Timeline
December 18, 2006 - Started T! Injecting 50mg every two weeks
January 18, 2007 - 100mg every two weeks
April 18, 2007 - 100mg once a week
July 18, 2007 - 50mg once a week to lower my liver enzymes
March 22, 2008 - 50mg every ten days to lower my hemoglobin levels*
November 7, 2008 - 50mg of Enanthate every ten days because my then-doctor messed up my prescription
April 9, 2009 - Back to Cypionate, 50mg every two weeks because it was easier to keep track of shot days
July 14, 2011 - 50mg once a week because the previous dose was no longer working for me
March 25, 2012 - 75mg once a week to increase T levels
December 14, 2012 - Switched to subcutaneous injections
July 9, 2014 - Switched to Testopel injections every six months
May 12, 2015 - Testopel injections every three-four months

*My doctor at the time made the mistake of using "female" measurements, and I didn't think to check into it until summer 2011. Grr.

NOTE: My experience with testosterone is not necessarily typical. What may be a perfect dose for one person is not perfect for another. Genetics determine acne, facial and body hair amounts, etc. Some people are hairier and bulkier than others. The amount of testosterone you take will not change that. For instance, I'm a pretty hairy guy (what the gay community would call a cub), but my beard is still coming in at eight years and counting. Yeah, it's kind of annoying to be patchy in some areas, but I can tell that it's still filling in.

I initially decided to inject T when I started in 2006. I had the options of using gel or patches, but I hadn't heard good things from other people at the time (YMMV). My nurse who did my first three shots started me on 50mg because it would be a big enough dose to notice changes, but small enough that no harm would be done if I decided T wasn't something I wanted after all. A few changes happened surprisingly very quickly. My voice was breaking and cracking literally the day after my very first shot (YMMV), and I noticed my jawline getting a little wider within that week (YMMV).

Sometime in early 2014, I noticed that I'd begun to put off my shots. I don't know if it was apathy or what, but it was definitely starting to become a problem. Since after my hysterectomy, putting off my shots for too long resulted in symptoms not entirely unlike my experience with PMS or menopause - moodiness, wanting to cry all the time, hot flashes, etc. Plus, it's generally not a good idea to have hormone levels be inconsistent! I read up a bit on Testopel, talked to a few guys who'd been using pellets for an extended period of time, and consulted with my primary care doctor in order to make the decision to give it a shot (pun intended).

Dr Greg Fenton was referred to me, since my primary care doctor had no experience with implanting the pellets. Dr Fenton told me that he'd learned how to implant the pellets specifically so those patients who needed it would be able to go to someone who is trans-friendly, as opposed to gambling with going somewhere where patients will just get a lot of shit and harassment. I found it really reassuring that he went out of his way to learn how to do the procedure, and that he had an assistant who also knew how to do it. And the information he gave me was pretty much everything I'd read on the Testopel site. If it didn't work out for some reason, I'd have to have the pellets removed and figure out how to keep a regular shot schedule.

Greg Fenton currently works part-time now, and no longer does injections. I now see Julie Thompson at the same location.

To date, I've had three injections so far. I rejected one pellet in the first round, and the second round went fine. But my lab work showed during both of those four-month marks that my T level is grossly low at that time (based on a range of 250-1100 ng/dL, my total testosterone level in April 2015 was 238 ng/dL. January before that (1-month mark) was 728), so I discussed doing injections every three-to-four months from here on out.