short answer: the curve flattens hard past high-normal for most of the outcomes you’re asking about. the studies that show clear mood, libido, and motivation improvements are almost entirely moving people from hypogonadal (<300) to eugonadal (600-900ish). that’s a real signal. but the dose-response shape for those endpoints isn’t linear - it looks a lot more like a saturation curve than muscle protein synthesis does. a few things worth naming: - libido specifically does seem to have a wider response window than mood or cognition, but individual variation is massive and the data gets thin above ~1200 ng/dl
- some of the subjective ‘feel’ at higher doses is E2-mediated, not direct androgen effect. ur aromatase activity determines how much of 250mg/wk actually converts. two guys on identical protocols can have very different estradiol levels and very different psychological experiences
- confidence and ‘edge’ are terrible endpoints to study - no blinded trial captures them cleanly, so most of what you’ll read is anecdote stacked on anecdote the honest read: supraphysiological dosing buys you real muscle gains but probably marginal returns on the mental side past high-normal. the risk profile doesn’t scale the same direction.