Hello everyone.  I have a random question for the night. . .

My endo just put me on injections, and I've been on pills for 6 months so far.  I was on a very liberal dose of pills, but the injections seem a lot less than what I've heard from people.  I'm really trying to make this post without breaking any rules here hence my massive generalizations, but bear with me here. 

I know you're all going to say talk to your endo   I have an appt with her in a month to make sure the injections go well, but I figured I would ask here to see what you thought.  I'm almost certain I followed the rules, so hopefully this will work out.  I guess the question I'm asking really is like, are injections going to keep working as well as pills when the dose is toward the "lower side" when my pills were at a "higher side"?

Delete the thread if I broke the rules in any way, but just figured I'd try to ask.

edit: omg ps 1000 posts I am awesome!  Okay sorry

Injections are safer, cheaper (from a compounding pharmacy) and usually yield better results.  The problem when switching is finding a dose that works for you.  If you think you have a problem it might just be your dose has to be increased.



* What rules are we breaking?  We're just talking about HRT, what's wrong with that?

Quote from: Beyond on March 07, 2008, 06:54:28 AM


* What rules are we breaking?  We're just talking about HRT, what's wrong with that?

Nothing. Provided you don't state actual dosages or prices that are either effective for yourself or that you think might be effective for another. The Terms of Service and Site Rules state:

Quote8. The discussion of hormone replacement therapy(HRT) and it's medications are permitted, with the following limitations:

A. Advocating for or against a specific medication or combinations of medications for personal gain is strictly prohibited.
B. Discussing the means to acquire HRT medications without a prescription, and self medication without a doctors care is prohibited.
C. Discussing dosages is strongly discouraged to prevent information obtained on this site from being used to self medicate.

We can not in good conscience condone the self administering of these medications. Not only may self medication be illegal, but HRT medications can cause serious health problems, and many have the potential for life-threatening side effects that can only be detected and prevented with proper medical supervision.

So any dosages, etc would need to be removed.

I swear by both my IMs and by my compounding pharmacy.

I would also suggest that post-op dosages prescribed by endos who titrate someone down to post-menopausal dosages of estrogen are bad for women who have transitioned. There are sites and news-lists and experiences one can readily find on the web that indicate dosages should be maintained after surgery at much higher levels to avoid physical complications.

But, work with your doctor and provide her/him with good info that you cite and can refer them to. My doctors have been excellent in that regard when I have something to back-up what I say. (It helps to have MD opinions and evaluations. Trans-health has had some excellent links and discussions of that in the past.)

Plus, this site's Wiki is chockfull of good info and places to refer yourself to to do more research.

Nichole   

kk, seems prettymuch everything was taken care of here....

Injections tend to be dosed out much more conservatively than orals do...  but they do work... as everyone else said, work with your doctor on it....  Oh, and the size of the dose may SEEM low if he has you on weekly instead of biweekly injections...  Weekly keeps you from having really bad peaks and valleys as compared to biweekly injections...

Quote from: LynnER on March 07, 2008, 01:36:46 PM
kk, seems prettymuch everything was taken care of here....

Injections tend to be dosed out much more conservatively than orals do...  but they do work... as everyone else said, work with your doctor on it....  Oh, and the size of the dose may SEEM low if he has you on weekly instead of biweekly injections...  Weekly keeps you from having really bad peaks and valleys as compared to biweekly injections...

Absolutely.

The other thing to be aware of this that IMs go to the tissue through the blood without a liver pass prior. Pills get digested; and the reason they are 'higher' dosage is to account for the inevitable loss through digestive juices and liver elimination.

N~

Quote from: LynnER on March 07, 2008, 01:36:46 PM
kk, seems prettymuch everything was taken care of here....

Injections tend to be dosed out much more conservatively than orals do...  but they do work... as everyone else said, work with your doctor on it....  Oh, and the size of the dose may SEEM low if he has you on weekly instead of biweekly injections...  Weekly keeps you from having really bad peaks and valleys as compared to biweekly injections...

I'm on biweekly.  I was just sorta wondering.  I see her in a month to see about the dosage but just sorta wanted opinions on it.  I don't know a lot about injections hence my asking and attempting to not break the rules at the same time.

My personal experience was that bi-weekly was sending me into PMS symptoms by day 11 and the rebound wouldn't occur for a day or sometimes two after the next injection. 7-10 day intervals worked much better for me.

N~

Quote from: Nichole on March 07, 2008, 01:51:42 PM
My personal experience was that bi-weekly was sending me into PMS symptoms by day 11 and the rebound wouldn't occur for a day or sometimes two after the next injection. 7-10 day intervals worked much better for me.

N~

Thanks Nichole.  I'll see what happens here within that time.  I have a visit in the beginning of April to adjust what is needed, so I guess I'm just a little experiment for myself right now

Yeah, the doc may well make you do that anyhow. Mine, even though I was calling him constantly when I'd get the pre-period blues, still waited 6 mos before moving my injection intervals closer!! Rotten bugger

I bet if he'd been living with me he'd've done that a lot sooner.

N~

Quote from: Nichole on March 07, 2008, 02:04:08 PM
Yeah, the doc may well make you do that anyhow. Mine, even though I was calling him constantly when I'd get the pre-period blues still waited 6 mos before moving my injection intervals closer!! Rotten bugger

I bet if he'd been living with me he'd've done that a lot sooner.

N~

ROFL...  Yeah... my ex was about ready to kill me durring those...  "Quit moping and watch your tempter.... you SHOULDNT be getting so emotional... whats your problem"

Hmmm...this is a tricky issue.  My doctor never wanted to prescribe the injectable estrogen.  Her philosophy was "you will get the same results with the pills"....and I did.  It took twice as long of course, but she was correct! 

tink

You can find the equivalency pills -> injection online

The main problem with injection is as others said,
the levels tend to vary a lot which makes you
feel like crap just before the next one, especially
if the dose is too low of too spaced out.

Some doctors supplement will pills at the end of the
period, but not all.

Quote from: Keira on March 08, 2008, 12:45:46 AM

You can find the equivalency pills -> injection online

Yes, but everyone's metabolism is different.  Exact correlations don't exist.  That's why it's necessary to listen to your body and work with your doctor to find the dose that works for you.

FWIW I'm on injectables and my levels do NOT fluctuate wildly.  I'm pretty much on an even keel all the time.  In 4 years I've only experienced such fluctuations twice, and that was at the very end of my 2 week cycle and those were cured by my next shot.

I mainly switched to injections because they save me money (I'm poor and parents don't pay for my hormones ) and that it's only once every two weeks.

As for the effects, I just hope they are the same and I'm not messing myself up by switching to injections. . . But from what everyone else says you'll get the same results eventually, just depends really.  Another one of those your mileage will vary type of deal.

Quote from: shanetastic on March 08, 2008, 02:51:05 AM
I mainly switched to injections because they save me money (I'm poor and parents don't pay for my hormones ) and that it's only once every two weeks.

As for the effects, I just hope they are the same and I'm not messing myself up by switching to injections. . . But from what everyone else says you'll get the same results eventually, just depends really.  Another one of those your mileage will vary type of deal.

I started on oral estradiol in July 2002 and I have been on injectables since 2003.

I will surrender my injectables when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers. 

Thank-you.

Wing Walker

Are injections already for someone who's on the feet all the time, and a very active person too in sports?

I mean, injecting the gluteus maximus with medication and then working it to failure several times a week, not to mention constant biking, idk how long the meds would last>.>

I imagine an experienced doctor could better answer that question, Annwyn.

Although one would suspect that a higher metabolic rate would cause a faster absorption from the muscle than would a less high metabolic rate. I suspect that dosages would need to be monitored closely and adjusted to fit one's individual circumstances.

Well, that's what most good docs will do anyhow.

N~

Quote from: shanetastic on March 06, 2008, 09:24:38 PM
Are injections going to keep working as well as pills when the dose is toward the "lower side" when my pills were at a "higher side"?

Ask your endo to explain this, since I don't really know the mechanisms behind it all.  From what I understand, pills produce a higher estrone (weaker form of estrogen) to estradiol (stronger form) ratio in the body, while injections do the opposite.  This makes it hard to equate a pill regime to an injection regime; it varies widely depending on the end user, so in a sense it's pretty difficult to say one is on the "higher" side and one of the "lower."  What might intuitively seem like a lower dosage may not be at all (especially when considering different forms of injectable estrogen, what is delivered in micrograms rather than milligrams, etc.).  Lots of variables.

Lia

someone kidnap an endo and make him/her come on here fulltime for 3 weeks to satisfy all our questions before release!

Just to throw another idea out there...

My physician has me on transdermal patches instead of injections and pills.  The patches do the same thing as the injections - bypass some of the damage to the liver.  The advantage over the injections is that they are painless.  Plus, the blood-serium levels of estradiol through the patches further reduce the potential for blood clots.

Chaunte