Studies to support benefits of more frequent injections? Help w/ doctor.

[gfox9]

Hi,

I've been working with my doctor to transition into home injections. Initially I was on Androgel for a while and then brought up my concerns regarding the risk of transfer, etc, in order to make my case for moving to injections -- he agreed. He then wanted to start me on injections, administered by his office, every three weeks to see how my body reacted. Just as I expected, I felt great for a week and then pretty shitty for the next two until my next shot. Well, we've agreed to move to home injections but he wants me to come in for a testosterone check 2 weeks from my last shot. Here's the kicker: he wants the labs run to see if he should prescribe a dose for every TWO OR THREE WEEKS. I know the benefits of bi-weekly injections at smaller doses to keep my levels stable but apparently he doesn't. I have no doubt that my T will be low when I get tested at the two-week mark so I'm not concerned there.

However, are there any medical studies or research that I could bring to him (other than anecdotal off the internet) that support the benefits of more frequent injections? I fear I'm treading on unstable ground due to him on being inexperienced with TRT injections and don't want to appear drug-seeking or anything by insisting on this if I don't have any basis for my request. Any thoughts on how to proceed? Thank you in advance.

 

[methos0123]

I think you should just ask him about trying bi weekly shots, starting at 50mg per shot totalling 100 mg / week. It's not outrageous or anything. Just ask him to work with you, to get at a stable 800-1200 range. Don't demand anything.

 

[gfox9]

Update: I just got notice that my scrip got filled. It's test cyp 200mg/ml 10ml. The initial instructions are to inject 1 ml every 3 weeks. So, that equals approximately 66 mg/week, right? Is my understanding correct? That sounds well below the recommended baseline of 100mg p/week.

I think what might happen is that based on my T labs 2 weeks from my last injection, if they're low enough, he'd recommend going 200mg every 2 weeks, which I could just split up myself.

 

[3J]

guys will shoot anywhere from 100 to 200mg a week.. so yea, your a bit on the low end there

 

[Daniel_IMT_Staff]

I would worry more about the frequency of the injection than the dose(which is very very low) at this point.

Testosterone cypionate should be injected twice a week for steady levels, some inject once a week and that will allow for a small valley by day 7. Inquire with your doctor about the half life of the drug and the frequency it is being prescribed at. Or get another doctor that knows what he is doing!

The initial instructions are to inject 1 ml every 3 weeks. So, that equals approximately 66 mg/week, right? Is my understanding correct?

If injected at that frequency it would be more like week 1 you are on 100mg/week, week 2 about 50mg/week then about 25mg on week 3.

For simplicity I calculated with a 7 day half life. Most literature states it is little shorter than that.



Edit: In response to your original query about studies to support more frequent injections. Basic pharmacological knowledge states a drug be injected at a higher frequency for Steady State concentrations to be achieved. So you don't get the ups and downs. This applies to all drugs.

http://sepia.unil.ch/pharmacology/index.php?id=70

 

[SJC]

Update: I just got notice that my scrip got filled. It's test cyp 200mg/ml 10ml. The initial instructions are to inject 1 ml every 3 weeks. So, that equals approximately 66 mg/week, right? Is my understanding correct? That sounds well below the recommended baseline of 100mg p/week.

I think what might happen is that based on my T labs 2 weeks from my last injection, if they're low enough, he'd recommend going 200mg every 2 weeks, which I could just split up myself.

The test cyp200mg/ml is 200mg for every ml on the syringe. So 1/2 ml on the syringe would be 100ml of test. I was prescribed the same thing but he wanted me to do 200mg every 2 weeks. I asked to do 100 every week and he said if I want to. I did that for 3 weeks the started doing 50mg every 3.5 days.

If he gave you the scrip, pin when ever you want.

 

[gfox9]

The test cyp200mg/ml is 200mg for every ml on the syringe. So 1/2 ml on the syringe would be 100ml of test. I was prescribed the same thing but he wanted me to do 200mg every 2 weeks. I asked to do 100 every week and he said if I want to. I did that for 3 weeks the started doing 50mg every 3.5 days.

If he gave you the scrip, pin when ever you want.

Yes, but 200mg over 3 weeks is still 66mg per week. I'm concerned about starting off that low of a dose, not about the frequency which I can inject.

Daniel - thank you for that link; I will be sure and bring that up with him. Are there any other studies, research, or medical literature that support dosage amounts or frequency? I just am not sure if there are any commonly-cited studies people can point to, because clearly this guy doesn't know how to dial in a protocol.

 

[Megatron28]

I too would worry more about the injection frequency than the 66mg per week dose. The dose will get adjusted as you show your doc blood work. And even 66mg/week will have you feeling better than being hypogonadal.

Injecting once every 3 weeks is going to put you on a huge roller coaster ride.

 

[IMT staff]

Good work Daniel, keep it up, we all stand to learn a lot from you