Gel Dosage Upped

[sirupate]

Visited my endo last week. I have been on Androgel, 5gms. daily for about 9 months now. That dosage was fantastic for a while, but "fantastic" faded away around last May. Endo was suspicious that other health concerns may have been impacting, but after some more bloodwork and a test, he has elected to prescribe Androgel 10gms. daily. Cautious guy he is.

OK...making some progress here. Next BW and endo visit is in January. Now, problem is that it is difficult to find enough skin to apply 10 gms. of gel. So I am doing 5 pumps morning and 3 pumps at bedtime. We'll see how that works. After describing this process to my wife, she sighed and agreed to administer IM...something she didn't want any part of up till now. Giving injections isn't something she "signed on for".

So...assuming my T levels and libido improve at the higher gel dose, it may be possible that the endo will agree to IM dosing in January. I think that is where I want to be, but it took about a year to get there. Oh...I'll just do the pinning in the quads after the doctor agrees to have my wife administer in the glutes. For some reason the doctor didn't think that me injecting into the quads would be a very good idea.

Anyway, that sort of describes my TRT journey of late.

sirp

[SlimmerMe]

All that Androgel could have contact with your wife...so might be better to inject afterall

[sirupate]

She could use a dose...lol! Actually, I am well aware of that potential complication. Ten grams daily is a lot of gel on your skin. At some point...IM dosing is a better idea.

sirp

[zaggahamma]

no need for a partner in the pinning process

imho

best of luck gettin the vial home...until then make sure the wifey gets a nice wipe of gel

[Vettester]

My wife gets upset if I don't let her pin me on occasion, as she's always wanted to help. Even though I now do most of my pinning in the quads, I usually let her do a glute pin once a month to keep her included. It's kind of weird, but she took an interest in learning this stuff just as I did when it was discovered that I had low "T" in the beginning. Now she's going through her own hormonal changes and it's a whole new learning curve for the both of us. Tell your wife that you both "signed on" to do whatever is needed to help each other.

Agree, that's a lot of gel, and as you discovered it works great, then it doesn't work great ... It's just better to get on something that you know you can rely on week-in and week-out. I'd be curious what "other" health concerns the doctor is implying that he thinks would be "impacting" the matter. Did he elaborate on this by chance?

[sirupate]

My wife gets upset if I don't let her pin me on occasion, as she's always wanted to help. Even though I now do most of my pinning in the quads, I usually let her do a glute pin once a month to keep her included. It's kind of weird, but she took an interest in learning this stuff just as I did when it was discovered that I had low "T" in the beginning. Now she's going through her hormone changes and it's a whole new learning curve for the both of us. Tell your wife that you both "signed on" to do whatever is needed to help each other.

Agree, that's a lot of gel, and as you discovered it works great, then it doesn't work great ... It's just better to get on something that you know you can rely on week-in and week-out. I'd be curious what "other" health concerns the doctor is implying that he thinks would be "impacting" the matter. Did he elaborate on this by chance?

Sure. My liver enzymes had been elevated for a while, and he suspected or wanted to rule out liver disease as a potential cause of low energy, low libido, etc. The liver enzymes finally dropped back into normal range and the upper right quadrant ultrasound came back negative, so he isn't concerned at this time.

As you said...the gel worked great for a while, and then didn't, so I went to the endo asking for an explanation. Feeling like I was 17 was pretty neat and I was disappointed when that feeling went away.

sirp

[Termin8r27]

My wife gets upset if I don't let her pin me on occasion, as she's always wanted to help. Even though I now do most of my pinning in the quads, I usually let her do a glute pin once a month to keep her included. It's kind of weird, but she took an interest in learning this stuff just as I did when it was discovered that I had low "T" in the beginning. Now she's going through her own hormonal changes and it's a whole new learning curve for the both of us. Tell your wife that you both "signed on" to do whatever is needed to help each other.

Agree, that's a lot of gel, and as you discovered it works great, then it doesn't work great ... It's just better to get on something that you know you can rely on week-in and week-out. I'd be curious what "other" health concerns the doctor is implying that he thinks would be "impacting" the matter. Did he elaborate on this by chance?

Great post!

I totally agree with this. My wife was hesitant at first as well - and very concerned about regular 'steriod' usage. It's been a learning experience for us both and like Vetteman, she is interested in being more involved now. She has also seen the massive improvements in my mood, well being, physicality, etc that it's prompted her to get checked out after we deliver our third child.

[Vettester]

Sure. My liver enzymes had been elevated for a while, and he suspected or wanted to rule out liver disease as a potential cause of low energy, low libido, etc. The liver enzymes finally dropped back into normal range and the upper right quadrant ultrasound came back negative, so he isn't concerned at this time.

As you said...the gel worked great for a while, and then didn't, so I went to the endo asking for an explanation. Feeling like I was 17 was pretty neat and I was disappointed when that feeling went away.

sirp

Both ALT & AST, right? Surprisingly, I experienced a similar rise after about 5 or 6 months when I started out on that stuff. Didn't really make sense, as the first pass scenario was taken out, but I've read several stories with guys that had similar experiences. Some guys have been on it for years without any problems, so who knows for sure.

[sirupate]

Both ALT & AST, right? Surprisingly, I experienced a similar rise after about 5 or 6 months when I started out on that stuff. Didn't really make sense, as the first pass scenario was taken out, but I've read several stories with guys that had similar experiences. Some guys have been on it for years without any problems, so who knows for sure.

Yes, both enzyme measures. But, I was a bit high when starting the gel and it just took a while to come down...cleaning up my party habits, so to speak. The endo could have thought I was on something that has first pass consequences...I don't look like I'd need TRT, before writing a larger dose of gel. If things go well over the next few months, I think the doctor will allow me to go on an IM dosing, but he may need to think that my wife is injecting me into the glutes. But that is OK, especially if it turns out that she wants to become involved with this treatment after she tries it a few times.

sirp