Self injection site preferences?

Mesomorphin

New member
After several years using Androgel, I reached the point where my total T numbers were below the normal range even at 4 squirts/day. My endo's response was to gradually up the dose, but my insurance plan refuses to cover the increased dose.

As a result, as soon as my remaining supply of Androgel is used up, I will finally be making the transition to injectible T. I'm curious what injection sites most guys favor for self-injection.

My doc seemed to think his assistant would walk me through the process of injecting into glutes. I'm willing to try whatever they propose, but part of me feels like it might be a little unwieldy to reach around, find the right spot, maintain close to 90° angle, see what's going on as you aspirate, etc. To someone who has never done it, it seems like quads might be a whole lot easier.

What do veterans prefer?
 
Glutes are the preferred site like your doc said. Injections don't have to be so complicated. First couple of times may be awkward for you but you will get used to it. Plus if you end up bruising for whatever reason you don't want to be walking around with a sore quad. Just my two cents.
 
Thanks. Maybe once I get instruction and actually try it, it will be easier than I'm imagining. (I'm picturing myself as Inspector Clouseau with a sterile syringe. What could go wrong, right?)
 
Mesomorphin said:
Thanks. Maybe once I get instruction and actually try it, it will be easier than I'm imagining. (I'm picturing myself as Inspector Clouseau with a sterile syringe. What could go wrong, right?)
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Ha. As a person who sticks both kids and adults for a living. It's really not that bad. It's all a mental game.
 
You are not required to inject into your glutes. Quads are more than adequate. As well are pecs and triceps and felts and if you are adventurous calves and biceps. Any area of decent muscle mass enough to hold .25-.50cc of oil and minimal fat to allow IM injection to penetrate deep enough.

Aspirate and inject very slowly minimizes to eliminates entirely any soreness as well does warming your oil before injection.
 
Napalm - that was my thought, klutz that I can be. I am willing to give the glutes thing a try, but if I suck at it, it is good to know that some folks are happy enough with other locations.
 
I can only do quads if it's .5mL at a time. Any more than that for me personally, and I'm crippled for the next 3 days.
 
Bam Bam0319. That is interesting to hear. Based on what my doc said so far, I think he will likely start with a low dose that could be compatible with .5 mL. If that doesn't't do the trick, I don't know whether he will increase the injection frequency or increase the amount per injection. It sounds like you are saying the comfortable injection volume limit is lower in quads than it would be in glutes. Is this a function of injection depth - and it is just possible to go deeper in glutes? Or is there something else involved?
 
Mesomorphin said:
Bam Bam0319. That is interesting to hear. Based on what my doc said so far, I think he will likely start with a low dose that could be compatible with .5 mL. If that doesn't't do the trick, I don't know whether he will increase the injection frequency or increase the amount per injection. It sounds like you are saying the comfortable injection volume limit is lower in quads than it would be in glutes. Is this a function of injection depth - and it is just possible to go deeper in glutes? Or is there something else involved?
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you beat me to it.

I can use a 1.5" pin in my quads and when I warm my oil and go very slow put 2 or more cc in and no pain or tenderness. What are you doing wrong?
 
David Dunn, maybe this is something they will teach me in the doctor's office, but I'm curious about the warming you mentioned. It seems reasonable to me that injection would be easier/more comfortable if the oils were somewhat warmed. Although I thought I read that the test should be stored between something like 68 and 77°, I assume it can be warmed at least to body temperature without degrading anything. Do you warm it after it is drawn into the syringe? What do you do to warm it?
 
Fill a coffee cup with .5" to 1.0" water. Heat in microwave until boiling. Remove from microwave and place vial in water. Let sit for several minute while prepping your gear and injection site with alcohol wipe. Remove heated vial and shake. Wipe rubber stopper with same alcohol wipe. Draw oil with drawing pin and syringe. Swap drawing syringe with injection syringe. Purge air. Penetrate injection site with pin. Aspirate. Inject very slowly to reduce post injection discomfort.
 
I see people talking about using different gauge needles for drawing as to injecting. My doc only gave me 22 gauge and didn't give me any others. I have been using it to draw and inject without issues. Any problems with this?
 
dixonk said:
I see people talking about using different gauge needles for drawing as to injecting. My doc only gave me 22 gauge and didn't give me any others. I have been using it to draw and inject without issues. Any problems with this?
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some find it a bit unpleasant pinning with a large gauge pin but it flows a lot quicker. but keep in mind that the rate of injecting the volume of fluid into the muscle is a great deal of the reason why there is post injection soreness. think kids and their shots - the dr sticks and presses. the rapid injection of the volume of fluid into the muscle is the reason why it hurts for days. the rubber stopper does dull the pin tip (believe it or not) but if it doesn't bother you then no worries. week after week for years it can become an issue if you are sensitive.
 
dixonk - I'll be curious to see what replies you get. My doc's email didn't say anything about two different needles, so I might find myself in the same boat.

I have seen internet sites that claim to legally offer needles and syringes without a prescription, but that doesn't seem like it could be right. Anyway, if you are doing fine now, not sure there would be any reason to change things up.
 
Mesomorphin said:
Bam Bam0319. That is interesting to hear. Based on what my doc said so far, I think he will likely start with a low dose that could be compatible with .5 mL. If that doesn't't do the trick, I don't know whether he will increase the injection frequency or increase the amount per injection. It sounds like you are saying the comfortable injection volume limit is lower in quads than it would be in glutes. Is this a function of injection depth - and it is just possible to go deeper in glutes? Or is there something else involved?
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Most people can put more in their quads no problem, it just seems to be a personal issue for me. I can put 3mL in my glutes without a single complaint. My quads just hate me I guess. It happens even if I warm the oil up and everything
 
Mesomorphin said:
dixonk - I'll be curious to see what replies you get. My doc's email didn't say anything about two different needles, so I might find myself in the same boat.

I have seen internet sites that claim to legally offer needles and syringes without a prescription, but that doesn't seem like it could be right. Anyway, if you are doing fine now, not sure there would be any reason to change things up.
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I have been using them weekly now for a month and have no soreness and do not feel them at all when injecting into quads. I just pin a little bit towards the inside not directly on top. I do 100mg a week.
 
Forget that spot inject with 1" pin on lean muscles sites... Back there in reach around usually requires a 1.5" setup and you have to go through more fat... No thanks and if you're not in right area you will know when you pierce the sciatic nerve. Haha
 
I rotate between glutes, quads and delts. Quads are my favorite. I draw and pin with a 23 gauge 1 inch pin. Been using it for years. No issues what so ever
 
sammpedd88 said:
I rotate between glutes, quads and delts. Quads are my favorite. I draw and pin with a 23 gauge 1 inch pin. Been using it for years. No issues what so ever
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Glad to hear that has worked for you, as it looks like I will be working with the same equipment. I just received a shipment of 23 gauge 1 inch pins. Still waiting for the syringes and the test, but I confirmed that they plan for me to use the #23 for both the draw and the injection.
 
Mesomorphin said:
Glad to hear that has worked for you, as it looks like I will be working with the same equipment. I just received a shipment of 23 gauge 1 inch pins. Still waiting for the syringes and the test, but I confirmed that they plan for me to use the #23 for both the draw and the injection.
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25 gauge for injections is so much more "comfortable". It takes longer to draw but the injection is way less painful.
 
David Dunn said:
some find it a bit unpleasant pinning with a large gauge pin but it flows a lot quicker. but keep in mind that the rate of injecting the volume of fluid into the muscle is a great deal of the reason why there is post injection soreness. think kids and their shots - the dr sticks and presses. the rapid injection of the volume of fluid into the muscle is the reason why it hurts for days. the rubber stopper does dull the pin tip (believe it or not) but if it doesn't bother you then no worries. week after week for years it can become an issue if you are sensitive.
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kenpoengineer said:
25 gauge for injections is so much more "comfortable". It takes longer to draw but the injection is way less painful.
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I constantly flip back and forth from 23 to 25. Because as David mentions, the rate of injection is a factor in pain - with a 23 it is oozing out of the needle, with a 25 it is squirting - causing microtrauma in the muscle.


probably 90 % of the time I inject in quads, but delts are not bad either at TRT doses. Glutes are reserved for the "i'm injecting over 2ml today" days :D a full 1ml in the quads isn't bad


I draw with an 18 though, I don't want any dulling of the needle going through my skin.
 
Quads are the worst of all options imo...

I'm partial to the ventroglutes, glutes and delts. Quads, not so much, especially if I'm squatting around the day of the shot. VG is my favorite of all spots to pin.
 
swollz said:
Forget that spot inject with 1" pin on lean muscles sites... Back there in reach around usually requires a 1.5" setup and you have to go through more fat... No thanks and if you're not in right area you will know when you pierce the sciatic nerve. Haha
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If you pierce the sciatic nerve you are way off your landmarks
 
Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough what I think of the 23 gauge. I have no doubt a 25 would be more user friendly, but it has been a LONG time coming to get this far, so I'm not inclined to whine about needle gauges unless I find it pretty damn bad.
 
Mesomorphin said:
Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough what I think of the 23 gauge. I have no doubt a 25 would be more user friendly, but it has been a LONG time coming to get this far, so I'm not inclined to whine about needle gauges unless I find it pretty damn bad.
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Why not just order 25 gauge pins online?
 
I understood that legally you need a prescription to get/posses them. In my line of work, illegal would not be an option.
 
Mesomorphin said:
I understood that legally you need a prescription to get/posses them. In my line of work, illegal would not be an option.
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I never heard it to be illegal to have needles
 
Mesomorphin said:
I understood that legally you need a prescription to get/posses them. In my line of work, illegal would not be an option.
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I've never been asked to provide a script when ordering 100s of pins and syringes online lol
 
I may need to look into this more, but mine were definitely dispensed per a script. I think I read that laws vary from place to place about whether it is legal to possess without a script so it might be possible to sell online, without being legal to receive, depending on where you live. If I can verify legality in my jurisdiction, I'll definitely pick up some smaller gauge.
 
Secure email server & firewall / VPN if worried, but it's just pins (which you need for your legal TRT), not drugs / banned substances :)
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. I need to be careful with legality, but a quick internet look makes me think that Maryland allows purchase without a prescription and probably only considers it illegal drug paraphernalia if it was intended for use with non-prescribed icontrolled substances. In that case, I may have flexibility.
 
Mesomorphin said:
Thanks for the tips everyone. I need to be careful with legality, but a quick internet look makes me think that Maryland allows purchase without a prescription and probably only considers it illegal drug paraphernalia if it was intended for use with non-prescribed icontrolled substances. In that case, I may have flexibility.
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And would probably be considered paraphernalia if it's been used to inject a non prescribed substance, like tren or something. Which you're not so I wouldn't worry. Kinda like a pipe isn't drug paraphernalia until you've actually smoked weed out of it.
 
Gutterpump said:
Secure email server & firewall / VPN if worried, but it's just pins (which you need for your legal TRT), not drugs / banned substances :)
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Theres that but I was referring more to her ability to reason things away as not in violation of known protocol...
 
Delts, ventragluteal, vastus lateralis
 
25g to inject, 18 to draw. I buy syringes/needles by the box and have never been asked for a prescription..
 
I use 25g to inject, 18 to draw as well. But only if I'm pinning over 0.5cc

I typically use slin pins for TRT. I've been pinning delts lately, but I also like going sub-q around my navel.
 
Gutterpump said:
I use 25g to inject, 18 to draw as well. But only if I'm pinning over 0.5cc

I typically use slin pins for TRT. I've been pinning delts lately, but I also like going sub-q around my navel.
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Slin pins are awesome. I jab all over my quads. But that's because I've been doing .5cc and now actually only doing .25cc because my new vial is double the dosage per mL compared to my last one lol
 
I have been pinning in my upper thigh for a month and it has been fine. Today I tried pinning in the lower area which is more muscular and it hurt like crazy. It actually felt like I hit a nerve and had to back the needle out. Plus it was harder to poke in. What gives?
 
You may have indeed hit a nerve. Something I picked up talking to diabetics: before pushing the needle into the skin, "gently touch" the skin with the needle. If you feel slight pain then move to another spot and repeat. The spot you find that "feels best" is where you push in and inject.
 
kenpoengineer said:
You may have indeed hit a nerve. Something I picked up talking to diabetics: before pushing the needle into the skin, "gently touch" the skin with the needle. If you feel slight pain then move to another spot and repeat. The spot you find that "feels best" is where you push in and inject.
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That's what I figured. It sucked and I backed it off 1/2" and injected in the same spot. Using 1.5" needles.
 
Although I'm still waiting for the syringes, a 90 day supply of test ethanate arrived today. From what I read, this may be a little thicker than test cypionate and maybe a little more difficult to inject with a smaller gauge. Would this change anyone's view 're: gauge? (If it makes any difference, the doc's starting dose is 1 mL (200 mg) every 2 weeks.
 
I would disregard your doctor and do .5mL every week. Dosing every other week is going to put your hormones on a roller coaster. Maybe discuss that with him first though.
I use 23 or 25 gauge to inject test e with no problem.
 
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