When you inject, how do you know you're in muscle? I'm pretty sure I am because of the soreness afterwards, but I'm not 100% sure, because some sub q injections are sore too. (I inject insulin sub q as well) But I can't tell when I stick the needle in before injecting. I keep being nervous that I'm not in the muscle. Is there a good way to know?

I don't inject myself (my fiancée does it for me) but I suppose injecting into a large enough muscle kinda makes it difficult to miss? I don't think there are that big gaps between muscles. A proper needle also makes sure the stuff reaches the muscle.

My IMs are done to my butt so it's never been an issue (it did hit a nerve once).

You mostly know by needle size, I think. I draw up my T with a 22g needle and inject with a 25, yes there's a big difference but I know that 25's will always reach your muscle (for me at least) As long as you draw up no blood and your muscle is sore afterwards I wouldn't worry. You'd know if it was going somewhere but the muscle.


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My nurse told me that as long as the syringe I'm using to inject is 3/4 of the way in, it's deep enough (after I asked if I had to get it all the way in). I use a 25g to inject.

I use a 1", 25 ga. needle for IM injections, and I have no problem getting it into the muscle, even with a good bit of subcutaneous fat on my thigh.

And just a note -- the gauge of the needle (22, 25, etc.) refers to how thick it is, not to its length, which is measured the old-fashioned way, in inches; the smaller the number, the fatter the needle. As I understand it, a 22 ga., 1 1/2" needle is pretty standard for T injections into the thigh. I'm happy I can get by with the smaller one.

I get my injections done at the docs in my glute. A lot of times, though, it doesn't hurt at all. After reading this I can't help but wonder if it's going into the fat a lot of the time. I go bi-weekly. The nurse does tend to inject it a little high. How would this affect your levels if it's being injected sub-q?

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Quote from: Tysilio on October 12, 2015, 02:23:54 PM
I use a 1", 25 ga. needle for IM injections, and I have no problem getting it into the muscle, even with a good bit of subcutaneous fat on my thigh.

And just a note -- the gauge of the needle (22, 25, etc.) refers to how thick it is, not to its length, which is measured the old-fashioned way, in inches; the smaller the number, the fatter the needle. As I understand it, a 22 ga., 1 1/2" needle is pretty standard for T injections into the thigh. I'm happy I can get by with the smaller one.

You taught me something!

Quote from: Asa Spades on October 14, 2015, 10:43:23 AM
I get my injections done at the docs in my glute. A lot of times, though, it doesn't hurt at all. After reading this I can't help but wonder if it's going into the fat a lot of the time. I go bi-weekly. The nurse does tend to inject it a little high. How would this affect your levels if it's being injected sub-q?

What were your levels like at your last lab visit?

(*I AM NOT A SCIENTIST DISCLAIMER*) From what I have read, sub-q doses are often lower than IM doses. I'm not sure about the science behind it all, but I would imagine that if you're taking a full IM dose into a fat layer, either your levels are going to be higher than they would be at the proper depth OR a percentage of that T is being converted to estrogen because it's not being absorbed at the expected rate.

Weird, I posted a reply but when I checked again it wasn't there.

Anyways. Hmm yeah that's kinda what I was wondering, if it could be messing with my levels.
The report here says, verbatim, " Testosterone 22.7 (H) <=1.99 "  I'm assuming I'm looking at the right place  There's a bunch of other things that I have no idea what they are. That was taken at 9 days after an injection. FWIW, I'm at a lower than "normal" dose. (It's okay to say that much, right?)

Ok, I'm using 1" needles, so I'm "probably" ok? I have a decent fat layer, but I'm also not extremely obese, just normal overweight. I guess I was expecting it to hurt more. Maybe I'll try picking up some 1.5" and see if they feel any different. I just want to make sure that stuff is all getting where it needs to be.