Good evening all-
I’ve been on TRT for a couple of years now.
Started with IM and shifted to subq- as it was overall easier to inject in the belly than my rear!
I’ve got a buddy that apparently has been on TRT as well and uses roll on gel everyday.
Any thoughts on the gel vs. injection? Seems like it would be great to not have to inject 2x week.
Thanks-
The upside is convenience, it usually comes with higher dht levels, which can be good or bad. The guys is libido, and erections. The bad would be head hair loss and body hair growth if your prone to those. Prostate could be an issue too if your prone to it as well.
As for the Gel versus injections, the former generally produces higher DHT and have heard accounts of men who say libido was way higher on the topicals versus injections but also more acne if prone to it.
The injections allow you the ability to build more lean muscle mass in the lower extremities versus topicals.
Another option is Jatenzo, a gel capsule taken twice daily and is relatively new, it came out only last year. Here is the hormone profile and dosing of Jatenzo below.
Thanks for the insight. Has anyone on this site been precribed jatenzo?
I’ve been on it for 3 days and its doing what injections, gels and creams couldn’t. I eat at least 30 grams of fat before taking Jatenzo (1/4 cup of walnuts), because absorption (bypassing the liver) is done in the intestines via fatty acids.
The guidelines for dosing Jatenzo does say it should be dosed at a minimum twice daily, which I interpret that it can be dosed more times per daily if needed. No more dealing with absorption issues relate to topicals via the skin, no skin irritation or having to worry about transfering to the rest of the family.
I do have some minor acne, but nothing like when on the topicals.
Do you feel it kick in after taking your first daily dose? I think you can take it up to three times a day
Almost immediately, within 15 minutes! At 2 hours I felt amazing, which is when Jatenzo peaks. I mean reaching a steady state in 3 days when it takes cypionate 6 weeks only then to find out levels are low and further adjustments are needed, but I see more time is needed for the average guy to sort things out.
I’m sure you could if you felt a lull between dosages. On my second day I felt higher on trough than I did at trough on day one. In the study, 87% of participants reached adequate testosterone levels on twice daily dosing.
I’m also stacking on top of the cypionate, my last injection was last Thursday night and trough levels at 50mg 2x weekly are averaging 700 ng/dL putting my Free T well over 30 pg/mL (supraphysiological).
I started Jatenzo on Monday morning. The true measure of my Jatenzo protocol will be in 3-4 weeks once the cypionate is out of my system.
I was about to come up with a topic similar to this one, but Jatenzo has caught my attention. Not that i´m fear of injections, but the gel (which is the method suggested by my doc) has some issues like smell, likelihood of transferring to others and stickiness to clothes that I particulary would not appreciate.
But, I appreciate the fact that the gel method mimics as close as possible the natural production cycle.
I´ve read about undecanoate (oral T - “Andriol”) in the past, but remember it was very innefective, toxic, and high dosages would be required for proper absorption. Please correct me if I am wrong.
What is really the news with Jatenzo if it uses the same substance ?
And what about liver/metabolism consequences expected? More side-effects to control on top of the others well known ?
It is not processed via the liver. I believe the issue is getting a high enough dose, enough times per day
So, that´s the main difference between Andriol and Jatenzo, isn´t it ?
And it ooks like it peaks quickly. How´s its half-life and how well could it mimic our natural cycle ? At least it looks like it peaks fast.
The brand website provides a big emphasis on the elevated blood pressure. Could it be because it´s oral ?
how’s libido on jatenzo?
It bypasses the liver and is absorbed in the intestines, not that much different from the side effects of injections.
A 12 hours half-life (2 hour peak) and it looks to mimic a natural cycle very similar to topicals without any of the drawbacks. Labs are normally done 6 hours after your first daily dosage.
How´s the price when compared to Gels ?
It sounds like it could be a very interesting option for TRT.
I´m curious about your experience with it. But it looks like it´s not available in Europe, so…no good for me.
It’s very expensive on Goodrx, since there is no generic alternative. I’m hoping my insurance will cover it
My insurance sucks. I have a limited amounf per year in meds.
I guess that if one day I take the decision, I´ll be limited to inj (should the doctor prescribe them) or Gel (should the price be accessible).
A generic alternative is always welcome.
My copay is $4 for a 90 day supply, but I got a medical exception code do to treatment failure on the injections, creams and gels. The full cash price without insurance is $850-$1200 per month.
So a little more than double what topicals cost.
When the patents expire, sure.
I have to talk to my doctor. If half of that is the cost of Testim or similar, I’m out, as I absolutely can´t afford it. And my insurance won’t cover for sure. More, it seems it´s not sold in Europe.
This means i´d be limited to injections as long as the doctor accepts to follow that route which I felt he was a bit reluctant. Over here (and unless UGL which I won´t consider) Injetions are only available in Enanthate, sustanon and Nebido form. There´s also Tostran, Androgel and some patches.
It’s been 3 years since the question was asked.-
Anything change on gel vs. injections?
Still using the needle- still wanting to eliminate that step.
