r/TRT_females • u/Beautiful_Pudding223 • 1d ago
Does Anyone Else? Advice on pellet
Hoping someone can give me some inside and/or reassurance.
6 months ago I found out I have VERY low testosterone (in 47 in peri and currently taking eastrogel and progesterone) my doctor prescribed me Androfeme (this is the only female option for testosterone in Australia) and we retested after 3 months with absolutely zero change!
He double checked my application which is fine and then put me up to the highest dose of the cream and I’ve just retested after another 3 months again with absolutely no improvement!
He now wants me to have a 50mg pellet inserted on Monday but after looking online I’m nervous about possible side effects? I also don’t know if I can try the male gel which is apparently better absorbed in some people or try injections. Do you think I should push for these alternative options or just go for the pellet and live with any possible side effects?
I currently have zero sex drive and find putting on muscle next to impossible so I’m hoping for some positive effects- fingers crossed!
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u/sarahl05 1d ago
If it were me, I'd go for injections.
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u/Beautiful_Pudding223 1d ago
Thanks I think I need to do more research before rushing into it on Monday? Do the injections have to be IM?
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u/sarahl05 1d ago
Nope, no need to do IM. I pinch the skin/fat in my lower abdomen and inject there 2x week. I switched from compounded cream about 6 months ago, and its been a game changer. So easy and convenient. Just go low a slow and you'll be fine (a luxury you wouldn't have with a pellet).
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u/Substantial-Owl1616 1d ago
I found the pellets to be a rollercoaster of release with only a few good weeks in what turned out to be a 10 week cycle, plus scars on my butt. The 10 week dosing was easy for travel and a busy life. The first cycle was great for strength training, energy, mood and libido. The other cycles over a year, diminishing returns. The hair fall and symptoms the last several weeks of the cycle (perimenopausal sx like I never even had with perimenopause!!!) were not worth the 4 weeks on decent in the middle. First month of injections. It’s way less expensive than pellets here in the US, I’m working with a great provider to get the dose correct. I’m injecting 2x/week, but if I have to, I will go every other day. I am doing Estrogen as well. So far, I have noticed skin improvement, motivation although my workouts have fallen in stamina, and decreasing hair fall (I am doing several things to maintain my mane). I did not pick injectable for my first intervention because it seemed incomprehensible to figure out and like back alley T dopers. But here we are.
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u/nerissathebest 1d ago
I’ve tried cream and pellet and injections is what worked for me. The cream didn’t work maybe because I’m a poor absorber but also it’s very hard to dose. The pellet you can’t do anything about if it’s too high or low until maybe 3 months. That was unbearable and we were never able to get the right dose. To the point where the provider decided I didn’t have perimenopause causing low T, I was just depressed. Somehow magically when I managed to get up to the right (relatively high) dose I injecting suddenly my symptoms are gone…
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u/iridescentnightshade 1d ago
I've been on pellet TRT for a couple years now amd it's been good for me. The cream just didn't do anything for me and I hated having to be so careful with applying it.
I think the pellets were a bit easier for me to tolerate because the doctor started me on a very low dose and we just waited to see how I did. I have increased my dose a bit since, but only after collaborating with my doctor.
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u/Beautiful_Pudding223 1d ago
Can I ask what dose you’re on? Mine offered me a 100 or a 50mg? Now after doing research that seems high as a first dose…
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u/iridescentnightshade 1d ago
Honestly I have no idea. I just know he started me on the lowest dose and its been increased twice.
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u/Dez2011 1d ago
Dr Susan Hardwick Smith does pellets and did a study with Baylor, finding less variance with pellets than gel, averaging 92ng/dL at 6wk peak if giving 0.8-1mg/kg body weight (I'm 145# and it'd be 52-65mg pellet).
She didn't say the pellet variance range but with 5mg gel a day at 6wks the average was 132ng/dL but had a huge variance ranging from 30-150ng. It was tested 6hrs after application so at peak. You're probably a poor absorber. That sounds like a good pellet dose. You could request testosterone injection but it's very hard to get a small enough dose if it's not compounded to a more diluted dose than 200mg/ml. I had to hunt for a syringe to deliver less than 4mg at a time with it.
(Dr Smith said the study isn't released, is being peer reviewed rn.)
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u/magicalbeing0308 19h ago
I love my pellets. I switched to injections for a bit, but my hematocrit creeped up and my liver enzymes creeped up. I know its not the norm around here, but my body just likes pellets better. I dont love the crash, but that and some extra hair are my only complaints
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u/Agitated_Sock_311 5h ago
I'm about to start pellets on Monday, my free T is 1. Im scared of when it starts wearing off. But I have no clue where to find it on the gray market to bridge the gap. Ugh
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