- I’m strongly considering a trial of Propionate rather than Test Cypionate for my TRT and going to every day injections.
- My T is RXed by my local physician, not a TRT specialist.
- Has anyone had luck getting a GP to prescribe Propionate rather than Cypionate? If so, please let me know how you handled this process, what their reactions were, etc. There are compounding pharmacies in this city so I assume they can make up an order of it for me.
- Or is the best option to go with a TRT shop like Defy and suck up the extra cost just to make sure I get what I am interested in?
I was wanting to switch to Prop also, what i have learned over the last week calling pharmacy’s local to me:
-Test Prop. is not commercially available in an injection form, so you have to use a compound pharmacy, and cant just be any, has to be a Sterile Compounding Pharmacy
-the compounding pharmacy’s I have talked to so far say they can make it, but will only be good for 24hrs, due to pharmaceutical compounding regulations regarding stability verification, and costly.
So unless a place like Defy has a pharmacy that can have the stability verified for longer than 24hrs you will probably have a hard time sourcing it legally. I could be wrong, this has just been my experience so far.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate your legwork! It’s a bummer that prop doesn’t seem to be widely available. The 24-hour thing seems crazy…do you know if there’s any truth to a properly-compounded prop formulation not being stable? My understanding is that as long as it’s dissolved in an oil base with proper sterile solvents, it lasts a long time. Do you think they’re just paranoid about abuse?
I’m wondering if any other shorter esters are available.
why would you want to use prop for TRT purposes? Seems like an enormous hassle with little benefit.
I’ve struggled a bit with water retention on long esters. I’ve dropped my dose which didn’t seem to help dramatically. Dialing in an AI dose has been difficult-- exemestane helps me get rid of the water but made my joints feel dry and lowered my sex drive. I’ve been wanting to see if prop helps drop some of the water weight. I already inject EOD so going to ED wouldn’t be a big deal, since I use insulin needles and they’re pretty painless.
What’s the enormous hassle you’re referring to?
that makes it less of a hassle if you’re already doing this. I inject once per week, so going to everyday would be annoying. but that’s a personal thing.
I haven’t tried anything other than EOD injections in years. Been on TRT for almost 6 years now. Do you notice real ups/downs from the once a week injection? I’ve considered trying twice a week but when I chart blood levels on one of the steroidcalc sites, there’s a pretty huge swing of active hormone (about 50% less by the trough before the 2nd injection day) that EOD shots cut in half. I have read some anecdotal reports that some guys feel better with more variability in their levels. Thoughts?
You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be, inject twice weekly as the large peaks are probably why you’re getting water retention.
I’m not a good source for feelings. lol. I run steroid cycles as well, so I’m used to the feeling of much larger hormonal swings. So no, I don’t notice any difference from day to day while I’m on trt and injecting once per week. I’ve actually been multiple days late before because of trips out of town and stuff and felt fine. Like going as long as 10-11 days without a shot.
Weekly dose for trt has been 150-200 per week, for reference. so on the higher side probably, but not crazy high.
Interesting. I’m on 150mg/week as well. I may experiment with 2x a week, would certainly be easier!
I’ve been considering running a mild cycle along with my TRT but I think that’s forbidden to discuss in this subforum. Being on TRT for as long as I have been and knowing it’s for life has understandably made me curious.
I’d say run the cyp twice a week for a month and see if that changes anything. EOD is unnecessary with that ester, and if you’re not happy with your current results then you’re not really risking anything by making the switch. What’s your ai dosage currently?
I’m taking a month off from an AI. I think I drove my E2 too low with exemestane, just based on morning wood and joint feel. So I stopped altogether to let my body make some more aromatase and bring my E2 levels up. Morning wood is back but I feel a bit bloaty and I can tell I have a little water on (I see it in my face mostly). It’s mild but it bothers me.
I’ll give the 2x a week a shot and see how it goes. In terms of pulling bloodwork, when do I want to get them done to check peak and trough levels? Or will that be less of an issue once I stabilize at the new schedule?
I don’t have large peaks-- I inject every other day. It’s the other guy who responded to me who injects one a week. I’ve been on EOD for years.
I was thinking about a short cycle to. But what’s the point once we get off it everything returns to normal…
Not true. Maybe if you use compounds that aromatize strongly and your gains are water/bloat, but if you were to use dry compounds or just more test and train your ass off in the gym, I’d wager that you could make strength gains that you could sustain after the cycle ended. Or you could use a cycle to help you get very lean (nutrient partioning/nitrogen retention so you keep muscle even in a caloric deficit) and then work to sustain that leanness going forward. By your logic, no athlete would ever use steroids in an off-season setting because the benefits wouldn’t carry over to the season. That’s false. Another benefit is collagen growth (help skin/connective tissue). Certain compounds can radically increase the rate at which your body produces collagen, and lack of new collagen is a key factor in aging skin. At low/modest doses there are some extremely powerful compounds.
Ok. I would def try if I had you as as a in-person friend guiding me.
I will need to read to do this right. Any links to do what you say to get lean?
I have lots of extra test and arimidex.
Do your homework. If you’re going to mess around with your hormones no one can do it for you. If you look at the keywords I used-- nitrogen retention and collagen growth-- you’ll find what you’re looking for. And if you don’t know the difference between aromatizing and non-aromatizing compounds, definitely start with the basics on AAS.