My comment on the decanoate ester was in the context of comparing it to Cyp or Enathate. Since we use that as the protocol. Regardless of the time on the decanoate it has less free hormone so it would measure lower total T mg for mg than Cyp or E. I know you already know this but not sure you understood the context of my answer.
You are absolutely right when you say that the decanoate ester has less total test per mg (not much, though), but this does not mean it will always measure lower total T than Decanoate. Assuming the weekly dosage used for each ester is the same, we need to look at the number of weeks each drug was used in order to determine which one will provide a higher total T reading.
Longer esters, despite containing less total test per mg, will ALWAYS result in higher total T levels when used at equivalent doses, but ONLY once peak blood levels are reached, which will vary depending in the ester used. Before I go any further, please allow me to clarify what I am referring to when I use the term "peak blood levels" in this context. When I say "peak blood levels" I am not referring to how long it takes blood levels to peak after a single injection. Rather, I am talking about the length of time it takes for a given ester to reach maximum T levels with successive weekly injections.
For example, let's compare a short ester like test ace to a very long ester like Nebido (test undecanoate). Whe using a short ester like test ace at 1,000 mg/week, blood levels will reach peak concentrations within one week. No matter how many weeks we use test ace for at that dosage, blood levels will never climb any higher than they were during the first week. In other words, we could inject 1,000 mg of test ace at the start of each week for 8 weeks straight, but T levels will never climb any higher than they were during week 1. The ester just clears too fast to allows successive weekly injections to build on previous injections.
However, when using Nebido (test undecanoate) at 1,000 mg/week, it will take 8 full weeks to reach peak blood levels. This ester has bene shown to gradually release over a full 2 month period, according to recent research on TRT patients. One study showed that Nebido was able to maintain testosterone withina normal range for 2 whole months after a single 1,000 mg injection. We could never acheive something like that with test ace because it would completely clear the bloodstream after just one week, no matter how much we injected in a single inject. Obviously, this is why longer-esters are used for TRT and shorter esters aren't.
Well, it is precisely the very long half-life of Nebido which allows it to achieve higher total blood levels than test ace when used for 8 successive weeks. When using Nebido at a dose of 1,000 mg weekly, one's T levels would be through the damn roof after 8 weeks of use because 8 weeks of injections would have built up on each other. When using test ace, NONE of the weeks would have built up on each other...the ester is just too short. So, when trying to decide whether the Test ace or the Nebido results in higher blood levels, it is ALL dependent on how many weeks the drugs were used for. Obviously, if we get bloodwork after just one week, the test ace is going to result in higher blood levels than the Nebido because the entire amount of the drug is released during the first week. However, if we wait 8 weeks to get bloodwork, the nebido would result in higher T levels due to 8 weeks of successive injections building on each other.
In the end it really doesn't matter what ester is being used, as a longer ester will always result in a higher total blood levels than a shorter ester, so long as it is provided with enough time to maximize blood levels.
Of course, if we are comparng only a single injecion, then the shorter ester will always result in a higher peak level when used at equivalent doses, due to its rapid release rate into the bloodstream, but in the OP's case we are talking about somone who has been using Sust for 10 full weeks at 1,000 mg per week. Due to the inclusion of both decanoate and isocaproate in the Sust blend, blood levels would have already been maximized by 10 weeks. It's not like the guy did only one injection then got bloodwork. He did literally 10 weeks of injections at 1 gram per week. That is a LOT of build-up (Note: blood levels peak with decanoate after about 4 weeks).
The fact that the OP had his blood drawn after using a full gram of Sust for 10 weeks straight...and the fact he got his blood drawn only 3 days after his last inject, would have not only allowed the decanoate and isocaproate esters to reach peak blood levels, but the prop esters would have still been present as well. Taking all of this into consideration, his blood levels should have been much higher than it was.
I understand that the different esters used in Sust makes it very difficult to say exactly what his level should have been, but there is no doubt that it should have been much higher than it was.
Anyway there are several challenges comparing this blend to cyp or enanthate blood work results. Ultimately comparing 1 gram of Sust to 1 gram of Cyp under the present circumstances will definitely not yield similar results.
Agreed, but based on our understanding of the pharmakokinetics of each ester, we can at least know when a T reading is approaching an acceptable range at a given dosage. In this case it is certainly not.
I'm not defending the brand in any way shape or form because it looks underdosed to me I just think we need to be fair when using a crude method like this.
I agree 100%, buddy. By the way, I know you did not require all the basic explanations I typed out in this article, but I put them there for others. After reading what you said, I think we were both talking about two different things. You were probably talking about how long it takes for a single injection to reach peak blood levels, in which case you were absolutely correct that a shorter ester will always reach a higher level after a single inject, while I was refering the time it takes for blood levels to peak with successive injections. Obviously, this is two completely different things.
