Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Okay, so I'm back on the shots now. The first time I was on the shots I was taking Enanthate. Now the doctor has me on Cypionate. Does one cause more acne than the other? What one is the better oñe to be on?

Getting back on the shots this week my first injection was Enanthate and so will be my 2nd injection and then I'm switching to Cypionate just for a littłe while until the T runs out and then I think I'll be back on Enanthate again. Is it going to make a difference switching back and fourth between these 2 types of T? Is it gonna cause acne or more acne switching like this?

Good to hear that you'll be getting back on injections, Dominick.  As for acne and switching esters, I think it's hard to give a general answer as everyone's sweat glands and skin react differently.  I'm on enanthate (cypionate isn't available in Australia) and it's not given me any acne on my face, just back pimples now and then.  What is your current skin care regimen like?

i dont think there is much of a difference besides the suspension oil i know because a friend had an allergic reaction to the suspension oil of one not the other.

Enanthate is suspended in sesame oil; cypionate is suspended in cottonseed oil. Some people have a reaction to the sesame seed oil (doesn't mean you will).

I found this with a quick search:

Enanthate has a 7-carbon ester chain while cypionate has an 8-carbon ester chain. The more carbons the ester group has, the more soluble in oil and the less soluble in water it becomes. As a result, cypionate has a slightly slower release and longer active life. Due to being one atom lighter, enanthate has more testosterone per mg. The difference is insignificant though, perhaps a few milligrams amount of steroid more.

They're basically the same.

...and good luck with your shots. When I took mine it was in the gluteal muscle and I barely felt it. Have you tried one there?

Quote from: anibioman on December 19, 2012, 04:26:29 PM
i dont think there is much of a difference besides the suspension oil i know because a friend had an allergic reaction to the suspension oil of one not the other.

I have weird reactions to cypionate, but this varies between people and is actually pretty rare.
My body doesn't like when I inject myself with cottonseed oil though, I guess.

@Kreuzfidel: I have a topicial gel that I use only when I have zits coming in and that's all I use for acne.

@anibioman: What kind of a allergic reaction did your friend have?

@Simon: What kind of reactions do people get from it? I'd rather just stay with the Enanthate b/c that's the only one I've been on and I don't want to take anything new. The only reason I'm taking Cypionate is b/c they didn't have Enanthate in at this time.

@JasonRX: What kind of reaction did you get? I'm afraid of taking Cypionate b/c people are saying they are having reactions to it.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 20, 2012, 10:14:41 AM

@JasonRX: What kind of reaction did you get? I'm afraid of taking Cypionate b/c people are saying they are having reactions to it.

My skin mainly reacted very poorly to it. I got a combination of hives and really severe acne. I went on enanthate around the same time I started Accutane treatment. My endo told me it was possible that the suspension oil could've been exacerbating any skin abnormality that was showing up because of the testosterone, especially if my body hadn't been reacting well to it. My skin is phenomenal now compared to what it was and now I'm off the Accutane treatment for about three or so months and my skin is still pretty alright.
Like I said though, I'm a rare case and my endo actually said she had never met anyone before me who reacted so poorly to the contents of the cypionate. I still wouldn't base your decision off of any of my experience, because it's more than likely you won't react the way I did.

Quote from: JasonRX on December 20, 2012, 10:22:08 AM
My skin mainly reacted very poorly to it. I got a combination of hives and really severe acne. I went on enanthate around the same time I started Accutane treatment. My skin is phenomenal now compared to what it was and now I'm off the Accutane treatment for about three or so months and my skin is still pretty alright.

Oh wow! that sucks! I really don't want to go on Cypionate now. I wonder if the doctor can write me up another script for enanthate...? I don't know how long it takes to come in but I really don't want to take my chances on Cypionate.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 20, 2012, 10:28:14 AM
Oh wow! that sucks! I really don't want to go on Cypionate now. I wonder if the doctor can write me up another script for enanthate...? I don't know how long it takes to come in but I really don't want to take my chances on Cypionate.

You didn't listen to what I said.
It's just as likely that you could have reactions on Enanthate as Cypionate.
I can't really speak for how your body is going to react, because I don't know your body chemistry, Dominick.
However, I'll reiterate, I was a rare case and I see an endo who has probably seen hundreds of transitioning patients; she admitted to me she'd never seen something like this happen before and that my skin had gotten worse than most of the patients she'd ever had.
She has almost all of her patients on Cypionate, not Enanthate, because no real issues ever arose.

Quote from: JasonRX on December 20, 2012, 10:33:27 AM
You didn't listen to what I said.
It's just as likely that you could have reactions on Enanthate as Cypionate.
I can't really speak for how your body is going to react, because I don't know your body chemistry, Dominick.
However, I'll reiterate, I was a rare case and I see an endo who has probably seen hundreds of transitioning patients; she admitted to me she'd never seen something like this happen before and that my skin had gotten worse than most of the patients she'd ever had.
She has almost all of her patients on Cypionate, not Enanthate, because no real issues ever arose.

Oh okay. I'm hoping I don't get a bad reaction to Cypionate. I just don't like trying anything new. I'm sorry that you had a bad reaction to it.

I take cypionate and at first I had a few reactions. Acne, of course, but also small rashes on my arms and at the injection site. It cleared up after a couple months and I haven't had any difficulties since.

I and several of my trans friends have always used cypionate with no allergic reactions or anything like that. No way to tell if we would have had less acne on enanthate, but I never had the acne issues in the first place.

I don't know how people can distinguish between normal hormonal puberty acne (which can be brutal) and acne that is purely a reaction to the suspension oil?

I had my first shot a few days ago. No real pain (injection site felt bruised for a day) but my face is a lot more oily than normal. If I shower before bed I wake up and my hair already looks oily. I am on low doses of a potent pain killer so not sure if that could be contributing to it. No real acne changes but I feel like a grease ball. 

Quote from: Simon on December 20, 2012, 12:07:42 PM
I don't know how people can distinguish between normal hormonal puberty acne (which can be brutal) and acne that is purely a reaction to the suspension oil?

The difficult part is you really can't. I never said it was specifically because of the suspension oil, but it likely strongly contributed to the exacerbation of it. I'm prone to acne, so I didn't want anything making it potentially worse and not being on testosterone was never an option for me, so I'm glad I switched. If switching didn't seem to help (though thankfully it did), I would probably still keep doing my injections and keep seeing a dermatologist my entire life to treat my skin. I'd rather have terrible skin and a body dominated by male hormones than a be dominated by female hormones, but have relatively clearer skin. &you have no idea how bad my skin was, seriously. xD Regardless of all of this, I wouldn't go back to injecting cypionate. I'm only saying this because Dominick asked if anyone had a bad experience with one or the other and I did. It shouldn't really hold any relevance to his decision, because it's more anecdotal than anything else.

Quote from: Arch on December 20, 2012, 11:19:13 AM
I and several of my trans friends have always used cypionate with no allergic reactions or anything like that. No way to tell if we would have had less acne on enanthate, but I never had the acne issues in the first place.

This.

I can't speak for anyone else, but myself. I've never had any bad reactions to cypionate. But it's different for everyone.

Quote from: JasonRX on December 20, 2012, 12:24:04 PM
The difficult part is you really can't. I never said it was specifically because of the suspension oil, but it likely strongly contributed to the exacerbation of it. You have no idea how bad my skin was, seriously.
xD

Oh man, that is a major fear of mine...horrendous facial acne. My first puberty it was only bad on my forehead but that might have been because my parents made me have bangs (I've always thought that word was hilarious...bangs, lol) so now that I don't have any hair touching my face I hope my second puberty will be easier.

My bacne is going to be brutal though. I would bet money on that...oh well, I'd rather have scars on my back than on my face.

Quote from: Hayzer12 on December 20, 2012, 10:59:27 AM
I take cypionate and at first I had a few reactions. Acne, of course, but also small rashes on my arms and at the injection site. It cleared up after a couple months and I haven't had any difficulties since.

Sorry you had a few bad reactions to cypionate.  I don't want the acne or the rashes either. I'm hopefully used to the Enanthate by now so that the acne won't be as bad. But since I took a few months break from the shots I'm hoping the acne doesn't come back.

Quote from: Arch on December 20, 2012, 11:19:13 AM
I and several of my trans friends have always used cypionate with no allergic reactions or anything like that. No way to tell if we would have had less acne on enanthate, but I never had the acne issues in the first place.

I'm glad you and your friends didn't have any allergic reactions to cypionate. Your lucky you never had issues with acne.

Quote from: Darrin Scott on December 20, 2012, 12:27:02 PM
This.

I can't speak for anyone else, but myself. I've never had any bad reactions to cypionate. But it's different for everyone.

Glad to hear you never had a bad reaction to cypionate either.