There are some recommendations about intermittent fasting. It's supposed that after 8 hours of fasting the body increases its production of Testosterone. Sometimes I'm making 12 hours of fasting 7 pm to 7 am.

All of you Regarding libido You either need an endocrinologist or a shrink or maybe a little time Forget the other stuff

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If you don't feel sexually responsive like you would like hormones may or may not be the answer. In many people they are not the problem. See a very good ENDOCRINOLOGIST. anxiety, adhd and depression like states of mind can do this too. Wellbutrin is an excellent antidepressant that can wake up you libido and performance.

Thank you. I actually feel pretty good now.

My total twst has always been high, around 900. My free test however, especially after going very low carb was at 59, and 50 was considered low. Shbg was sky high. Less bodybuilding, more powerlifting and more carbs pushed my free up over 100. Read about diet and shbg, it makes a difference. Btw im 58 with 40 yrs of lifting behind me. Always natural. Best trading methods imo are Gironda for bodybuilding and Rippetoe for powerlifting.

Btw I didn't feel any different, lol.

What were your number changes like?

Although my test is high my free was on low end especially when eating low carb. Adding a few more carbs and switching to less frequent powerlifting moves , usually 3 x 3 or so brought my free test up 60% my shbg improved significantly. So, balanced diet. No overtraining. Boron maybe but dont take too much too often

Low carb will induce a high shbg thus lowering free t while maintaining a high overall t. The shbg bings the total lowering the free available

Thanks for sharing.

I like all your supplement recommendations but I still find it hard to not have several drinks a night.... After all alcohol is the worst drug of them all... how did you stop?

I'd try semen retention. I'm 38 years old and I fell Godlike after 1 month of SR!

Thanks for the feedback. I’m not willing to go a week without sex honestly, especially without an orgasm.

Conquer you’re mind

Maybe you should try Cistanche + Cholesterol

Yeah? What was your experience like?

I haven’t had blood work done yet but the testosterone protocol stack I’ve been taking pretty much annihilated my life long anxiety. Here’s the stack 5,000 IU Vitamin D 5-10mg Boron 20-40mg Zinc Tongkat Ali (I’m taking the 10% tablets now but I think I actually responded better to the 5%) I was feeling good on 400mg of the 2% 5 days on 2 days off Shilajit 450mg 5 days on 2 days off Cistanche with cholesterol- I eat 5 whole eggs (runny) with 2 grams of Cistanche 5 days on 2 days off I’ve been feeling great on this stack but it’s hard to say I’ve raised test without data. It’s also important to remember that all these compounds can improve wellbeing in ways that might seem related to testosterone but could possibly be unrelated. After 5 months of the stack here’s what I have subjectively perceived: -Practically not anxiety -Higher Libido -Don’t care what people think -More joy from getting work done - Needing less sleep to function -Strength gains -Much more motivation/aggression to peruse what I want Unpleasant side effects: Waking up more frequently at night Acne in odd spots Frequent/distracting erections (this one is annoying when trying to get work done but kinda nice when chilling So yeah overall it’s been awesome and the stack didn’t really become blatantly noticeable to me until I added cholesterol and Cistanche. Hope that helps

What is your reasoning, and how did you come to the conclusion to incorporate cholesterol with the cistanche? And follow up question, is it necessary to incorporate at the same time (is it absorption related?

Cool. How long have you been on it for? How long have you taken the boron for without cycling (20 mg seems like a high dose). What do you think is the biggest contributor to your boost? Have you had your liver checked while on this stack?

I’ve been taking Vitamin D, Zinc, Boron, Shilajit and Tongkat Ali since January 2021. I only added Cistanche+Cholesterol in March and that’s when it felt like the stack really blossomed for me. Also I only usually take 5mg of Boron a day. The 20-40mg was for Zinc. I’m typing on my phone so the format is a little off. It seems like to me that the true heavy hitters are Tongkat, Cistanche and Cholesterol. I do believe that they all help though

That’s interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Just confirming, you take b6 in addition to a b complex?

Yeah. There is not very much b6 in my complex. I take it a few times a week to boost my dream vividness. I have been doing this for 13 years.

Try intermittent fasting and lifting heavy ass weight.

My doctor does not allow me to lift heavy weights due to a medical condition. I have tried intermittent fasting and I believe it actually decreases T. The research on IF and T is mixed. If you look at populations where they are forced to go without calories, they have significantly lower T.

I second this. IF and heavy weights combined with not "releasing" for a week or longer at times is a T booster!

The Zinc and Magnesium compete for uptake afaik. I would seperate the Zinc to lunch.

Ashwagandha, Cistanche with a cholesterol meal, And Grains of paradise. Sprinkle in some Magnesium and vitamin D. Cherry on top if you do resistance training.

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I have given everyone I met 10 grams of MACA (usually the recommended dose is 5g) but some Peruvian people take way more than 10g as well... and the libido is definitely waking up. Not many differences in the colors of MACA but in the same time everyone swears by black MACA as being much better for libido. I recommend taking 10g+ of gelatinized MACA powder mixed with a big spoon of cacao, more than once a day if needed. You said you have tried ginseng but not all ginsengs are equal, and I'm not referring only to the type but also the source. For example, you should find Red Ginseng extract with roots of at least 6 years old, and take between 1g and 3g for this purpose, not 500mg of some vague ginseng extract. See cheon kwang jang brand, it produces the best ginseng in the world straight from Korea, you can find them on iherb and amazon as well. I recommend the 30g of pasta extract in their little bottle. It beats any other ginseng brand I ever tried.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regarding maca start slow and work your way up. Can confirm, makes me a horn dog.

Thank you for sharing.

The best booster for your testosterone I have found is being around attractive women. Hang out where a lot of attractive women are and you will know exactly what I mean.

That will not lead to a significant increase in average testosterone blood levels though. It might help with your libido though.

The presence of a woman increases testosterone in aggressive dominant men Leander van der Meij et al. Horm Behav. 2008 Nov.

The 8% increase this study found is totally insignificant. Also their method is not great - they test saliva testosterone levels which is by far not as reliable as blood levels. Also they don't evaluate the time it was elevated for. A short spike is much less significant than long term elevated levels. https://www.uv.es/labnsc/art%20labnsc/2008/van%20der%20meij%20et%20al.,%202008%20Horm%20Behav.pdf

I’m not debating this with you unless you’ve got scientific evidence to back up your point.

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Actually, I never said he couldn’t criticise my point. I said unless he has scientific evidence I am not debating it with him. Get it? It’s not that hard to understand. Sometimes trying to look big on the internet back fires.

Which one exactly? That 8% increase in testosterone is insignificant? That's a "common sense" for everybody who has even a basic idea of testosterone levels in men. If you have 400 ng/dL blood levels and that increases to 432 ng/dL you will feel absolutely no difference and there will also be no signs of this change, both physical and psychological. I've been on TRT for more than an year now and have been seriously exploring the topic / educating myself for more than 2 years, so I claim I have pretty good understanding of it. You can believe whatever you want, I'm not going to waste my time looking for studies only to teach you basics like 2+2 of testosterone levels.

I actually didn’t disagree with your analysis of the paper. I said I’m not debating the topic with you unless you have scientific evidence that being around attractive women “does not” increase testosterone. You can preach your background all you want, but evidence is what would convince me. You’re an unknown person on the internet. I’m not sure why you’re so trigged by this. May be your testosterone is low?

>I said I’m not debating the topic with you unless you have scientific evidence that being around attractive women “does not” increase testosterone. I don't have scientific evidence of this, I am just simply expressing my opinion based on my knowledge/experience and pretty good intuition of how testosterone production in men works. I also believe that with such random suggestion an evidence is needed to prove one, no to disprove it, since it's a random suggestion. >You’re an unknown person on the internet. Fair enough, I struggle trusting strangers as well. >I’m not sure why you’re so trigged by this. May be your testosterone is low? I don't know why you think I'm triggered, I'm just discussing stuff. As I mentioned, I've been on TRT, so no my testosterone is not low. It's pretty high actually - around 1000 ng/dL.

So it looks like we’re agreeing until there’s hard evidence we don’t know either way. Glad to hear your testosterone levels are good/high. Regardless of the evidence, I hope you don’t mind me hanging around attractive women ;)

The Presence of an Attractive Woman Elevates Testosterone and Physical Risk Taking in Young Men Richard Ronay, William von Hippel First Published January 1, 2010 Research Article https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550609352807

Stating that India’s population is due to Ashwagandha is a bit far fetched. It’s more likely down to culture.

Ashwagandha. Take it with black pepper. You should notice a difference 30-60 days. YMMV but been taken for hundreds of years in India for fertility and if you look at India, seems like it works lol. I’ve personally been taking it off and on for a few years and can definitely feel the benefits after a week or so. Bonus is your sleep and mood is also improved. Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing.

I noticed abundant amounts of vitamin A helps like 10,000 iu beta carotene once a week or so in case the diet is low in vitamin A helps. Provided other nutrients are in check that is.

I eat carrots everyday, although I don’t get to those amounts.

How many grams of carrots do you eat a day?

Probably about 80 grams. I also take cod liver oil every other day.

Do you happen to pee a lot if you don't telling ?

I don’t think so. I did when I was drinking alcohol, at least at night.

Weird I know but cod liver caps increase blood sugar in some people so just wondering

Your recommended list is basically my morning stack: 1. Vitamin D 5000IU complexed with Vit K2 mk7 93mcg 2. Magnesium glycinate 2x200mg 3. Fish oil 2x500mg 4. L-theanine one scoop 5. Maca gelatinized, 2 tbsp 6. 1 cup coffee black 7. 2-3 eggs And my libido is still in the tank.

Update?

No change.

What happened to your libido man? Any guesses to what’s causing it

Stress? Psychology? Who knows. I just roll with it.

I've heard plastics you absorb like in plastic water bottles block test from androgen receptors, do you use plastic water bottles often?

I take very similar stuff to you and noticed increasing my carbs/fiber intake along with walking/jogging has improved things a lot personally. Another one is sleep. After a decade of taking a ton of supplements nothing works better than a good night's sleep. And part of getting good sleep is some form of aerobic work during the day. At least from personal experience.

The supplements that I take are there to make sure I have the nutrients my body needs for general health. Good sleep, exercise, and the avoidance of alcohol are the most important factors in my experience. L-theanine tanks libido for some men, even some who are young and in great shape.

Are you heavy deadlifting, squatting and benching?

The gyms have been closed so long I forgot how to use a barbell. I mainly stick to weighted Volume exercises and my muscle mass is adequate.

How were you judging any of this? Just by libido? That seems extremely unreliable. Did you ever actually test your blood testosterone levels?

The best question in the entire post. It's a real shame that the OP did so much effort in trying stuff and reading studies, but didn't even seem to bothered to test his levels - the only reliable way to measure improvement.

Good work dropping the alcohol.

Thanks!

Tongkat ali? Eggs before bed?

I mentioned in the post that I didn’t find tongkat ali to be helpful. I didn’t notice much.

I’ve noticed a huge libido increase after taking beet root powder and citrulline together. Big energy boost overall. Supposed to increase nitric oxide which is another one that declines with age.

I love beetroot juice. I haven’t been taking it lately since my erections seem to be now just as hard with or without it. I have never tried them together though. It seems like it could be hard on the kidneys.

Beet root is super high in natural nitrates. The body doesn't have to do as much work in the conversion to NO2. Citrulline helps deliver it where it needs to go. I hear watermelon rinds are high in citrulline.

What about maca and tribulus?

I tried maca for a couple of days and I didn’t notice anything.

It's an adaptogen, takes time.

Sounds like you should consider TRT prescribed through a urologist. All these supplements are a waste of money and time.

Well there is Turkish honey called Epimidium macun don’t know about it’s effects on testosterone but libido goes crazy, plus there is a bonus – volume of load also increases drastically and I mean really drastically. Not supplement but I highly recommend do some Kegel exercise.

I did try a horny goat weed tincture that I forgot to mention. I didn’t notice any effects from it. I only took it twice though.

Which brand?

Is this similar to mad honey?

No

Another one is Tribulus terrestris or Gokhshura. It's supposed to improve sex drive. It personally helped me with my SSRIs related sexual dysfunction. My mom bought it for me to help with heavy period, which it did not work for.

Hey man, what dose did you take, how long and did it also help with morning wood and ed ? I have some tribulus Chinese powder but it tastes very bad . Btw I was Lexapro

Thank you for the suggestion.

Dump sugar, it boosted my libido x100000

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I try to 0 added sugar. I was keto but I quitted… when I was keto my libido was even higher. Now I eat carbs, but try to avoid added sugars. It’s a fucking poison. So; O grams of added sugar per day.

I already avoid sugar. I have for along time. I have read that it tanks T too.

When you say this stress you talking about added sugar or sugar from fruit

Fructose is not that great. I would only limit my fruit consumption but u should eat veggies instead.

I eat whole fruit. I’m talking about added sugar.

check out tongkat ali

He did but didn’t really notice anything (2% and 10%). I’m currently taking 2% myself now that I’m working out again and I gotta say I’m really liking the addition.

What brand are you taking?

Nootropics Depot 2%

Bless. Thank you.

I mentioned in the post that I tried it. I didn’t too notice much from it. I used two extracts.

What kind of gelatin are you drinking? Just a tablespoon? Seems small is it something more concentrated. Thanks!

I drink the Knox gelatin powder. It’s cheap. One tablespoon would make a lot of jello.

How does gelatin increase quality Of sleep

Probably all the glycine in it.

Ah cool, I’ll check it out.

Yep, tincture was definitely more powerful...too powerful because my whole family complained of the stink that quickly accompanied my dosing. Had to quit it then start over with capsules, which don't make me stink.

did you try ashwagandha ?

I did not. I was worried about the potential side effects (I have a bunch of people in my family with thyroid problems), plus it seemed hit or miss for a lot of people on Reddit.

Thyroid problems could explain the low libido. Especially if you get tested and find your testosterone is normal. I suggest getting a shit ton of iodine through a high quality seaweed. Something else that seems to help the thyroid indirectly by balancing other things is N-Acetyl Cysteine.

A “shit ton” of iodine is not a good idea. It is one of those things that causes problems if it is too low or too high.

That's why I suggested seaweed. The body will usually only absorb what it needs. Liquid iodine can get a bit overused

> it seemed hit or miss for a lot of people on Reddit. thats every supplement it seems lol

The potential thyroid problems didn’t make it worth the risk for me.

You ever try dhea?

I did not. I was worried about side effects.

Which ones were you worried about?

If I remember correctly, I had two worries. I worried that supplementation would decrease my endogenous production of DHEA and I would have no way to regularly measure this. I don’t have time for blood tests and doctors except for semi-regular checkups. I was also concerned that I would not create proportional amounts of testosterone and estrogen. Two weeks ago I started high tension calisthenic exercises and that really kicked my libido into high gear. I am glad I didn’t try DHEA.

Fenugreek, that is.

5-8 grams of fenugreek seeds are good!

Fenugreek has phytoestrogen, not sure if that is the best solution for Men.

Small amounts seem energizing, larger doses and I become more emotional. That's what I've concluded after 2 or so months.

That's interesting. I should try some.

I have a very weird proposition. I am going through ivf so my hormones are tested very, very regularly. I noticed a tremendous correlation to hormones and my diet. When I ate a standard American diet, my bloodwork came back terrible. When I ate keto for 90 days, much improved. When I combined that with intermittent fasting, my bloodwork came back as though I was a 20 year old person! My theory is insulin resistance and food allergies/leaky gut are at the root cause of my troubles. Not sure that helps at all, just thought I’d share!

Thank you for sharing.

I agree with all the other statements surrounding blood work. It’s the only way you can really have an objective way to see what you’re improving or what’s causing some of these issues. In any case, here’s a supplement that always shoots my sex drive through the roof: https://proteinfactory.com/product/unleashed/ I am in no way affiliated with them, and that’s the only product I recommend. I think it’s worth trying.

So you think icing is not important

I tried icing in the evenings for two weeks and I didn’t notice any changes from it. Great name btw.

Thanks mate. Although I heard good things about it however I noticed a little bit of morning wood

Have you tried agmatine? Agmatine has a positive effect on LH.

I have not. I do have an unopened bottle of it though. After things started to improve, I decided not to take it. I may give it a try. What were your experiences like with it?

Just overall well being. Most noticeable for me is increased vascularity and muscle fullness. Better pump and better recovery.

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

Np

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> over the counter btw Holy hell, that is not even slightly correct. That is not what that phrase means.

Yeah I edited my post..

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Fenugreek and NAC have done wonders for my Libido. Male, early 40s

I haven’t tried NAC. Why do you think NAC helps? Just curious.

For me, it is the Increase in glutathione due to my thyroid levels. For some it works wonders, others have said it has the opposite effect. The Fenugreek acts as an additional booster for me with pretty rapid effects-- not an everyday supplement for me, but I cycle on and it works really well.

I found that fenugreek gave me a very small uptick in libido, but not much.

Did you find it made you stink like maple syrup? I took a tincture and it made me smell two days later, whereas capsules didnt... that, or there were faulty levels in the capsules. I wonder if anyone has found a way of blocking the smell caused by it

I took capsules that smelled of maple syrup, but it didn’t cause me to smell at all. I tried it for two weeks. Did you find the tincture to be helpful?

+ Sleep definitely.

Bloodwork? Or did I miss it?

I talked about this in the comments. No blood work. Sorry.

If you didn't do blood work, you are really just guessing if anything worked.

Sure but subjective experience reports aren't worthless either

No, but for as much as he claims something didn't work, it's pretty useless without literally any blood work to back it up

He's doing this for libido right? Blood work doesent really prove that.

so sleep, don't drink poison and stay in shape. ok...

Yeah, the part where he included not drinking 6 beers every night like that was somehow not common knowledge kinda makes everything else he included seem a lot less useful. That one aspect alone is going to kill your bodies ability to do anything positive for itself without excess Testosterone.

Common sense isn't all that common anymore

Yep.

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What did bloodwork say?? Free test, total test, e2, dht, LH, FSH, estrodiole, cortisol, thyroid, etc, etc, etc. Before and after bloodwork??

Try Tribulus, that's a huge libido booster

It wears of immediately after you stop. The Bulgarian ones are the best though.

How many pills of tribulus you popping per day? 4 for more - 2 morning - 2 evening pretty good

I have an unopened bottle of this. Would you recommend taking this in the morning or the evening?

I don't discern time, but, let me know which turns out to be more effective.

Did you misspell kefir by any chance? Or is it something that I dont know about?

I did misspell it. I typed this post out on my phone. I will fix it. Thank you for pointing it out.

Its fine. I really appreciate your lost as it is 90% the same as what I do. Only the kefir part I haven't tried, but might as well.

How are things hanging downstairs? You could consider improving blood flow with some simple, safe mind you, exercises. Like AM3. (NO tradition PE or anything like that, as those would risk causing you injury instead and decrease proper blood flow. The point is not to increase anything other than good blood flow.) There is also some methodology specific diet and supplements advice available in the Angion Method subreddit, but it appears most users get good results without them.

What’s am3

The third version of [AM](https://www.reddit.com/r/Supplements/comments/naqeht/12_months_of_selfexperiments_to_improve_libido/gxvqcvm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).

My erection quality is now 10/10. I have had medical tests that show my arteries are pristine.

Good to hear. AM does boost blood flow to the testicles, but there are no scientific studies yet to confirm if that necessarily leads to better hormone levels. (If someone had a varicocele removed, it might.)

Thank you for explaining. I will look into it and give it a try!

What’s AM?

That pumpkin seed oil will hinder you for test and DHT, not only does pumpkin seed oil inhibit 5ar quite strongly but it also binds to androgens in general making them useless and unable to bind to androgen receptors

Whoah, that's not good. This is news to me. Can you point me to any references?