Question HRT on the road!

[JackSioux]

Hello my fellow transmasculine folks who’re on testosterone, how do you guys go about taking it while on the road? I was thinking of switching to androgel instead of shots so it would be easier to do but I’d like to hear what you guys do instead!

 

[Louie2shoes]

Hello my fellow transmasculine folks who’re on testosterone, how do you guys go about taking it while on the road? I was thinking of switching to androgel instead of shots so it would be easier to do but I’d like to hear what you guys do instead!

Hmm good question Jack. I started HRT earlier this year and haven’t been able to travel much since, so by no means do I have a solid system down, but what I’ve been doing thus far is bringing all my medical gear with me in its own bathroom type bag with a bag of sanitary wipes and a small plastic zip lock bag for keeping used needles until I can get them to a proper disposal. Recapping the needles and wrapping the ends with toilet paper for safety. I’m sure switching over to gels would potentially be a lot easier though and you wouldn’t have to carry around as much stuff too. Personally it’s not too much for me tho, carrying around the vials and needles, sanitation wipes and a small trash bag, plus I’ve already made the switch in needle to the smaller inter-fatty tissue diabetic ones instead of the intermuscular ones they prescribe and it makes a world of difference. They’re so much smaller and very cheap and easy to find online. Make sure you’re getting what’s big enough to hold your dose tho of course. I’m on a small .2 dose so perhaps this method works best for my purposes and maybe not as well for folx with larger doses. depending also on how long you plan on being on the road, I’d imagine once you run out of your prescription it could be difficult getting it refilled on the road too? mine gets dropped off at my residence so I’m not sure, unless a housemate of mine would be able to forward it to me which is totally possible. I do usually have a great deal of buffer medicine however because when asking for my perception from Planned Parenthood I told them I wanted a higher dose than what I’m taking, so they prescribed me .4 while I’m only taking .2 leaves me quite a bit of wiggle room before having to refill prescriptions. A friend of mine tipped me that trick. May be helpful to you as well if you’re looking to have enough medicine on hand to travel for awhile with. hope this helped some !

 

[franchicky]

I was able to go to a needle exchange clinic and get a huge supply of free needles, wipes, band-aids, and they even gave me a safe disposal carton for used needles, which was awesome. Actually doing the shot isn't too much different from being anywhere else as long as you have a way to wash/sanitize your hands before, but all the supplies are just bulky to carry around. I haven't been traveling lately but when I've been away from home it was just a couple weeks so I could just bring as much supplies as I needed. Depending on how long you're traveling and how you're getting around, all the stuff might take up more space than you'd want.

Not sure what your pharmacy is like, but I've been able to switch my pickup location when I call in my refill, in case you're traveling away from your usual pharmacy. And I guess it just depends on your dose / prescription for how often you have to go back for a refill because of it being a controlled substance and all. Dealing with new pharmacies usually means a little more work on my part to mediate and get all the right info from my provider to the pharmacy, and deal with anything like that, so it's doable I think! I've only done it in NY though, so not sure if it would be harder going to other states.

Androgel might be good, but I've never tried it because I thought the idea of it getting on my clothes would make it kinda inconvenient. But I think there are patches too? I haven't tried those either, but might be worth checking out?

Good luck, hope this helps!

 

[Voidcreep]

Hello my fellow transmasculine folks who’re on testosterone, how do you guys go about taking it while on the road? I was thinking of switching to androgel instead of shots so it would be easier to do but I’d like to hear what you guys do instead!

I'll be honest by saying I'm personally not to and so take my advice with a grain of salt. But my cousin who is a trans man is a housie but has had problems with some douchey police officers pulling him over and seeing the needles thinking it was for smack. So if you do continue to use needles I'd probably try and find a way to show proof its not drugs if a cop is being a prick. Travel punks catch shit from cops anyways in couldn't imagine how bad they could be if they saw needles. And like the person above said there's free needle exchanges for those. Idk where your traveling but if you come through central Alabama anytime i might can get some from w local pharmacy for you also.