How Long Does T Stay In Your Body

[Marc311978]

I have no testicles and am on bi-monthly injections of 150ml of ethanate (which is the bare minimum). I hear that 100ml per week is standard. So I go to the clinic every other wednesday because they are only open on Wednesdays. So the nurse told me that they are closed in two weeks and made my next appointment for 3 weeks later.

How am I going to feel that third week with no testosterone? Will I have any residual T left? How long does it stay in the body?

[RyanSeattle]

I don't know what your financial situation is but if I were you I would pay money and see a urologist, endo, or even an antiaging Dr. Their is no reason you should not be self injecting. Any of these Doctors can write you a prescription which you can pick up at a pharmacy. The cost of testosterone injections is cheap. Like 80 or 100 bucks for 3 or 4 months without insurance. Are you really going to go to the county hospital forever. Your missing work, so it pays for its self. Just because you don't have insurance doesn't mean you can't get care. I have insurance but I still pay weekly, copays, and prescriptions. Good luck!

[DaveNorCal]

Marc, this whole thing seems like such a hassle! CostCo has 10 ml vials 200 mg per ml of testosterone cypionate for about sixty bucks. That's twenty weeks, about five months, whether you take 100 mg weekly or 200 mg biwekly. Syringes with needles are about 25 cents apiece. So you are talking about $13 per month. You would need a 20 or 21 gauge needle. The stuff WILL NOT go through a 22 gauge needle. If you are fairly muscular you could get it in the side of your thigh (vastus lateralis). If not it should probably go in the glute. For injecting in the thigh you need a one inch needle. For the glute, which I much prefer, you would need a one and one half inch needle.
An intramuscular injection is not neurosurgery. The main thing is to aspirate to make sure you don't get it into a blood vessel. You or a family member or friend could take care of it. Maybe the clinic could just write you the prescription. I would definitely look into it.
Dave

[Marc311978]

I looked at the Costco prices and it looks like it would cost me $60 every two weeks. I think you made an error with the dosage. I'm pretty sure it's 200 mg for the whole 10 ml and not per ml. Anyhow, $120 per month for testosterone is reasonable especially since I am missing two days of work to make the appointments.

I just need to save a few hundred bucks to see a new endocrinologist out of pocket who will hopefully prescribe me the proper amount and allow me to self inject.

[DaveNorCal]

Marc,

To respond to your original question, my guess is that the 150 mg. or testosterone enthanate they are giving you is pretty much gone at the end of two weeks. So you will probably feel about like that for an additional week. Not great but not the end of the world. You just need a more workable arrangement.


You seem to be confusing miligrams (mg) which is the number of units of medication with mililiters (ml) which is a volumetric measure and is the same as a cubic centimeter (cc). The CostCo price for testosterone cypionate generic is right around $60.00 for a 10 ml vial of 200 mg per ml. The cost for 10 ml vial of 100 mg. per ml is about $56.00. So the per ml. price of the 100 mg per ml is almost twice as much. If you got the 200 mg. per ml. and took 100 mg. per week, which you are correct is a standard starting dose, that would last twenty about twenty weeks. That's nearly five months. $60 divided by 5 is $12. So you are talking less than $15.00 per month. I am doing this and know it to be correct.

Before paying for a private endocrinologist, I suggest just asking, politely but assertively at the clinic that is treating you whether they can just prescrribe generic testosterone cypionate 200 mg. per ml. and a box of 3 ml. syringes with twenty gauge one and one half inch needles. At the 200 mg per ml dose you would only need one hafl an ml per week. Piece of cake! This way you wouldn't be paying for appointments or labs. Explain that you lose two days of work a month coming in and that it is a real financial hardship. After all, two days a month is 10% of your income! That is a really huge cost for a thirty second jab in the butt that practically anyone could do.They are probabaly used to dealing with a lot of people who don't have that issue. Also, if you can say that you have someone lined up to give it to you, say a friend/neighbor/family member who is a nurse/medical assistant/psych tech that may reduce any reluctance they have. You don't really have anything to lose. They might say "no" or they might not. Bear in mind that they are probably kind of overwhelmed and this would be one less thing for them to do.

I've been dealing with this for years so feel free to PM me if you wish.
Dave

[Marc311978]

Marc,

To respond to your original question, my guess is that the 150 mg. or testosterone enthanate they are giving you is pretty much gone at the end of two weeks. So you will probably feel about like that for an additional week. Not great but not the end of the world. You just need a more workable arrangement.


You seem to be confusing miligrams (mg) which is the number of units of medication with mililiters (ml) which is a volumetric measure and is the same as a cubic centimeter (cc). The CostCo price for testosterone cypionate generic is right around $60.00 for a 10 ml vial of 200 mg per ml. The cost for 10 ml vial of 100 mg. per ml is about $56.00. So the per ml. price of the 100 mg per ml is almost twice as much. If you got the 200 mg. per ml. and took 100 mg. per week, which you are correct is a standard starting dose, that would last twenty about twenty weeks. That's nearly five months. $60 divided by 5 is $12. So you are talking less than $15.00 per month. I am doing this and know it to be correct.

Before paying for a private endocrinologist, I suggest just asking, politely but assertively at the clinic that is treating you whether they can just prescrribe generic testosterone cypionate 200 mg. per ml. and a box of 3 ml. syringes with twenty gauge one and one half inch needles. At the 200 mg per ml dose you would only need one hafl an ml per week. Piece of cake! This way you wouldn't be paying for appointments or labs. Explain that you lose two days of work a month coming in and that it is a real financial hardship. After all, two days a month is 10% of your income! That is a really huge cost for a thirty second jab in the butt that practically anyone could do.They are probabaly used to dealing with a lot of people who don't have that issue. Also, if you can say that you have someone lined up to give it to you, say a friend/neighbor/family member who is a nurse/medical assistant/psych tech that may reduce any reluctance they have. You don't really have anything to lose. They might say "no" or they might not. Bear in mind that they are probably kind of overwhelmed and this would be one less thing for them to do.

I've been dealing with this for years so feel free to PM me if you wish.
Dave

Thanks Dave for the clarification. You are right about the dosage. That is a lot cheaper. I have one more question for you. Since you will need to have testosterone for the rest of your life are your prescriptions automatically refilled at the pharmacy? Or do you have to continually see your endocrinologist and have them prescribe it for you? I would like to see doctors as little as possible and was wondering how it works in your case. I did not pm you because I think others might benefit from the info you have to share.

Thanks!

[DaveNorCal]

Marc, mine is prescribed by my primary care doc whose specialization is in family practice. In the past he has given me refills to last a year. It's a long story but I went off for a while and tried to stimulate the remaining testicle with hCG instead. That never got me above the low 300s so we dicided to go back on testosterone about five weeks ago. He gave me one refill, a lab slip for March first, and a follow-up appointment for march 8th. I expect at that time we will do any dosage adjustments and he will give me refills for a year.
Any physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant can prescribe it. In your case with a bilateral orchiectomy there is no controversy about whether you need it. Dosing regimens are trial and error. Taking it weekly instead of biweekely or monthly will tend to keep your levels more stable, which is a good thing all around. It gets prescribed at longer intervals for two main reasons. First, some guys hate shots and would rather have fewer and deal with the side effects. Second, there is the inconvenience and expense of more frequent office visits. If you can inject yourself as I do or have someone trustworthy to do it for you, then weekly gives you a closer approximation to the natural state.
If you can't get the clinic to prescribe it to you and have a primary care doc, that might be your next best bet. The fact that you absolutely need it might make the physician's decision simpler. Often they are leery of guys who are on the low end of normal. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

[Kiwi]

Mate, there seems to different absorption rates with different guys, the key is to have constant monitoring to determine what’s best for you. In my case I started my long term Reandron on the recommended 12 weekly cycles, this was reduced to 10 and then 9 weeks. Testosterone levels have been checked generally 2 weeks after and 1 week before an injection. As you are on short term injections the testing times would need to be associated with the injection cycles.

Kiwi