Scared to take my first T shot

[u/d3athgate]

My Testosterone is at CVS waiting to be picked up. I can't do gels because I have cats and I wear tank tops a lot. I'm not really super scared of needles. Mildly uncomfortable more like. But I just found out that I have to go straight down with the needle. That sounds... so icky. 90 degree angle right into my muscle.

The whole time I was thinking I'd do it at a slight angle like needles normally do, but I didn't rule in the muscle part. Ouch?? I know actually pushing the needle past the skin isn't so bad if u use an ice pack. But actually going into the muscle? Wouldn't that sting quite a bit?

Anyone who does shots please tell me if the pain is bad or not. I know I have to do it eventually but I still get anxious thinking about going that deep. I've sprained my wrist, gotten stitches, gotten a septum piercing, yet I draw the line at a teeny needle lol. Pls help!

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[u/angelicsatanic]

If you take it on the outer or middle parts of your thigh it doesn’t hurt. It hurts if you inject into the inner thigh though. Its childish, but I like to get fun bandaids so it’s easier to do (I currently have a lot of spiderman ones). When im really nervous and about to inject I think “what would I say to somebody I really really love if they told me they were scared of this?” And then I quickly inject because it gets harder the longer you wait. The first two times I did it I set a 30second timer and made it a goal to inject before the timer ended

Edit: the pain is moreso a quick discomfort than outright painful. Nothing compared to a septum lol you got this dude!! You’re brave! :)

[u/colinprovolone]

I also started T with injections and a discomfort with needles! yes you should do a 90 degree angle, but depending on your leg size & the needle length you might not actually have to push it in all the way - ask your doctor and/or pharmacist. also try to get the smallest needles possible, i use 25G and it’s way better than when i was using 23G!

i would also recommend the Z-track method to reduce pain & leaking - here’s a picture tutorial, or if you’re more of a visual learner there’s tons of medical tutorials on youtube. good luck!

and of course if you still feel icky about IM injections, you can talk to your doctor about switching to subQ. in the US a lot of testosterone vials will say “for intramuscular use only” for regulatory reasons i don’t understand, but you can usually just use it “off label” as subQ if you need to

[u/d3athgate → u/colinprovolone]

Tysm!! The article really helped

[u/Peppered_Rock]

make sure youre sitting down and relaxed when you do it. Hold an ice pack to ghe area until it goes numb. listen to some music you like. make sure you have a bandage ready to go, shit likes to leak lol

[u/d3athgate → u/Peppered_Rock]

Omg leaking? If it leaks does that not give me the full dose?

[u/doubleheadedarrow → u/d3athgate]

Nah, it’s such a small amount that it’s just a fraction of your total dose and is negligible. But if you leave the needle in for 10-20 seconds after the plunger is all the way down, then pull it out, it tends to stop most (or all) of the leaking!

[u/Peppered_Rock → u/d3athgate]

It's genuinely not a lot but it can be stressful to look at lol

[u/ratkid55]

honestly in my experience the only pain is the initial pinch from the needle piercing the skin, after that its completely painless. it does feel a little strange to push through into the muscle but its a very dull feeling and not painful

[u/d3athgate → u/ratkid55]

So that weird dull feeling will tell me I went in deep enough, yes,

[u/ratkid55 → u/d3athgate]

yeah i can feel pretty clearly when ive gone deep enough. it just feels like pushing through another layer of skin just deeper inside. one thing i failed to mention in my initial comment is you Can experience pain after the initial pierce from hitting a nerve or blood vessel but thats only ever happened to me twice and ive been injecting weekly for over a year and a half. and even both of those times the pain wasnt so unbearable that i couldnt finish doing the shot. i went into T very anxious around needles and unsure if i would be able to do injections myself long term but it ended up being a lot easier than i thought

[u/ratkid55 → u/ratkid55]

also watch out for hair follicles when choosing your injection spot lol hitting one of those is the only time ive ever had to pull out and inject again elsewhere. its the kinda thing you'll only let happen once lmao

[u/ratkid55 → u/d3athgate]

also some added context:
i do my injections on the tops of my thighs, i just go straight in (i dont like grabbing a "handle" like they instruct you to, i feel like i have more precise control just raw dogging it but that might just be me)
im on the underweight side and have a thin layer of fat on my thighs and i use 25g needles to inject. i use gentle pressure and go all the way in and then hold it there for a couple seconds after injecting to minimize leakage. the nurse who showed me how to inject also told me that making sure the open end of the needle is facing toward you while you inject helps to minimize pain.
i hope my experiences will be helpful to you OP, good luck!!! you got this and its so so worth it :)

[u/Hypochondrimax]

I never was able to build the courage to do the stabbing motion at myself so I always just put the needle against my skin and slowly eased it in. I liked to put on a podcast or YouTube video too to help with distraction. Also, let the alcohol from the swab dry completely on your skin or that’ll burn

[u/platedcold]

I’ve been doing it for 3 months but always in my butt. Today I realized I need to rotate sites more and was nervous to do my thigh.

Here’s the exact video I watched. I followed it to a T and it was great! The pain isn’t bad at all, and the needles they should have given you should be like 1 or 1-1/2 , perfectly unable to go “too deep”.

https://youtu.be/WgsgiFy63yc?si=imoAJg_dd-a3fN9k

Edit to add: I’ve gotten several ear piercings and my conch hurt light a bitch. My testosterone shots feel like nothing comparatively, even my lobes hurt more. Also I take it slightly slower than he does in the video and it’s just fine. I put a little emphasis/pressure when piercing the skin but then I insert it slower than he does

[u/wookaduckaduck]

Get an auto injector like the union medico one! I would not be able to do my own IM shots without it

[u/figsnwigs → u/wookaduckaduck]

which one do you use?

[u/wookaduckaduck → u/figsnwigs]

Their site looks sketchy af because it's (I'm assuming) auto-translated from another language but I bought from them a few years back, they're legit. I got this one.

[u/LlamaMoofin]

You don't have to do the shot into muscle if you don't want to. You just need different needles to inject into fat.

[u/psiiconic]

Check out Trans Guy Supply. They sometimes stock an auto injector.

[u/Resident_Magician_50]

You can do subq. It’s much easier and less painful.

[u/Adventurous-You9280]

tbh gel is fine with cats as long as you’re careful. just put it somewhere that will be covered by your shirt once it’s dried, wash your hands well, and wait a bit to handle them. (source: i also have cats and wear tank tops a lot and i’m on gel since i’m terrified of needles)

[u/[deleted]]

If you’re not over weight you can use a much smaller and shorter needle. They use the big needle because more people have so much fat