So I am about to start self injecting my trt. 100mg/week, but soon (after blood tests) I will likely switch to twice weekly (50mg/twice a week).
I am prescribed those tiny 1ml bottles (200mg/ml). I have 25g 1 inch needles for IM injections. I want to use this protocol for at least 6 weeks, then retest. THEN, possibly move to SQ.
My concern is that the 1ml bottle won’t last through the 4 draws I’ll need it for. Each draq will be 50mg and will be used up after 4 draws. That’s 4 times the waste in the dead space, etc.
My thought is this: draw the weeks’ testosterone into one syringe (100mg, or half the bottle). Inject half on Monday, take off needle, place new needle on, wait til Thursday and inject the second half. This should eliminate some waste.
Is it safe to leave test in a syringe for a few days?
And yes, I know about SQ and it’s waste benefits, etc. I will likely go there at some point, but for now, please just let me know thoughts on the above.
Thank you
EDIT: OR, draw the full 100mg out of the vial into the syringe, and just use that same syringe (changing needles each time) and using it the 4 times I need to? (something screams this wouldn’t be sterile)
I never have trouble getting all the oil out of the 1ml bottles; I suspect they are slightly overfilled anyway. What you’re suggesting is perfectly reasonable as long as you’re using a fresh needle for each injection. It’s perfeclty sterile.
Depending on the manufacturer. Most bottles actually have 1.1ml to account for waste. I know this because I regularly draw up 200mg/1ml doses for patients (unfortunately) and the syringe would always be .1 over the 1ml mark.
I contacted Perrigo (manufacturer) and they stated that the vials are “recommended for single use” and that they do indeed overfill by .20-.25, so that each vial is actually 1.25ml or so.
That’s great, but should I use that same vial 4 times? Will the stopper hold up AND will there be enough for (4) .25ml draws?
Or should I just draw the full 1ml out into a syringe, and use that same syringe 4 times over the course of 2 weeks, changing needles for each injection?
@YUBS: are you dosing 4 draws from one 1ml bottle? (.25ml per injection)?
@roscoe88…I am not currently dosing at .25ml but in the past I’ve had no problem getting 4 pulls out of the same vial. The question on whether you pull the entire ml into one syringe or not is going to be preference. Do you think you can store the loaded syringe more safely than the vial? Whenever I preload a syringe I like to pull a little extra air into it to enusre no suction encourages leakage to occur and then store them plunger side down as insurance from any oil leaking out of the needle tip.
On the other side of the coin I’ve never seen the stopper top on a 1ml vial that couldn’t stand up to 4 pricks.
Ideally I’d like to use that same vial 4 times. Each time pulling .25ml. So I had thoughts of 1. Running out of test, and 2. The rubber topper not holding up.
I bought some 1ml syringes for insulin (easy touch). Also some 25 g needles.
I first want to get bloods for the once per week injection I’ve been getting from dr. Then, likely switch to twice a week injections. Then bloods and then possibly SQ.
I want to get blood work oneach protocol.
As for the 1ml vials: that’s what Walgreens gave me. I will try for larger size if necessary.
Many doc’s wont write the scripts that way for some damn reason. At the end of that day a vial is a vial and I’ve never had any issues getting every drop out of mine. Then again, I’m never that concerned with a tiny bit of waste either; Test is easy to come by and not very costly.
Mine? No, it’s a Dr. Rx filled by a local pharmacy of my choice. I’ve never considered pinging them on it but I may just to see what their response would be.
My doc changed my Rx to (3) 1ml vials per month…I used to get 1 10ml vial for 3 months. Not sure why the change, but I’m going to ask her to change it back at my next annual.
My doc writes T scripts for 6 months. There may be differences in State regulations of schedule III drugs and if insurance is involved that is another layer of arbitrary factors. I can get doc to right scripts for some other things for 1 year and get 360 doses at Walmart on some generics.
There can be issues when a vial has more T than needed to cover whatever number of months is involved. I get Rx T in 12ml vials that helps with that.
There are regs about how long an opened vial can be used/kept in a clinical situation. This is to prevent cross contamination of vials. The guidance does not differentiate between things like T that are bacteriostatic or otherwise. Some pharmacies then get in the way with what you are able to receive and the problem is that they get watered down instructions when the regulation clearly does not apply to a vial in home use exposed to a single patient. So an AIDS patient is not at risk of giving himself AIDS by using a T vial solely for his own used. (T can be used to address muscle wasting in that condition.)