I'm scared about injecting testosterone.

[Johnny Tristan]

Good news, I got my testosterone today and will be going to my doctor soon to learn how to inject it. 

Bad news, I'm terrified. I've been doing my best to mentally prepare myself for the needles, but today I had to get blood work done for my hormone levels and I was reminded of the pain. I never made a big deal about it or cried. I just can't stand the sting. So, my doctor wants me to inject it into the intramuscular part of my stomach. He says it's less painful than doing it in the thigh, but thinking back on my chronic stomach pain... I don't know. I'm not going to back out of this, because this is what I want but how bad does it hurt for you guys? Did it become better with time? Has anyone experienced doing it into the gut? Let me know. Thanks, guys.

[Ayden]

It's really not painful. It's a sting that I think hurts way less than say... Biting your tongue. I have really small veins so gettin blood drawn is always insanely income table for me. Injecting hurts waaaaaaay less. I inject in the thigh so I don't know about any other injection locations. But really, it only stings for a bit and then it it's over.

Of course, I was still freezing up as recently as last week. Sometimes it can take a few minutes to gear up but once you start moving it isn't bad at all. If you are concerned about the pain, you can try using an ice cube to numb the surface. It also doubles as a nice little target that you are aiming for.

Edit to add: are you sure it's IM in your stomach?

[G]

Never heard of an IM injection in the stomach but that sounds painful. I inject in the thighs and glute muscles. And when I inject in the glute I honestly feel nothing. In the thigh I used to feel it but not really anymore. It doesn't actually hurt, it's more of a pressure type of feeling. An injection done right shouldn't really hurt. I've used a 20 gauge in my thighs before and that's a pretty big needle but it didn't hurt.

[Frank]

Depends on the needle size (gauge). Get the small ones if you can. Just...yeah. It's the build-up that'll probably get you, because it doesn't even hurt for me.

...wait, in the stomach? Wow, I'm gonna say go with the thigh. I realize he's a doctor but nobody wants to stab themselves in the gut.

[wheat thins are delicious]

Are you sure he said intramuscular? Generally an injection in the stomach isn't IM, it's subcutaneous, which means it's going into the fat not the muscle.

[Johnny Tristan]

Are you sure he said intramuscular? Generally an injection in the stomach isn't IM, it's subcutaneous, which means it's going into the fat not the muscle.

That's what he said and that's what the package says. I thought the stomach would be subcutaneous also, but I guess I was wrong. He's specialized in transgender health and has helped quite a few people in my area transition, so he should know what he's doing. 

Depends on the needle size (gauge). Get the small ones if you can. Just...yeah. It's the build-up that'll probably get you, because it doesn't even hurt for me.

...wait, in the stomach? Wow, I'm gonna say go with the thigh. I realize he's a doctor but nobody wants to stab themselves in the gut.

Tell me about it, man. I wouldn't be as scared if it were through the thigh, but that's what he recommends. He says that he doesn't do thigh injections anymore and does stomach because it supposedly hurts less. I'll tell you all how it goes when I get injected.  Thanks for your input!

It's really not painful. It's a sting that I think hurts way less than say... Biting your tongue. I have really small veins so gettin blood drawn is always insanely income table for me. Injecting hurts waaaaaaay less. I inject in the thigh so I don't know about any other injection locations. But really, it only stings for a bit and then it it's over.

Of course, I was still freezing up as recently as last week. Sometimes it can take a few minutes to gear up but once you start moving it isn't bad at all. If you are concerned about the pain, you can try using an ice cube to numb the surface. It also doubles as a nice little target that you are aiming for.

Edit to add: are you sure it's IM in your stomach?

Thanks for your input! I'm getting more confidence about it now. Yes, I'm sure. I asked him to clarify and he showed me how he would do it (by grabbing some fat on your stomach and injecting --- which is why I thought it was subcutaneous but he kept saying IM and so does the label on the testosterone). 

Never heard of an IM injection in the stomach but that sounds painful. I inject in the thighs and glute muscles. And when I inject in the glute I honestly feel nothing. In the thigh I used to feel it but not really anymore. It doesn't actually hurt, it's more of a pressure type of feeling. An injection done right shouldn't really hurt. I've used a 20 gauge in my thighs before and that's a pretty big needle but it didn't hurt.

Neither have I until now.  Thanks for your input! It's definitely reassuring for me.

[wheat thins are delicious]

I'm not saying he doesn't know what he's doing or that he hasn't helped people but I feel he's probably mistaken and does in fact mean subcutaneous and just is mistakenly labeling it IM.  You can either do subcutaneous in the stomach or choose to do IM in the thigh or elsewhere.

[sbx]

I've only ever injected in my thigh or glute, and like others have said it doesn't really hurt that much. It pinches a little while going through the skin, but once the needle is in, I barely feel it, and pulling the needle out is painless. Blood tests I've had have hurt more.

If you're nervous about it, just keep in mind the long term benefit you're going to get from taking T. Your dysphoria is probably going to be eased significantly, and experiencing a minor amount of passing discomfort is a relatively small price to pay.

I'm not saying he doesn't know what he's doing or that he hasn't helped people but I feel he's probably mistaken and does in fact mean subcutaneous and just is mistakenly labeling it IM.  You can either do subcutaneous in the stomach or choose to do IM in the thigh or elsewhere.

I always assumed people did IM injections into the thigh or glute because those are large muscles, so it's easy to make sure you're actually hitting the muscle with the needle. So yeah, the doing it into the stomach does sound a little strange. Let us know how it goes.

[Johnny Tristan]

I'm not saying he doesn't know what he's doing or that he hasn't helped people but I feel he's probably mistaken and does in fact mean subcutaneous and just is mistakenly labeling it IM.  You can either do subcutaneous in the stomach or choose to do IM in the thigh or elsewhere.

Oh, no! I wasn't trying to put words into your mouth. I'm sorry. I was just rattling off my thoughts about it because it's still kind of strange to me. He could very well mean subcutaneous. I wouldn't know. I'll have to ask him again when I see him.

I've only ever injected in my thigh or glute, and like others have said it doesn't really hurt that much. It pinches a little while going through the skin, but once the needle is in, I barely feel it, and pulling the needle out is painless. Blood tests I've had have hurt more.

If you're nervous about it, just keep in mind the long term benefit you're going to get from taking T. Your dysphoria is probably going to be eased significantly, and experiencing a minor amount of passing discomfort is a relatively small price to pay.

I always assumed people did IM injections into the thigh or glute because those are large muscles, so it's easy to make sure you're actually hitting the muscle with the needle. So yeah, the doing it into the stomach does sound a little strange. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks! You're right. It's worth it to become who I am on the inside. I'll definitely update you guys about it. 

[Kyler]

I inject subq in my stomach and it definitely hurts less than it did IM in my leg. Usually I don't even feel it.

[TRyan]

I was scared about injecting too so I was surprised at how smooth it's gone. I inject in my thigh though.  Put on your favorite song. It's become a ritual for me. Now I enjoy it because of what it means.

Let us know how it goes. 

I've never heard of IM injections in the stomach either.   

[Tossu-sama]

Just a hunch but I was thinking if your doctor was talking about a certain part of the glute. My vocabulary in English in this subject is VERY lacking so forgive me for any possible mistakes but the part is called "ventrogluteaalinen" in Finnish so I guess something like ventrogluteal in English? Correct me if I'm wrong!

But that part is known also as "vatsanpuoleinen pakaralihas" which translates directly into "buttock muscle in the stomach side" (more or less).

Image search comes up with this kinda picture:



My fiancée does my T shots there and it's not really that painful to me but I have quite high pain treshold.