Testosterone Preservative

[James]

Hey guys, obviously I'd like to hear from anyone who has an opinion, but I would particularly like to hear from the guy with EmpowerPharmacy. I take 50 mg of cypionate twice a week. The doc injects me on Monday and gives me a preloaded syringe to take home for Thursday (I can walk to the doc's office, so I'm fine with going in). My question is this: I read somewhere that the preservative, Benzyl Alcohol, can "dissolve" that little black plunger it comes into contact with and I may be injecting those microorganisms into my body because I take the syringe on Monday, and it sits in my house for 3 days until Thursday when I inject it. Do you know if that is possible/likely? I understand there may not be evidence that supports it, but there probably isn't anything saying it can't happen either. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[EmpowerPharmacy]

Hey James, since Testosterone Cypionate contains 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative it is unlikely that such a small amount is going to dissolve the syringe system in such a small period of time. It is slightly possible, but unlikely that the injection is going to harbor deadly germs while sitting in a syringe since it contains this preservative.

That being said, it is not recommended to store any injectable product in a drawn up syringe as it is not a sealed container and presents these sterility issues. Not only that but the polypropylene (the type of plastic syringes are made of) can cause leeching of the plastic into solution and further the degradation of many different active/inactive ingredients within the injectable. This is why 99% of injectable drugs come in type I borosilicate glass vials.

For these reasons I recommend keeping the drug within the glass vial until you're ready to draw up and inject it.

 

[James]

Hey James, since Testosterone Cypionate contains 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative it is unlikely that such a small amount is going to dissolve the syringe system in such a small period of time. It is slightly possible, but unlikely that the injection is going to harbor deadly germs while sitting in a syringe since it contains this preservative.

That being said, it is not recommended to store any injectable product in a drawn up syringe as it is not a sealed container and presents these sterility issues. Not only that but the polypropylene (the type of plastic syringes are made of) can cause leeching of the plastic into solution and further the degradation of many different active/inactive ingredients within the injectable. This is why 99% of injectable drugs come in type I borosilicate glass vials.

For these reasons I recommend keeping the drug within the glass vial until you're ready to draw up and inject it.

I appreciate your response and always find interesting your scientific take on things. "The leeching of the plastic syringe into the solution," is concerning. I wonder what could potentially cause that? It doesn't sound like it would be caused by the Benzyl Alcohol.

 

[EmpowerPharmacy]

Testosterone Cypionate contains 20% Benzyl Benzoate as a solubilizer and 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative. Both are known to dissolve plastics over time.

 

[James]

Testosterone Cypionate contains 20% Benzyl Benzoate as a solubilizer and 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative. Both are known to dissolve plastics over time.

Good stuff, that's exactly what I'm looking for. What are your thoughts on pesticides and grape seed oil vs. Cotton seed oil? There doesn't seem to be many compounding pharmacies that offer organic oils, and not a lot of info online. Do you guys at Empower Pharmacy offer organic oils? Do you know who might? If not, would you think that there generally would be fewer pestisides in the grape or cotton oils? Thanks again for your help.

 

[EmpowerPharmacy]

Any ingredient used in a pharmaceutical product must be sourced from FDA Registered Facilities and meet stringent USP quality standards. The oils used in pharmaceuticals do not contain pestacides like the ones you buy off a grocery store shelf. To meet "USP Grade" certification each chemical must pass dozens of analytical tests for purity, identification, potency, microbial count, heavy metal content, etc. There is no such thing as "organic" in the pharmaceutical industry, just "pure".

 

[James]

Makes sense to me. That was great information.

 

[Inkbuddy]

Testosterone Cypionate contains a preservative

........since Testosterone Cypionate contains 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative.........

I was just told by my CVS pharmacist that the 200 mg/1 mL vials do NOT contain any preservative and she recommended that if I use only part of the vial, that I throw the rest away and use a new vial for the next injection. She said that the larger 2,000 mg/10 mL bottle does contain a preservative, but that it was only good for 28 days after I puncture the seal. Of course, 10mL would be good for several months and I don't think anyone doing TRT would use 2,000 mg in just 4 weeks. That would amount to 71½ mg every day!

Sooooo my question is whether all of this is true??

 

[Vince]

There's really no reason why your doctor is doing your injections. When you are out of town, what do you on holidays weeks.

 

[Vince Carter]

well the 1mL vial isn't a multi-use vial so it might seem logical that there's no preservative, you have to parse out what Drs and big Pharma think is a dose (200mg/mL) from what we actually do which is often less or much less than that.

 

[Logan45]

Testosterone Cypionate contains 20% Benzyl Benzoate as a solubilizer and 1% Benzyl Alcohol as a preservative. Both are known to dissolve plastics over time.

Great information quick question though how long does it take for the dissolving process to start? For instance to save time in the mornings I usually will preload my syringe in the evening. Would that be an issue?
Thanks!

 

[Vince]

Great information quick question though how long does it take for the dissolving process to start? For instance to save time in the mornings I usually will preload my syringe in the evening. Would that be an issue?
Thanks!

A lot of men pre-load the evening before injecting, there's no issue in that short of time.

 

[Logan45]

A lot of men pre-load the evening before injecting, there's no issue in that short of time.

Hey Vince I wouldn't think the degradation process would kick in that quick but always good to check with individuals with more knowledge then myself . Thanks for the reply!

 

[Vince Carter]

Great information quick question though how long does it take for the dissolving process to start? For instance to save time in the mornings I usually will preload my syringe in the evening. Would that be an issue?
Thanks!

You're putting too much thought in to this.

 

[Tonyp56]

Interesting. So went to Universal Men's Clinic, they have preloaded syringes sent to my home for weekly injections. Comes from pharmacy in Texas (I live in Oklahoma) just started and yesterday received 11 preloaded syringes.

According to what I am reading here this isn't good.

 

[madman]

Good stuff, that's exactly what I'm looking for. What are your thoughts on pesticides and grape seed oil vs. Cotton seed oil? There doesn't seem to be many compounding pharmacies that offer organic oils, and not a lot of info online. Do you guys at Empower Pharmacy offer organic oils? Do you know who might? If not, would you think that there generally would be fewer pestisides in the grape or cotton oils? Thanks again for your help.

The oils have been refined and purified to the point that they are pure.

 

[Vince]

Interesting. So went to Universal Men's Clinic, they have preloaded syringes sent to my home for weekly injections. Comes from pharmacy in Texas (I live in Oklahoma) just started and yesterday received 11 preloaded syringes.

According to what I am reading here this isn't good.

That's ridiculous, they don't have faith in their patients to load their own syringes.

 

[Inkbuddy]

Replying to my own question about the 1mL vial NOT containing preservatives as per CVS pharmacist.

YES it DOES contain preservatives - got out a magnifying glass this morning and read it right on the vial. I thinking that if the CVS pharmacist is wrong on that, she can't be trusted on much of anything else she said. I think the larger 10mL vial would be good until the expiration date on the bottle as long as it's kept in a cool dark place and NOT the 28 days after it's punctured like the CVS pharmacist said. After all, it's a sterile bottle wiped with alcohol and then punctured with a sterile needle and the preservatives are still in what's left. Between my doctors and the pharmacists, I've gotten lots of BS.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Interesting. So went to Universal Men's Clinic, they have preloaded syringes sent to my home for weekly injections. Comes from pharmacy in Texas (I live in Oklahoma) just started and yesterday received 11 preloaded syringes.

According to what I am reading here this isn't good.

This method of providing your testosterone to you is certainly the most absurd thing I've read on EM this calendar year.

 

[Davert]

Do not preload.. I 100%agree. I did this and left some in a drawer for a bit. The black plunger had began to degrade and looked like a lava lamp! No way I was going to inject this. I learned slot since then.. lol!