Just started TRT, My Story, your thoughts please!

[Deleted member 17030]

Back in July 2017 I went to an Urologist for a Urinary track infection. During the exam I inquired about whether they did Low T testing, discussed my symptoms and or if I needed to go to a Mens Health clinic, which I did not want to do. The Dr assured me they did TRT Therapy, so I was sent across the hall to the Lab for blood tests.

A few days later I was emailed the results which were.

Component Results

Component	Your Value	Standard Range
Testosterone,Total	349 ng/dL	348 - 1,197 ng/dL
[TD="colspan: 3"] **Effective July 17, 2017 the reference interval for** Testosterone, Serum Males >18 years old will be changing to: Adult Males: 264 - 916 [/TD]
Comment:	Comment
[TD="colspan: 3"]Adult male reference interval is based on a population of lean males up to 40 years old. [/TD]

Component	Your Value	Standard Range
Sex Horm Binding Glob	42.2 nmol/L	19.3 - 76.4 nmol/L

So it is debatable whether I was marginally low on the old reference interval, or not low on the new reference interval.

My doctor emailed me and said he would discuss starting me on TRT after having a PSA test to rule out possible Prostrate cancer. I was already scheduled to return in 6 weeks so that’s when I had the PSA test done. That test came back as a 1.0 or normal. Shortly after that I went to Florida to do hurricane recover for a utility company so it was only recently that I went back to the dr for the TRT follow up.

My Doctor gave me a paper prescription for the Testosterone which I took to the local CVS Pharmacy and got filled for just $10.00 copay and the syringes were about $10.00. Not too bad I thought.

My Doctors nurse gave me instructions on how to do the injections then I started watching videos on youtube.

I am only on my 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] week. I am doing .5ml or 100mg every 7 days for 4 weeks then follow up blood work to be done. I did not feel anything pro or con after the first week. Just took my second injection tonight as I type this.

I used an 18 gauge 1.5 inch need to draw, and 25 gauge 1 inch need to inject.

My first injection was in the Glute with minor pain on the injection. I tried my second injection in the deltoid and much prefer that. No pain at all in the deltoid. I never felt the needle go in.

I did not aspirate in the deltoid as the doctor told me it was not necessary to aspirate in the deltoid.

I am 58 years old, mildly overweight, mild hypertension.

I am not a body builder and do not lift weights. I am a lineman for a utility company so I do work hard every day.

I will follow up with my blood work after getting it done. My doctor scheduled my blood work to be on the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] morning at 10am after the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] injection.

Very Happy that I found this forum. I would appreciate anyone thoughts as I am a little bit nervous about all of this.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[Deleted member 17030]

Also I was curios as to how many injections are in the vial. It states it is a 10ml vial so .5ml per injection would seem like 20 shots? Is that right or am I confused?

 

[FeelingLost]

Hello Lee welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are on your way to feeling better.
I only have one question when you draw with such a large needle is it empty when you switch to the injection needle?
If not that is a lot of wasted T over time.

 

[TheDude]

You can draw with the 25G needle and inject as well.

One thing that sticks out is going back in 4 weeks to check blood work. If you're using Test Cyp, it takes at least 6 weeks for blood levels to normalize based on the half life of the Test. If you check after 4 weeks, you really won't know how the current protocol is working.

 

[Deleted member 17030]

You can draw with the 25G needle and inject as well.

One thing that sticks out is going back in 4 weeks to check blood work. If you're using Test Cyp, it takes at least 6 weeks for blood levels to normalize based on the half life of the Test. If you check after 4 weeks, you really won't know how the current protocol is working.

Yes it is the cypionate.

I will try that with next weeks injection. I wasn't wasting the medicine. After drawing I would pull the needle out of the bottle and then pull back on the plunger some and pull what was in the 18 gauge needle into the syringe before switching needles. I couldn't tell it made much difference on the quantity.

As for the 4 versus 6 weeks testing, what can I do except follow the doctors instructions? But based on everything I have read, your right about the 6 weeks it seems. I will ask the doctor for clarification on that on follow up visit. Thanks for the reply.

Lee

 

[FeelingLost]

I agree and would not argue with your doctor. Continue getting smart on TRT later you can ask questions to try and guide your treatment. Coming across as an internet expert could hurt your relationship with your doc.
The cyp users around here have a standard way to test (morning blood draws before your shot to get the trough of your T lvl) that offers the best feedback as to where your lvls are. There is a lot more to it than that but this is the basics.

 

[TheDude]

I agree and would not argue with your doctor. Continue getting smart on TRT later you can ask questions to try and guide your treatment. Coming across as an internet expert could hurt your relationship with your doc.
The cyp users around here have a standard way to test (morning blood draws before your shot to get the trough of your T lvl) that offers the best feedback as to where your lvls are.

I wouldn't consider it arguing with the doc. If the doc isn't aware of the half life of Test Cyp and when blood levels will normalize, that would be alarming to me. I think that's how many end up here. They are afraid to question their doctor and continue with terrible care until it gets so bad they end up here to find what real care looks like.

 

[FeelingLost]

I see nothing wrong with taking a peak of where the TT lvl is in 4 weeks. This is his first protocol. The doc guessed at a number to inject. Why not take a quick look? Sure the other harmones won't be lvl'd out yet but I think the doc is just being careful.

 

[CoastWatcher]

You're certainly on a reasonable protocol, and - unlike so many of us - it happened with the first doctor you consulted; that's cause for a certain amount of celebration. Did your doctor run the other, necessary tests to capture the full picture?

 

[Systemlord]

With your SHBG level you just might be able to get away with injecting once a week, just note how you feel on the last few days before injection. Labs can be useful but how you feel is most important. I was originally using 25 gauge syringes and recently moved to 27 gauge 1/2 in my shoulders, painless and am not wasting any medicine.

 

[Deleted member 17030]

Well just damn, I got to start over. Turns out the CVS Pharmacy gave me the wrong prescription. It was a glass vial in a plastic pill bottle. The label on the plastic pill bottle was correct, but the glass vial of injectable medicine inside it was not Testosterone so the past 2 weeks I have been injecting Vitamin B-12. I notice it this morning when I read the label on the plastic pill bottle and it said the drug was a pale yellow color and what was coming out of the bottle was Bright RED. So I took it back to CVS Pharmacy and they admitted their mistake and replaced it with the correct drug.

I didn't notice it before now because the glass vial had a Generic name of Vitamin B12 that I looked up on the internet.

Figuring no one would believe this I had my camera phone recording my conversation with the CVS Pharmacist and it will be on youtube shortly lol.

Always check your drugs before leaving the pharmacy. Actually I did, and it had the correct info on the plastic pill bottle the glass vial came in. I never considered looking at the glass vial as it had a generic name and Mc per MG #s all over it so I assumed it was correct.

So now I have the correct medicine and took my first injection of 100mg. So here we go starting over.

I will post the youtube link if anyone wants to see my conversation with the pharmacist about this.

Lee

 

[FeelingLost]

Holy shit ee that is scary. Thank god it was just B-12.

 

[Deleted member 17030]

Holy shit ee that is scary. Thank god it was just B-12.

Imagine this mistake in reverse. A woman goes in to get a Vitamin B12 prescription and she is given my Testosterone by mistake lol.

Below is the youtube links to my 2 conversations with the Pharmacists. Both videros are very short like 1 minute each.

Enjoy lol!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzLKgG1iJ0g (part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQy4gFNrffM (part 2)

 

[Systemlord]

Imagine had you been injecting insulin and not being a diabetic, dangerous! You're really lucky!

 

[CoastWatcher]

I'd escalate this up the line with CVS...as far as you can. That is professional incompetence.

 

[modawg2k]

I'm a pharmacist and you really should report that to the board of pharmacy for your state. The rph's response is just pathetic. No empathy whatsoever. Mistakes happen, (especially with these billion dollar chains turn Rx's into burger and fries orders) but I didn't hear any accountability being taken by them.

 

[Deleted member 17030]

I guess its some my fault I didn't get the right medicine since I didn't read what was on the glass vial, but the glass vial came in a plastic pill bottle that had the correct information and prescription on it so I assumed it was the correct medicine. I have had problems with CVS before. I have picked up prescriptions and get home only to find the seal broken on the bottles ands half the pills missing. Now I have to count my pills before leaving lol. Attached are a couple of pictures showing the wrong Vitamin B12 and the correct TEST I was later given.

The moral of the story is to check your meds before leaving the pharmacy. I know that sounds like common sense but my guess is so many people don't leaving your life in the hands of some incompetent pharmacist who may be having a bad day or on meds themselves. Those of you who are buying your stuff on the underground probably get better service that what I get trying to buy my meds legit lol.

So I will report back in 4+ weeks with my labs since I had to start over.

Lee

 

[CoastWatcher]

It's not your fault - you didn't dispense the incorrect drug; the licensed professional at CVS did. There should be consequences.

 

[Systemlord]

Once I went in to CVS and got home and went to take the oxycodone for back and realized they gave me their in stock supply and they had my prescription as stock, the thing that gave it away was no prescription label. I returned it and never finish the bottle. I hated it because it wound me up like I was on Ritalin again.

 

[modawg2k]

I have had problems with CVS before.

You should probably find a new pharmacy. When something like this is recurrent, it means they have bad management and it just trickles down from there. And if that pharmacist was the pharmacy manager, then run for the hills.