#hrt injection

[undi-snowkitteh]

What I use (and recommend) for my intramuscular injections

a 2ml syringe

a 20g 40mm / 1½" needle to draw the oil from the vial into the syringe

a 27g 20mm / ¾" for injecting the oil into the muscle

(people with a thicker fat layer in their skin might need a longer needle to reach the muscle tho!)

and here's a nice video guide on how to do intramuscular injections:

[ptr-sqloint]

[uncanny-tranny]

One of my biggest pieces of advice for those taking injectable hormones is to make sure you're injecting at the right angle

For intramuscular (IM), you inject at a 90° angle.

For subcutaneous (SQ), you inject at a 45° angle.

Here is a graphic depicting what the angle of your injection should look like:

An image description is provided in the ALT text.

[muckyschmuck]

it’s all ok! <3

[queeranarchism]

I'm seeing a worrying post about single/multi-use HRT vials going around. Please read this Queer Doc article instead.

The most important parts of this article are:

Check the ingredients. Vials without preservatives are intended to be thrown out after 1 use. Vials with preservatives are intended to be thrown out after 28 days.

Wash your hands, clean the table and disinfect injection surfaces (vial stopper, your injection site.)

Don’t let the needle or the rubber stopper of the vial touch contaminated surfaces.

Don’t re-use needles.

I would like to add:

In Europe you may also get single-use vials that are completely glass with a top that needs to be broken to access the medication. There is NO safe way to use these for multi-dosing.

Within the DIY community, you will find larger vials that people use for months. This caries extra risk but unfortunately a lot of people don't have much choice. Be extra diligent about hygiene and safety if you re-use vials for longer, understand that you've got more risk and do not do it if you are immunocompromised. Please consider changing your vial every 4 months if at all possible.

If you do get an infection you need to go to a doctor. Seriously. An infection deeper under the skin can not work itself to the surface and has a risk of entering the blood stream and becoming sepsis. This can kill you. Trans people will tell you that they had an infection and they were fine. They were lucky. You may be unlucky. Go to a doctor.

Normal injections often cause pain and a warm bump or hard spot at the injection site, with symptoms increasing during the first 24 hours and gradually getting less after that. Symptoms of infection are: pain, heat or a bump that continue to increase after 48 hour, oozing of liquid from the injection site hours/days after injection, fever, a rash spreading from the injection sight. If you get these symptoms go to a doctor.

Store your injection bottles, packaged syringes and needles in a dry, clean location, keep them away from food items. The packaging isn't fool-proof. If there is dirt on the package, do not trust the inside of the package. If the package is broken, do not trust the inside of the package.

Check the ingredients of your vial for allergies. Injections are oil-based and that oil can be peanut-oil, soy-oil and other things that people might have an allergic reaction to. If you have allergies, know which oil you're putting into your body.

[kirby-the-gorb]

[glittergroovy]

I think everyone should try a few weeks of HRT as a treat

[genderqueerdykes]

I don’t know if this is appropriate for your ask box but id just like to acknowledge that as a trans person who would be significantly happier if I where about 100 pounds heavier. I’m excited for the day I feel like I’m injecting my t into fat and not down to my bone

hey that's okay, weight can be a huge milestone for a lot of people in transition and expressing themselves. having more fat tissue can make the medicine affect the body better for many people, for some they metabolize it best that way. as someone who has been fat my whole life and has not had any damage to my health from it. i appreciate when i see people look forward to gaining weight, because i think so many of us forget that some people need to put on weight, and encouraging and celebrating that is huge.

gaining weight is not evil. my best friend has crohns disease and losing weight for them is terrifying. i hope you are able to reach a weight that is more comfortable for you, and for taking your hormones as well. you can always look into topical gels if it is too uncomfortable, or you may be able to switch needles or formulations, but either way, i wish you good luck in your journey, and i hope everything goes well with your transition!

[onewithblankets]

pro tips for administering your own t shots

aight so i’ve been doing the whole self injection thing for nine/ten-ish months now, and as someone who’s always been, and still is, a little squeamish around needles, here are some things that help:

when you wipe down the injection site (I do my thighs, intramuscular injection) with an alcohol wipe, wait a little bit for the skin to dry before sticking the needle in. i’ve found this helps reduce the sting a bit.

listen to music. it helps make the whole process a little less nerve-wracking when you’re humming along to a song you like as you prep your syringe.

along the same lines as the last point, I like to use certain beats of a song as a ‘countdown’ almost, to hype myself up for the injection itself. instead of going “three-two-one” and then sticking the needle in, i’ll go “alright, i’ll put on cotard’s solution and stick it in when he starts screaming.” definitely makes the anticipation of the needle itself more bearable.

the anticipation is always worse than the actual injection. don’t let your own brain psyche you out of taking your t for fear of pain. i came into intramuscular injections thinking it’d be awful pain all the time, but half the time it’s barely more than a slight sting and usually doesn’t feel like anything after I put the bandaid on. i think i was more sore in the first couple weeks than i ever am now, though, so i may have just gotten used to it.

don’t inject too quickly, once you have the needle in your flesh. testosterone is pretty thick, so it’ll be a little slower coming out, and trying to push it too hard too fast will just make it uncomfortable or a little painful. 

do all the prepwork and keep everything together in front of you before you even uncap the first needle. make sure you have all the alcohol wipes, needles, vial, bandaids, and sharps box right next to you. you don’t want to pull your needle out of your thigh and then realize you don’t have a bandaid to put on the bleeding hole. that stuff gets everywhere.

alternate your injection sites. don’t do the exact same spot every single week (or however frequently you do your injections) or it will build up tougher tissue and make it harder for you to do injections. i just switch between left and right thighs every week.

once your t is in the syringe, keep your fingers/palms FAR AWAY from the plunger until the needle is inside you. you do not want to know how many times i accidentally squeezed some t out of my syringe because i was moving things around and absentmindedly squeezed on the plunger just a little too hard

check out Howard Brown! very good high quality videos on how to do subcutaneous and intramuscular injections + how to draw medicine out of the vial in the first place. highly recommend.

that’s all i can really think of atm. might update this later if i think of more things/figure something new and cool out for myself, though. hope it’s at least a little helpful for some of you funny internet people.

[teddyichneumon]

watching bride of re-animator for the first time

[transfaguette]

after a year of constantly forgetting which needle I inject with and which I draw up medication with I have finally come up with a mnemonic. (for reference i use a green 21g for drawing up and a blue 25g for injection, srry if yours are different).

“green goes in clean, blue goes in you.”

thank you have a good day.

[artiodaktyl]

gold-blooded

[muckyschmuck]

i did cry but not bc of the pain Q^Q

[skunkes]

thje really good thing about this year is ive gotten poked with a needle for drawing blood or other reasons like 20 times so that part of Fearing Going On T has been lessened a bit

[death-is-moist]

The effects of testosterone-

As a mostly closeted transman 2 months on T.

Confidence

I am so much more confident. It's not something I had picked up on myself but numerous people have told me lately that I am glowing and thriving and since then, I have thought about it and that makes sense. I have been dressing up a little more, since I'm feeling more at home in my body, as well as smiling more.

I have been getting back into more of a gothic style like I used to while also incorporating some of my newer favourite clothes such as my Tye dye shorts and funky button ups (my new ones are frogs and another one is snails)

Hair

Getting my hair cut was one of the best decisions I have made. Choosing a mullet let's me keep it long (per choice) and have it short at the same time as well as having a bonding experience with my dad who also has an 80s style mullet and goes to the same barber as I. I have also started dying sections of it blue again and I am just overall very happy with my hair although my partner often jokes about me being an exotic bird in the mornings.

As for facial hair, one of my flatmates (who I am out to) pointed out that I had a pit of a stache growing (this was around a month in) and I was overjoyed. Since then I have been fairly regularly shaving to -

a) keep myself looking tidy

b) not cause any suspicion from family members

c) help it grow back thicker/darker further down the line

Body hair is something I have never had a lot of and if on the off chance I did, it was thin, whispy and blonde (unnoticeable). Because I spent years shaving my legs and have now grown them out, it is darker than all my other body hair but that is affirming to me as it is more of a masculine trait to have. I still have no underarm hair which is a blessing and a curse I guess. I would find it gender affirming but at the same time I am so happy I naturally have no hair there for multiple reasons.

Menstruation

I am currently 22 days late for my period and I couldn't be happier. Case closed 🤣

Libido

Uhm yeah I never really had a lot of sex drive but I can definitely say that has changed now haha. I think I understand when people compare libido in particular as becoming a 12-14 year old boy because yep. Okayyyy that's enough on this subject.

End

That's all I really have to share at this point in time I think. Please let me know any questions or if you would like me to share more about a specific subject!

[arodynamic-transmasc]

Transmascs who administer their own T-shots are so so sexy. Like damn??? You can handle a syringe?? What else do those hands do???? I'm fucking terrified of needles. So impressed when people are okay with them. That is so so sexy to me. I'm obsessed.