First Blood Tests After Starting Self Admin

In four weeks I’m due for my first round of blood tests since starting the self administration routine. I’m one of four self admin patience right now so my prescription is less than guaranteed at this point.

I went in to see my GP, not my urologist. Had him test E2, total test and free test just for my own knowledge. Here are the results.

Estradiol 43 (< or +39)
Total Test 1439ng (250-1100)
Free Test 356.9 (35-155)

This was a month ago or so. It was exactly two days after my .27ml/200mg injection and 1.5 days from my next .27ml/200mg shot.

My dose is on the up and up. Unknown factors for me are my dosing schedule which is twice weekly instead of the once per week prescribed and anastrozole.

I added r.c. anastrozole right after I received these test results. .5ml/1mg at injection time twice per week. I’m concerned that it will increase my test and give the impression that I’ve been over treating.

Worried that I will have crazy high e2 if I stop the anastrozole so considering cutting the dose in half and making sure my last one is three days before the tests.

Thinking I should switch back to the once weekly, two weeks before test day, and possibly lower the dose by 15-20% just in case.

Does this sound appropriate? Any advice is much appreciated.

If you include the unit of measure it will help people understand you.

.27 can be 0.27ml, 0.27mg or 0.52mg. In medicine we don’t state how many mLs are to be injected but rather the milligram dose. Prescriptions will have the amount in mLs for client safety but health care can encounter different concentrations depending on supply.

It would make sense if you were administering 0.27mL/200mg/mL=0.52mg. I take 0.25mg e3d and after 3 days my trough (lowest point) was 550 ng/L.

Sorry. I fixed it.

That’s more than twice what most people take. More inline with a cycle, not TRT. You could easily cut your dose in half and probably do without the anastrozel.

Uh oh… That could explain things. Not sure if my mistake is in this information or if I am actually taking to much.

Here is how my prescription reads. Depo-Testosterone 200 mg/ML Oil Intramuscular inject 0.5mL IM Q weekly, for a dosage of 100mg testosterone weekly #1 bottle RFx0

They showed me at the doctors office that .5ml on the syringe is 100mg. So they said I should be taking .5ml once per week. I split that into just a hair more to cover whats left in the syringe. So I’m at .27ml twice per week.

Did I dick it up?

I got this information from the pfizer website.

Each mL of the 200 mg/mL solution contains:
Testosterone cypionate … 200 mg
Benzyl benzoate … 0.2 mL
Cottonseed oil … 560 mg
Benzyl alcohol (as preservative) … 9.45 mg

So it looks to me like .5mL would indeed be 100mg. I would think that .27mL twice per week would be .54mL so just slightly over 100mg per week. Id really appreciate some direction or confirmation when one of the experienced/enlightened has a minute.

I’m kind of curious what were your numbers before you started and what’s your age and some personal history?

0.50ml would indeed be 100mg of test. Split into two doses of 0.25ml each, you should be right on the money. You sure you’re reading the syringe right?

Ironman,

Yes Sir. http://tnation.T-Nation.com/hub/sweet-t#myForums/thread/5926358/

A few things have changed since I wrote this. I’m down to 195 pounds and feeling great.

Say the word if you have any questions about any of this.

[quote]catfish74 wrote:
0.50ml would indeed be 100mg of test. Split into two doses of 0.25ml each, you should be right on the money. You sure you’re reading the syringe right?[/quote]

I’m confident I am. They are 3ml syringes, first number is .5 and Im half way between the second and third hash marks. I don’t see how it could be wrong.

Also I’m losing 2-3 pounds per week and have been since late November. Hard to imagine I could be overdoing it and losing weight.

Kudos on going the solo route, and nice to see you’re shedding weight too!

Also, arimidex will in fact increase testosterone. I’m still tuning the dose in. If you’re going to cut the test, you’ll have to cut the arimidex too, otherwise you’ll crash.

Thanks for the kind words.

I wonder if equal percentages would be wise. Say lower both 20% or cut the anastrozole in half and drop 20% on the test.

I suppose the only way to know for sure is to try it and get some blood tests done myself before the big one.

100mg a week is a pretty standard dose, but you’re levels are still really high. I bet you could cut your dose and do away with the AI. Aiming for the top of the normal Free T range served me well.

Well… as embarrassing as this is I believe I’ve worked out why my numbers are so high.

It seems that when I’ve been loading my syringes I’m drawing the medicine straight in and stopping about half way between the second and third hash mark.

Yesterday I drew all of the cyp into the syringe and used the hash marks to measure , it was about .4ml with all of the oil in the syringe barrel.

Do you guys draw it all into the barrel before measuring or do you just pull back to the right spot?

So I have been inadvertently overdoing it I believe.

Looks like I’ll be short if the doctor or pharmacy makes me wait until my 20th dose to refill. Oh boy…

It’s surprising how easy it is to inadvertently make medication errors. I think you would be best using a 1mL syringe for your 0.25mL injection. No need to draw up extra as it will take slightly more than 0.25 to measure 0.25 on the syringe barrel (like 0.25+0.05waste), when you inject it only 0.25mL will go into your muscle.

It’s entirely possible more is being wasted in a 3mL syringe. Try injecting and then pull back the Test in the needle and hub so you can measure the residual.

[quote]C27 H40 O3 wrote:
It’s surprising how easy it is to inadvertently make medication errors. I think you would be best using a 1mL syringe for your 0.25mL injection. No need to draw up extra as it will take slightly more than 0.25 to measure 0.25 on the syringe barrel (like 0.25+0.05waste), when you inject it only 0.25mL will go into your muscle.

It’s entirely possible more is being wasted in a 3mL syringe. Try injecting and then pull back the Test in the needle and hub so you can measure the residual. [/quote]

Yeah, it’s easy but damn. Could have been a real problem with a different medication. My pride will heal.

I will try that. I had added .02 or so for waste. Ha… I’ve also been pulling in a little air bubble that pushes most of it out during the injection. That seems to clean it out pretty good.

Guess I may get to find out what the overseas pharmacy is all about to make up for the four-five week overlap I’ll have now before my refill.