Oil injections (testosterone)

Testosterone cypionate and enanthate come already mixed in oil: no water, no mixing. The oil is thick, so you draw with a large needle and inject with a smaller one. Follow what your prescriber taught you where it differs from this.

Steps

1. 1Warm the vial in your hand for a minute; warm oil draws and injects more easily.
2. 2Wash your hands and swab the stopper. Let it dry.
3. 3Screw an 18–21G drawing needle onto a luer-lock syringe. Push in air equal to your dose, turn the vial upside down and draw slowly, a little past your dose.
4. 4Swap to a fresh injecting needle (a sharp tip hurts less): 25–27G ½–⅝" under the skin, or 22–25G 1–1½" into the muscle.
5. 5Point it up, tap and push out the air until you're exactly on your dose.
6. 6Swab the site and let it dry. Under the skin: belly or love handles, at 90° or 45°. Into the muscle: outer thigh, the ventrogluteal spot on the side of the hip, or the shoulder (deltoid, 1 mL or less), at 90°.
7. 7Inject slowly. Oil takes time; 30–60 seconds is fine. Wait a few seconds, pull straight out, then press lightly.
8. 8Needles in the sharps container. Log the dose and site, and rotate.

Pulling back on the plunger ("aspirating") isn't needed at these sites under current nursing guidance, but it's fine if you were taught to.

With a V pen (under the skin)

A manual V1, V2 or V3 pen works well for testosterone under the skin: no drawing each time, and your thumb controls the speed. Don't use an auto-inject pen like the Gansulin for oil; it pushes the thick oil in too fast.

1. 1Fill a sterile 3 mL cartridge from the vial as in Filling a pen cartridge: warm the vial first, draw with an 18–21G needle, and fill through the septum slowly (oil takes a while). No water: testosterone is already mixed.
2. 2Label it: testosterone, mg per mL, date filled.
3. 3Use a 29G pen tip, 10 mm to ½ inch long.
4. 4Prime until a drop appears. Oil primes slowly, so give it a moment.
5. 5Dial your dose, insert at 90° into the belly or love handles, and press the button slowly. Hold it for at least 10 seconds before pulling out.
6. 6Remove the tip, cap the pen and keep it at room temperature, not in the fridge.

What's normal, and what isn't

• Soreness or a small lump for a day or two, especially at first.
• A sudden cough or tight throat right after an injection into the muscle can mean a little oil reached the lungs (rare). It usually passes within minutes. If breathing is hard or it doesn't settle, call 911.
• A hot, swollen, increasingly painful spot or a fever: see a doctor the same day.

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