hi there, as anyone ever tried gels/spays for monotherapy?

  • Lubu@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    30 days ago

    I’m using estrogel as a monotherapy, no anti-androgen, and I get good levels no problem. That being said, if you have access to esters for injections (that’s not valerate, but rather enanthate or cypionate), then it will probably give you more stable levels, and be less of a pain (you have to wait for estrogel to dry, twice a day).

      • Lubu@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        29 days ago

        It depends on how much gel you need to apply, the brand of estrogel (if any), and how much you spread it.

        In the beginning, when I was applying a much bigger quantity of gel, it took forever to dry. Now, I’ve found my correct dosage (3 mg/day) and it dries much quicker. I use two commercial brands of estrogel, and I’d say the first dries enough to wear pants within maybe 15 minutes, while the second brand takes longer. If you spread the gel more, it will dry quicker. Some people seem to think of that as a bad practice, but I’ve yet to see any proof, so…

        • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          28 days ago

          it does suck, but more frequent injections also helped reduce my needle phobia, and I had more psychological distress from injecting when I went back to once a week, ironically…

          • Lubu@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            28 days ago

            That’s… unfortunate, I hope you will solve that phobia (says the girl who turns her head the other way during blood tests lol).

  • applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    30 days ago

    Not me so sorry for answering despite the answer being no. I thought about the various options and injections seemed to be the stand out best to me. Only once a week, more stable levels, bypass the liver and all the associated problems, cheap af compared to the others, the only downside is the needle. It still scares me a little every time, but if I go slow it doesn’t even hurt much. Much less than getting blood drawn or something. I do intramuscular in the thigh because when I started that’s what I was shown. Lots of people do subcutaneous though and I will probably switch eventually. I’m still a baby though so I’m sticking with that for now since I’m told intramuscular is more consistent.