Okay, I know gel is absorbed for up to 5 hours after application, and lasts in your system for 5 days. I also know that only 10 percent of what you apply is actually absorbed. The rest is lost when you next take a shower.

So, if you apply your t-gel in the morning on your upper arms and shoulders, as directed, then in the afternoon use a lotion on your upper and lower arm. does the moisture in the lotion re-activate the testosterone, and do you end up spreading the T to your lower arms, and absorbing another 10 percent of what remains?  I use a lotion to counter the drying effect of gel, plus I have dry arm skin in winter and it gets itchy. Today I was applying my lotion for the first time for this winter, and I wondered if I'm nearly doubling my T dose by doing so.

I don't know but I suspect not. I am not sure how testosterone gets through the skin but it requires an oil as a solvent so moisture wouldn't carry it. From my old history, DMSO might be used as a carrier and if so, a lotion wouldn't do a very good job of transporting additional testosterone through the skin.  In addition, the gel will be picked up by your clothing and sweat/skin oil will wash off the remains over time. Also the lotion would dilute any remaining testosterone on your skin and this is one of the reasons the gel should be applied after bathing.

As always, if you  have questions about this, check with your doctor. They will understand how the gel works better than I do.

AndroGel is specifically DMSO-free, and uses only alcohol as a carrier. However, the alcohol is gone within minutes, but it takes 5 hours to fully soak into the skin (which is then absorbed by the subdermal fat, which slow-releases the testosterone for 5 days). The remaining 90 percent of the testosterone just sits on your skin surface until you wash it off. It can be transferred to another person for up to 12 hours, so I'm not supposed to come into skin to skin contact with other people until 12 hours are passed, or until I shower/bathe.

You can also buy a testosterone cream, which also has no DMSO, and no alcohol. It uses a base that is basically a skin lotion not much different from my regular skin lotion. It too has a 10 percent absorption rate.

So that's why I figured maybe the lotion is picking up the remaining testosterone from my skin and re-applying it to wherever I spread the lotion.