this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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As a cis guy, I'm a bit excited to have some advice to give (not a medical professional so keep that in mind). My situation is that I have a likely-genetic hormonal imbalance and likely either a surplus or more efficient variant of aromatase (the enzyme that converts testosterone to estradiol).
For treatment, I've tried gel, SERM (clomiphene), and testosterone cypionate injection. Like yourself, I found the gel to be a pain - both the daily thing and worrying about exposing my cis-fem spouse to it. Clomid, off-label, is pretty effective for cis-men, though it is not officially approved for the use. What put me off on that ome was that it was less effective that the TRT and only one or two manufacturers are making it now because it is out of patent, which caused me to have trouble finding it several times (super stressful). So, I also switched to injection.
My experience with injection has been a bit rocky. Initially, I was on 1ml, every 2 weeks. That was terrible and led to mental health issues due to the hormone crash, which took nearly 6 months to diagnose and correct. Then, the dose was split into 0.5ml, every week, and recently bumped up to 0.75ml and a low dose of aromatase inhibitor. The difference from just the increased frequency was amazing. I went from having anxiety/panic attacks every two weeks to mainly just dealing with my "regular" ADHD symptoms (which are also impacted by the hormones, it turns out).
With all of this said, I have been advised by my doctor that, if needed, we can raise the frequency to every 5 days, if needed (like you are suggesting). There is definitely variation in how individuals' bodies deal with exogenous hormones. The ideal way to figure out the optimal dose frequency would probably be to have daily labs for several weeks to "map" how your levels are in relation to your doses, make adjustments, and repeat. Now, that could be a bit of a PitA and might not be entirely covered by insurance. So, probably taking trough samples after increasing frequency would likely be a good route.
Definitely consult with your Dr on increasing the frequency. If you are getting the same dose over time, it's unlikely to be problematic, as long as you don't find it too much of a bother. It should just flatten out your levels. I haven't been on a more frequent than weekly doses but going from every 2 weeks to every week was quite literally life-changing for my mental health. I suspect that it would be helpful.