Ripped off?

[Biigdog]

I am in my mid-30's with low T levels. I had blood work and was put on Testim 1% through a Urologist. It worked really well but was expensive for 30 tubes.

I used for 3 months but when job changes resulted in less discretionary income Testim was one of the first household expenses cuts. About 6 months after getting off Testim I needed a physical for work. I spoke with my Primary Cary Physician about my low T, the positive results, and the excessive costs. As an alternative, he advised injectable Testosterone Cypionate . At first I was given a script and needed to bring injection back to office for nurse to inject. When I got the bill for the office visit it was $45 plus the cost of the Test. Cypionate that I purchased at the pharmacy. I thought $45/month for a office visit for an injection was something I could do myself. As a result, I was giving myself a weekly 500mg(2.5mL) injection.

I used my 6 month script and went back to my Primary Care Physician for another script. I asked if I could increase dosage per month to 4,000 mg (20 ML) by injecting myself 3mL every 5 days. He went crazy on me. For one he did not like that I was injecting myself but the big issue was that the pharmacy messed up and I was to get 1mL/month and not 10 mL per month. By his "math" I was using 10x as much as prescribed and now I wanted to bump it up to 20x.

I obviously did not get a re-fill and was more or less told to not take anything for 3 months and then come back for a new blood test. I found it strange that he did not want to even do a blood panel with 10x too much and see where my levels were.

As a result, going to be looking for a new Primary Care Physician.

What is the dosage that most physicians prescribe?

Should I be taking something other then Test. Cypionate? (Typical mid-30's guy who would like to add some bulk, definition, loss weight, and just feel better--the testosterone has helped with mood, strength, memory, and sexual desire but BMI not hugely different and would like to lose some "fluff". Not sure if matters but I am 6'5", weigh 262 lbs., bench 225 lbs--14 reps and have not done a max. lift since high school football)

Matt

[sirupate]

Well, most of us are on 100mg.-200mg. per week of test. cyp. and achieve max. normal levels of total testosterone . Free test. is a different and important question. As much as you were taking...well, you were probably off the charts. No wonder your doctor was "concerned". The doc wants to clear this stuff out of your system and then go from there. I'd say most of us in the USA use test. cyp., and a few test. e.

At usual dosage levels, test. cyp. isn't very expensive...really. Especially so if you are just making the co-pay for the vials. Can't talk price according to site rules...I think. Doc. needs a baseline for you if he doesn't have one already, then start you on the 100-200mg. per week dosage range and see where that results.

[Biigdog]

sirupate:

You are correct about price.

"10. There is to be no price discussions of steroids . Price discussions often lead to source discussions, both are not permissible."

I only have casualty insurance with a $5000 deductible (more or less safety net incase need surgery or get diagnosed with something obscure). As a result, I am cash patient for all intensive purposes.

I will edit my first post so as to not break any rules even though talking about money paid to large national chain pharmacy.

[zaggahamma]

sounds like you had a good thing going...dont know what was in your mind asking for 4,000mg a month...where are you getting your information from....definately not this forum or any of the like...might be the most ridiculous post i've ever read in the hrt forum...

sirupdate gave you good advice...you sound strong and most likely want to cut up some....you can keep the strength you have maybe even gain some if you were low T (i dont see where you had bloodwork)..with the doses sirupdate mentioned while enabling you to follow a cutting type protocol

more advice is surely on the way

best of luck

[THORSZ]

Damn, that is a lot of test. Most guys stay around 100 to 200MG a week.

[Biigdog]

jpkman--thanks for being so supportive and encouraging to a "newbie". I sure that the next time you go to your mechanic, physician, accountant, and/or attorney with a question they explain and educate with the same level of understanding. I believe that the user name is sirupate and not sirupdate---however since you are all knowing you probable are aware of that

1. I had no idea what level to take. Month 1 go to pharmacy and get box with in it injectable. Take injectable to office and nurse gives me the shot. I never see how much because rear in the air with pants on the floor. The nurse just tosses box and used bottle in the trash. If there was 9 mL left not sure why she would have thrown away. I am told to do the same thing for the next 5 months.
2. Get bill for $45 for injection so decide month 2 can do injection by myself.
3. Month 2 go get re-fill 2 of 6. Doctor discussed that some guys come 2x/month instead of 1x/month so figured I would just take 1/4 the bottle every week. Thus 10 mL is 2.5 mL per week.
4. I had no idea, nor did my physician, that I was taking too much. The pharmacist messed up 1 mL bottle for 10 mL bottle. I had never been to a steroid forum until today. I asked about taking more in an attempt to lose some weight. I was not purposefully abusing or "had a good thing going".
5. I noticed on the home page the laundry list of designer testosterone so was wondering if there was a better product or dosage to take for a more reasonable fee.
6. Was notified to not mention price in the forum so revised initial post.

I did not go to Urologist looking for testosterone therapy . He did a routine blood panel and noted it. The Urologist is the one that put me on Testim 1% as an after thought or add on for the reason that I was there. The price got too high so stopped taking. When I needed to get a routine insurance form completed I mentioned to my family doctor and that started the use of injectables. Yes, my Urologist and Primary Care Physician both took blood panels before writing me a script.

I had no reason to look for various cocktails, cycle techniques, or work-out routines. I found this site while looking for answers since my physician flipped out and told me I was taking too much. I just thought he was a jerk so started to look for answers.

sirupate and thorsz--thank you for your assistance

[flatscat]

I wouldn't worry about the price thing - you were talking about a price for a legitimate prescription item - it's not encouraged though. From time to time we need to know what others are paying for the same item from a pharmacy especially compounded items, or cash prices (because sometimes cash price is actually cheaper than your co-pay). But it is better handled through PM's.

I agree with JP, crazy post bro. Although it is possible for you to be so naive, who would guess about a dose of steriods and not at least glance at the web to educate yourself? If the prescription were for hydrocodone or any other med, and you got ten times what you were supposed to, would you just divide the number of pills you got into the length of the prescription and take them all if you were truly unsure of what the dose should be?

My questions are:

What does the Rx label say is your prescribed dose? Did it actually say take 10ml's every five weeks?

Did you have a proper diet and training regimen in place? Or did you just take the t and nothing else? And, did you lose weight?

If you stop cold turkey, after injecting 500mg's a week for six months you need to go over to the PCT section, get some advise and start one immediately.

E2 would be a concern obviously.

not hackin on ya bro - we are here to help

Welcome,

flats

[Biigdog]

flatscat: I was not "guessing" out of stupidity. A health care provider that I trusted let me know that I was going to be getting monthly injections for 6 months and then re-test blood panel. A trusted health care provider noted that some guys go into a "valley" after 2 weeks so some guys get injected twice a month. As I have stated, the nurse gave me my first injection and did not say anything about this being a 10 month or even a 10 week supply. She simply gave me the refill card off the front of the box, told me to take back to the pharmacy in 4 weeks, and to come back to the office. She noted there was no need to schedule an appointment since I was not seeing the doctor and her or the other nurse would just treat me as a walk-in patient.

To answer your questions:

1. The pharmacist was giving me a 10 mL vial every 4 weeks and did not act surprised or concerned. The refill card says "INJECT 10 ML EVERY MONTH" and then in the bottom right corner was the count down to number of refills before needing a new script. When I asked for a syringe at the pharmacy (month 2) they gave me a 5 mL syringe. It just seemed logical to take 5 mL every 2 weeks. However, since I had oral gum soreness after my first injection I decided less testosterone per injection but more injections was the safe way to do it.

2. As stated I was not on steroids for the purpose of getting bigger, stronger, or faster. It was noted low T in a routine blood panel and was given some to help with general fatigue, annoying chronic injuries, lack of desire, and concentration. Thus, I did not change my diet or my work-out routine. Yes, I packed on 10 lbs to each rung of my ladder sequence in the bench but I only go to the gym 2x/week. Yes, I lost 10 pounds from start of injections until now but that is common for me to shed winter weight when able to be more active outside (yard work and less time in front of TV).

I had no reason to investigate because I was just doing what seemed logical. The only thing I thought I was changing was doing the injection myself instead of the nurse and doing every week instead of once a month. Yes, looking in the rear view mirror I can see the mistake now. However, I honestly had no idea that I was taking too much because no side effects--no gum or nipple soreness. The positive changes were the desired affect but nothing over the top. Yes, I felt better but not 10x better. Yes, I had more energy and concentration but not bouncing off the wall. Yes, I felt more like a college kid then a mid-30 guy but I was not a walking erection.

Have you fully researched EVERY aspect of your life? You know everything about your life, auto, and home owners insurance or you trust the advise of paid professional? Thus, I was in error and can only go forward from here but just trying to get others on the forum to understand the situation.

I started this tread not to brag about my stupidity. I was just looking for advise on how much to pay and if needed to use something other then test. cyp.

[flatscat]

okay bro - never said you were stupid - and I tried to give you some advise. The fact that the pharmacy made such a HUGE mistake is worth you looking into further. You could have developed some serious sides from that dose for that period of time (gyno, polycythemia etc.)- jus sayin...

I do think you need to run a pct, and recheck your levels in a couple of months before you start trt again. I also think you need to find another doc, or go to a clinic asap. And if you are on trt, there is no better option than test c or e, along with some other ancillaries available in the US right now. A 10 week supply of prescribed t at 100-200mg's/week should run you between 40 and 80 dollars if you don't use insurance, from a legit pharmacy.

like I said we are here to help and good luck