Needle size

[Mal]

When I got my prescription for T filled, the pharmacist said that there was a prescription for 23 gauge and 18 gauge needles, and she would have to order the 18 gauge ones, but gave me a 23 gauge one inch to use. Well last week I went and a different pharmacist said that the prescription was only for 18 gauge, but she was told by the other pharmacist that I didn't need any syringes. She said she'd talk to someone and order what I needed, but in the meantime gave me an 18 gauge one and a half to use. Then today the original pharmacist was back, calling me ma'am, and she said she didn't need a prescription for syringes and she could order whichever size I wanted, but nobody had ordered any. Today she gave me a 22 gauge one and a half length and a 20 gauge one inch length to try.

The 18 gauge was a horrible, but other than knowing I don't want that wide of a needle, I don't know what to ask for. I'm getting tired of being the Guinea pig, and potentially wasting T, so what size needle is typical for thigh injections?

And I'm already planning to change which pharmacy I get my T filled at before I need it again.

[Alexthecat]

I use 23g to inject in the stomach subcutaneously. I use the same needle to draw and inject. I just ordered a box of 100 from http://www.allegromedical.com/

It is not worth it to bull around with the pharmacy. They were only going to give me 10 at a time for 3$ when a box of 100 is less than 20$ on that website.

[Mariah]

If you don't like the 18 gauge you might want to have the doctor change the script to a different gauge needle so as to not have any issues regardless of the pharmacy. Hugs
Mariah

[RaptorChops]

Did they maybe give you the 18 to draw with and the other for the actual injection? I know that the smaller the needle is the longer it takes to fill.

[Mal]

I did consider just ordering some myself since I'm having to pay out of pocket for the T and syringes anyway, but I wasn't sure how easy it was to order them yourself.

I tend to think that the doctor probably wrote it for 18 gauge needles to draw with and 23 gauge or something similar for injecting, but the pharmacy recently switched over from Target to CVS and nobody seems to know what they're doing anymore.

[Mariah]

Off hand I'm not sure if they require a prescription or not but I would think that depends on the country. I want to say yes it requires a prescription. Hugs
Mariah

[Tysilio]

The Rx was almost certainly written with the intention that you'd use the 18 ga. needles to draw up the T, and the 23 ga. to inject.  I use the same 25 ga. needle for both drawing and for the IM injection, and that works fine for me. That said, the reason I do it that way is that when I first started, the pharmacist at CVS just flat refused to fill my needle and syringe Rx as written; my experience with them has been awful when it comes to syringes, and also, for that matter, with my Rx for T.  Allegro Medical is the best bet for syringes -- I've ordered from them with no hassle about prescriptions.

[FTMax]

Good lord what a debacle. I draw the T from the vial with an 18G 1" needle. I then switch to a 23G 1.5" to inject.

Others have recommended ordering syringes online, which is what I'm planning to do after my next doctor visit.

[Mal]

Thanks everyone!

I'm thinking I'll probably just order the 23G 1.5" from Allegro. The 23G didn't hurt using it for both drawing up and injecting like the 18G did, and it didn't leak out either like the 18G did.

[RaptorChops]

Good lord what a debacle. I draw the T from the vial with an 18G 1" needle. I then switch to a 23G 1.5" to inject.

Others have recommended ordering syringes online, which is what I'm planning to do after my next doctor visit.

I was running out and ordered mine online without a prescription. It was like 23 bucks for a box of 1000

[steel86man]

I was running out and ordered mine online without a prescription. It was like 23 bucks for a box of 1000

Where?! And was it just the needles or did you get the 1ml syringes too? Excuse my enthusiasm, I've just been having a lot of trouble get my needles and syringes lately.

[SadieBlake]

I was told by endocrinologist to use an 18 have needle to pull estradiol valerate from the vial and then switch to a 25ga needle to inject IM into quad or gluteus. Then I was trained by an RN in how to do the needle switch and re-purge air - that part was new to me, I knew going in how to do an IM. The RN also gave me a small supply or hardware to get started which turned out to be important.

My PCP ordered only 18 ga needles and was kinda short with me when I asked for 25s which came through at only 5/8" length, another week to straighten that out meant I was stuck **ouch** using an 18 for one week. Survivable but not esp fun. Finally got the 1" x 25 ga.

(Mod note: below are volumes, which affect delivery, not actual prescription amounts)

To cap it off the only scrip locally available is about 4x more concentrated than would normally be given so my injection amount was quite small - it's hard to gauge ¼ cc in a 3 cc syringe and even harder as I have turned out to only need 1/16 cc for target estrogen values so we changed that scrip to 1cc syringe which turned out to come with 25 ga needles. Those have made it a bit more difficult to withdraw (pulls a vacuum in syringe while withdrawing) from the vial however it does work so I'm not complaining and just going with it.

Good to learn here that all the hardware can be had online, I'm no longer working in a lab where I could simply pull syringes out of stock so if I have to deal with further screwups I can just go buy them. :-)

[Mal]

I was told by endocrinologist to use an 18 have needle to pull estradiol valerate from the vial and then switch to a 25ga needle to inject IM into quad or gluteus. Then I was trained by an RN in how to do the needle switch and re-purge air - that part was new to me, I knew going in how to do an IM. The RN also gave me a small supply or hardware to get started which turned out to be important.

My PCP ordered only 18 ga needles and was kinda short with me when I asked for 25s which came through at only 5/8" length, another week to straighten that out meant I was stuck **ouch** using an 18 for one week. Survivable but not esp fun. Finally got the 1" x 25 ga.

(Mod note: below are volumes, which affect delivery, not actual prescription amounts)

To cap it off the only scrip locally available is about 4x more concentrated than would normally be given so my injection amount was quite small - it's hard to gauge ¼ cc in a 3 cc syringe and even harder as I have turned out to only need 1/16 cc for target estrogen values so we changed that scrip to 1cc syringe which turned out to come with 25 ga needles. Those have made it a bit more difficult to withdraw (pulls a vacuum in syringe while withdrawing) from the vial however it does work so I'm not complaining and just going with it.

Good to learn here that all the hardware can be had online, I'm no longer working in a lab where I could simply pull syringes out of stock so if I have to deal with further screwups I can just go buy them. :-)

I can't imagine trying to draw that small of an amount.

When I used the 23G the first time, it created a vacuum when I withdrew, but I figured I messed up since it was my first time. The 18G was definitely easier to withdraw with, but you're right about pain from it. It felt like I was sticking myself with a dull blade.

I used a 22G this week and it worked fine. I know most doctors prescribe one size needle for withdrawing and another for injecting, but I don't find it that bad using either the 22G or 23G for both.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

To cap it off the only scrip locally available is about 4x more concentrated than would normally be given so my injection amount was quite small - it's hard to gauge ¼ cc in a 3 cc syringe and even harder as I have turned out to only need 1/16 cc for target estrogen values so we changed that scrip to 1cc syringe which turned out to come with 25 ga needles. Those have made it a bit more difficult to withdraw (pulls a vacuum in syringe while withdrawing) from the vial however it does work so I'm not complaining and just going with it.

Same thing has happened to me: low concentrations are no longer available which means I have to draw up 0.25cc every time and that is no picnic. With slight loss of serum every time I draw, my last shot of the month is lucky to be 0.2cc, often it's less than that. They no longer include a little extra in the 1mL vial.