Well, this is my first post. I have recently been diagnosed with hypogonadism - I’m 36, 2 tests Totals at 174 and 216. I received my first dose of Testopel a week ago. I am in a unique position because I have access to a lot of docs professionally and I have some unique insight to share. I hope to learn a lot from this forum and I hope what I share helps some of you too.
So here is a bit of what I have learned:
Sotto Pellets and compounded pellets will never be covered by your insurance bc they are not FDA approved. There use is actually border line illegal and billing insurance for their use would be fraud. Additionally, Testopel pellets come in individually secured glass ampules helping with the sterility concern.
Most docs use a starting dose of 10 pellets now. They can titrate up or down depending on where that puts you.
The Testopel procedure experience for the patient will be highly dependent on the docs experience. Personally, I had minor bruising and some soreness for a couple of days only. It is recommended to avoid strenuous exertion and/or soaking for a few days. There should not be any puss or severe pain.
To the poster that said he was going to his Uro instead of his endo next time, that might be a good idea, although an endo with a decent amount of experience should be fine.
RE insurance. Testopel is generally billed under the medical benefit portion of your plan unlike other modalities that are applied to your pharmacy benefit. If it is covered you might have an out of pocket expense like a co-pay but you should also check your deductable. If you have a $200 deductable for example you will have to pay that before your insurance kicks in. This might be different for pharmacy products where you just pay a co-pay and there is no deductable applied.
In some cases Testopel can be applied to your pharmacy benefit instead of your medical benefit. This is usually applied when your doc doesn’t want to pay out of pocket for the pellets and then wait for insurance to reimburse or when your medical benefit doesn’t cover but your pharmacy benefit might.
This therapy has actually been around for a long time but has only been promoted nationally for the last 12-18 months. Many docs, especially outside of Endo and Uro are just learning about it.
Hope that helps. Personally, I found the procedure to be nearly painless and easy. I found my sex drive improve within a couple of days. However, my energy level has yet to improve and that is one of the things I am really hoping for. I was both concerned and relieved at my diagnosis - I rushed to have my prolactin level checked bc I was worried about the possibility of a tumor. It was fine along with my LH, FSH, Estradiol, SHBG.
I still want to find out the cause but I realize that that might not happen. One doc I spoke with suggested getting my iron level checked and I am going to order my old labs to see if there is a recent record of it.
I am curious about IM injections. If my energy levels don’t improve over the course of this therapy I might give that a go.
Are you guys that inject EOD getting that from a doc? Several have stated that their insurance prevents them from letting patients self inject at home.
