Testosterone Therapy options

[chandlerman4649]

tomas1,

I really don't have any fear of giving myself injections. I have been injecting into my penis for 8 years and I also gave my wife her allergy injections for 5 years. I got my first testosterone injection today....200mg, the strongest injection they give. The nurse injected it into my butt cheek but when I will go back in two weeks and see my uro, if I want to continue the injections, they will have me inject into my outer thigh every two weeks.

I don't quite know how the different testosterone therapies differ. I was using 4 pumps of Axiron (80 mg each = 320 mg) EACH DAY and also 4 pumps of AndroGel so just getting 200 mg. every two weeks seems strange to me. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Bob

[tomas1]

That does sound like a strong injection they gave you. Maybe it's to establish a baseline and they can fine tune your future injections.
I'm sure they will go over this with you, but they told me to inject about halfway down the thigh, and somewhat to the outside of center.
You obviously don't want to hit the femur. I'd also be curious to see what size needle they recommend for thigh shots.

Community pharmacy didn't have any 1" needles with syringes and they sold me some 22 gauge 1 1/2" needles. That's a scary needle and I shot my butt with it several times before I went online and got 1ml syringes and 23 gauge 1" needles.

Just curious, but did you work at Intel or Microchip?

[chandlerman4649]

tomas1,

No I have never worked at Intel or Microchip. The "T" nurse said that the dose they gave me was the strongest amount they would give in an injection. I will let you know about what they recommend for needles and syringes. I will probably get my meds from Community Pharmacy....the nurse said that it would be much less expensive than Walgreens.

Let's stay in touch.

Bob

[sliphill]

After almost a year on Testosterone, the first 8 months on gel, and then the rest of the time I have been injecting 100mg on Monday and Thursday. My total T before starting TRT was around 400. Not real low. I thought I would see an increase in libido, but I have not. I went on T for that reason.I asked my doctor if I were to stop all of a sudden, what would happen. He said I would just go back to my baseline. My testicles didn't shrink up. I take clomid 2 times a week, so maybe this is why. I am thinking about stopping the injections. What is the point if I am not really feeling any benefits. Oh, last checked, my total T was over 1000.

[dtwarren1942]

When I stopped TRT, I was told to taper off over a period of a month or more. Even so, my T level dropped to 190 before it went back to 290 several months later. Apparently, the TRT allows your prostrate to get "lazy" and it takes a while to get it back into normal production mode. Accordingly, if you stop TRT suddenly, your T level could drop excessively low and cause some health problems.

[sliphill]

When I stopped TRT, I was told to taper off over a period of a month or more. Even so, my T level dropped to 190 before it went back to 290 several months later. Apparently, the TRT allows your prostrate to get "lazy" and it takes a while to get it back into normal production mode. Accordingly, if you stop TRT suddenly, your T level could drop excessively low and cause some health problems.

Why did you stop? Did you notice and difference in libido? How did you feel when it dropped to 190?

[sliphill]

tomas1,

I really don't have any fear of giving myself injections. I have been injecting into my penis for 8 years and I also gave my wife her allergy injections for 5 years. I got my first testosterone injection today....200mg, the strongest injection they give. The nurse injected it into my butt cheek but when I will go back in two weeks and see my uro, if I want to continue the injections, they will have me inject into my outer thigh every two weeks.

I don't quite know how the different testosterone therapies differ. I was using 4 pumps of Axiron (80 mg each = 320 mg) EACH DAY and also 4 pumps of AndroGel so just getting 200 mg. every two weeks seems strange to me. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Bob

From everything I have read and heard, it is not good to go two weeks. It's better to do every week, or twice a week. The T will not last two weeks. Ask if you can do it every week. And 200 mg is a strong dose, a lot could convert to E2.

[dtwarren1942]

Why did you stop? Did you notice and difference in libido? How did you feel when it dropped to 190?

I started TRT because I hoped it would help with my ED. Although it did increase my libido, it did nothing for my ED. No advantage having a higher libido with a limp dick.

So when my endocrinologist advised that my PSA had started to rise, he recommended I stop the TRT. I really felt little different at 190 other than a slight decline in libido.

[sliphill]

Why did you stop? Did you notice and difference in libido? How did you feel when it dropped to 190?

I started TRT because I hoped it would help with my ED. Although it did increase my libido, it did nothing for my ED. No advantage having a higher libido with a limp dick.

So when my endocrinologist advised that my PSA had started to rise, he recommended I stop the TRT. I really felt little different at 190 other than a slight decline in libido.

That's amazing. You would think it was the magic bullet with the advertising on TV. Here I am at over 1000, and I really don't feel that different from when it was 350/400. I am 59, and in reasonably good health. I started because of ED and libido issues. My libido started to wane at around 54. Maybe this is just normal and I just have to accept it.

[rlm1818]

I thought I would see an increase in libido, but I have not. I went on T for that reason.

Here is a book reference that might, or might not, be helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/Improving-Male-Se ... Dan+Purser

Here's a quote from it:

"In men low testosterone is the most common influencer of low libido but there’s a lot more involved in this problem than just low testosterone levels. It’s critical for men to understand this as most think if they elevate their testosterone levels back to “normal” range then everything gets good again and they’ll feel normal. This is just not the way this hugely complex interaction occurs. Testosterone and/ or libido do not function alone in a vacuum, they need some almost ideal supporting cast members to achieve good libido driving all of the interaction... Libido is an interaction of many things....

But (sorry to kill the mood here) you need to imagine the billions of enzymatic and vitamin and amino acid interactions that occur to get a man to have a healthy libido or especially to get a man to orgasm. And in any one of those steps, if there’s something off or missing the whole process can stop (though I believe the human body, which is truly amazing, has some “work-arounds”), and libido and intercourse failure ensues. This book is really about making sure all these steps are optimized as best we can."