TRT - Luer Lock Waste

The excess is nothing to worry about. Putting a drop of test back in the vial is more trouble than it is worth and risks contamination.

Running out of test means either the prescription is wrong or you are reading it wrongly. No Dr is going to short you.
 
Naughty of me, I know, but this has worked for years. The syringe is a 3ml leur lock. 2ml gets drawn with a 25ga. Then a 29ga 1/2” needle goes on. Every other day I inject 25iu (62.5mg test cyp). The same needle gets four uses, until it dulls, then a fresh 29ga goes on. Four more uses and the whole lot gets disposed of. Being very clean and wiping everything down is the part I am careful about. It has worked for me, and a month costs me two syringes and 5 needles.

Proper practice means never storing meds in a syringe, with a fresh needle for every injection. That works out at 15 syringes and 30 needles a month. My way suits me better.
 
Pulling and injecting are both done with a 23g. The pull costs you maybe an extra 10 seconds, but it is a single needle.
 
DoctaDave said:

Naughty of me, I know, but this has worked for years. The syringe is a 3ml leur lock. 2ml gets drawn with a 25ga. Then a 29ga 1/2” needle goes on. Every other day I inject 25iu (62.5mg test cyp). The same needle gets four uses, until it dulls, then a fresh 29ga goes on. Four more uses and the whole lot gets disposed of. Being very clean and wiping everything down is the part I am careful about. It has worked for me, and a month costs me two syringes and 5 needles.

Proper practice means never storing meds in a syringe, with a fresh needle for every injection. That works out at 15 syringes and 30 needles a month. My way suits me better.
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Syringes cost me about $2 a month, used to inject .25ml of test 3x weekly, and every injection gets fresh equipment. Works for me.
 
TRT has been part of my life for 9 years (from age 51). SynergenX handled the first 2 years as weekly in-office injections. Once the ropes were learned and everything lined out (test, HCG, anastrozole), I moved to TRT Nation with mail order ever since - about 60% of the SynergenX price and far more convenient to inject at home. My protocol is 80 mg (40 units) twice per week sub Q on 29 gauge 1/2” syringes. Drawing is slow, but it works well enough. HCG is 30 units twice per week. Anastrozole is 0.5 mg (orally) twice per week, 24 hours after an injection. T level sits between 1000 - 1200, estrogen between 25 - 30, and there is no gonad shrinkage. Supplies come from TRT Nation 10 weeks at a time, with reordering allowed at 8 weeks. Building up a small surplus is therefore easy and running out is never a concern. Labs happen twice per year - one through TRT Nation and one with the annual physical at my PCP office. Hormone levels, hematocrit and PSA are the things to track.
 
Keeping a stock of UGL is definitely worth it. Pharma test only, strictly speaking, is still an option - but a couple of vials of UGL to start with puts you far enough ahead of the wastage curve that worrying about it for a few years becomes unnecessary. It is crazy cheap! China UGL costs me $15 for a 10ml vial of 250mg/ml. A compounded prescription is also in hand, stockpiled and used for travel. On top of that I have a couple of years of UGL put aside at my 150mg TRT dose, with a bit extra for the occasional blast. At this price there is no reason I can think of not to keep enough to weather any storm or crisis. About 5 years worth is what I intend to hold, the same as I do with peptides.
 
TRT Kingdom, for a start, would not supply more than the Rx dose to cover usage loss. Nor would they send an Rx to a local pharmacy so I could stay on track while the shipment was pending, AND their pharmacy runs about a week behind on processing. Add the shipping time to those delays and the better part of two weeks was likely before any meds arrived.

Fortunately an online provider (super janky) was found that would send an Rx to my local pharmacy the same day. As a result there are now 10 1/mL vials in hand, and the mail order arrives within the next week or two. No dose gets missed, thankfully. Useful to know a same-day option exists when you are in a pinch.

All the input and recommendations are much appreciated. A backup supply is being arranged. This shall not happen again!
 
msyntakz said:


I'm looking to see the experience of veteran TRT users, so that's why I posted here and not supplies/accessories section.

I was started on 120mg/week, given a 6mL vial at a concentration of 200mg/mL. So, this should equate to 10 weeks. I measured the remaining oil, and I have enough for a couple of doses, which will end me on 8 weeks. This will result in downtime without injections while I await my new vial. Likely a week down. Ugh.

The provider gave me barrels, 21g and 25g Luer Locks. Their intent is to draw with 21, swap to 25 and inject. So, 2 needles per injection. However, I use the 21 to draw, then backfill an insulin syringe, put the 21 back in the vial and disconnect the barrel. I literally watch the oil drain from the tip of the luer lock back to the vial.

Normally, the Luer Lock bodies hold 0.05mL of liquid, but I am draining it, and also pushing air through at the end to get the little remaining bits in the needle. I'm already using half the Luer Locks they are expecting AND draining them, but I'm still two weeks shy of test cyp.

There's the possibility of user error, but I religiously draw 15 units (30mg), and inject 4 times weekly. 15 units is hard to mess up, especially doing it so often. Does anyone else notice this kind of consistent loss from supplies/needle swaps over the course of a vial? I am meticulous and conscious of waste, yet here we are. What's your experience?

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I'm not sure whether it would be compatible with a 6ml vial, but my approach is a multi use vial adapter. With a 10ml vial I draw .15 each day and then inject. This saves me from needing a separate needle for drawing, and it's more accurate. Right before injecting, I pull in a .05 to .10 bubble and inject with that bubble sitting on top so the oil gets pushed out during the shot. I've never run out before the next insurance refill came through.
 
sfkid said:

Sounds like a few hundred MG via UGL is the move. Having your own stash beats everything.
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For someone just experimenting, I've ended up with a ridiculous stockpile of UGL vials. Whenever I spot a deal from a domestic source, I just can't stop myself from grabbing a kit or two 🤣
 
Volkswagen57 said:

For someone just experimenting, I've ended up with a ridiculous stockpile of UGL vials. Whenever I spot a deal from a domestic source, I just can't stop myself from grabbing a kit or two 🤣
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It really is a habit 💪🏼
 
trustyminstrel said:

Picked up a box of these EasyTouch luer lock 1ml syringes. Their plunger features a rubber tip that extends out into the luer lock cylinder itself, which means very little is lost to waste whenever you swap needles between draws. Much better than the usual conical rubber plunger tip.
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I've picked up multiple boxes of those and they work well. My approach is to pull roughly a 5-10 unit air bubble, position it at the top, and let it force out that final remainder. If I skip that step, roughly 4 units end up stuck in the hub. Since I inject every day, that loss accumulates across a week.
 
Benzonirama said:

I've picked up multiple boxes of those and they work well. My approach is to pull roughly a 5-10 unit air bubble, position it at the top, and let it force out that final remainder. If I skip that step, roughly 4 units end up stuck in the hub. Since I inject every day, that loss accumulates across a week.
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Since I inject IM 3 times a week, the loss isn't all that obvious. 👍
 
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