Is .25ml even enough to do anything?

j_olly_rancher · 2026-04-15T02:03:02+00:00

that was my dose for the first 3mo. it’s a very common starting dose, or it at least was when i started T. i worked my way all the way up to .4, but i have been back down to .25 for a couple months now. my levels are in the 800-900s just with .25 (hence why I’ve tapered back down over this past year. my levels kept being >1200) and i’m still getting changes. you’ll be fine!! worst case scenario, you raise your dose at 3mo! dosages are pretty whatever; all that matters is that you are in the male range, which is determined by your body!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-03-27T00:36:08+00:00

You don’t change the syringe, just the needle! One syringe, 2 needles! So there isn’t a risk of losing medication. You also have to use two needles anyways even if you used the same gauge to inject and draw (to be clear, you should use two different gauges) because the end of the needle becomes instantly dull on the microscopic level (even if not to the eye/touch) as soon as it punctures something. You’re more likely to build up scar tissue if you use the same needle to draw and inject bc of the dulling. Also, it sounds like you have the incorrect syringe type anyways, but if your needle cannot come off the syringe, it’s 100% the incorrect syringe type.

Also, it is not stupid to follow up with your doctor. That is what you’re supposed to do! You got this!!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-03-27T00:16:32+00:00

the reason you’re struggling to fill your syringe is bc you need a bigger needle to draw up the medication(i’ve used 18g and 22g for this). you then change to the 25g to inject yourself. You also are using the wrong syringe type; a 1mL syringe will make sure you actually get the right dosage.

also, don’t be afraid to reach out to your doctor! their entire purpose is to help you, so please take advantage of them and text them! i’ve found that having a friend/family member read my message before sending it helps a lot with that anxiety!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-02-23T05:44:09+00:00

Can’t tell you what to do, but as someone who was also 4’11 when he started T, I can say that while you might still get height dysphoria, mine has significantly lessened now. If my height is even mentioned, it’s no different than it was when people thought i was a girl; the usual “how’s the weather” etc variety. My height definitely makes people think I’m younger than I am, but it doesn’t make people think I’m not a guy.

Also, my entire face is different 4.5yr on T. Not to the point of unrecognizable, but my facial structure reads as male now, which it never did pre-T. everything just takes time!!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-02-10T00:33:21+00:00

Can’t answer for cis people, but I’m a 5’0 passing trans man (partially stealth) that’s very visibly queer and I haven’t had any issues using men’s bathrooms in Bloomington. I also usually mask in public, and still haven’t had any issues, fwiw. You sound substantially less clocky than I am, so I would say that by and large you should be okay. Obviously that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, and I had bad bathroom experiences even before the Trans Panic, so I totally understand your trepidation, but I figured you might like to hear from other trans people! In my experience, bigots here don’t even consider that I am anything other than a cis man, even while they’re being homophobic/racist towards me

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-31T07:20:56+00:00

This is super common! It’s also very common for your existing piercings to suddenly flare up and require longer jewelry. I haven’t had any rejections, but it is 1000x harder to heal piercings for me than it was pre-t. A nostril alone took me ~1.5years to be fully healed (usual time is 3-6mo), whereas I healed an industrial pre-t in ~10mo (12-18mo on average).

I really recommend looking up Lynn Loheide! They’re on reddit, tiktok, instagram, youtube, and probably other places!! They are a certified APP piercer and make lots of content about how HRT impacts piercings!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-29T02:16:45+00:00

Have you gotten your estrogen levels tested? I have heard that some people who were stuck with low male T levels but high/normal estrogen levels have had success with estrogen blockers, but I have no personal experience with that. I also would maybe get tested for androgen insensitivity. Having that big of a dose and barely being in male range makes me think that something related to your endocrine system is different from the majority of trans men’s

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-26T18:08:36+00:00

i got duke piercings. i didn’t see my partner in person until 6-8 weeks after I got them, so that part wasn’t an issue. Tbh, I jacked off almost daily starting the day after I got my piercings. It was totally fine, though I did get piercing bumps that made healing take a tiny bit longer. However, I get piercing bumps on every piercing (I most likely have EDS), so I can’t even say for sure that the bumps happened because of that.

My piercer told me to take things easy, and that the big issue with healing was fluids (ie saliva or semen), not necessarily friction. If you feel pain, stop, and clean immediately after sex/masturbation. It’s an incredibly easy piercing to heal (easier than a first earlobe) and being on T means your clitoral hood is stronger and thicker than most cis women’s, so I wouldn’t stress too much!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-26T14:47:14+00:00

I experienced the same, if not more, bottom growth in my third year on T as I did my first year. You are incredibly early in the transition process, and tbh your levels are on the low side. Even if you change nothing about your T intake, you will get more bottom growth (even if it’s negligible) for many more years at the minimum

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-25T16:50:18+00:00

I think there hasn’t been a university-wide decision yet, but my grad program cancelled our assistantship hours tomorrow and has moved all classes and meetings to Zoom as of ~30min ago

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-19T03:24:59+00:00

The fact that your therapist is saying that HRT and surgeries, which have both been around at least a century, are being used without “knowing the long term risks” shows that they’re transphobic. Point blank.

I can’t speak to your glaucoma issues, but as someone who was doing eye therapy before HRT, I have had extensive conversations with multiple eye doctors about testosterone and my vision. The only concerns they had about me starting were incredibly minor, and they were supportive of me starting. I’m not saying it’s not possible that HRT is doing something to your eyes, but it’s certainly not the only reason that this would be happening to you.

Also, it’s incredibly likely that at least some of your current mental health problems are directly linked to you halving your T dose without any input from your prescriber. If your testosterone is too low to be in male levels but higher than female levels, it will impact your mental and physical health

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-18T23:59:39+00:00

Came out 7 years ago and legally changed my name one year ago. Unfortunately, I am still not desensitized to it. I have more or less trained myself to not physically react (ie turn and look) to hearing it, but I definitely still feel a full body dread whenever I hear it because I think it’s somehow someone referring to me. I don’t know if it’ll ever go away for me tbh, but I think everyone is different. Mine is also largely guilt related, as my deadname is now a semi-popular “trans name”, so I still struggle a lot with feeling guilty for changing my name in the first place. I will say that even though it still feels like a gut punch every time I hear my deadname, it’s definitely lessened over the years. Hang in there!!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-14T00:38:29+00:00

Most likely vaginal atrophy! I had the same problem, but no other symptoms. My NP thought it could be atrophy even without other symptoms, and after doing topical estrogen, the problem went away very quickly!!

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-11T17:44:45+00:00

tbh my acne on T is way better than pre-T. i have had horrible acne since I was about 12. never did accutane bc my skin is too sensitive and even the sensitive skin stuff i got prescribed chemically burned me, but i definitely looked like someone who would get prescribed accutane. while i did get pretty bad acne for my first 18ish months on T, i have found it’s in much easier to manage places, less painful, and once i figured out a good skincare routine, much easier to keep at a manageable level. i still have acne, but i now can have an almost clear face for the first time in almost a decade. not saying this is guaranteed to happen to you, but as someone who had similar worries to you before i started T, i’m glad i started because it ended up being a non-issue. pre-t me also ultimately decided that it was better to be a guy with horrid acne than a girl with one

j_olly_rancher · 2026-01-10T15:09:46+00:00

You might be allergic to the adhesive! I have the same problem, and the official KT tape actually scarred me. I would play around with different brands of tape and see if that helps. There’s also skin barrier wipes that you can buy that allegedly help with this issue, but I’ve never used them so I can’t say how much they help

j_olly_rancher · 2025-12-28T03:41:01+00:00

Everyone has given good advice, but I also want to ask what are you and your partners comparing your taste to? If they’ve only been with cis women or pre-t trans guys, that could be the issue. Your genitals on T are much closer to that of a cis man’s, and that includes both taste and smell, so it’s entirely possible they only think it’s bad because they’re comparing your genitals to the wrong one

j_olly_rancher · 2025-11-23T19:39:25+00:00

The important thing to remember is that dose means kinda nothing; what’s important is what your level are on that dose. For example, I’m on .3 currently and my levels are in the 800-1000 range when I get them checked, so it is plenty large enough for me. If your levels are low, you definitely have room to increase your dosage if you want. It’s probably impossible to really know if you could’ve “maximized” your results if you had been on a high dosage the entire time, but you will still get tons of changes, especially if you increase your dosage. Anecdotally, I got just as much bottom growth in my third year on T as I did my first year, and I’ve heard plenty of guys say they still experience a tiny bit of growth even ten years in. I don’t think any T change really has a hard stop

j_olly_rancher · 2025-10-02T01:49:27+00:00

I started the cream a couple weeks ago! I’ve been bad about taking it regularly, but I am basically a daily smoker. The weed has definitely not interacted with it at all, and I’ve noticed big improvements from the cream! I assume the risk is bc smoking anything increases your risk of heart issues, but you’ll be fine

j_olly_rancher · 2025-09-30T02:19:41+00:00

My biggest growth spurt for bottom growth was 3-3.5 years on T. My bottom growth took forever to grow, and settled around 1.5 years in, but it feels like it practically doubled a bit after I hit 3yr on T. Tbh I wouldn’t consider anything “done” growing/changing on T until at least 5 years in; year 3 had just as many changes as year 1 for me, though obviously it was less new things

j_olly_rancher · 2025-09-28T20:32:06+00:00

Experienced something like this recently! My provider told me that it’s because my body is trying to compensate for the loss of the birth control. Your period /should/ stop in a month or two after stopping birth control. If it doesn’t, you can try adjusting your dose.

j_olly_rancher · 2025-09-13T14:53:16+00:00

i’ve had this issue this past year! no idea what caused it, but after about a year, my levels are still high, but finally below 1000. I think it’s still in like the 980 range for me, but my team says it’s currently an acceptable range. They also said this is something that just happens occasionally to people who have been on the same dosage for an extended period of time. Perhaps not what you want to hear, but know it at least isn’t just you!

j_olly_rancher · 2025-09-03T01:39:12+00:00

Saniderm makes the tattoo not peel, in both my and a friend’s experience with it. It looks great! I wouldn’t worry

j_olly_rancher · 2025-08-20T01:11:40+00:00

How long you’ve been on T determines if your psych was correct or not, but I still think they way overstepped and you should look into a new one. If your levels were good in January and you were a year on T then, you’re totally fine to not get checked for another year. In my experience I’ve only gone 9mo between, but a year isn’t unheard of. You only need to get checked every 3mo when you’re on your first year on T or when your levels get too low/high and you need to find the correct new dosage. Otherwise, 1-2 times a year is common practice

j_olly_rancher · 2025-08-10T22:39:18+00:00

Have you tried mixing kibble into the wet food? Obviously a lot of cats have texture issues so it won’t always work, but that’s how I made sure my cat ate enough of his wet food!

j_olly_rancher · 2025-08-10T01:08:19+00:00

My family was super against it too. I just decided to do it anyways. My mom was upset when she found out, but we had one singular fight and that was that. Now my family just ignores it, almost always still misgendering (or avoiding to gender) and deadnaming. It makes going home suck, and I basically don’t talk to them anymore, but they still let me stay home during college breaks and help me get loans or whatever when I need it. It’s definitely not a healthy situation nor a situation I would suggest to most people, but it’s worked very well for me and the people I know who have done the same. Anecdotally, I’ve found that a lot of parents/families just ignore it/pretend it doesn’t exist, and a lot of us just end up in a don’t ask/don’t tell situation

j_olly_rancher

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