Starting T . . For Real This Time
So, I did my first injection of testosterone last night.
This was the result of a lot of negotiations with mfrazercani that basically boiled down to his saying that he wasn't ready, but he was never going to be ready, so a month wasn't going to make a big difference if I were going to go ahead with transition anyway. The other deciding factors were that I start work again next week and didn't want to start T in the middle of working, in case it made me exhausted all the time or messed with my mood or had other effects that would be hard to work through. And, quite simply, we couldn't afford to refill my prescription for the cream and I'm almost out. Right now, though, this whole starting T thing is kind of anti-climactic. I'm much more worried about the financial crisis we're dealing with here and the state of my marriage than I am nervous, excited or even thinking about the fact that I'm starting medical transition. Which I'm a bit disappointed about, actually. I kind of wanted it to be a big deal, at least internally. (Since making it a big deal externally would be kind of insensitive to mfrazercani.
So, anyway, I'm injecting .5 mLs of 200 mg/mL testosterone cypionate in cottonseed oil weekly. That's 100 mg/week. I'm concerned that's a bit high, actually, since I've had an oopherectomy and am not producing oestrogen, but I have blood tests in about 6 weeks and we'll see then. I'm using 1 1/2", 25 g needles - the Rx was actually for 22 g needles, but the pharmacy misread it and doesn't have any 22 g in stock, so I decided to go with it. I injected into my right thigh.
The injection was as easy as I hoped it would be. Though drawing the testosterone up into the syringe was a pain with the small needles, injecting it only took a minute or two and wasn't hard at all. It didn't hurt, there were no muscle spasms, I got none of the shakes/flushes/lightheadedness I've had with my body piercings and which other guys have had with injections, and there no blood worth mentioning at the injection site (not even enough to warrant a small sticking plaster). I did it right after a nice hot shower, to make sure my muscles were relaxed. I did forget two things: to wipe the top of the vial with alcohol (I didn't realise until after I'd filled the syringe, but I'm not too worried about it since the vial has been in a box, in a bag and untouched since the NP showed me how to inject, a week ago, and I'm pretty sure she wiped it down), and to pull back before injecting to make sure I didn't hit a vein (I'm also not too worried about that - it didn't hurt and there was no blood when I withdrew the needle, so I'm pretty sure I'm okay). Things to remember for next time.
After the shot I was feeling a tiny bit shaky and tingly and had a slight increase in heart rate, but I'm sure those were from excitement and nerves rather than an effect of the injection. Today I'm feeling completely normal. No more tired (or energetic) than usual, no moodier, no hornier, no angrier, nothing. We'll see if that changes over the course of the evening. I will say that I'm very, very glad to not have to worry about applying the cream this morning. I hated that stuff - it was a huge pain, and I was always worried about exposing my female friends and their children to the testosterone. Weekly injections will be so much easier.
I did a video last night, just for me, so that I'd have a record of what I looked and sounded like before starting transition. I may make one today in which I'm actually showered and my hair's not sticking up all over the place in order to start a vlog on YouTube. I'll have to see if I can get the audio and video to sync up at all, though.
This was the result of a lot of negotiations with mfrazercani that basically boiled down to his saying that he wasn't ready, but he was never going to be ready, so a month wasn't going to make a big difference if I were going to go ahead with transition anyway. The other deciding factors were that I start work again next week and didn't want to start T in the middle of working, in case it made me exhausted all the time or messed with my mood or had other effects that would be hard to work through. And, quite simply, we couldn't afford to refill my prescription for the cream and I'm almost out. Right now, though, this whole starting T thing is kind of anti-climactic. I'm much more worried about the financial crisis we're dealing with here and the state of my marriage than I am nervous, excited or even thinking about the fact that I'm starting medical transition. Which I'm a bit disappointed about, actually. I kind of wanted it to be a big deal, at least internally. (Since making it a big deal externally would be kind of insensitive to mfrazercani.
So, anyway, I'm injecting .5 mLs of 200 mg/mL testosterone cypionate in cottonseed oil weekly. That's 100 mg/week. I'm concerned that's a bit high, actually, since I've had an oopherectomy and am not producing oestrogen, but I have blood tests in about 6 weeks and we'll see then. I'm using 1 1/2", 25 g needles - the Rx was actually for 22 g needles, but the pharmacy misread it and doesn't have any 22 g in stock, so I decided to go with it. I injected into my right thigh.
The injection was as easy as I hoped it would be. Though drawing the testosterone up into the syringe was a pain with the small needles, injecting it only took a minute or two and wasn't hard at all. It didn't hurt, there were no muscle spasms, I got none of the shakes/flushes/lightheadedness I've had with my body piercings and which other guys have had with injections, and there no blood worth mentioning at the injection site (not even enough to warrant a small sticking plaster). I did it right after a nice hot shower, to make sure my muscles were relaxed. I did forget two things: to wipe the top of the vial with alcohol (I didn't realise until after I'd filled the syringe, but I'm not too worried about it since the vial has been in a box, in a bag and untouched since the NP showed me how to inject, a week ago, and I'm pretty sure she wiped it down), and to pull back before injecting to make sure I didn't hit a vein (I'm also not too worried about that - it didn't hurt and there was no blood when I withdrew the needle, so I'm pretty sure I'm okay). Things to remember for next time.
After the shot I was feeling a tiny bit shaky and tingly and had a slight increase in heart rate, but I'm sure those were from excitement and nerves rather than an effect of the injection. Today I'm feeling completely normal. No more tired (or energetic) than usual, no moodier, no hornier, no angrier, nothing. We'll see if that changes over the course of the evening. I will say that I'm very, very glad to not have to worry about applying the cream this morning. I hated that stuff - it was a huge pain, and I was always worried about exposing my female friends and their children to the testosterone. Weekly injections will be so much easier.
I did a video last night, just for me, so that I'd have a record of what I looked and sounded like before starting transition. I may make one today in which I'm actually showered and my hair's not sticking up all over the place in order to start a vlog on YouTube. I'll have to see if I can get the audio and video to sync up at all, though.