Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi,

i'm on injections for around 3 weeks now. I had pills and gel before for 2 years.
A lot of people recommend injections for the good effects.
Can anybody tell me when the shots will work? Will be there any noticeable changes?

Hugs Galaxy

Since nobody is answering., I will answer. My doctor said hormone pills do the exact same thing as injections. It's my experience that hormones can't be rushed, so they will work at their own pace. Just frequently check your levels, that is the important thing.

I switched to injections and felt effects about week two and they were huge. Everyone responds differently though so we can only give you our experiences. I was getting ok results on pills/patches, but they accelerated very fast on injections. I also started Progesterone then as well so it may have been the combination effect versus injectable "E" alone. I do know "P" kicked my breast growth up around week one. It is amazing! :)

mhhh  :-\

I just started injections yesterday after being on pills for over two years, and at least mentally feel better. I had my first night in months where I wasn't awoken by 'him' being at attention. By the GODS that was annoying.

I'm on injections for 4 weeks now. And, yes Jessica, it makes no difference between pills, gel or injections. With injections you have a easier life - a shot a week, nothing more. No pills anymore. Thats the only benefit.

Quote from: galaxy on February 05, 2015, 06:05:22 AM
I'm on injections for 4 weeks now. And, yes Jessica, it makes no difference between pills, gel or injections. With injections you have a easier life - a shot a week, nothing more. No pills anymore. Thats the only benefit.

Well, you don't have the strain on the liver, so that's a plus with injections.

With gel or patches you dont have the first pass too ...

Quote from: galaxy on February 05, 2015, 07:14:33 AM
With gel or patches you dont have the first pass too ...

you put pills in that group, I was just clarifying :P

What are the downsides to Injections?

Quote from: Jessika on February 05, 2015, 08:59:09 AM
What are the downsides to Injections?

None that I have experienced. :)

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on February 05, 2015, 09:45:17 AM
None that I have experienced. :)

I'm afraid of the ups and downs in levels there might be... anybody experience anything like that? I take mine every two weeks, sorry for derail

I do weekly injections with "E" Cypionate and have zero ups and downs. :)

Ive no ups and downs from injections.

I guess its from soul only ... theres no day without a reason to get down.
One day the hair, next day the face, other day the hips, then the butt ... ive enough reasons  ::)

5th week now ...  ::)

Does anybody here use injections in the legs? Does it work?
I mean, thats the best practical way for self-injection.

I inject in the thigh's every 10 days alternating each time. It has for me my levels have been great so far and my body is responding in other ways too.
Mariah

Quote from: galaxy on February 10, 2015, 10:32:59 AM
5th week now ...  ::)

Does anybody here use injections in the legs? Does it work?
I mean, thats the best practical way for self-injection.

I did when the Endo lowered my dose at one point since he thought the levels were to high. The next cycle we made a course correction and he changed my cycle from 14 down to 10 days. I haven't noticed the ups and downs since then. If your afraid of the ups and downs, then I would discuss those with your ENdo/ doctor so he can taller your HRT to your needs.
Mariah

Quote from: Hideyoshi on February 05, 2015, 09:53:01 AM
I'm afraid of the ups and downs in levels there might be... anybody experience anything like that? I take mine every two weeks, sorry for derail

After about 4 years on Estradiol, my endo suggested injection. I had no problem with it for the first year or so, but then I found it more of a chore. I've always been queasy about needles, but one particular day as I was injecting, a little bit of blood bubbled up. Nothing horrific, just enough to say I want to go back on pills.
FYI, if you are going to inject, I suggest you hit a medical wholesale supply company. Where I live, the needle + the syringe part cost about $2.50 at the drugstore that did my prescription. Buying at the medical wholesale, I got a one year supply for $35.

Quote from: galaxy on February 10, 2015, 10:32:59 AM
5th week now ...  ::)

Does anybody here use injections in the legs? Does it work?
I mean, thats the best practical way for self-injection.

I inject Estradiol Valerate in the thighs and have from the beginning (almost 8 months ago) and everything seems well, my blood workups have proved to be very good (under close medical supervision).  At first I used the cycle of every 14 days, highs and lows were extremely bad (remember 'for me' only), then switched to 10 day, big improvement.  The last few months I've settled on every 7 days and all is good.  Injection has been my only method of delivery so I cannot comment on any comparisons.  I am very happy with the results.  Hope this helps.   Dani

Injections have made a huge difference as compared to pills, patches or suppositories. Also added P and that also helps, I think. I have it injected into my butt. 

I switched from patches and gel to implant. I'd expect that's similar in principal.

Do you have your blood levels before and after switching? Mine were low to start, and tripled. A few days after the implant I got euphoria from the estrogen. That was awesome. My breasts started hurting again after a long time of not. That was even better.

My endo tells me some people don't absorb well from patches and I must have been one of them. Longer term I've had more changes, but I was on low dose HRT before and now I'm not.

I believe keeping track of blood levels is critical. Some methods work better than others, and are different for different people. The best way of finding out what works is measuring it. Its also safer.

I will get my new blood levels on monday ... i dont think theres anything with a huge different. I feel it ... 2 days i'm depresssive - maybe of some higher levels of estrogene that i had before. Than come 2-3 days with a good felling. After that 2 bad days ... in summary no effects on my body, nu hurting of my breast, nothing. I got this injection and i feel absolutely nothing. Maybe i must ask my doctors if i got any kind of water the last 2 years. Drinking 2 beers has a lot more effects ... 1000% more - somewhere in this range.

I inject into my outer thigh muscle and alternate legs. I inject every 10 days and at a transitioning dose. My T is between 20 and 36 ng/dl. Where I go they do not look at E in the blood. They look at T, how you feel and a lot of items from the blood panel. I feel better than I did at age 11. I am going to ask to go to 7 day cycles. I feel the  E going down at day 8 and it takes a day after an injection to feel better.

I wish my docs were like that Cynthia. My dose is being lowered (injections) because they didn't like my e levels and I felt great on the new dose, no ill side effects. I was on it for about two months. So they put me back on the lower dose I was at before. The whole reason my dosage was increased was because I was starting to feel like something was off plus a few other negative side effects. I know my body very well and I've been on hrt for a good bit of time now to know when something is wrong with my body. Upping the dosage fixed those issues.

Maybe you can get your doctors to change the frequency. When doctor lowered my dose and bad side affects were being seen we changed the frequency and the dosing slightly and that helped a lot.
Mariah

Quote from: Lady_Oracle on February 15, 2015, 03:18:22 AM
I wish my docs were like that Cynthia. My dose is being lowered (injections) because they didn't like my e levels and I felt great on the new dose, no ill side effects. I was on it for about two months. So they put me back on the lower dose I was at before. The whole reason my dosage was increased was because I was starting to feel like something was off plus a few other negative side effects. I know my body very well and I've been on hrt for a good bit of time now to know when something is wrong with my body. Upping the dosage fixed those issues.

Pills can be  chore and the amount you have to
Eat to have the right effects is stupid
Patches cause crashes nuff said
Injections are the best
Softest skin
Best moods with fewer freak out nights

Quote from: natashaX on February 15, 2015, 10:29:46 AM
Pills can be  chore and the amount you have to
Eat to have the right effects is stupid

Agreed. I found it a hassle to remember when to take so many of them and at the right time.

Quote from: natashaX on February 15, 2015, 10:29:46 AM
Patches cause crashes nuff said

Really? I'm on patches now and haven't had any crashes since switching over from the pills. If there's any negatives to wearing them, then it's more likely you'd get them falling off, developing a rash from the adhesive or poor adsorption through the skin. I haven't experienced any of the commonly reported negatives using them, but I have found they can crease up and cut into my skin at the sharpened point.

Where I had the poor absorption, rash to the adhesive and there wanting to fall off even shortly after being applied. After I switched to injections it took weeks for the rashes from the last patches to go away.
Mariah

Quote from: Leila on February 15, 2015, 11:15:46 AM
Agreed. I found it a hassle to remember when to take so many of them and at the right time.

Really? I'm on patches now and haven't had any crashes since switching over from the pills. If there's any negatives to wearing them, then it's more likely you'd get them falling off, developing a rash from the adhesive or poor adsorption through the skin. I haven't experienced any of the commonly reported negatives using them, but I have found they can crease up and cut into my skin at the sharpened point.