I'm a biker - like 100 miles at a time biker.  This week I started Estradiol Valerate shots.  The Dr did the first one in the left thigh.  It's still a little sore 2 days later.  Biking hurts the legs enough, I don't need this too.  Keep in mind, sitting a sore butt on a bike seat for 5-6 hours doesn't sound like fun either.

Where do you shot up?

I switched to injections about 9 weeks ago. My doctor has me using a short 3/4" needle and injecting into the fat layer in the belly area. The injection is almost painless and there is no soreness afterward.
I just had blood tests 5 days ago and my E levels are over the recommended female range. I have a feeling my doc will cut back the concentration. So far I'm very happy with this method.

You may find that the soreness is just a temporary thing until your body gets used to the shots. Initially, I was sore for a few days after each shot but after a few months of regular occurrence, there's no soreness whatsoever.

If you're looking to avoid both the thigh and the butt, Charley's suggestion of subq injections will probably be what you want to look into. It uses a shorter needle and you'd be injecting into a fat layer. Most people I've talked to that do it use their hip or stomach.

I do IM in my thigh. I do it in bed just before I sleep and I do not put any pressure on the muscle after I inject. You might try this.

You may want to look into pellets.

I'm a cyclist also and that first injection worried me also. After the 3rd the post soreness reduced a lot and now any soreness is rare. I inject in the same spot and prefer thigh because it's easier for me to reach solo.

I've also found that injecting too fast makes it worse. I'm on a very small volume, initially 1/4 cc and now 1/8 because the estradiol concentration is 40mg/ml and they would normally use 10-20mg/ml.

Also my endo said to use a 25 ga needle but using the needle that came with the syringe (18 ga) to extract drug from the vial as 25 doesn't work well for that so the nurse who trained me showed how to properly exchange needles between steps and also conveniently gave me an initial few needles&s syringes. My GP didn't understand this detail and initially didn't prescribe the smaller needles which required using the 18ga once and that was more painful & bruising.

The location you'd use in the hip is also muscles used in riding tho if you have someone to help I'd think a good option.

Also schedule rides so your weekly long ride is just before you inject so that you can use the recovery day to deal with minor soreness.

I inject in my buttocks (muscle) and experience no soreness.

Thanks all for your comments.  All were helpful.

Quote from: FTMax on May 28, 2016, 10:19:46 AM
You may find that the soreness is just a temporary thing until your body gets used to the shots. Initially, I was sore for a few days after each shot but after a few months of regular occurrence, there's no soreness whatsoever.

I think I'm going to go with FTMax's comment that it's only temporary.

I gave myself shot number 2 (my first time!) last night right before bed and.... NO soreness today!  But I did a few things differently than the Dr.
1) Didn't leave the ice on as long.  I'm not sure that wasn't a contributing factor.
2) Went in on less of an angle, not so deep.
3) Right before bed
4) My therapist suggested rubbing it out so I used a muscle roller for 10-15 minutes on it to push the E around.
5) I also did it a little faster.

Thanks all for your suggestions, maybe this thread can help someone else too.