So all injectable testosterone in Canada is currently out of stock. It is incredibly hard to find a pharmacy that has any at all. Delatestryl went out of stock first in November, so a lot of guys switched to Depo-Testosterone, which the manufacturers weren't prepared for, so now it's out of stock too. And those are the only ones available in Canada. Delatestryl will continue to be out of stock for a while, and my pharmacist says the Depo has a release date of March 7 from the supplier, but they keep pushing that date back.

In the meantime, my endocrinologist switched me to testosterone pills. I know nothing about these. Will it affect the levels of T in my system? I've heard that pills are bad for the liver. The pharmacist confirmed this. Should I be worried? I need concrete information so I can get my endo to listen to me, as I think he would prefer I stay on the pills. He doesn't have a lot of trans experience.

Please advise. I'm pretty worried.

I've heard testosterone pills usually prove as an ineffective method of HRT administration for FTM paitents, but I could be wrong.
If they aren't extremely well informed and you feel confident they know what they are doing, I would call in and request that they put you on a testosterone cream. I personally have never heard of this form of testosterone administration being effective for people who are born biologically female and I've looked online...and I'm yet to find any concrete evidence that proves otherwise. Sorry this is happening to you, dude.

The absorption of pills is really low and you need to take A LOT in order to absorb anywhere near enough. An idea might be to check out options for patches or creams? Maybe if you're near the boarder go to the US?

I was going to ask, are you able to use a US pharmacy or does it have to be a Canadian one?

Can you get the implantable pellets in Canada?

I don't know how to use a US pharmacy. I can't go over the border because I live several hours away and don't have anyone to drive me. And I don't know if I could afford cream or patches. I'll ask my endocrinologist about it - I get partial drug coverage through my university. I don't know about implantable pellets - they're super expensive and I am not well off financially - I rely on food banks in order to eat. I've already paid for 1 month of pills though - If I can get Depo-Testosterone around March 7th, will taking pills until then really stall my transition? That's only 3 weeks.

I'm nervous about my endo - when I first started T he wanted me to take pills but I talked him into injections. He doesn't know much about trans health care. The pharmacist tried to get him to prescribe depo and he wouldn't, but maybe if I talk to him he will, so when depo comes back in stock I can use that. Delatestryl apparently doesn't even have a return date.

To be honest, I'd just wait for the 3 weeks and not take the pills.  But that's just me.  I hope that something is back in stock by then.  The guys here know more than me, but you can use online pharmacies.  Someone can explain better - I've never used them myself.

I think I want to take the pills just in case - if I go 3 weeks or more with no testosterone at all, my period might come back, and I definitely could not handle that right now. I don't have the money to order from an online pharmacy. I'm kind of stuck. I really hope it comes back in stock soon, and that my endocrinologist will prescribe depo.

Did he give a reason for not wanting to prescribe Depo?

No, I wasn't part of that conversation, it was between the pharmacist and the endo. I'll ask him when I see him on Friday.

Ohhh f**k I just got my script filled a few weeks ago and I got the last vial of Depo that the pharmacy had. I do live 15 minutes from the border though. Does anyone know if it's possible to cross the border to pick up a prescription? Either way, mine should run out around mid March. God I hope this is resolved by then.

What about Strohecker's? Do they ship to Canada?

Depending on the state you might have to have the script OKed by a doctor in that state.  And, if you've been getting this in Canada, under Canadian Health care be prepared for sticker shock when you see the OTC price in the states.

I don't know what's going on but it's really getting on my nerves. I tried checking out online pharamcy's but they don't do anything that involves testosterone. And most places where you can buy the scary steroids don't even ship to Canada. Honestly I don't think there is much we can do.

I'm going to see my family doctor (my endo prescribes the T) so I can get another prescription and get her to prescribe from now on so I can get a new precription as often as I need because refills just don't work anymore. Once you go to a pharamcy you have to stick with them for refills, so my advice would be to make it so you get a new prescription every time, at least that way you can phone around to all different pharamcies until you find one with it instock.

Oh and I've tried smaller pharamcies, they are no better. Canada better get their ->-bleeped-<- together, this is getting really annoying. I'm scared of what the prices of implantable pellets are, because right now my T which is I think $63 lasts for about 5 months, so it's pretty cheap.

Sorry I don't got any really good advice on this, there's not many solutions. I just hope when both companies start producing enough for everyone, that they don't mark their prices up.

I'm avoiding pills, because so many people say not to take them. But I don't think they'll do much harm, short term.

Quote from: JaykeV on February 15, 2012, 06:37:53 PM
Once you go to a pharamcy you have to stick with them for refills, so my advice would be to make it so you get a new prescription every time, at least that way you can phone around to all different pharamcies until you find one with it instock.

No, if your pharmacy is out of stock you can have them fax your prescription info to a pharmacy that does have it. I did that a while ago.

Quote from: poptart on February 15, 2012, 08:07:06 PM
No, if your pharmacy is out of stock you can have them fax your prescription info to a pharmacy that does have it. I did that a while ago.

I tried getting my pharmacy to fax my prescription to another pharmacy once and the pharmacy that received it said no they couldn't do it that way, that it had to be a new prescription.

I'm hoping the pills will only be short term and Depo comes back in stock in early March like my pharmacist estimated. And I hope my endo will prescribe Depo. I hate standing up to doctors.

The pills are testosterone undecanoate, which I read is not available in the US, and has a different formulation that is easier on the liver. I couldn't find any transgender info on it, but apparently it's not well liked on the body building sites because it's not very effective.

If this screws up my voice (I'm a voice major) or brings my periods back, I will be very upset.

T. undecanoate is the same ester used in the long-lasting IM Nebido/Reandron - I didn't know it came in pill form.  A lot of guys love Nebido/Reandron - I have no clue how it will perform as a pill, though.

I did talk to a guy before who is taking T in this pill form. He's taking about 5-10 times the amount I'm on of injectable to start with which would increase to about 10-20 times the amount I'm on. Just to compare how much you need to take of the pill vs a shot.

That sounds right. My pill dose is about 11 times what the injectable dose was.

I'm hoping that once I get over this initial panic, I'll be ok on pills for a month or so and then the shortage will be over.

The three things I'm most worried about are: 1) my period coming back - this I don't know how I would deal with. 2) Something going wrong with my vocal development. I'm a voice major. My voice is important. 3) somehow, losing the ability to pass.

But I will try to think positive, that this will just be a momentary hiccup and T will be back in stock soon.

My endo mentioned pills as a possibility when I'm ready, and he said they're fine as long as they go under the tongue and are not swallowed.