Jasen Bruce
Member
Just wanted to share a reminder regarding patients who want to pre-load a syringe with an injectable medication for later use.
It is not recommended to self pre-load a syringe for IM injection due to the fact there is exposure to contamination during the manual transfer from the bottle to the syringe. Although the syringe itself is sterile, it is not a sealed container designed to be stored long term as there is risk of air leaking into the syringe exposing the medication to the environment. The medication is also exposed to the environment during the actual transfer from bottle to syringe.
The preservatives used in injectable medications typically prevent microbial growth but only for a short period of time. Pre-loaded syringes for IM injections should only be done in a sterile environment (ie pharmacy) using special equipment that prevents air exposure.
Commonly patients want to use pre-loaded syringes for traveling, due to convenience. It is actually better to have them bring their entire bottle (with separate, wrapped syringes/needles) when traveling. The bottle has less chance of being crushed in luggage, and it is properly enclosed to preserve sterility.
If you are looking for a more convenient method of bringing testosterone with you while traveling, you can request two 5ML bottles instead of one 10ml bottle (test cyp), so that you can bring one for traveling while leaving the other at home. Some compounding pharmacies also provide single pre-loaded syringes that are drawn in a 797 clean room and capped with a seal to prevent exposure.
It is not recommended to self pre-load a syringe for IM injection due to the fact there is exposure to contamination during the manual transfer from the bottle to the syringe. Although the syringe itself is sterile, it is not a sealed container designed to be stored long term as there is risk of air leaking into the syringe exposing the medication to the environment. The medication is also exposed to the environment during the actual transfer from bottle to syringe.
The preservatives used in injectable medications typically prevent microbial growth but only for a short period of time. Pre-loaded syringes for IM injections should only be done in a sterile environment (ie pharmacy) using special equipment that prevents air exposure.
Commonly patients want to use pre-loaded syringes for traveling, due to convenience. It is actually better to have them bring their entire bottle (with separate, wrapped syringes/needles) when traveling. The bottle has less chance of being crushed in luggage, and it is properly enclosed to preserve sterility.
If you are looking for a more convenient method of bringing testosterone with you while traveling, you can request two 5ML bottles instead of one 10ml bottle (test cyp), so that you can bring one for traveling while leaving the other at home. Some compounding pharmacies also provide single pre-loaded syringes that are drawn in a 797 clean room and capped with a seal to prevent exposure.
