Fear of a Small Needle
It's hard to believe, but I've now been on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for almost seven years. All in all, it's been a positive experience. You can go to the website of any clinic that provides TRT and they will tell you the benefits. But there is one problem: I have to give myself an injection twice a week.
Testosterone therapy is a available in several forms: surgically implanted pellets, a lotion applied to the skin, and now oral medication. But I still feel the best form is injected testosterone, despite its problems. With other forms of testosterone it's hard to get a consistent level or a high level of testosterone. And you want both. Men feel best when their testosterone is at the high end of the range. Men using oral testosterone or lotions often fail to get decently high levels and don't see the full benefits of treatment. Plus, because injected testosterone is a generic medicine, it is cheaper than other forms of testosterone. Something to consider when most TRT is not covered by medical innsurance.
But there are problems doing self injections with testosterone. The first problem is the fear of injecting yourself. Sticking yourself with a needle is not easy, at least not for me. The process is a little fussy because you need to be careful that everything stays sterile to avaoid an infection. And pushing that needle into my body the first time was hard. It took me several months before I was comfortable with it. I recommend everyone injecting themselves for the first time to write a list of the steps in drawing the testosterone and doing the injection, because you're bound to forget a step the first time.
Even after you are comfortable with doing inections, there are still problems. The injection is most often painless, but most times there will be a little bleeding. The real problem starts the next day with what is called post injection pain, or pip, for short. The area you injected feels bruised and there is no knowing before hand how bad it will be. Sometimes nothing, other times, it's terrible.
Injecting myself with testosterone has made me sympathize more with bodybuilders, who inject themselves with doses much larger than mine and more frequently. It must be hard to cope with sometimes and gives a different meaning to the saying, "no pain, no gain." I saw a showrt video of a Brazilian bodybuilder giving himself an injection and wincing. The caption said (in Portuguese) "Every fucking time." "I kmow," I thought, "I know."