Well, yesterday I went and saw a new doc and he talked me into switching from pills to injections. At least partially it was that he told me of a place I could get my prescription filled for cheaper than walmart was filling my old one for pills. He went ahead and gave me the first shot there in his office and I was really not prepared for this, lol. But I think my body has absolutely no problem with that huge needle or he was just really skilled because I had no pain whatsoever, if I wasn't looking I would never have known he was giving me a shot (front upper leg area if you're curious). Now that he has shown me how it is done I will be back in two weeks after my meds come and I get to do it myself to show him that I am capable of doing so. My body seems to have no problem with getting a shot but my mind has had other ideas, hehe. Now the muscle has been aching for the last 24 hours and I am really hoping that doesn't become a common issue but it is certainly something I can live with. I've heard that after the shot it can feel like a burning sensation but for me it just feels like a knot in the muscle.
Also, he had my blood tests back and he said that the only 2 small issues were that my cholesterol was 2 points high and my protein levels was a bit low, overall very good. But the lab didn't test my estrogen and he got a bit upset at them because it was included in the paperwork, so I had more blood drawn in his office to get those results back when I see him again in two weeks.
So, after 7 months of dissolving pills I get to start injections. At least I don't have to do that daily. :^)
Btw, does anyone know what the E is commonly mixed with to get that nice syrupy consistency?
I self inject every two weeks. You'll get used to the long needle, it really isn't bad at all. The estrogen is in an oil base, I believe that the oil used depends upon the concentration of estrogen. Either sesame oil or castor oil is used as a base.
I read in a post elsewhere that someone had decided to inject by holding the needle at an angle. Not a good idea, as the idea is that by injecting deeply into the muscle, the hormone will slowly leak out of the muscle into the bloodstream. By holding the needle at an angle, you minimize the depth, which isn't what you're looking to do. You may feel that the blood level of the estrogen drops off sharply after 9 or 10 days. This is common, and many times everything will level off after a few weeks, to a few months. Rather than raise the dosage if this becomes an issue, an option could be to inject half the dosage weekly instead of the complete dosage bi-weekly.
You'll be shown exactly how to self inject. Make sure that you do it exactly as you're taught, not forgetting any steps. Most important, is to draw back the plunger prior to injection to ensure that you haven't penetrated a blood vessel.