DIY HRT

Hi, I tried to reach out to a local clinic for cryopreservation (of sperm) and they said they don't do it anymore so maybe there are other options?

I use EEN in Grapeseed Oil from Voix Celeste, link at the end, and have been wondering as the temperature climbed over 30° a lot in the last couple of days: Should I keep the vials cool? Currently I keep em in a Cupboard in the Bathroom, so that thry are sheltered from light and sunshine at all times. So here is my question: should I put em in the fridge or are they fine as they are in the cupboard.

The Vials in question: https://voixceleste.cc/p/estradiol-enanthate-in-grapeseed-50mg-ml/

Whether you are doing prescribed HRT or have resorted to DIY, this guide might be helpful to those of you who will be taking injections. It contains a bunch of links and I explain some terms that I don't always see explained elsewhere.

This guide should be applicable to transmascs as well as transfems, but some tools and links are unfortunately focused on feminizing HRT.

Also, I would very much like feedback on this guide and more resources and guides to link.

Helpful links

• Check here and here for some good info and guidelines on dosages for transfems.
• There is also this estradiol simulator, however be aware that everyone is different and that the simulator only shows the expected average (actual values can vary a lot between individuals).

Guides

Here are some guides written by people with more experience than me.

• https://transharmreduction.org/injecting-safely
• https://www.transcarebc.ca/hormone-therapy/injecting-hormones
• https://nextcloud.aztinet.eus/s/MPGoniWNFGBFRJ5
• Intramuscular video guide
• Sub-q video guide

What is IM/intramuscular and sub-q/subcutaneous?

Subcutaneous is an injection into the fat below your skin. Some people experience that their skin reacts to the liquid you inject when doing this kind of injection, and some don't (resulting in a sore red bump at the injection site).

Instramuscular is a deeper injection into your muscles. This is the one your doctor will recommend to you as you are way less likely to have a reaction with this one than with sub-q.

Both give you the same results. Both will give you approximately the same amount of hormones. Pick whichever you are most comfortable with.

What does "gauge" mean?

For us gauge is a measurement of how thin a needle is. The higher the gauge, the thinner the needle, with 30G being very thin and 15G being thicker.

Generally you can use a wide range of gauges for HRT. A higher gauge will be kinder on the rubber stopper and have less chance to cause coring in the long run, while a smaller gauge will draw the liquid out quicker and do better with thicker oils.

I use a 29G insulin needle myself.

What needle should I use?

Needle gauge

Appropriate gauges (needle thickness) for a subcutaneous injection are 25-30g, for intramuscular, 23-25g. Subq needles are thinner than IM needles, which some people find less intimidating.

From the diyhrt website.

Needle length

Recommended needle lengths are as follows: 1”-1 ½” (IM, 1 inch is better for thinner people and 1 ½” for thicker people) ½”-⅝” (Subq, up to personal preference)

From the diyhrt website. 1 inch is about 25 mm.

Size of the syringe

Your syringe should be a 1 ml syringe if possible (makes it easier to get a more precise dosage).

Addressing concerns

Accidentally injecting into a vein

If you are injecting into the recommended areas you will not be hitting any large veins, nor are the effects of accidentally injecting into a vein all that troublesome, even if you inject a bit of air. Your shot is mostly wasted if you do manage to inject into a vein (which is very unlikely). Some people recommend aspirating to avoid this happening (pull the needle back a bit after sticking the needle in but before injecting. If you see blood then replace the needle and try again), but it's not strictly necessary.

Missing a day, doing an injection a day early

This is usually fine for most types of hormone injections. Resume your regular schedule.

I injected too much

If you injected something like twice as much as needed then just continue taking shots at a regular interval. If you injected something like 10 times as much as needed you might feel some discomfort during the next month, but nothing you can't handle. Just wait three or four weeks and continue like normal after that. Doing this accidentally isn't an issue, even if not recommended.

I injected too little

If you were off by some tiny margin then you likely won't even notice on a blood test that you were off. If you were off by something like half or more then maybe try another injection, but with a smaller dose. Don't do another full injection.

Nervousness

It's okay if you struggle with your injection. It's okay if you're nervous and shaky. It's okay if you can't do it. Maybe you can have someone there with you, be it physically or over voice. Maybe you just need to try again some other day when you are in a different state of mind.

Things to keep in mind

If some blood comes out, that's fine. If some other liquid comes out, that's also fine. Maybe have some paper or bandaids handy in case you tend to bleed after your injections. Don't inject into the same area each time, instead rotate between a few areas to avoid buildup of scar tissue.

It's okay. You did good <3

Even if you messed up a few times, wasted some ester or syringes, or you injected a bit too much or too little, it's okay, don't worry.

For some reason EU-Aibolit is neither listed on diyhrt.market and hrtcafe.net. hrt.coffee still lists them, but is notoriously outdated, so I would not normally recommend to look there. In any case, when I wanted to start DIY in January of this year, an acquaintance of mine recommended them to me and I decided to trust her judgement. I’ve since ordered three or four times with them and can only report positive experiences in that I got exactly what I ordered and considering that it seems to have worked, it’s also very unlikely that those things were forgeries, though I haven’t gotten those things lab-tested.

One thing to be aware of is that the primary way of ordering from them is by email, specifically euaibolit@gmail.com and telling them what you need there. They are generally very responsive, but keep in mind that gmail is an asshole about declaring many mails not sent via them or microsoft as spam (very clearly this is not about spam but to further consolidate mail with them!), so be aware of that when you sent from a different address.

(They also have a website and you can find their offers there if you know exactly what you are looking for, but I found it much easier to tell them by mail that I’m trans in which case they sent you the list with the stuff that is relevant to you, and was just a much more pleasant experience.)

With that out of the way, a short report on my last experience:

I sent them an email in late September and shortly after received a response with payment instructions. After I payed via wire-transfer in very early October I received a shipping code on the next day. Shipping took a while because it was done via Czech post who took their time to bring it to the Netherlands where it arrive 1-2 weeks afterwards at my employer. (it took a little bit longer for the package to make it from there to me, but is really not their fault.)

The one minor thing to mention is that they clearly keep the mail addresses of the people that ordered from them, because they did send an unrequested advertisement for some websites that they are now running (order by Email still works however). Keep this in mind if you consider this an unacceptable risk. (Personally I am very outspoken about having done DIY until I received my official prescription, even with my full name attached to it, so my only concern would be actual spam on the address, but so far that hasn’t happened.)

In short: Aibolit still seems to be fine for within-EU orders if you want to pay by wire transfer.

This is a safe space for all those that need advice on HRT, trans or not!

We run a similar room on matrix, but decided that there should be a more public and accessible HRT community here on lemmy as well.