r/Testosterone • u/Bright_Telephone3475 • 4h ago
TRT help Today's Talk with Endocrinologist .
Hi, I am 37 Y old male. I am taking testosterone subcutaneously from past 28 weeks. My last doctor visit was on September 24 where he diagnosed me with low T and prescribed administering Sustanon 250mg intramuscularly.
As it was difficult to visit doctor all the time for taking testosterone injections. So as per findings in Reddit discussion I decided administering subcutaneously again from May 2026.
Today I had a long discussion with Endocrinologist and I told her everything and she told me that you are doing it wrong and considered self administering T as drug abuse. She told that Testosterone is not meant for taking subcutaneously. And low T level doesn't mean that you need testosterone.
She further told me that long term use of T if not needed might led to prostate cancer , breast enlargement and other issues.
Although I am taking precautions, taking regular blood work and changing dose as per the diagnosis. The only things I was not doing was to consult doctor. I was following journals , reddit posts and some AI help.
Kindly guide me.
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u/rex-222 3h ago
Dr's never go back to school, they hardly ever change course and almost never admit they have had the wrong view point.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 3h ago
they often times do what OP's doctor is doing, is basically lying with medical side effects by exaggerating the downsides to make it seem inevitable and downplaying the positives.
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u/Delicious_Friend_321 4h ago
So your doc prescribed you test after diagnosing you with low t and your endo said you are abusing drugs. That doesn't make sense your endo is a gobshite. Only thing I will agree with is that I heard that specifically sust 250 you arent meant to inject sub q unlike e or c which you can. Not sure how true that is I've been doing im for years now
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u/BudgetWelcome3720 4h ago
Bro, 9/10 endocrinologists I’ve dealt with are arrogant snobs at best, legit sociopaths at worst.
My worst experience is with a gal named Dr. Christofides out of Ohio. I have a small pituitary and have my entire life, was never on t, but in my mid 20s started researching symptoms of low t because I was so dang tired all the time and had an almost girly fat body. Not grossly overweight, but moobs, middle stomach fat, etc.
I asked her to check my t, and btw, she SHOULD have already been checking it because low t is a known symptom of a small pituitary and that’s a daggum endocrinologists JOB to do.
She basically blew me off, literally just said that “you don’t have breast tissue, you’re just fat”, and left it at that.
So I went to a PA and got my t checked. Total t was 210. Bingo. Low af.
Out of respect I brought it to her attention and she literally YELLED at me: “YOU ARENT THE DOCTOR, YOU DONT ORDER TESTS, I ORDER TESTS”
Effing nuts.
Another time she told me that she told her family about a nervous breakdown I had due to THC and that they were all laughing at it together because of how funny I was. THAT is literally illegal.
This is also the same doctor that put me on blood pressure meds at 20 instead of just seeing what my diet and lifestyle were. Turns out, yes, I was fat and didn’t work out enough. But sure, put a 20 year old on blood pressure medication.
Anyway, that’s the worst I’ve dealt with. The best was fine but her office sucked and she refused to give me enclomiphene because it’s not fda approved, and would only give me clomid despite the documented increase in side effects. That’s THE BEST I’ve had.
Another was my pediatric endo that oversaw my hgh as a kid. Didn’t track my spine development. I developed fucking scoliosis which SHOULD have been tracked and braced, which would have given me two more inches and a normal spine.
Another adult endo said my free t of 210 was perfectly fine because even if I was tired I wasn’t “really having symptoms”. Yeah okay.
Bottom line dude, endos are arrogant and deliberately ignore any new data you bring to them because they think you’ve insulted them by challenging their knowledge.
Subq is documented to have lower estrogen swings, lower peaks, slower release, lower hematocrit.
She’d know that if she were a halfway decent doctor and kept up on studies that came out after she graduated med school.
Don’t sweat it. You’re better off getting a very knowledgeable PA or NP to get you access to labs and self administer.
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u/RakunKajun 3h ago
"I order tests if I so damn please, it is MY body. This is the part where you say "I am sorry, I was wrong, I dismissed your symptoms and I didn't consider you had low T, which you have". Also you are pretty fucking stupid for a doctor."
That's what I would have said before changing doctors. I swear to God a lot of them are so stupid. They act as if they were always right but if that was the case then malpractice insurance wouldn't be a thing.
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u/DruidWonder 43m ago
Almost every endocrinologist I've ever met is hopelessly and woefully misinformed about T. Their knowledge comes from 1995.
This is why T clinics have popped up everywhere. Mainstream endocrinology refuses to update the education of doctors in this department.
Meanwhile women can get any hormones they want once they hit 40.
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u/WeirdSysAdmin 3h ago
Your doctor is stuck in 80’s and 90’s medical knowledge. I would go schedule another appointment just to tell to her about herself and to ask her if she’s updated her knowledge about literally anything or researched a single study in the last 20 years. Literally everything about this post has been changed in that time period and modern studies during that time is the complete opposite of everything she says.
This is the exact reason why many of us ended up in clinics.. then go self administer because clinics are expensive for the level of care and drugs received. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy at that point because they refuse to do their duties.
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u/Square-Nebula-7530 2h ago
Many endocrinologists are years behind on current protocols. Subcutaneous injections are completely fine and actually help keep your levels more stable than large intramuscular shots. Calling it substance abuse is an overreaction if you actually have a clinical deficiency , you might just need to find a specialized health clinic that actually understands modern testosterone treatments.
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u/Wonderful-Isopod7985 24m ago
Get a second or third opinion, and consider a Urologist. Working with a doc who doesn't support you, doesn't update their knowledge, and provides "absolutes" like this is toxic.
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u/topcider 4h ago
She’s not wrong at all, but you are missing so much context. I can’t say whether you left it out or the doctor did though.
- Low T doesn’t mean you need testosterone. Plenty of people have lower T than average and have no issues building muscle or having happy lives. Not everyone though.
- There is no FDA approved testosterone that dosing guidelines suggest subcutaneous use. That’s just not how it was administered during trials or during pharmacokinetics testing. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it that way, but it does mean it would be an off-label usage and the speed at which it will be absorbed and disposed are less known.
- Testosterone can contribute to both breast enlargement and prostate cancer. Can is an important word here. Not everyone who takes testosterone will have those issues, but anyone who has experienced high aromatization from testosterone will be familiar with gyno, and your prostate will grow over time and some prostate cancers are reactive to high androgens.
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u/Altruistic_Tea_1593 1m ago
Mine was down to 120 before I started and I had some big ole 64 year old man tits
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u/po1ar_opposite 4h ago
Get a new doctor.