@alekth85
I started out doing IM using BIG needles, was told by a phlebotomist to use insulin pins and go subq, he stated testosterone was labeled IM to stop people thinking it should be done intravenously (and not many people know of subq).
Not sure if that’s right but seeing test is absorbed and used when injected IM or subq I’m guessing it will work for me. (There’s a small difference in how quickly its absorbed but the over all effect is pretty much the same. AUC = area under curve).
I used to get large bumps around my middle which can become sore if rubbed by clothes but generally go after a few days (diabetics can get similar from insulin), not sure why but I don’t get these bumps now however much I jab (normally 0.3 or so but up to 0.6mil).
I also started to jab IM into my outer thigh (ventrogluteal, NOT the front, it can really hurt) to give more options. I personally find no difference in feeling from where or when I inject. I used to when I first started and listened to a lot of the chatter, now I can miss a jab for a day or two and not notice.
As for the difficulty injecting same as any motor skill it takes time, possibly have your girlfriend hold an orange against the area you wish to inject and practice pushing the plunger in?
Hours of fun for all the family!
Caveat, I am not a med pro or similar and could be totally wrong on all the above.
Cheers. I’m gonna try few things and see what works. Yesterday the injection point was fine, but today it’s a bit red. I would rather I did not have any kind of visible spots on me. Will see how long it will take to disappear, and do the
I’m still not used to the idea of injecting myself with testosterone at this age… I’m even doubting if I should keep on doing it or not. At this point, doing it IM… would probably nudge me in direction of stopping TRT altogether.
While the subq method is rare, I recall a study with labs and it was fine. Testosterone was well absorbed. The subjects were trans women though and I do not remember the dosing, but assume it would be similar to a man’s.
I think its worth forgetting the its IM or subq thing and just think about jabbing yourself in places that don’t hurt or cause visible marks.
Shallow IM is indistinguishable to me from subq, I use the same needle size for both and dont worry about it.
Obviously if your medical provider tells you different then listen but I’m guessing soon you won’t be able to tell the difference or even care.
Best of luck whatever you do.
Not necessarily, there is a thing called “virgin muscle” that means that when you first start injecting, the solvent used to dissolve the test in the oil carrier can cause whats called “post injection pain” or PIP. Sometimes this happens with high concentration stuff like 350 mg/ml. It usually passes.
Also its a good idea to massage the injection sight to spread the oil around. Helps with dispersion
This site says the same about using IM rather than subq for sustanon, I used to use it for sus and that was the time I used to get the lumps.
Not sure if they stopped when I changed to test e or before/after but definitely worth considering.
If you can get your FS and FSH numbers up, which have all to do with raising Testosterone levels you might try HCG if you can get it. It is not a controlled substance here in the US, but I do not know how the rest of the world views it.
I have been on TRT since 2005, and 200mg/week of Testosterone Cypionate puts me into the 1000 to 1200 range, and 250iu of HCG adds another 300 points.
HCG is cheap, and you never have to “cycle” on or off of it.
As long as your doses are small, you never have to worry about " over saturating" the HCG receptors.
hCG where I live, is not that prevalent… people don’t use it here as far as I know. I did not look too much. I’m doing this on my own, so I’m buying test c from some bodybuilding websites (as opposed to proper pharmacy).
My LH/FSH are low. I think it actually makes sense to work on LH/FSH instead of testosterone directly (for people with low lh/fsh)… and I would be curious to hear what effect hcg only (without testosterone replacement) had on their testosterone levels. I might even go that route, if I can find hcg.
My aim is to bring my test between 550-650. At the moment it’s 300. I read a study that says hcg increased levels by 50% on average. If that’s true, that would put me up to 450.
It’s been years since I used it, and it was not sq of course, but I don’t recall it being any thicker than the others. I’m pretty sure, not positive, it was peanut oil. I would assume it’s changed now, but if not, that could be a reason to advise against it.
After thinking about this, i realized that an insulin syringe doesn’t have anywhere near the volume needed to push the oil thru the needle as a 5 cc syringe does. This is why I really recommend guys to use a regular syringe with a small gauge needle. So much easier to push the oil in.
As I already said, adding HCG adds 300 points to me all by itself with or without the Test Cyp.
Other people may only get a 50% increase, but you need to realize every body is different.
Maybe the guys that only get 50% increase are having E2 conversion issues and are losing whatever potential extra Testosterone.
At this point it is all conjecture anyway.
Without getting into an argument- this isnt correct.
Hydraulic pressure doesnt work like that, the syringe is like the master cylinder in a brake system.
The smaller the diameter of the syringe the less force required to press the fluid. It’s how you get an increase in pressure through hydraulics (little master piston, big slave piston).
It’s the fact the insulin needle is so narrow that causes the issue, it makes it hard to pass a large volume of oil through.
If you were to put that extremely small needle on a bigger syringe it would be even harder to press.
Could be the reason for that is you can grip the bigger syringe and are able to press it much harder giving the impression that it needs less force than the smaller fiddlier one.
Given the same force - physics favours the smaller diameter master cylinder to move the oil if it is resisting.
Or the needle attached to the bigger syringe is actually bigger in diameter and not the same needle as the insulin pins. A small change here in that system makes a BIG difference.
Physics is physics innit.
This is making me want to try subq. Pinning quads and delts is getting a chore.