch dents into their cars. Now I can see why this might happen, it does make you rather edgy. I also feel like my rib-cage wants to expand stretching at the back, as if I felt like busting out of a corset - reminding me of the way the Incredible Hulk would split out of his shirt during morphing. Funny sensation indeed.
So this means to me either that my test levels were probably not as deficient as I thought and I am possibly at least slightly now over dosage, or that the way these shots work are by releasing too much at the beginning dwindling to not enough at the end? If so this would be a good argument for instead using those 48-hour patches you swap or maybe even test in pill form? In any case I\'m happy I didn\'t start out with the mega shot of 1000mg which lasts 14 weeks, that would have been the whopper.
HC

Do you take any AI to control estrogen?

Aromatase inhibitors are not what you need HC; especially if you are having symptoms from the shot of T. Have your levels of T (free and bound) checked by your endocrinologist or general practitioner. Estrogen can be our enemy especially as we age but taking an AI while adjusting to an increase in overall T in the body can have profound ramifications. One thing at a time friend.

@marcop83
I took Formadrol when I was using Methyl 1-D oral supplements to boost Testosterone, but not with this shot. I plan to try it without messing with estrogen inhibitors because my own body\'s testosterone supplementation isn\'t being stimulated by steroids, or steroid precursers as in the case of that oral product. The injection is actually synthetic Testosterone which supplements your natural levels. While I think it might reduce one\'s natural production because the body detects an excess, it probably won\'t generate more estrogen instead since it isn\'t being supplied with extra hormone precursors, called steroids, themselves generated by a steroid precursor. This means that while the oral methods using weaker substances sound like they are \'softer\' methods, they actually might tend to be more uncontrollable in terms of the results produced. What I want is testosterone and not estrogen, by direct injection into muscle tissue that\'s what I\'ve got.
HC

@Miracle7
You will I\'m sure correct my last post if I figured it out wrong, since you know a lot about these substances to which I am pretty new. I am learning fast the hard way, by trial and error. At least with these shots there are probably less odds of retraction than with my last batch lol. Let me know what to look out for regarding estrogen, other than a higher pitched voice, shrinking testes and moobs. I would rather react sooner than later if need be. A penis is hard enough to grow chemically without having to recover it from shriveling up.
HC

Testosterone shot day 2 update
This is the second day since my Test shot and I can say that the earlier symptoms have pretty much disappeared and I feel a lot more normal that yesterday. So it is likely a reaction of the body adapting to a rapid surge in heightened levels, which are now softer and gentler in their effect. I feel a bit more energetic and as if I had greater energy reserves, but not really more muscular or powerful. Then again I\'m not doing exercise but convalescing at home for other reasons. That\'s probably not the ideal context in which to inject Test, as it is said to help build up muscle even with short stints of intense workouts.
HC

Testosterone shot day 3 update
This is the third day since my Test shot and it is interesting to observe certain changes. Yesterday I was famished as I have seldom been, thinking that it must have been due to the three months of continuous weight loss since Easter. I lost in that time about 40lbs. That was one of the reasons I wanted to get on Test, because not only did I lose body fat from dieting and various procedures described earlier in this thread, but also I lost a good bit of muscle mass.
So I figured that the Testosterone was stimulating my appetite and not that I was simply losing it and breaking out of my diet. Not that I had been trying to limit food intake in any way, but my stomach had shrunk quite a bit making the impression of being full come more quickly. Yesterday however I kept on having the urge to eat, and I did so taking care to ensure my intake was as healthy and as varied as possible. Finally by evening I felt satisfied, having eaten more than twice my usual meals.
This morning I woke up feeling good and healthy and with zero appetite. So it was in my view not so much that the Testosterone was making me hungry, but tht it had set in motion a lot of cell building activity in my body which made me crave food to supply the necessary nutrients for this increase in activity.
Another funny thing which happened is that I got confirmation that the feeling that my chest and back were stretching was not entirely in my imagination. I recently bouth a dozen Cuban shirts of very high quality in my new \"small\" size. They looked cool because they were well adjusted to my new thin silhouette and there was no extra room to spare for a perfect fit. This morning when I got up I put one on and noticed thta it pulls at all its front buttons, it seems I gained Girth but in the back and chest. Could this be because being in convalescence and often in bed that the back muscles are those which have been most slicited calling them to develop first, or could it be that in the horizontal position that\'s where most of the blood-flow is and the highest testosterone building activity?
HC

@ HunkChunk... I dont know if you mentioned it before but i just was interested to know how old are you?

@New1inch
A decade older than Miracle7 who always says how he\'s older than everyone lol. And yes, the scary natural phenomenon of Andropose was starting to settle in. It makes for a larger scale combat than simple Phalloplasty with the battle staged on several fronts as you will see in this entire thread as time progresses. Each battle won the war continues as it is also a war on an invincible enemy called ageing.
HC

@EP
Actually the forehead got tightened during my first two sessions, the third one wasn\'t because I had loose skin but because by taking out the slack you noticed a lot more the marks from frowning that make horizontal lines, I\'ve even seen these on guys in their twenties. The normal solution to this is usually botox injected into the muscles which contract and produce them, but it only lasts a year and is overpriced due to patent protection as well as the lack of competition when only certain doctors can inject.
My doctor was helpful and went that extra mile, to try to reduce the skin available for the folds. It is still there a bit as it has only been a week\'s time, but right after that last photo with it smooth and red I washed it and the flakes came off revealing brand new skin underneath. It is pink and irritated but I continue with the hyaluronic healing cream and in the past three days it has faded to a more normal shade and looks fresh and smooth.
There are still residual lines which do bother me yet, but it takes a full month to see the final result of the retraction and new collagen growth... yes it is collagen also on your face and not just in your pants lol. So I think this might suit our game plan, to reduce the problem to an acceptable level until Botox becomes a generic making future maintenance a cost-effective solution.
HC

Testosterone shot day 5 update
My appetite has been continuously ravenous but I only gained a couple of pounds since the shot. I worried that it acted only as an appetite stimulant which would lead me to increased fatty tissues but apparently it works mostly by building muscle. Today I had resolved to fast to compensate yesterday\'s excesses. And I went for a long walk to work out some energy and restart a bit of physical activity after a long period of convalescence. While walking I was taken by hunger, not the nervous munchies but real hunger. So I figured there must be some physical need for nourishment and when I got home I renounced fasting instead resolving to eat veggies mostly. Then I checked and noticed that my biceps, without any notable physical activity, have seemed to have regained some of their lost Girth in only a few days. So I assume that testosterone has stimulated muscle cell buildup which is calling upon nutritional resources causing the hunger.
HC

Bingo. The increase in appetite is normal. Muscle helps burn fat. Even with a moderate increase in overall caloric intake, if you exercise, you should be able to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat. That\'s part of the beauty of T. Good choice to go with veggies. If possible, stick with organic. If not, make sure to wash them really well. You don\'t want your body bombarded with xenoestrogens. Cheers mate!

@Miracle7
Thanks for accompanying my efforts with your very helpful expert advice. You\'ve already saved me from the estrogen consequences of Gonadotropin injections, potential impotence from DHT cream applied to the testes and diminishing my libido with Adovart that counters DHT. So I am very grateful for your warnings and am a bit worried that I might now be pumping out estrogen from the Testosterone shot?
Yesterday morning I noticed that my very mild gynecomastia had suddenly increased in volume. It was very small to the point that it looked like a small curve of fatty tissues which could easily pass for chest muscles. Now it seems that with my greater food intake that I am starting to grow Moobs... There is a layer of fat which has now starts much higher from the upper chest below my shoulders downward, giving a convex shape that is starting to look like... boobs?
I don\'t know if it is simply gaining the five pounds since eating more after the shot, but it\'s the first time that the weight has gone first to that spot. I started yesterday taking Formedrol once again, as this is the only anti-estrogen I\'ve got. I took four pills and today plan to take more. I hope this works, and I\'ll try to curb my food intake to reduce the tendency for fat to accumulate there. I will be doing an intense swimming regimen next week since after my surgeries the doctor banned the gym.
Thanks if you can advise on what to do, since that testosterone is inside and can\'t be taken out. lol. I guess if I do work out swimming a whole lot it will use up any calories so there won\'t be so much fat to swell them up...
HC