Fitness influencer David de las Morenas from How to Beast YouTube channel has built an audience of more than a million followers. In a recent video, David announced that he is coming off testosterone replacement therapy after five years of use.
Born in 1989, David is now 36. He started TRT around age 30, at a time when his testosterone levels were not deficient by any clinical standard, sitting in the low 500s ng/dL, a number well within the normal range for an adult man.
“While on TRT after 5 years, I’ve made the very difficult decision to quit,” he said in the video announcing the change.
He has been candid about why he started in the first place.
“I was 30 years old and I was not severely deficient testosterone levels. I got tested. I think I was like low 500s,” he explained. “I had been training naturally for 9 years and I had essentially maxed out my natural gains.”
David wanted to see what TRT could do for his physique under a doctor’s supervision.
Over five years his dose moved around. He began at roughly 200 milligrams a week before eventually settling lower.
“My current dose is 120 milligrams per week. I inject every 3 days,” he said, a reduction from an earlier dose of 140 milligrams.
The reasons for stepping down, and now off, trace back to his blood work. He has acknowledged elevated hematocrit requiring regular blood donation, along with rising blood pressure.
“The rest of my blood markers are always super healthy. Other than, I do try and donate blood once or twice per year because my red blood cells and my hematocrit, it can creep up a little bit,” he said, later adding, “I’ve noticed that my blood pressure runs a little bit high, and likely that elevated hematocrit is not helping.”
Rather than quitting outright at first, he lowered his dose and added HCG.
“I did not get off TRT. I did lower the dose slightly. I was at 140 milligrams before, down to 120 now. Then I introduced HCG,” he said.
Fully coming off will reportedly involve enclomiphene and HCG over a three month window to help restart his own hormone production.
He admitted the decision has been on his mind for a while. “This is something I’ve thought about doing every 3 to 6 months or so, but then I always just push it off,” he said.
David has also pointed to the muscle he gained early on, and how little of it may be permanent. “I’d say I probably put on 10 pounds (4.5 kg) during that first year,” he said of his initial run on TRT, while acknowledging the results plateaued. “It has not unlocked infinite gains for me. Definitely not.”
He noted that he made his decision around getting older and prioritizing his family over his physique. “Bodybuilding is just a little bit lower on my priority list than it was 5 years ago when I made the decision to get started on TRT,” he said.
