First Injection today... Now what?

[Kevin Moseley]

Tried creams for 2 months, no effect, so doc put me on injections. For now, until we get zeroed in on the best schedule for me it's 400mg (2ml) of testosterone cypionate every 4 weeks in the bum. I have no problem self injecting, and my doc doesn't either, but he did ask me to come in this first time so a nurse could show me.

I thought it was going in the shoulder, so a bit of an awkward moment when I needed to explain the presence of a firearm in my pants lol... (Legal!)

At any rate, follow up labs in 3 weeks, Dr in 4, from what I can tell he knows what he's doing. Ordered PSA FSH, CBC, even an MRI of my head to rule out pituitary cancer. (Turns out I DO actually have a brain.)

So, now what? When will I start noticing stuff, and what will I notice? Sorry for such a noob question, but I'm a total noob. Now that I have been doing some research, I may have had low-T my entire life...

 

[GettingAnswers]

Tomorrow you will wake up looking like Arnold and the Hawaiian tropic swimsuit team will be at your door. Just having fun no insult implied!

But seriously, I don't think I have ever read of anyone feeling good on that dose. You are going to peak in a few days and then by week two you will be tanked, give or take. With that high dose you also have to worry about more estrogen conversion.

You need to talk to your doc about getting on weekly or twice a week injections. At least that is my opinion.

Keep reading on this site and you will get a bunch of good info and good folks to help.

 

[SoCalSurfer]

Hi Kevin,
I will tell you that its not a magic pill and you might not really notice much change. The changes are subtle. I notice focus was better, I wanted to get things done, I slept better and woke up feeling good. Once you have your levels up and they start dropping you will notice that.. I notice the afternoon before my next shot. I get tired, loss focus just feel bla. Day after my shot good to go again..

I will tell you that every 4 weeks might suck. It did for me. I was on 200mg once a week and felt good for a few days then I would start to feel back to the old way I felt for the next week. I talked my doc into the same dose just twice a week. Which works for me and takes out the highs and lows that some guys get. There are guys that once a week or once every two weeks works for. it just didnt work for me. I do my own shots in my quads and just switch legs each time.

In here ask all the question you want. You will get real answers from the guys not a bunch of BS.

 

[Gene Devine]

Your Doctor doesn't know what he'd doing.

400 mg every 4 weeks is proof of that.

Testosterone peaks in serum about 72 hours after injection and has a half-life of about 6 day...this means in 6 days half of the drug has already been metabolized by your liver.

In about 12 days most of the drug will be gone and in 2 weeks your testosterone serum levels will tank and you will be right where you started again.

In four weeks you blood work will look like it did before you did the shot.

Ask your Doctor what the half life of the drug is and why he'd put you on a 4 week injection protocol!

You should be injecting 100 mg each week and every week...or better yet, 50 mg twice a week.

Also, at 400 mg at one time will convert to estrogen at a higher rate as well...and this is not a good thing.

An excerpt from Dr. Crisler's paper on TRT and IM injections; pay attention to the bold:

In most cases, I start my guys out on either testosterone cream/gel 5mgs QD or testosterone cypionate 100mg per week. The IM test cyp must be administered in weekly injections, as opposed to taking twice the dosage every other week. Some physicians even dose every third or fourth week, producing wide swings in serum androgen levels. Where else in medicine do physicians dose medications completely void of consideration for the pharmacokinetics of same? This puts the patient on an emotional roller coaster, increases the risk of developing polycythemia, greatly accentuates aromatase activity (and therefore unnecessarily elevated E production requiring expensive aromatase inhibition), and actually leaves them lower than they were when they started for the last half of the injection “cycle”.

 

[Kevin Moseley]

Tomorrow you will wake up looking like Arnold and the Hawaiian tropic swimsuit team will be at your door. Just having fun no insult implied!

Ha! I wish!

You need to talk to your doc about getting on weekly or twice a week injections. At least that is my opinion.

We've already discussed that, and it is the "long term stable" goal, especially since neither of is has issues with me self injecting. (Actually, gonna make the wife do it lol...) This is just Step One.

 

[Kevin Moseley]

You should be injecting 100 mg each week and every week...or better yet, 50 mg twice a week.

We didn't talk about a target dose, but doing the once or twice a week think is the long term plan.

 

[Kevin Moseley]

Is itching at the injection site normal?

 

[GettingAnswers]

I battle itching , burning, redness, inflammation, etc at the site. I would imagine it is much worse with such a large volume being injected. You may not experience so much/or any with more frequent injections.

 

[paco]

We've already discussed that, and it is the "long term stable" goal, especially since neither of is has issues with me self injecting. (Actually, gonna make the wife do it lol...) This is just Step One.

Still, it would be very good to know why your doctor wants to start you on a regimen that will only work for a week or maybe two, and then will have you back to suffering from low T for two to three weeks. I can't see how that is helpful or healthy. Why not go right to what is most likely to work?

I, for one, do not like being a lab rat, and when I don't feel well it really does impact my work and my relationships, and overall quality of life. Your doctor should acknowledge that.

 

[Gene Devine]

Still, it would be very good to know why your doctor wants to start you on a regimen that will only work for a week or maybe two, and then will have you back to suffering from low T for two to three weeks. I can't see how that is helpful or healthy. Why not go right to what is most likely to work?

I, for one, do not like being a lab rat, and when I don't feel well it really does impact my work and my relationships, and overall quality of life. Your doctor should acknowledge that.

^^^^What Paco said!