Androgel 1.62%

[Nate02]

Hi everybody. With how much useful information this forum has given me, I thought I would give back with sharing my Androgel 1.62% experience. Feel free to just read or leave comments about what I share. I started it yesterday. I use one pump of 20.25 milligrams. I was taken aback by how much gel is used in one pump. Out of the bottle I did notice the leathery smell people have spoke of, but it did not last long. Through my body's reactions it would seem there was a peak 1-3 hours after application. I did feel a burning sensation on my arm during this time. Throughout the day I felt more anxious and irritable. I hope those feelings subside; if not I may need to reconsider the use of Androgel and move to another mode of testosterone application.

[kelkel]

Give it time Nate. It will take a bit for you body to adapt to it and find balance. You very well may go through a range of feelings/emotions. Read GD's sticky thread on what to expect with HRT. I enjoyed my time with agel actually. I remember hours after application it made me feel pumped up all the time. Rather enjoyed that feeling.

Great idea for a thread. Keep updating it please as it will help many new members!

kel

[J DIESEL3]

WOW nate sorry to hear you felt that way the first day..

Like kel said give it some time and i think you will adapt just fine.

I also was on androgel however mine was the 1% talk about volume i used 10g a day.Anyway i also enjoyed how i felt on the androgel right away.The only reason i changed to injections was i couldn't get my test levels high enough on gel.I think i felt more anxiety and feeling irritable on injections until i got my dose figured out and got dialed in.Good luck with this nate and remember your body is going through some changes now.

[Nate02]

Give it time Nate. It will take a bit for you body to adapt to it and find balance. You very well may go through a range of feelings/emotions. Read GD's sticky thread on what to expect with HRT. I enjoyed my time with agel actually. I remember hours after application it made me feel pumped up all the time. Rather enjoyed that feeling.

Great idea for a thread. Keep updating it please as it will help many new members!

kel

I will give it time then. I hope that body starts balancing out these issues soon. I want to try both gels and injections at some point to find what works better with me. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Androgel . I realized I have never asked you, what made you personally stop Androgel and move to injections?

WOW nate sorry to hear you felt that way the first day..

Like kel said give it some time and i think you will adapt just fine.

I also was on androgel however mine was the 1% talk about volume i used 10g a day.Anyway i also enjoyed how i felt on the androgel right away.The only reason i changed to injections was i couldn't get my test levels high enough on gel.I think i felt more anxiety and feeling irritable on injections until i got my dose figured out and got dialed in.Good luck with this nate and remember your body is going through some changes now.

Yeah, it is unfortunate. I can't even imagine applying 10gs of Androgel. If it got to that point I think I would definitely use injections. Thank you for your kind words. I'll keep that in mind.

[Nate02]

I am going to give it more time, but these two days haven't been great. Day #2 and I have went the entire day with a bad headache. Some of the other symptoms have lessened. I also had a close encounter with my girlfriend whom doesn't seem to take the transference issue seriously.

[Ricci82]

Read the instructions that come with it. It explains the chance of cross contamination. Also about an hour after you apply the gel, put some potion over that. Its supposed to help with absorption, about 14-17%. I was on the gel for about 6 months, it made me very irritable and angry. Worked great for the gym, i was a madman in there. Like Kel said it is going to take some time for the body to adjust. Wait it out and good luck.

Are you taking HCG or an AI? Both?

[Nate02]

Read the instructions that come with it. It explains the chance of cross contamination. Also about an hour after you apply the gel, put some potion over that. Its supposed to help with absorption, about 14-17%. I was on the gel for about 6 months, it made me very irritable and angry. Worked great for the gym, i was a madman in there. Like Kel said it is going to take some time for the body to adjust. Wait it out and good luck.

Are you taking HCG or an AI? Both?

I am taking neither right now. Just the Androgel 1.62%. Should I be? I haven't heard much about taking HCG with gels.

[Ricci82]

How old are you?

Androgel shut me down after 7 weeks of using it. I am not gonna tell you that you should take HCG and an AI, your doctor should tell you that, i know i needed them and they helped me. Read the sticky about HCG and Estradiol management.

[Rusty11]

How old are you?

Androgel shut me down after 7 weeks of using it. I am not gonna tell you that you should take HCG and an AI, your doctor should tell you that, i know i needed them and they helped me. Read the sticky about HCG and Estradiol management.

I only wish my endo would tell me this. Sometimes, you gotta do things on your own. Of course, that involves paying for bw on things doc doesn't think is important.

[kelkel]

Couple reasons actually. Got tired of putting 6 pumps on every day. Especially in the summer months. I also just was not maintaining the level of T I wanted.

[Nate02]

How old are you?

Androgel shut me down after 7 weeks of using it. I am not gonna tell you that you should take HCG and an AI, your doctor should tell you that, i know i needed them and they helped me. Read the sticky about HCG and Estradiol management.

I am only 20 years old. I want to do HCG but my doctor didn't seem to.

I only wish my endo would tell me this. Sometimes, you gotta do things on your own. Of course, that involves paying for bw on things doc doesn't think is important.

Its funny you should say that because most of everything has been done on my own.

Couple reasons actually. Got tired of putting 6 pumps on every day. Especially in the summer months. I also just was not maintaining the level of T I wanted.

Do you think you would of continued if you had less pumps?

[J DIESEL3]

Nate you may end up doing just fine with the gel and not need to use a ton of it.

I work with a guy that uses 2 pumps of the 1.62% and has a very high total t and free t I believe his last BW showed 1285 total.Just remember you can always add the hcg and ai if u need to later.

[kelkel]

I did not feel bad on it at all. If my levels would have been higher I definitly would have stayed on it longer. How much I don't really know...
Still have some 1.62% under the cabinet collecting dust...

[Nate02]

Nate you may end up doing just fine with the gel and not need to use a ton of it.

I work with a guy that uses 2 pumps of the 1.62% and has a very high total t and free t I believe his last BW showed 1285 total.Just remember you can always add the hcg and ai if u need to later.

I did not feel bad on it at all. If my levels would have been higher I definitly would have stayed on it longer. How much I don't really know...
Still have some 1.62% under the cabinet collecting dust...

Good to know. Good to know. I think I would like to add it. I have read of people taking HCG and Androgel with positive results. Also at 20 years old it is frightening to think of my testicles shrinking let alone becoming completely useless.

[Nate02]

Day 3: At this point I feel as if my irritability is gradually subsiding; however, I wonder if this is in my head. I hope it is not. The headache has lingered and is very bothersome. It is a pain in the front/top of my head that has lasted since I started therapy. Most recently though, I am wondering if this is actually allergies. I have never had allergies before but we just brought home a new puppy that is all over my house. Also, I get very tired around dinner time and am wondering if there is not enough testosterone to last me the day.

[bowhuntr09]

Day 3: At this point I feel as if my irritability is gradually subsiding; however, I wonder if this is in my head. I hope it is not. The headache has lingered and is very bothersome. It is a pain in the front/top of my head that has lasted since I started therapy. Most recently though, I am wondering if this is actually allergies. I have never had allergies before but we just brought home a new puppy that is all over my house. Also, I get very tired around dinner time and am wondering if there is not enough testosterone to last me the day.

I used 1.62% for about 3 weeks. The headache was a constant thing EVERY day. Just a dull annoying headache in the front of my head. It also seemed to make my lips feel dry and chapped withing about 30 minutes of putting it on. By about the 3rd week I totally crashed and had no energy at all. I stopped taking it per docs orders. He wanted me off it for a week and then to start back on 1 pump instead of 2. It took about 3 days for the headaches to go away and about 5 days for my energy to come back to reasonable levels. I refused to start back on the gel and had my doc put me on injections. I feel much better on injections with no sides like I had on the gel although I think my doc needs to up my dose. He currently has me on 50mg E7D. I just had bloodwork done last week so hopefully he will agree to bump it up.

Good luck with the gel, but if you continue to have the headache you may want to look at other options sooner rather than later.

[Nate02]

I used 1.62% for about 3 weeks. The headache was a constant thing EVERY day. Just a dull annoying headache in the front of my head. It also seemed to make my lips feel dry and chapped withing about 30 minutes of putting it on. By about the 3rd week I totally crashed and had no energy at all. I stopped taking it per docs orders. He wanted me off it for a week and then to start back on 1 pump instead of 2. It took about 3 days for the headaches to go away and about 5 days for my energy to come back to reasonable levels. I refused to start back on the gel and had my doc put me on injections. I feel much better on injections with no sides like I had on the gel although I think my doc needs to up my dose. He currently has me on 50mg E7D. I just had bloodwork done last week so hopefully he will agree to bump it up.

Good luck with the gel, but if you continue to have the headache you may want to look at other options sooner rather than later.

Shoot. Thank you its just not what I want to hear. I seem to have dry lips now as well. Wait your headache went away with one pump but not two? And your crashed only when applying two pumps?

[bowhuntr09]

I used 2 pumps daily for the entire 3 weeks. The doc wanted me to stop for a week then resume with just one pump. I never started back with the gel after stopping for a week, I just went to injections. I actually prefer injections. I wasn't sure I could stick myself, but its a non issue, really easy and painless.

[Nate02]

I used 2 pumps daily for the entire 3 weeks. The doc wanted me to stop for a week then resume with just one pump. I never started back with the gel after stopping for a week, I just went to injections. I actually prefer injections. I wasn't sure I could stick myself, but its a non issue, really easy and painless.

This is just hard to understand. I have been painstakingly researching whether testosterone gels or injections are better. Doctors prescribe solely gels to a point where it is hard to find one that doesn't; yet through research all I read says injections are the right choice. I read so many complaints about gels and virtually none about injections. Why do doctors insist on the gels like they do? Is it just monetary?

Another thing: Have people taken injections with a small dose of Androgel for the increase in DHT it provides?

[kelkel]

Give it some time Nate and be objective please. Have you guys watched this link from Crisler on Transdermals:

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...n-Transdermals

Injections and gels? I'm sure people have as it's still testosterone no matter how it gets delivered. Definitly not something you want to do while trying to settle into a protocol though. I actually may try that some day before my 1.62 rots!

[bp2000]

This is just hard to understand. I have been painstakingly researching whether testosterone gels or injections are better. Doctors prescribe solely gels to a point where it is hard to find one that doesn't; yet through research all I read says injections are the right choice. I read so many complaints about gels and virtually none about injections. Why do doctors insist on the gels like they do? Is it just monetary?

Another thing: Have people taken injections with a small dose of Androgel for the increase in DHT it provides?

The thing with gels is absorption. Some guys don't absorb it well. Others it works fine for. And still others it works for a while then stops working. Only way to tell is to give it some time. And remember it only absorbs 10% of your application. So if a normal guy produces 8-10 grams of test per day you will need to apply 80-100 grams of gel each day. Doctors can also prescribe a cream. They can make them at a higher solution so you won't have to put so much on.

Docs recommend gel and creams because it best mimics the natural cycle of testosterone production. You also don't typically need an AI so just apply the gel 1x per day and thats it.

[Nate02]

Give it some time Nate and be objective please. Have you guys watched this link from Crisler on Transdermals:

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...n-Transdermals

Injections and gels? I'm sure people have as it's still testosterone no matter how it gets delivered. Definitly not something you want to do while trying to settle into a protocol though. I actually may try that some day before my 1.62 rots!

That was a fantastic video. Very informative, I like him. He said daily HCG shots, though; does that mean an intramuscular injection every day? Or is he referring to subcutaneous?

The thing with gels is absorption. Some guys don't absorb it well. Others it works fine for. And still others it works for a while then stops working. Only way to tell is to give it some time. And remember it only absorbs 10% of your application. So if a normal guy produces 8-10 grams of test per day you will need to apply 80-100 grams of gel each day. Doctors can also prescribe a cream. They can make them at a higher solution so you won't have to put so much on.

Docs recommend gel and creams because it best mimics the natural cycle of testosterone production. You also don't typically need an AI so just apply the gel 1x per day and thats it.

Yeah I am thinking about using the compounded gel. Who knows, it may help me avoid these headaches and chapped lips. It is not pleasant.

[kelkel]

No, SQ.

[Nate02]

Can anyone tell me about exposure to women with Androgel ? I am worried about my girlfriend. What are the side effects if a woman was to touch it and more importantly are there any permanent ones?

[J DIESEL3]

I never had any problems with my wife or daughter getting exposed to the gel.You really need to be careful when the gel is not dry on your body.

Only being on 1 or 2 pumps of the 1.62% she should be just fine.Almost my entire upper body was covered when I used 2 packs or 10g of the andro 1% gel.Nate I don't think you will have a large area to cover + you can appy it to the inside of your upper arms.

If your girl friend was to touch the area you applied your gel after it has had plenty of time to dry she will be fine.

[sparverius]

My wife had no noticeable effects from gel over the 6 years I used it, and I did not go out of my way to prevent her from touching me. For most of that time I had to slather it over much of my upper body as I was on a high dose.

I felt more normal on gel than I do on injections. I had no problems with conversion to estrogen like I do with injections. If the gel had not lost effectiveness for me I'd still be on it.

[Nate02]

I never had any problems with my wife or daughter getting exposed to the gel.You really need to be careful when the gel is not dry on your body.

Only being on 1 or 2 pumps of the 1.62% she should be just fine.Almost my entire upper body was covered when I used 2 packs or 10g of the andro 1% gel.Nate I don't think you will have a large area to cover + you can appy it to the inside of your upper arms.

If your girl friend was to touch the area you applied your gel after it has had plenty of time to dry she will be fine.

My wife had no noticeable effects from gel over the 6 years I used it, and I did not go out of my way to prevent her from touching me. For most of that time I had to slather it over much of my upper body as I was on a high dose.

I felt more normal on gel than I do on injections. I had no problems with conversion to estrogen like I do with injections. If the gel had not lost effectiveness for me I'd still be on it.

That is a load off my back. Thanks for the responses.

I've heard of people applying it to their inner thighs? Do you guys think that would be okay as a precaution?

Oh, and do you guys think its weird that my endocrinologist put me on one pump which is lower that the starter dose?

[J DIESEL3]

I used my inner thigh at times and know of others that have so that would be fine.

One pump may work till your own test gets shut down.Nate I would bet u need more than 1 pump but let your BW tell you that.

[Nate02]

I used my inner thigh at times and know of others that have so that would be fine.

One pump may work till your own test gets shut down.Nate I would bet u need more than 1 pump but let your BW tell you that.

Thank you for your help J DIESEL3. I might try that. I am trying to find a way to avoid putting the gel on the palms of my hands but still on a concealed part of the body. I heard the gel that is on your palms is ineffective.

I figured as much. 1.25mgs doesn't seem right...