Testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, has seen a surge in both popularity and profile in recent years, with prescriptions in the UK increasing 22% year-over-year in 2023. This rise in prescriptions has been mirrored by TRT’s increasing prevalence in the media and the amount of information available about the treatment both in academia and online.
The benefits of TRT, it’s safety profile and side effects have all been widely documented but what happens if you stop with your treatment plan? To help answer this question, and to help you make informed decisions about your own treatment, health and wellbeing, we’ve taken a look at the most current clinical research as well as our experience helping thousands of patients over the years.
Can I come off TRT at any time?
Yes, you can simply stop TRT at any time without any life-threatening side effects. However the rapid shift in your body’s hormone levels can cause a resurgence of the symptoms of low testosterone you were experiencing pre-treatment. For this reason we often use medications like HCG alongside TRT to keep your body producing it’s own testosterone whilst you’re on treatment.
What happens when you come off TRT?
Stopping TRT will put your body through a range of changes where it adjusts to the lack of exogenous (supplementary) testosterone. These effects can vary depending on a range of factors, like the length of your treatment, your pre-treatment testosterone levels, your body’s baseline ability to produce the hormone and whether you have been concurrently taking a treatment alongside testosterone that keeps the body’s natural production going whilst on TRT..
In a typical patient taking TRT alone, here’s what happens when they come off TRT:
Drop in testosterone levels
While your body’s natural testosterone production will usually recover, it can take anywhere from weeks to months for this to happen, depending on how suppressed it was. Also, if you have been receiving TRT for an extended and sustained period of time, your body may struggle to produce natural testosterone on its own. During this period the symptoms that you experienced prior to starting TRT return, but more marked than they were previously. If your body’s natural production has been switched off for a period of time, you are unlikely to regain all of your previous function.
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms
Research shows that some men can experience withdrawal symptoms after stopping TRT. The withdrawal symptoms can include:
- Fatigue
- Mood swings
- Anxiety
- Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
Loss of muscle mass
Where testosterone encourages protein synthesis and muscle mass growth, stopping TRT can lead to loss of that muscle mass, especially if testosterone levels drop significantly. Due to hormonal imbalances, it is not uncommon to also experience increased fat gain
Lower libido and erectile dysfunction
After stopping TRT some men report a decreased sex drive and erectile dysfunction, which can be persistent if your body does not recover fully.
How to minimise the effects of stopping TRT?
To help minimise any negative effects caused by stopping TRT, there are a number of methods a doctor can suggest. Deciding which one is right for a patient depends on a range of factors, and is subjective and should always be discussed with you. These methods are:
- Post-cycle therapy that uses medications to help restart natural testosterone, LH and FSH production.
- Gradually tapering off from TRT by lowering the dose instead of quitting suddenly.
- Lifestyle adjustments like maintaining a proper diet, sleep pattern, exercise routine and managing stress can help maintain hormonal balances.
How we work with you at Omniya
At Omniya, all of our expert doctors and support staff have a strict patient-first approach where we will always work with you to get the best outcome from your treatment for your physical and mental wellbeing. When it comes to administering TRT, we use constant ongoing testing and monitoring to ensure that side effects are avoided and that your treatment is as efficacious as possible.
