How To Actually Self
Ready to administer? Take a deep breath and remember that you can do this.
- Wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds.
- Make sure the vial of medicine is at room temperature. Many guys store TRT doses in the fridge dont do that. Its not medically necessary and the cold testosterone will feel very uncomfortable when it goes into your body. If youve kept your TRT dose in the fridge and do need to warm it up, you can either run it under warm water, hold it in your fist for several minutes, or even stick it in your armpit.
- Clean the top of the medicine vial with an alcohol swab and wait for it to completely dry. Residual alcohol that gets onto the needle and is still wet will sting you more when injecting.
- Attach whichever needle youre using to the syringe. Youll want to draw the plunger back and fill the syringe with air, the same amount of air as the amount of medication youre planning to inject.
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An aside about understanding your dose: itll say something like 100 mg or ½ ml once per week. Mgor milligramsis typically the amount of the testosterone you have, while mlor millilitersis the amount of the solution that the testosterone is in. If theres any confusion surrounding your prescription and doses, please call and ask us.
- Remove the needle from the vial and swap needles, if you need to. Take care to always cap any needles and immediately place them into your sharps container.
How Should This Medicine Be Used
Testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate , and testosterone undecanoate injection come as a solution to be injected into a muscle and as a pellet to be injected under the skin by a doctor or nurse in an office setting or clinic. Testosterone enanthate injection comes as a solution to be injected subcutaneously once a week by yourself or a caregiver.
Testosterone injection may control your symptoms but will not cure your condition. Your doctor may adjust your dose of testosterone depending on the amount of testosterone in your blood during your treatment and your reaction to the medication.
Always look at your testosterone enanthate solution before you inject it. It should be clear to light yellow in color and free of visible particles. Do not use it if it is cloudy, contains visible particles, or if the expiration date on the package has passed.
You can inject testosterone enanthate injection in the left or right side of your abdomen except your navel and the area 2 inches around it. Do not inject into an area where the skin is tender, bruised, red, or hard or where you have scars, tattoos, or stretch marks.
Your healthcare provider will show you how to use testosterone enanthate injection . Be sure that you understand these directions, and ask your healthcare provider if you have any questions.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer’s information for the patient.
What Should I Know About Storage And Disposal Of This Medication
Keep testosterone enanthate injection in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from light, excess heat and moisture . Do not refrigerate or freeze.
It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily. To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location â one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach.
Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program. Talk to your pharmacist or contact your local garbage/recycling department to learn about take-back programs in your community. See the FDA’s Safe Disposal of Medicines website for more information if you do not have access to a take-back program.
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Why Testosterone Can Be Tricker To Inject
Testosterone can be tougher to inject than, say, insulin, because the hormone is held within an oil, either sesame or grapeseed. Because its thicker, you may need two needles: a low gauge for the vial of medicine and a higher gauge for your body. If you use a high gauge needle to extract the testosterone from the vial, its going to be a laborious process to get the medicine through that smaller bore.
Performing A Testosterone Injection
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Preparing The Injection Dose
1. Check the packaging of the syringes and needles you are going to use.
2. If the packaging has been opened or damaged, do not use those syringes or needles.
3. Snap open the ampoule using the ampoule snapper provided. You do this by placing the ampoule into the ampoule snapper, with the dot marking on the top section of the ampoule facing towards you as you close the ampoule snapper.
4. If you do not have an ampoule snapper, you can snap the top off the ampoule with your fingers whilst firmly holding the bottom section of the ampoule, but be careful to mind out for tiny broken shards of glass. Set down the open ampoule on a level surface.
5. Open the syringe package carefully, taking care not to touch the open end of the syringe against anything, including your hands.
6. Open the 18G needle package carefully, taking care not to touch the open end of the needle against anything, including your hands. Screw the 18G needle onto the end of the syringe.
7. Pull the 18G needle cover straight off the needle. Do not let the needle touch any surfaces.
8. Keep the ampoule on your flat working surface and insert the needle straight down through the centre of the ampoule.
9. Slowly pull back on the plunger to fill the syringe with the medication to the number that matches the dose your doctor has prescribed.
12. Check to make sure that you have the correct dose in the syringe. It is very important that you use the exact dose prescribed by your doctor.
Other Things To Consider When Taking Testosterone Injections
Other than where to give testosterone injections, the other things you need to consider for the proper administration of testosterone shots are:
- Needle size in terms of length and gauge
- The volume of your dose
- Your particular injection technique
- To massage or not to massage
Typical needle size to give testosterone injections is a gauge of between 22 and 25. Some testosterone users suggest that you should use one needle to draw the testosterone dose into the syringe, discard that needle, and then use another to give yourself the actual testosterone injection. The rationale behind this is that the tip of the needle could get blunted pushing through the stopper of the testosterone vial, and therefore possibly cause a more painful injection. There is nothing wrong with this practice, however, there is also little evidence to suggest that it is true. From a convenience standpoint, using a larger needle to draw the testosterone can be easier & faster but ultimately, the choice is yours.
If it is possible to split your testosterone injections into more frequent smaller dosages, less volume in each testosterone injection, can result in less pain.
As far as technique, to minimize pain of your testosterone injection, keep the needle straight, and the faster you inject usually means less pain.
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What Other Drugs Will Affect Testosterone Injection
Tell your doctor about all your other medicines, especially:
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insulin or oral diabetes medicine
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medicine to treat pain, cough, or cold symptoms
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steroid medicine–prednisone, dexamethasone, and others.
This list is not complete. Other drugs may affect testosterone, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Not all possible drug interactions are listed here.
What Are You Injecting
If youre doing testosterone replacement therapy , youre injecting testosterone. Again, provided youre working under the guidance of a medical professional, injecting testosterone is perfectly safe. There are several ways to introduce testosterone to your body, but the benefits of injecting testosterone is that injections are highly effective and the dosage is consistent, studies have shown. Testosterone in the bloodstream is quickly eliminated, so injections slowly release the hormone into the bloodstream over a longer period of time.
Hones testosterone assessment is the simplest way to uncover whether your levels are low. Its fast, simple, and you can do it from home. And if low T is the problem, Hone can help you get you back on top of your game.
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Always Use The Right Needle And The Right Barrel
- Use a new, sterile needle every time this reduces your risk of injuries and infections.
- Stick to your own needles, vials and amps using the same needle or vial as someone else increases your risk of blood-borne viruses like hepatitis C and HIV. You can get as many needles and barrels as you need for your cycle free from your local needle and syringe service .
- Greens for drawing up, blues for injecting for injecting steroids, you need to use a green needle to draw up then swap it for a blue needle to inject. A blue needle is long enough to get the fluid into your muscle without hitting a bone.
- Don’t use barrels bigger than 2ml if you use bigger barrels you may draw up too much liquid. Injecting too much liquid can cause problems like scarring and abscesses .
Before Taking This Medicine
You should not receive testosterone if you are allergic to it, or if you have:
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prostate cancer
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if you are bedridden or otherwise debilitated or
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if you take a blood thinner .
This medicine can harm an unborn baby. Do not use testosterone if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant during treatment. Use effective birth control while you are receiving this medicine.
It is not known whether testosterone passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. You should not breastfeed while using this medicine.
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Cycling On And Off Testosterone
Some people believe that testosterone should be taken in cycles. While this might be partly true with anabolic steroid users, it is not the case with TRT. When on TRT, your testicles reduce or stop producing testosterone. Stopping testosterone injections abruptly is not good news for American male wellness and bears several side effects. These include reduced or zero libido, weight gain, and depression.
Hence, when in TRT, you should consistently stay in touch with a reliable and experienced doctor who tapers down the dose when the desired effects are achieved.
What Is Testosterone Injection
Testosterone is a naturally occurring sex hormone produced in a man’s testicles. Small amounts of testosterone are also produced in a woman’s ovaries and adrenal system.
Testosterone injection is used in men and boys to treat conditions caused by a lack of this hormone, such as delayed puberty, impotence, or other hormonal imbalances. Testosterone injection is not for use in treating low testosterone without certain medical conditions or due to getting older.
Testosterone enanthate is used in women to treat breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be treated with surgery.
Testosterone will not enhance athletic performance and should not be used for that purpose.
Testosterone injection may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.
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How To Do An Intramuscular Injection
This clip is for educational purposes only to help men who have a prescription of Testosterone.
Testosterone was the first ever synthesized anabolic steroid, and testosterone cypionate is a slow-acting, long-ester, oil-based injectable testosterone compound that is commonly prescribed for the treatment of hypogonadism low testosterone levels and various related symptoms in males.
Where Should I Get My Testosterone Therapy
Any doctor can prescribe and tell you how to take testosterone injections. But, if you want to achieve the maximum results of testosterone replacement therapy, your best bet is to work with a skilled and experienced testosterone doctor. If you want to get the most you can from taking your testosterone injections, you want to work with a specialist who has a proven track record in administering hormone replacement therapies for men.
At our treatment centers, our doctors and staff are dedicated professionals with years of experience in treating the problems of age-related hormone decline. Your testosterone therapy will be tailor-made to suit your individual needs and wellness goals. At our clinics, you will always be treated as an individual, and never like just another number on a prescription pad. When we get to know you as a person, we can prescribe the best testosterone therapy for you, and you will be able to count on significant before and after results.
Testosterone injections should be given deeply into vascular muscle tissue. The deltoids, the vastus lateralis, and gluteal muscles are the most common intramuscular injection sites. Those are your arm, thigh, and buttocks respectively.
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Know Your Needles And Gauge Sizes
You can connect multiple needles to a syringe, depending on the action required. Needle diameter is measured by gauge numbers, which indicates the bore of a needles lumen . The higher the gauge number, the smaller or thinner the hole the lower the gauge number, the bigger or thicker the hole. Higher gauge needles can reduce pain when injecting, but larger needles are required for injecting larger volumes of oil-based substances into the muscle.
The last thing youll need to know about needles is the length of the needle itself. This number is listed after the gauge number. For example, a 25G ½ indicates that this is a 25 gauge needle that is a half-inch long.
What Other Drugs Will Affect Testosterone
Certain drugs may interact with testosterone, including
- Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as oxyphenbutazone
Other prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products may also react with testosterone. Tell each of your health care providers about all medicines you use now and any medicine you start or stop using.
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Treating Low Testosterone Levels In Males
Doctors may recommend testosterone injections to treat males with low testosterone levels. Low testosterone production by the testicles is called hypogonadism.
Low testosterone can have negative effects. The symptoms of low testosterone in males include a lower sperm count, a decrease in bone or muscle mass, increased body fat, and erectile dysfunction. Normal total testosterone levels in the bloodstream in healthy adult males are 2801,100 nanograms per deciliter .
When treating hypogonadism, testosterone therapy can have the
- increased lean muscle mass and strength
Poor Side Effects Management
The possible side effects of TRT are not very serious but need to be managed adequately. These effects include thinning of hair, acne, irritability, or elevation in prostate-specific antigen or hematocrit levels.
Not managing these side effects would only trap you in another set of issues while looking to eliminate one. For example, inadequate monitoring of estrogen levels may lead to the development of male breast tissue called gynecomastia, surplus body fat, and elusive mental changes. Thus, it is essential to know how these adverse events are to be managed.
Managing them may need adjustment of dosage, alteration of the delivery route, and/or administration of additional drugs or creams. Look for the most competent testosterone treatment in Las Vegas that can reap far-fetched results for your condition.
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Testosterone Therapy In Females
Testosterone therapy is more controversial in females than in males.
Normal total testosterone levels in healthy adult females are 1570 ng/dl. Low testosterone in females can cause fertility problems, irregular periods, vaginal dryness, and a low sex drive. Despite this, doctors do not often recommend testosterone injections to treat low testosterone in females, as they can have masculinizing effects.
However, doctors may recommend testosterone therapy to help with hypoactive sexual desire disorder in females after menopause. Research has not supported their use for other signs and symptoms that people may experience after menopause, which include anxiety, mood changes, weight gain, and reduced bone density.
Currently, the FDA have not approved any products for testosterone therapy in females. Additionally, in the USA, there are no readily available formulations that provide the recommended treatment dose of 300 micrograms per day for females. As a result, a female will typically need a compounding pharmacy to fill the prescription.