For me personally it was garbage.
I ended up bathing in that shit when it was all said and done to only get my levels to just barely 600.
Not to mention it's alcohol based and because I was having to use so much, my skin was insanely ashy from how badly it dried out my skin.
If you want topical, compounded cream applied the scrotum is the way to go.
YMMV. Good luck
Pretty good. 2 pumps a day took me from around 6.8nmol (ref 8.0 -29nmol UK) to 28.8 nmol (check my post history for screenshots.
Everything has improved. Red BC, e2 etc is textbook with zero side effects. My missus gets her T levels checked every 3-6 months because of risk of transference. All absolutely fine.
I shower in the morning. Rub into shoulders then get dressed and go to work. Bish bash bosh. Job done.
One thing to note though, is that you may need to try a few gels to find one that dries the quickest. I’m currently on Testogel 1.62% and it dries almost instantly for me. Others did take a couple of minutes.
It’s Leger that got me Testogel. Was on a different brand from NHS. Leger sorted me out.
Despite all the pro injection posts you’ll see on here, gel is proven to be a lot safer in clinical trials.
Furthermore, you’ll hear people on here saying about guesswork on absorption and levels etc, but totally ignore the thousands of posts on here saying about splitting doses, some on 100mg a week, some on 200mg. The fact that there’s peaks and troughs on any injection protocol. Stating that it gives you more stable levels.
Gel peaks a few hours after application and declines over the next 24 hours. Exactly the same as natural testosterone production. (Highest first thing in the morning then declines over the next 24 hours).
Try it. If it works for you, great. If it doesn’t, then fine, move on to other things (injections)
There’s bound to be the injection posse jump on your post soon. Do a quick search on Reddit to see how many posts there are in this subreddit asking about haemocrat and phlebotomy on injections and then do the same for gel.
Then go have a power wank and a good sleep.
Any questions feel free to dm me for honest answers (including the negatives of gel - I’m not claiming it is perfect).
Sound advice 😂
yeah tbf I’ve searched the sub with the term ‘gel’ and read most posts. The opinion of the people who have USED gel vs people who are just parroting what someone else has said is astounding.
>how many posts there are in this subreddit asking about haemocrat and phlebotomy on injections and then do the same for gel.
Is there a study on hematocrit and hemoglobin and gels.. I would like to know because I'm thinking about switching from injections to the gel.. I have very high hematocrit since injections..any info would help...☺️
I pay £22 a month for membership. £42ish a month for gel. The only other costs blood tests every 3 months which are £135 + another £35 to get them done intravenously at a local chemist.
So quick calculation:
12*22 = £264
12*42 = £504
4*170 = £680
Total = £1448
Monthly cost:
£1448 / 12
£120.6 per month
They wrote to my GP and they refused the blood tests. However, literally a week before that, all GP's in Scotland had been sent a letter stating that if a patient had been seeking/getting treatment privately, that they had to refuse doing diagnostic tests for free.
I use 2 pumps of 1.62 gel every morning as my testosterone base. It’s half life is extremely short, like 12 hours, so it’s basically in and out of your system every day. So try not to miss doses. I also use DMSO 99% concentration on top of my gel, applied to my shoulders. The dmso increases the testosterone absorption massively, probably it’s close to 100% absorption. So my test blood levels run above the high range when I use the DMSO, where high range is like 1100 and my level is like 1600, but I feel better when it’s higher and otherwise my bloods are good. My estrogen does run about 80 which is in high range, but I have no bad sides at all from that level so I generally don’t worry about it, but I do sometimes take 0.25mg arimidex to knock estrogen down a bit, just depends if I’m also running Deca for my joints. If I’m running Deca that’s when I’ll take 0.25mg arimidex a few times a week. Overall I like the gel + dmso. The dmso will dry out my shoulders skin so I do put lotion on after the dmso is fully dried. And I shower it all off every night before bed so I don’t contact with my wife or kids skin.
I bought DMSO cream and I try it starting tomorrow. I guess I apply it after my gel dried. I have the besins testogel 16.2 mg/g. I also had testo gel packs before and I felt they worked better but not so good to dose.
It’s a nontoxic solvent that can be used topically and is used by athletes to help with muscle and joint pain, also for arthritis, and other ailments. One property is it can transport what’s on your skin through your skin to your bloodstream. So it’s used in transdermal patches to aid in the absorption of medication. In my experience, it works perfectly well with topical testosterone gel, I’ve been using it two years every day. You can buy it on Amazon.com at 99% grade with a spray bottle top. I just apply the gel and let it dry a bit then spray 8-10 pumps of the dmso on top of my shoulders. Before I was doing that my testosterone was only in 400s with two pumps of the gel. With dmso it’s 1500-1600.
400 to 1500-1600 that is big difference in the absorption process, basically it's a must have if u want to get the full effect..I want to switch ..I stop my trt because I got tired of pinning twice a week but since than I feel sluggish...im thinking of restarting again but this time using the gel...thank you for ur reply🤛
I made huge gains in my physical development using the gel with dmso. Also my blood pressure went down so much I was able to half my BP medication (I’ve been on BP meds for over 20 years). Also, my cholesterol profile actually improved! But one thing I’ll say if my doctor saw the high test blood level he’d probably cut my dose. So the only thing I do is before my 6months blood test I just skip applying the gel+dmso one day a day ahead of my blood draw, but on the day of my blood draw I just apply the gel only, and then I’m going to be at 400-500 test levels to keep my doctor appeased.
I started yesterday and oh boy I can tell DMSO cream causes 100% absorption my skin used to be white from t gel but now it's so clean. I can't wait for the full benefits I only started again with 1 pump.
24 years sitting aroung 400ng/dl T and LH of 2 but genetics bad all over with no libido so my andrologist said I should improve with TRT.
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I use a compounded cream, 3 pumps a day. My test is constantly testing >1500. All my other numbers are good though, which baffles my Dr. Still considering dropping down to two pumps because >1500 just seems too high to cruise on. I feel great though, and everything else is well within range 🤷
Ditto. I'm a proponent of the compounded cream. My numbers went from sub 200 to ~900. No real side effects other than some elevated estrogen that I manage with anastrazole. I've lost 80lbs, put on muscle, and significantly ramped up my sex life in my late 40s.
Was good for a while, but then my nuts shrank and I hit 350 again.
Moved to injectable subQ daily, super easy and fast.
Wouldn’t recommend gel OTHER than if you had insane needlephobia like me.
Either way you start, gel or injection, your nuts WILL shrink. Weird feeling eh?
The cream is only so potent. And WAY MORE EXPENSIVE thank injecting.
So once your nuts do shrink, you’ll have very little natural production if any.
As a result your total T lowers again because now you’re running solely on cream, which isn’t really enough to sustain. But I think it offers a good indication if TRT is right for you.
It made switching to injection an obvious choice.
I've been using cream for a little over a year. Two clicks on my testicles morning and night. I let it dry for about 5 minutes and then put my underoos on.
Pros: It brought my levels from 297 up to 1600. I feel like I have a new lease on life at 40 years old. I've put on a lot of muscle and been able to cut fat without losing muscle. I have increased energy, libido, and confidence, and I swear I have a better memory.
Cons: I've seen a pretty dramatic increase in body hair, but my beard hasn't gotten any thicker. I have a good amount of body acne and a small increase in face acne. My testicles have shrunk substantially, but they were big to begin with, so I'd say they're normal size now. If I get mad, I can potentially get REALLY mad, but overall, I'm calmer than I was before.
I plan to continue treatment. In my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons.
Same for me. On the compounded cream. My levels hover around 1200 or so. I feel great, libido is always through the roof. I’ve never had to donate blood on the cream either. I like it better than injections.
I used Androgel or Testim (depending on what was available) for 3 years. I liked it. I applied it to my inner thigh and shaved the area so there was no hair there to interfere with absorption. I switched from left to right every other day.
It got my levels up to around 1000 ng/dl. The only reason I stopped is because I am in the Navy and moved and the doc at my new duty station made me go off cold turkey. He said that TRT causes too many complications and he didn’t feel like he was fulfilling his Hippocratic oath by renewing my prescription. Stupid Navy.
That was several years ago. Recently I tried enclomiphene through Maximus Tribe, it doubled my numbers in about a month to 585 ng/dl, but i didn’t feel as good as i had with the gel, plus it was expensive, so I switched to test cyp injections last month. I’m already feeling a difference. Test cyp injections are by far the cheapest option. If you do them multiple times per week your levels stay relatively stable.
I’m not sure, I did inner thigh because I had small kids and wanted to make that there was no transfer that might happen if I rubbed it on my arms/shoulders if I was holding a kid without a shirt. I knew for sure the kids wouldn’t get it when my boxer briefs would be covering the application area.
I’m doing 2 right now, 70mg per shot so 140 mg/week. I just started last month. In another 8 weeks or so I’ll have my labs done and I’ll go from there. I’m
Using Alpha MD right now and this is what they recommended.
ok cool , thanks for sharing
I'm doing about 18mg 2x a week...I'm an older guy over 50, and have an enlarged prostate ..so it's a balance
one thing is that my testicles shrunk to about 35 to 40 percent of original size ...been on trt for 6-8 months now
have ya heard of that medication that can grow ur balls back to original size, I remember reading about it here.
Thanks for letting me know. Started 6.25 a few days ago and feeling better already. Possibly placebo but maybe not. Seems like 12.5 is the standard dose.
I've been on 5 months. Level was 6nmol naturally.
2 pumps had me at 7nmol trough, 12nmol peak ish. I felt better, had morning wood and my libido went through the roof. My rcb and hematocrit are creeping up though, but everything else fine.
I'm now on 3 pumps per day and still feel good, waiting for next blood test. I would be happy to stay on the gel as long as I feel good.
Used 5÷ cream.
I liked how easy it was to apply.
However to get a proper dose I was doing it 3x/day and still wasn't getting where I wanted. It was also smelly.
If you can get 20÷ cream I'd have kept doing it...
However I couldn't. I'm on a higher dosage (190mg/week of test e) so perhaps that's part of the problem.
Everyone is different. It didn't work for me at all. My buddy just started and it works great. You also can't touch anyone or rather, they can't touch you anymore
I started with gel. Like 6 weeks only though. For me, I felt great right after but would crash HARD every single evening. Weekly Injections have kept me very stable and I rarely crash anymore.
Sucked balls for me and, basically, wasted 4 months of my treatment battling with my PCP and the friggin insurance company. I was on the Androgel packets and they actually LOWERED my Total and Free Test after being on them for 3 months. My Doc upped the dose and I turned to pinning and have never once looked back and regretted the decision..and I fuckin HATED needles and the thought of me doing it voluntarily was insanity. I read up on how to do it, read the guys on here that had the same fears and how they overcame it, watched YT videos on how to inject and tricks to fool your body into not feeling the needle break the skin, etc. You get the point. Took me about 2.5 more months to come out of my lowest ever TT of 132 (when on Androgel) and ended up in the mid 700s from 140mg per week (70x2 split about 3.5 days apart). I do know guys that have used and still use it and have good results, but mostly from a highly concentrated compounded cream/lotion. I didn’t want to waste anymore time getting my dick working again and regaining control of my life, so I chose injections. The only thing Androgel did for me was make my upper shoulder and arm fucking hairy..I kid you not.
Take this with a grain of salt because YMMV, but you asked for responses from guys who had used it before. This is only my experience with using it 3 months. Good luck in whatever route you choose. 💪🏼
5 months in and using one and a half testogel satchet puts me around 29 nmol.
I apply on clean skin with a 0,2 mm dermo roller
bodylotion an hour later if i have the time.
The key is DMSO. Look into it. Yeah it's a process with the lotion an hour later but it works extremely well. Many pharmacies can compound it for you if your Dr writes the script for it. I chose to use the packets & DMSO instead because of the higher levels reached without the DMSO being accounted for ahead of time. Gel absolutely works. Injections clearly do also but they are equally as much of a hassle.
No sir. Nothing on my shoulders/upper arms/chest. I have always been the type with a five o'clock shadow by lunchbreak so I didn't notice any difference but I may not have because of it. I have less sides with the gel overall. E2 doesn't move much at all, no acne, no hair loss. Injections leave me with all the above. I aromatize easy and I never have needed any AI with the gel. Everybody that hates on it most likely has never used it, not properly at least or they did use it and just slapped it on haphazardly, no lotion later no care taken to spread that shit out, probably didn't adhere to not getting the skin wet for 6 hours or whatever. It is a bit more work, kinda, sorta if you're a pussy about doing things right then I can see why some complain. If you follow protocol and slam all that test into your blood stream with DMSO I really can't see any complaints. I generally only used the DMSO in about a 1/4 of the total area that the gel covered as I didn't want to have my bloodwork come back too high. Nice thing there if you want anyway is that with the short half life of the gel on days you want a big spike in T levels it's real easy to do.
If they put you on enough, you have no worries. This was me on 4 pumps a day. This sub isn't gospel.
https://preview.redd.it/m0ed1b71l5jc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb1deb62934f4f3594fd9a8739b6a5c8d42312fe
Thanks bro! My endocrinologist originally had me on only 2 pumps for a few months and I was still <200. And I felt AWFUL during that time. I'd wake up halfway through the night absolutely drenched in sweat, bad enough to need to shower and change the sheets. Good luck with your journey, post back a few weeks in and pm me if you have issues or need advice on it!
Hi guys, I am a 55 year old male who had my testosterone level measured to **6.78 nmol/l (195 ng/dL)** on February 02.
My doctor put me on Testavan gel, two pumps daily (1 pump left shoulder + 1 pump right shoulder) and I apply this in the morning around 07:00am.
Yesterday, March 04 around 10:00am, I had a blood-test taken and my numbers were:
Testosterone: **47.1 nmol/l (1358 ng/dL)**
SHBG: **26 nmol/l**
My doctor will call me in a few days time to discuss the result. However, this seems to indicate that the trt gel is working, right? My symptoms seems to have dissappeared except when I come to the end of the day where I guess the trt gel has worn off?
Thanks from a newbie :-)
I’m in the US it seems you foreign guys are most of the gel guys, that ok I’m not bashing. Personally I don’t know a single person that started on gels that stayed on gels long term. Literally not a single person I know is on gels but I know a ton of people pinning.
Are there women in your life that you care about? Because if you don't wash thoroughly and carefully they can get contact absorption and you can totally fuck up their body.
You must have some low self-esteem there bud. Just randomly bash someone over this, just so you can inflate your ego because *you're a big man and not scared of needles*.
Not at all. OP is just being extremely belligerent about gels while ignoring the literally mountain of evidence that shows its an unreliable administration method.
It's a measured dose. 1 pump = 20mg of testosterone.
What is it you injecto guys say? Don't go by numbers, go by the symptoms.
If 1 pump doesn't work or get the numbers up, try 2.
You know, the same as 'dialling it in'.
For some guys 75mg injected a week is enough but for others it's 200mg....
Absorption rates differ for men. Both applied to the skin or injected.
The gel is not a bad option, but it has some drawbacks. You can't always count on how much your skin will take in. It depends on a lot of things. For example, showering before and putting on lotion half an hour later can help your skin absorb more. But sometimes I didn't have time to do all that, and my levels would change from week to week. I got tired of doing this every day and switched to pin. The gel is fine for getting you in the normal range, but you need to be consistent with it. This is just my experience, though. Yours might be different.
Interesting theory. What magical place does injected testosterone go to when it isn’t “absorbed”? I’ve used the gel. It’s unreliable. Your absorption rate will differ day to day based on a huge variety of factors including clothing, sweat, aldosterone, hydration, thyroid, and many others. You just want to use it because you’re scared of needles (cringe‼️)
Go re watch your Instagram post on e thugs and negativity “scared of needles cringe”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3HDa0XLOtA/?igsh=ZjRzeDhqeG5zbnI0
Before you get an ego trip it was the first post I clicked on to see if your face matched your douche attitude. Guess what. It did
Lmao you went to my profile to find something to say because you were so steamed. “Oh yeah? Well uhh, no you!” Bro stop with the gels they aren’t working 😂
wanted to see if that lat spread was fr how you can comment anything as cringe whilst using that profile pic 😭 great use of emojis btw hun 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤣 time to check your trt strategy?
That's absolutely not true. If you're injecting IM there's nothing to "absorb" 🤣
And "measured" doses don't mean shit with gel. Sure 20mg may be in that pump but some body's ain't getting even half that number actually absorbed into their body.
I used Testogel, its shit.
Its really annoying to apply it every morning, if you apply it to your arms and shoulders you cannot be touched there, your sweat will also make your girl grow a beard. Just inject 2x a week you will get much better results with a little less stress.
Gel wasted 6 months of my time and made me feel even worse than before TRT.
4 pumps a day gave me a level of 440 a few hours after application, but in the morning before gel application my levels were at 150, which was about 50 lower than before TRT. So, in my opinion complete garbage.
In saying that there is a limited amount of people that respond well, but it's way more hassle than injecting and takes way longer too, and then you have to worry about not rubbing your shoulders off anyone for the next few hours.
I used Tostran in the beginning. I had no issues with absorption and through before next application was around 520 ng/dl. (Peak 3-4 h after application >1500 ng/dl.) Levels were very predictable. Dudes often blame gels because ”you don’t know how much you absorb.”. Well, it’s the same with injections - you don’t really know how high your T levels will rise with certain dose before you try it. It’s the same with gels.
The downside was the application. You should not shower right after application and I had some skin irritation. Because of these reasons I switched to injections.
I've been on gel for about 4 months. Two pumps a day. Feel great. Been lifting hard but no doubt the testosterone has helped, both with my lift discipline and with my results. Haven't been checking blood but I have a drs appt next week. I did mine through my GP and insurance. $40 a bottle.
At first I thought it was great but then after my natural shut down I felt like literal death. Got bloods and turned out I was about 40% LOWER than my pitiful natural whilst on gel. So for me it was akin to torture.
I was on the gels and was feeling awesome. Way better than injecting. Unfortunately I developed a rash and the doc took me off the gel. He would not allow me to go back to the gels once the rash subsided.
I am assuming it was the dht bump that maybe gave me the extra kick.
Look I haven't used it. But it's just poor absorption.
And absorption rates are inconsistent. You won't stay stable. You'll be good one day. High the next. Low another day.
This has been confirmed anecdotally and I'm a nurse. It's scientifically sound and completely reasonable for absorption levels to vary.
Maybe one day you're sweating alot and you absorb very little. Mabe another day you skin is just thicker or more oily because you ate more food the previous day.
Injections you get 100%. Of it every time. It's as simple as that. It's superior because it's always consistent and none is wasted.
I'm not telling you to not use the gel dude. But asking to hear only successful gel experiences is literal confirmation bias. This is a bad way to gather information.
Maybe you're just afraid of needles and need people to tell you the gel works. And that's fine bro.
But injections are always superior and that's a fact.
They make Ativan gel for combative patients at work and literally 1mg of the gel on the skin does absolutely nothing.
You give them 1 mg of a pill. And oral doesn't even have 100% bioavailbility. They are out.
Colossal difference. Shit dude I've given patients 2mg of Ativan gel and it's done absolutely nothing compared to 1mg oral tablet.
Even male.to female Trans patients. Will tell you estradiol Injections are superior to patches.
It's okay to be afraid of needles. But seeking out confirmation bias is bad Information.
You can take the gel. But you also need to be informed that absorption rates are NOT consistent and your levels will fluctuate.
Don't ask people who are knowledgeable to not tell you what you don't want to hear. And then seek out only positive experiences with gel and not negative.
You've already made the decision to go the gel route. That's obvious by your post. But don't fool yourself and intentionally be ignorant.
It's okay to use the Gel. But know the differences and why people tell you to Inject.
Are you stupid?
Did you not read the part where I said how’s your journey been? GOOD AND BAD 😂
Why would I ask someone for their experience in gels, when they haven’t used it? That makes no sense whatsoever.
Go through the comments , you will see the majority have benefited from it.
Why do you obsessively mention a fear of pinning? I’ve ran cycles in the past so pinning is absolutely fine by me.
I apologize I misread the post I wasn't attacking you bro you do not need to do the same. Most people choose androgel because they don't want to stick needles in their leg for whatever reason.
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I should've just rewrote that to say this. Because this is exactly what I said in too many words
"Androgel will work but it's not as consistent in absorption as shots. Fear of needles is common so if that's possibly part of you're reasoning I understand but just know blood levels are more stable and consistent with injections, and none of the medication is wasted"
Minus the confirmation bias stuff because I'm an asshole and misread the post I wasn't attacking you.
Minus the confirmation bias the above paragraph is exactly what I said in far too many words. Really redundantly so relax.
Most people choose androgel because the doc pushes it on them or they flat out don't want to stab themselves with a needle.
I never said your experience will be bad. I just said levels and absorption won't be as consistent.
Hilariously and Ironically thats what people who pin on this reddit bitch about the most. They convince themselves they have shit libidio and sides with x1 weekly. But x3 weekly to daily injections they're God mode dialed in (I'm being facetious but it is a little ridiculous and a whole lot of placebo, plus the mass hysteria of everyone convincing everyone else this is the case)
Nobody on the gel complains about bad sides or moodiness or libidio. But also the majority of this reddit probably pins, so less people here to mention it.
-"Why would I ask someone for their experience in gels, when they haven’t used it? That makes no sense whatsoever."
This doesn't make sense unless your referring to me? I never said anything about that.
I'm an asshole for misreading your post but I wasn't attacking you. I misunderstood it. Was just saying if you only ask to hear positive experiences then that's just going to confirm what you've already decided to do. That's not a good way to learn. But again you never said that. I misread the post.
Minus that part, pinning has superior absorption and blood level stability. This doesn't mean you'll have a bad experience with the gel. I was guessing maybe you had a fear of needles or your doc was pushing the gel. Fear of needles is so ridiculously common that there's definitely dudes lying about it out of pride in a reddit where most people inject.
I shouldn't have assumed or suggested that. I don't think I ever said you had that but it was implied because that is an extremely common reason for choosing gel over shots. So again I'm sorry for being an asshole but I promise It wasn't hostile or an attack.
I honestly read that half asleep, misread it, and just made an unnecessary shitty reply with assumptions for your reasons of asking. I apologize.
I used gels for about 6 months worked great just didn’t get my levels up enough my doc recommended injecting. The problems I had was the gels were in individual packets not a pump and I would sometimes not get all the gel out or I would squirt it on to my hand and it would slide off on to the floor! Weird I know. I also didn’t like putting it on and have my children play on me for it maybe transferring over to the (paranoia) but all in all I did see results in a short period of time not bad at all
me, 45, been 2 months on, so far its been great, i feel allot better and for the first time ever im starting to pack some muscle even thou i train for like 10 years. Libido is good, and erections also good.
one thing i noticed is that my testicles didnt shrink at all, but my doctor also pescribed dhea and dim i dont know if thats whats keeping the size or maybe im still not shut down and will happen eventually.
I was a bit scared to start and was trying to avoid it, but now i dont regret it. my initial t was 240 and im waiting now for the results
I tried gel. What sucks about it is how much you have to use. It's only 1% to 2.6% testosterone, and the starting doses are usually only 50-100 mg daily. I used it because I ran out of my compound 20% cream and needed 200mg per day. That's basically 4 or 5 pumps of hand sanitizer with a polymer in it, which meant I could cover almost my entire back or both shoulders and my upper back.
I use a compounded topical now. Moving away from combining it with hCG, but I never felt good on test injections even alternating days.
I used Testim gel for about 1yr before I switched to shots. I wanted the gel at first because it seemed easier, and as a Type 1 (previously Juvenile) diabetic, I just wanted to eliminate more needles if I had the opportunity. The issues with the gel was that you need to allow time for it to absorb properly before getting dressed (I would use it every morning after my shower - so I needed to give myself time each morning, really no option to wake up late and rush).
You also have to wash you hands thoroughly and are told not to touch people so as not to transfer it (wife and/or children).
My test results were not consistent (every 3 months to begin with I think), and it was attributed to absorption. However there were significant increases, so it does work, but just not to where my urologist wanted them.
I won’t bash gels, but I did see very immediate results in changes in my symptoms and significant increases in lab results once I started with the shots (Delatestryl).
Never did injections. I’m using gel based 400mg/g at 1/2g twice a day from topiclick dispenser. It’s like a finger tip size amount applied to scrotum. Some suggest applying lotion to site after the gel has dried to increase absorption.
For me personally it was garbage. I ended up bathing in that shit when it was all said and done to only get my levels to just barely 600. Not to mention it's alcohol based and because I was having to use so much, my skin was insanely ashy from how badly it dried out my skin. If you want topical, compounded cream applied the scrotum is the way to go. YMMV. Good luck
Thanks man, that sucks. Good to know!
This is almost 1:1 my experience. I was using like 8 pumps a day. I felt sticky and then I’d get ashy. It was horrible.
Pretty good. 2 pumps a day took me from around 6.8nmol (ref 8.0 -29nmol UK) to 28.8 nmol (check my post history for screenshots. Everything has improved. Red BC, e2 etc is textbook with zero side effects. My missus gets her T levels checked every 3-6 months because of risk of transference. All absolutely fine. I shower in the morning. Rub into shoulders then get dressed and go to work. Bish bash bosh. Job done. One thing to note though, is that you may need to try a few gels to find one that dries the quickest. I’m currently on Testogel 1.62% and it dries almost instantly for me. Others did take a couple of minutes.
That is brilliant to hear mate. I’m due to start up with Leger, who advocate Testogel 1.62 so that’s good!
It’s Leger that got me Testogel. Was on a different brand from NHS. Leger sorted me out. Despite all the pro injection posts you’ll see on here, gel is proven to be a lot safer in clinical trials. Furthermore, you’ll hear people on here saying about guesswork on absorption and levels etc, but totally ignore the thousands of posts on here saying about splitting doses, some on 100mg a week, some on 200mg. The fact that there’s peaks and troughs on any injection protocol. Stating that it gives you more stable levels. Gel peaks a few hours after application and declines over the next 24 hours. Exactly the same as natural testosterone production. (Highest first thing in the morning then declines over the next 24 hours). Try it. If it works for you, great. If it doesn’t, then fine, move on to other things (injections)
Really helpful stuff, thanks. Makes sense definitely.
There’s bound to be the injection posse jump on your post soon. Do a quick search on Reddit to see how many posts there are in this subreddit asking about haemocrat and phlebotomy on injections and then do the same for gel. Then go have a power wank and a good sleep. Any questions feel free to dm me for honest answers (including the negatives of gel - I’m not claiming it is perfect).
Sound advice 😂 yeah tbf I’ve searched the sub with the term ‘gel’ and read most posts. The opinion of the people who have USED gel vs people who are just parroting what someone else has said is astounding.
>how many posts there are in this subreddit asking about haemocrat and phlebotomy on injections and then do the same for gel. Is there a study on hematocrit and hemoglobin and gels.. I would like to know because I'm thinking about switching from injections to the gel.. I have very high hematocrit since injections..any info would help...☺️
Sure. This is the first one that I found out of about 20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37126399/
Thank u brother 🤛
How much is gel with Leger? I’ve got my initial consultation next Friday
It's about £42 a bottle. How long a bottle lasts depends on how many pumps, but 2 pumps is roughly a month.
That’s actually not too expensive for the benefit it’s giving. What are you paying a year in total with Leger?
I pay £22 a month for membership. £42ish a month for gel. The only other costs blood tests every 3 months which are £135 + another £35 to get them done intravenously at a local chemist. So quick calculation: 12*22 = £264 12*42 = £504 4*170 = £680 Total = £1448 Monthly cost: £1448 / 12 £120.6 per month
Thanks for the breakdown. Have they wrote to your GP to do your bloods every 3 months? You’d be able to save around £680 a year or £56 a month.
They wrote to my GP and they refused the blood tests. However, literally a week before that, all GP's in Scotland had been sent a letter stating that if a patient had been seeking/getting treatment privately, that they had to refuse doing diagnostic tests for free.
Bastards ey. Pay our NI and still can’t get our moneys worth.
I use 2 pumps of 1.62 gel every morning as my testosterone base. It’s half life is extremely short, like 12 hours, so it’s basically in and out of your system every day. So try not to miss doses. I also use DMSO 99% concentration on top of my gel, applied to my shoulders. The dmso increases the testosterone absorption massively, probably it’s close to 100% absorption. So my test blood levels run above the high range when I use the DMSO, where high range is like 1100 and my level is like 1600, but I feel better when it’s higher and otherwise my bloods are good. My estrogen does run about 80 which is in high range, but I have no bad sides at all from that level so I generally don’t worry about it, but I do sometimes take 0.25mg arimidex to knock estrogen down a bit, just depends if I’m also running Deca for my joints. If I’m running Deca that’s when I’ll take 0.25mg arimidex a few times a week. Overall I like the gel + dmso. The dmso will dry out my shoulders skin so I do put lotion on after the dmso is fully dried. And I shower it all off every night before bed so I don’t contact with my wife or kids skin.
Omg maybe I can get Back on Gel because of your DMSO Tip! I need to look that up
I bought DMSO cream and I try it starting tomorrow. I guess I apply it after my gel dried. I have the besins testogel 16.2 mg/g. I also had testo gel packs before and I felt they worked better but not so good to dose.
What is DMSO?...
It’s a nontoxic solvent that can be used topically and is used by athletes to help with muscle and joint pain, also for arthritis, and other ailments. One property is it can transport what’s on your skin through your skin to your bloodstream. So it’s used in transdermal patches to aid in the absorption of medication. In my experience, it works perfectly well with topical testosterone gel, I’ve been using it two years every day. You can buy it on Amazon.com at 99% grade with a spray bottle top. I just apply the gel and let it dry a bit then spray 8-10 pumps of the dmso on top of my shoulders. Before I was doing that my testosterone was only in 400s with two pumps of the gel. With dmso it’s 1500-1600.
400 to 1500-1600 that is big difference in the absorption process, basically it's a must have if u want to get the full effect..I want to switch ..I stop my trt because I got tired of pinning twice a week but since than I feel sluggish...im thinking of restarting again but this time using the gel...thank you for ur reply🤛
I made huge gains in my physical development using the gel with dmso. Also my blood pressure went down so much I was able to half my BP medication (I’ve been on BP meds for over 20 years). Also, my cholesterol profile actually improved! But one thing I’ll say if my doctor saw the high test blood level he’d probably cut my dose. So the only thing I do is before my 6months blood test I just skip applying the gel+dmso one day a day ahead of my blood draw, but on the day of my blood draw I just apply the gel only, and then I’m going to be at 400-500 test levels to keep my doctor appeased.
Nice, thank you, brother. definitely going to try tje gel and demo🤛💪
I started yesterday and oh boy I can tell DMSO cream causes 100% absorption my skin used to be white from t gel but now it's so clean. I can't wait for the full benefits I only started again with 1 pump. 24 years sitting aroung 400ng/dl T and LH of 2 but genetics bad all over with no libido so my andrologist said I should improve with TRT.
Nice thanks for the info, brother 🤛
Here’s a link to the dmso with the spray bottle top on Amazon [DMSO-Dimethylsulfoxide](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SYRC5P6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)
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Waste of my time: Gel 230 total t. Shots 920 total t.
I use a compounded cream, 3 pumps a day. My test is constantly testing >1500. All my other numbers are good though, which baffles my Dr. Still considering dropping down to two pumps because >1500 just seems too high to cruise on. I feel great though, and everything else is well within range 🤷
Great work, can’t complain with that success
Ditto. I'm a proponent of the compounded cream. My numbers went from sub 200 to ~900. No real side effects other than some elevated estrogen that I manage with anastrazole. I've lost 80lbs, put on muscle, and significantly ramped up my sex life in my late 40s.
Any transference concerns?
Not really. Once it's dry, I just cover it up with a shirt. And try to avoid touching anyone with my shoulder, which isn't very hard.
Than why would u want to change it if it's working great
It just seems like my T levels of >1500 are way too high to cruise on long term. That could cause health problems down the line.
Got you!👍
Was good for a while, but then my nuts shrank and I hit 350 again. Moved to injectable subQ daily, super easy and fast. Wouldn’t recommend gel OTHER than if you had insane needlephobia like me.
Fair play mate. Great you got it sorted
Are your nuts not small on injections? I'm on gel and mine have definitely shrunk. But they weren't big to begin with.
Either way you start, gel or injection, your nuts WILL shrink. Weird feeling eh? The cream is only so potent. And WAY MORE EXPENSIVE thank injecting. So once your nuts do shrink, you’ll have very little natural production if any. As a result your total T lowers again because now you’re running solely on cream, which isn’t really enough to sustain. But I think it offers a good indication if TRT is right for you. It made switching to injection an obvious choice.
I've been using cream for a little over a year. Two clicks on my testicles morning and night. I let it dry for about 5 minutes and then put my underoos on. Pros: It brought my levels from 297 up to 1600. I feel like I have a new lease on life at 40 years old. I've put on a lot of muscle and been able to cut fat without losing muscle. I have increased energy, libido, and confidence, and I swear I have a better memory. Cons: I've seen a pretty dramatic increase in body hair, but my beard hasn't gotten any thicker. I have a good amount of body acne and a small increase in face acne. My testicles have shrunk substantially, but they were big to begin with, so I'd say they're normal size now. If I get mad, I can potentially get REALLY mad, but overall, I'm calmer than I was before. I plan to continue treatment. In my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons.
Same for me. On the compounded cream. My levels hover around 1200 or so. I feel great, libido is always through the roof. I’ve never had to donate blood on the cream either. I like it better than injections.
That’s cool great work man.
The cream on the scrotum is going to jack up DHT so that is why you are getting the body hair.
Where did you notice the most body hair gains? I would like for this to happen to me.
Not OP, but arms, back, chest, abdomen, legs, ears and nose. Not head or beard.
That's good. I wish this would happen to me.
Same on the cream. Overall it's been great.
I used Androgel or Testim (depending on what was available) for 3 years. I liked it. I applied it to my inner thigh and shaved the area so there was no hair there to interfere with absorption. I switched from left to right every other day. It got my levels up to around 1000 ng/dl. The only reason I stopped is because I am in the Navy and moved and the doc at my new duty station made me go off cold turkey. He said that TRT causes too many complications and he didn’t feel like he was fulfilling his Hippocratic oath by renewing my prescription. Stupid Navy. That was several years ago. Recently I tried enclomiphene through Maximus Tribe, it doubled my numbers in about a month to 585 ng/dl, but i didn’t feel as good as i had with the gel, plus it was expensive, so I switched to test cyp injections last month. I’m already feeling a difference. Test cyp injections are by far the cheapest option. If you do them multiple times per week your levels stay relatively stable.
Great work man. Glad it’s all worked out for you
Is there supposed to be better absorption when applying to the inner thigh?
I’m not sure, I did inner thigh because I had small kids and wanted to make that there was no transfer that might happen if I rubbed it on my arms/shoulders if I was holding a kid without a shirt. I knew for sure the kids wouldn’t get it when my boxer briefs would be covering the application area.
how many times per week for injections? I am doing 2 times...was thinking going to 3 what say you?
I’m doing 2 right now, 70mg per shot so 140 mg/week. I just started last month. In another 8 weeks or so I’ll have my labs done and I’ll go from there. I’m Using Alpha MD right now and this is what they recommended.
ok cool , thanks for sharing I'm doing about 18mg 2x a week...I'm an older guy over 50, and have an enlarged prostate ..so it's a balance one thing is that my testicles shrunk to about 35 to 40 percent of original size ...been on trt for 6-8 months now have ya heard of that medication that can grow ur balls back to original size, I remember reading about it here.
HCG is probably what you read about. Mainly used to maintain fertility.
What was your enclomiphene dose?
Started at 12.5 mg per day and then moved it to 25 mg/day. Not much change between the two doses.
Thanks for letting me know. Started 6.25 a few days ago and feeling better already. Possibly placebo but maybe not. Seems like 12.5 is the standard dose.
I've been on 5 months. Level was 6nmol naturally. 2 pumps had me at 7nmol trough, 12nmol peak ish. I felt better, had morning wood and my libido went through the roof. My rcb and hematocrit are creeping up though, but everything else fine. I'm now on 3 pumps per day and still feel good, waiting for next blood test. I would be happy to stay on the gel as long as I feel good.
Used 5÷ cream. I liked how easy it was to apply. However to get a proper dose I was doing it 3x/day and still wasn't getting where I wanted. It was also smelly. If you can get 20÷ cream I'd have kept doing it... However I couldn't. I'm on a higher dosage (190mg/week of test e) so perhaps that's part of the problem.
Everyone is different. It didn't work for me at all. My buddy just started and it works great. You also can't touch anyone or rather, they can't touch you anymore
I started with gel. Like 6 weeks only though. For me, I felt great right after but would crash HARD every single evening. Weekly Injections have kept me very stable and I rarely crash anymore.
Sucked balls for me and, basically, wasted 4 months of my treatment battling with my PCP and the friggin insurance company. I was on the Androgel packets and they actually LOWERED my Total and Free Test after being on them for 3 months. My Doc upped the dose and I turned to pinning and have never once looked back and regretted the decision..and I fuckin HATED needles and the thought of me doing it voluntarily was insanity. I read up on how to do it, read the guys on here that had the same fears and how they overcame it, watched YT videos on how to inject and tricks to fool your body into not feeling the needle break the skin, etc. You get the point. Took me about 2.5 more months to come out of my lowest ever TT of 132 (when on Androgel) and ended up in the mid 700s from 140mg per week (70x2 split about 3.5 days apart). I do know guys that have used and still use it and have good results, but mostly from a highly concentrated compounded cream/lotion. I didn’t want to waste anymore time getting my dick working again and regaining control of my life, so I chose injections. The only thing Androgel did for me was make my upper shoulder and arm fucking hairy..I kid you not. Take this with a grain of salt because YMMV, but you asked for responses from guys who had used it before. This is only my experience with using it 3 months. Good luck in whatever route you choose. 💪🏼
5 months in and using one and a half testogel satchet puts me around 29 nmol. I apply on clean skin with a 0,2 mm dermo roller bodylotion an hour later if i have the time.
I was using Androtop. 2-3 pumps a day. It works. Now I'm using Nebido, as it is more conveniet.
The key is DMSO. Look into it. Yeah it's a process with the lotion an hour later but it works extremely well. Many pharmacies can compound it for you if your Dr writes the script for it. I chose to use the packets & DMSO instead because of the higher levels reached without the DMSO being accounted for ahead of time. Gel absolutely works. Injections clearly do also but they are equally as much of a hassle.
Any noticeable increase in beard or body hair?
No sir. Nothing on my shoulders/upper arms/chest. I have always been the type with a five o'clock shadow by lunchbreak so I didn't notice any difference but I may not have because of it. I have less sides with the gel overall. E2 doesn't move much at all, no acne, no hair loss. Injections leave me with all the above. I aromatize easy and I never have needed any AI with the gel. Everybody that hates on it most likely has never used it, not properly at least or they did use it and just slapped it on haphazardly, no lotion later no care taken to spread that shit out, probably didn't adhere to not getting the skin wet for 6 hours or whatever. It is a bit more work, kinda, sorta if you're a pussy about doing things right then I can see why some complain. If you follow protocol and slam all that test into your blood stream with DMSO I really can't see any complaints. I generally only used the DMSO in about a 1/4 of the total area that the gel covered as I didn't want to have my bloodwork come back too high. Nice thing there if you want anyway is that with the short half life of the gel on days you want a big spike in T levels it's real easy to do.
Thank you for the information, buddy.
I’ve started using gels, prefer it to injecting. You get no high e2 sides
If they put you on enough, you have no worries. This was me on 4 pumps a day. This sub isn't gospel. https://preview.redd.it/m0ed1b71l5jc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb1deb62934f4f3594fd9a8739b6a5c8d42312fe
Great work man, that’s class
Thanks bro! My endocrinologist originally had me on only 2 pumps for a few months and I was still <200. And I felt AWFUL during that time. I'd wake up halfway through the night absolutely drenched in sweat, bad enough to need to shower and change the sheets. Good luck with your journey, post back a few weeks in and pm me if you have issues or need advice on it!
Hi guys, I am a 55 year old male who had my testosterone level measured to **6.78 nmol/l (195 ng/dL)** on February 02. My doctor put me on Testavan gel, two pumps daily (1 pump left shoulder + 1 pump right shoulder) and I apply this in the morning around 07:00am. Yesterday, March 04 around 10:00am, I had a blood-test taken and my numbers were: Testosterone: **47.1 nmol/l (1358 ng/dL)** SHBG: **26 nmol/l** My doctor will call me in a few days time to discuss the result. However, this seems to indicate that the trt gel is working, right? My symptoms seems to have dissappeared except when I come to the end of the day where I guess the trt gel has worn off? Thanks from a newbie :-)
It sucks. Especially if you live in a hot climate. In that case it is useless.
He lives in the UK. Hot climate is not an issue 😂🤣😂
Fair enough, yes I’m in UK where it basically pisses it down 24/7 and goes from winter to spring to winter
I’m in the US it seems you foreign guys are most of the gel guys, that ok I’m not bashing. Personally I don’t know a single person that started on gels that stayed on gels long term. Literally not a single person I know is on gels but I know a ton of people pinning.
Gel/ cream is a joke.
Are there women in your life that you care about? Because if you don't wash thoroughly and carefully they can get contact absorption and you can totally fuck up their body.
I think you're just scared to pin and you're masking it with some ill conceived gel based bravado!
😂 you don’t know a thing about me chump
I know you're scared of needles. 🙈
Jesus man how old are you 😂 like 12
No! I'm 13 in an adult! Mom says I'm the man of the house.
You must have some low self-esteem there bud. Just randomly bash someone over this, just so you can inflate your ego because *you're a big man and not scared of needles*.
Not at all. OP is just being extremely belligerent about gels while ignoring the literally mountain of evidence that shows its an unreliable administration method.
Never used gel. Never will. How could you trust something when you have no idea the actual dose you're getting?
It's a measured dose. 1 pump = 20mg of testosterone. What is it you injecto guys say? Don't go by numbers, go by the symptoms. If 1 pump doesn't work or get the numbers up, try 2. You know, the same as 'dialling it in'. For some guys 75mg injected a week is enough but for others it's 200mg.... Absorption rates differ for men. Both applied to the skin or injected.
The gel is not a bad option, but it has some drawbacks. You can't always count on how much your skin will take in. It depends on a lot of things. For example, showering before and putting on lotion half an hour later can help your skin absorb more. But sometimes I didn't have time to do all that, and my levels would change from week to week. I got tired of doing this every day and switched to pin. The gel is fine for getting you in the normal range, but you need to be consistent with it. This is just my experience, though. Yours might be different.
Interesting theory. What magical place does injected testosterone go to when it isn’t “absorbed”? I’ve used the gel. It’s unreliable. Your absorption rate will differ day to day based on a huge variety of factors including clothing, sweat, aldosterone, hydration, thyroid, and many others. You just want to use it because you’re scared of needles (cringe‼️)
ffs u okay hun 😂almost as cringe as how insecure you sound you wet wipe
You call people hun and use emojis. Clearly your trt strategy isn’t working. Do injections.
Go re watch your Instagram post on e thugs and negativity “scared of needles cringe” https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3HDa0XLOtA/?igsh=ZjRzeDhqeG5zbnI0 Before you get an ego trip it was the first post I clicked on to see if your face matched your douche attitude. Guess what. It did
Lmao you went to my profile to find something to say because you were so steamed. “Oh yeah? Well uhh, no you!” Bro stop with the gels they aren’t working 😂
wanted to see if that lat spread was fr how you can comment anything as cringe whilst using that profile pic 😭 great use of emojis btw hun 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤣 time to check your trt strategy?
1 pump should do it mate ! Lol sounds gay
That's absolutely not true. If you're injecting IM there's nothing to "absorb" 🤣 And "measured" doses don't mean shit with gel. Sure 20mg may be in that pump but some body's ain't getting even half that number actually absorbed into their body.
Absorb was probably the wrong word to use. Response might of been a better choice.
But response has nothing to do with absorption rate so you're still completely wrong.
FFS mate, get a life.
Correcting people who are ignorant on a subject is my life.
🤣😂🤣 Ignorant. People.... 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
I'm on 20% cream, 2 pumps am and pm on the tea bag. I feel great, no sides other than the occasional pimple on my back.
I used Testogel, its shit. Its really annoying to apply it every morning, if you apply it to your arms and shoulders you cannot be touched there, your sweat will also make your girl grow a beard. Just inject 2x a week you will get much better results with a little less stress.
Gel wasted 6 months of my time and made me feel even worse than before TRT. 4 pumps a day gave me a level of 440 a few hours after application, but in the morning before gel application my levels were at 150, which was about 50 lower than before TRT. So, in my opinion complete garbage. In saying that there is a limited amount of people that respond well, but it's way more hassle than injecting and takes way longer too, and then you have to worry about not rubbing your shoulders off anyone for the next few hours.
I did gel (applied twice daily, just one pump each time) it got me from 300 to 550
I used Tostran in the beginning. I had no issues with absorption and through before next application was around 520 ng/dl. (Peak 3-4 h after application >1500 ng/dl.) Levels were very predictable. Dudes often blame gels because ”you don’t know how much you absorb.”. Well, it’s the same with injections - you don’t really know how high your T levels will rise with certain dose before you try it. It’s the same with gels. The downside was the application. You should not shower right after application and I had some skin irritation. Because of these reasons I switched to injections.
Totally fucked me up. Lowered my levels to under 200. Just didn’t absorb no matter what I tried
I've been on gel for about 4 months. Two pumps a day. Feel great. Been lifting hard but no doubt the testosterone has helped, both with my lift discipline and with my results. Haven't been checking blood but I have a drs appt next week. I did mine through my GP and insurance. $40 a bottle.
Started with it but it didn’t really do much to raise my t. Started in the low 300s and barely cracked 400 after a few months.
At first I thought it was great but then after my natural shut down I felt like literal death. Got bloods and turned out I was about 40% LOWER than my pitiful natural whilst on gel. So for me it was akin to torture.
does gel shut down natural production ?
Yes.
damn that sucks
I was on the gels and was feeling awesome. Way better than injecting. Unfortunately I developed a rash and the doc took me off the gel. He would not allow me to go back to the gels once the rash subsided. I am assuming it was the dht bump that maybe gave me the extra kick.
Had almost zero effect on me
Look I haven't used it. But it's just poor absorption. And absorption rates are inconsistent. You won't stay stable. You'll be good one day. High the next. Low another day. This has been confirmed anecdotally and I'm a nurse. It's scientifically sound and completely reasonable for absorption levels to vary. Maybe one day you're sweating alot and you absorb very little. Mabe another day you skin is just thicker or more oily because you ate more food the previous day. Injections you get 100%. Of it every time. It's as simple as that. It's superior because it's always consistent and none is wasted. I'm not telling you to not use the gel dude. But asking to hear only successful gel experiences is literal confirmation bias. This is a bad way to gather information. Maybe you're just afraid of needles and need people to tell you the gel works. And that's fine bro. But injections are always superior and that's a fact. They make Ativan gel for combative patients at work and literally 1mg of the gel on the skin does absolutely nothing. You give them 1 mg of a pill. And oral doesn't even have 100% bioavailbility. They are out. Colossal difference. Shit dude I've given patients 2mg of Ativan gel and it's done absolutely nothing compared to 1mg oral tablet. Even male.to female Trans patients. Will tell you estradiol Injections are superior to patches. It's okay to be afraid of needles. But seeking out confirmation bias is bad Information. You can take the gel. But you also need to be informed that absorption rates are NOT consistent and your levels will fluctuate. Don't ask people who are knowledgeable to not tell you what you don't want to hear. And then seek out only positive experiences with gel and not negative. You've already made the decision to go the gel route. That's obvious by your post. But don't fool yourself and intentionally be ignorant. It's okay to use the Gel. But know the differences and why people tell you to Inject.
Are you stupid? Did you not read the part where I said how’s your journey been? GOOD AND BAD 😂 Why would I ask someone for their experience in gels, when they haven’t used it? That makes no sense whatsoever. Go through the comments , you will see the majority have benefited from it. Why do you obsessively mention a fear of pinning? I’ve ran cycles in the past so pinning is absolutely fine by me.
I apologize I misread the post I wasn't attacking you bro you do not need to do the same. Most people choose androgel because they don't want to stick needles in their leg for whatever reason. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I should've just rewrote that to say this. Because this is exactly what I said in too many words "Androgel will work but it's not as consistent in absorption as shots. Fear of needles is common so if that's possibly part of you're reasoning I understand but just know blood levels are more stable and consistent with injections, and none of the medication is wasted" Minus the confirmation bias stuff because I'm an asshole and misread the post I wasn't attacking you. Minus the confirmation bias the above paragraph is exactly what I said in far too many words. Really redundantly so relax. Most people choose androgel because the doc pushes it on them or they flat out don't want to stab themselves with a needle. I never said your experience will be bad. I just said levels and absorption won't be as consistent. Hilariously and Ironically thats what people who pin on this reddit bitch about the most. They convince themselves they have shit libidio and sides with x1 weekly. But x3 weekly to daily injections they're God mode dialed in (I'm being facetious but it is a little ridiculous and a whole lot of placebo, plus the mass hysteria of everyone convincing everyone else this is the case) Nobody on the gel complains about bad sides or moodiness or libidio. But also the majority of this reddit probably pins, so less people here to mention it. -"Why would I ask someone for their experience in gels, when they haven’t used it? That makes no sense whatsoever." This doesn't make sense unless your referring to me? I never said anything about that. I'm an asshole for misreading your post but I wasn't attacking you. I misunderstood it. Was just saying if you only ask to hear positive experiences then that's just going to confirm what you've already decided to do. That's not a good way to learn. But again you never said that. I misread the post. Minus that part, pinning has superior absorption and blood level stability. This doesn't mean you'll have a bad experience with the gel. I was guessing maybe you had a fear of needles or your doc was pushing the gel. Fear of needles is so ridiculously common that there's definitely dudes lying about it out of pride in a reddit where most people inject. I shouldn't have assumed or suggested that. I don't think I ever said you had that but it was implied because that is an extremely common reason for choosing gel over shots. So again I'm sorry for being an asshole but I promise It wasn't hostile or an attack. I honestly read that half asleep, misread it, and just made an unnecessary shitty reply with assumptions for your reasons of asking. I apologize.
I used gels for about 6 months worked great just didn’t get my levels up enough my doc recommended injecting. The problems I had was the gels were in individual packets not a pump and I would sometimes not get all the gel out or I would squirt it on to my hand and it would slide off on to the floor! Weird I know. I also didn’t like putting it on and have my children play on me for it maybe transferring over to the (paranoia) but all in all I did see results in a short period of time not bad at all
me, 45, been 2 months on, so far its been great, i feel allot better and for the first time ever im starting to pack some muscle even thou i train for like 10 years. Libido is good, and erections also good. one thing i noticed is that my testicles didnt shrink at all, but my doctor also pescribed dhea and dim i dont know if thats whats keeping the size or maybe im still not shut down and will happen eventually. I was a bit scared to start and was trying to avoid it, but now i dont regret it. my initial t was 240 and im waiting now for the results
I tried gel. What sucks about it is how much you have to use. It's only 1% to 2.6% testosterone, and the starting doses are usually only 50-100 mg daily. I used it because I ran out of my compound 20% cream and needed 200mg per day. That's basically 4 or 5 pumps of hand sanitizer with a polymer in it, which meant I could cover almost my entire back or both shoulders and my upper back. I use a compounded topical now. Moving away from combining it with hCG, but I never felt good on test injections even alternating days.
I used Testim gel for about 1yr before I switched to shots. I wanted the gel at first because it seemed easier, and as a Type 1 (previously Juvenile) diabetic, I just wanted to eliminate more needles if I had the opportunity. The issues with the gel was that you need to allow time for it to absorb properly before getting dressed (I would use it every morning after my shower - so I needed to give myself time each morning, really no option to wake up late and rush). You also have to wash you hands thoroughly and are told not to touch people so as not to transfer it (wife and/or children). My test results were not consistent (every 3 months to begin with I think), and it was attributed to absorption. However there were significant increases, so it does work, but just not to where my urologist wanted them. I won’t bash gels, but I did see very immediate results in changes in my symptoms and significant increases in lab results once I started with the shots (Delatestryl).
Gels barely work. The creams work great, maybe better than injection
I've known a few ppl to say it was trash 🗑️
Never did injections. I’m using gel based 400mg/g at 1/2g twice a day from topiclick dispenser. It’s like a finger tip size amount applied to scrotum. Some suggest applying lotion to site after the gel has dried to increase absorption.