I was on a journey for greater knowledge regarding our friend "Mr. T." This journey took place on foot, in person, and online. It was also well worth it.

Many of us who participate in the iron game do so for the greater glory of having a body better than Homer Simpson. At times, we take HOT-ROX for cutting up, or Surge in order to set the right hormonal milieu for muscular supremacy. Some people choose to use Testosterone or its closely related cousins to aid in muscledom and yet others think even the mention of the word steroid is analogous to hinting that you're a fan of antichrist.

I say whatevah. To each his own. So in that vein, I share with you another way to obtain legal T, a sort of follow-up article to Cy's famous " Your Doctor, Your Dealer" article.

Before you shy away, please be aware that one of the side effects of Testosterone and its related esters is to induce azo or oligospermia. This is the lowering of the sperm count to near nil or actual nil. The lowering of sperm activity or production to these levels leaves a man temporarily infertile (usually). It's also for this reason that many bodybuilders use HCG towards the end of a cycle – to kick back natural Testosterone production and to avoid being thought of as "less than a real man."

The essence of this article is to provide you with a better understanding of male hormonal contraceptive therapy and how, if you're interested, the therapy is a very real way to get free T treatment and medical monitoring.

Yup, that's right, free T for anyone of you who care about population control (and of course want a boost in muscle recovery and a beach born body...).

Is T for you?

If I understand my friends at the National Institutes of Health correctly, the answer is yes. The NIH states:

"The lack of progress in developing affordable, safe, effective and reversible male contraceptives is due not to the biological complexity involved in suppressing spermatogenesis, but rather to social and economic/commercial constraints... making these new contraceptives widely available on the market will require collaborative efforts that bring together the full spectrum of biological, epidemiological, and biobehavioral research and their political interfaces with the public. In the end, all of these factors must be addressed to help resolve sociocultural impediments to using these techniques as well as industry fears of litigation should they choose to market these novel products."

Long winded, yes, but this statement clearly allows those of us who may want T therapy from their doc to get it as a method of male contraception. Don't turn away just yet – let's see what the research says concerning dosage, effect and safety.

Recently, a large multi-center clinical trial was completed in China. The trial was designed to test the effectiveness of Testosterone undecanoate (TU) therapy as a male contraceptive. Three hundred eighty healthy men were recruited to receive an average dose of 750 mg of TU monthly, for 12 months.

For the first six months, all participants received 1000 mg of TU in order to induce azo or oligospermia, which they termed "suppression therapy." The participants were then rolled into a lower TU dose of 500 mg per month.

The data found that 1000 mg of TU had a failure rate as a male contraceptive aid in about 3% of those treated and the 500 mg dose had a failure rate of about 5%. Two-percent of men who went from the 1000 to 500 mg TU dose experienced a reappearance of spermatozoa.

The authors found TU to be effective as a male contraceptive aid in 94.8% of all men tested (very effective). More importantly, at least to your doctor, is that this study also found that there were no serious side effects and no significant changes in blood tests throughout the study. Testosterone (circulating) levels were elevated by 131% during the treatment, while LH and FSH decreased by 72 and 70% respectively. However, the good cholesterol – HDL – did decrease by 14% during the study.

All hormones and bodily functions normalized after the study was concluded.

The authors did note that study participants did gain weight and the "profound anabolic effect" was found to be the greatest degree when the 1000 mg TU dose was used. Additionally, the researchers noted that this type of TU usage may increase lean-body mass, muscle strength, and energy in some people who receive it (big surprise). Furthermore, the authors found that TU in dose volumes of 4ml administered monthly may be more easily tolerated when castor oil is used instead of the typical tea-seed oil.

Other T Esters for Your Mating Pleasure

Testosterone enanthate (TE) has been widely studied as a male contraceptive agent. In fact, weekly 200 mg intramuscular injections of TE have been found to have a dual purpose – both as Testosterone-replacement therapy and as a male contraceptive aid. Perhaps we can talk good ol' doc into giving us TE for both uses.

A slew of studies sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 200 mg weekly TE shots is a reliable, effective, and reversible male contraceptive aid with minimal side-effects. The success rate of TE for inducing a low sperm count is 98%. However, since TE has to be injected so frequently, many doctors might prefer to give you Testosterone undecanoate (a longer acting T). Unfortunately, TU isn't available on the American market (but you can find it in Mexico), so it's a moot point if your flag is red, white, and blue.

The Population Council (a division of the WHO) has a long-standing interest in using a nandrolone derivative as a male contraceptive agent. Specifically, the agent used is known as 7-alpha-methyl-19-nortestosterone ("MENT"). MENT is the trademarked name for this implantable drug (also available as a gel).

The chemical structure of MENT is such that it closely resembles Testosterone, yet it has no negative impact on the prostate. The studies on MENT strongly indicate that it has an anabolic effect (hormonal replacement therapy) and after treatment ceases, the wiggle tails are back swimming normally, as if nothing ever happened.

The research further indicates that the men to date that have participated in MENT studies prefer to have the implant rather than rub the gel on themselves.

If you live in America and want to participate in a T-based study, I currently know of two US centers actively recruiting men – UCLA Harbor Medical Center and the University of Washington Department of Medicine.

Contact Drs. Swerdloff and Wang at UCLA and Drs. Bremmer and Amory at the U of W if you're intested.

In lieu of that, you might want to share this article (and the references) with your physician as a reason why he/she should prescribe hormonal therapy for you, but first consider that your race can have an impact on the success of this treatment as a male-contraceptive aid. For example, in Caucasians, Testosterone-induced azospermia occurs in only 60-70% of those treated, while if you're of Indonesian or Chinese descent, the success rate is greater than 90%.

Are there others ways to get T from your doctor?

Yes. To start with, read the Cy Wilson article on "scoring T" that I mentioned above. Secondly, there's a plant pigment sold as a dietary supplement known as gossypol that is known to cause a sharp, strong drop in your T stock–so much so that real T-therapy is indicated.

Also, the dietary supplements in the norandrostendione and norandrostendiol family have been known to induce sub-normal readings of both free Testosterone and total Testosterone.

Many people who used these early prohormones (these are not the same as those found in Biotest's MAG-10 or 4-AD-EC) experienced the nor-induced T shutdown and to make matters worse, their muscle or strength were no better for the effort! However, if tempered correctly – you may be able to induce a temporary azo or oligospermia from these dietary supplements and have your doctor prescribe you either TE or TU for weekly or monthly support therapy. Again, experimenting on your own is up to you and you only!

Putting it all together

Research sponsored from the WHO and also being carried out all over the world indicates that both TE and TU can be used safely as a male contraceptive aid. The data also tells us that the doses used in the studies (200 mg/week to 1000 mg per month) can aid in weight, muscle, and strength gain while not causing permanent disruption of your ability to produce offspring from what Woody Allen calls "the most important organ in the male body."

Just remember, T therapy as a male contraceptive agent is very worthwhile and may even help us T-men in more than one way.

References

1. Gu Yi-Qun, Hai Xing Wang, et al. A multicenter contraceptive efficacy study of injectable testosterone undecanoate in healthy Chinese men. J Clin Endo & Metab 2003;88(2):562-568.
2. MaleContraceptives.org
3. PopCouncil.org/biomed/malecontras.html
4. ReproLine.jhu.edu
5. AndrologySociety.com/resources/handbook/ch.18.html
6. The real quote from Woody Allen is that "the brain is the second most important organ in the male body."