What is a Testosterone Ester? Which ones to avoid? What’s the difference? Test Prop vs. Test Cyp…Using DECA, Terrible PIP, Vikro-Dosing… and More!
Today I want to talk to you about Testosterone esters and why you might want to use one over the other. I also have a story to tell you about my experience with Testosterone propionate. But first, we need to learn about esters and what better visual aid could we use besides good old-fashioned M&Ms. Just stay with me I think you’re going to like this.
Before we get started I am NOT a doctor I don’t pretend to be a doctor. I have no formal medical training whatsoever I can’t even legally offer medical advice. This is informational, not instructional. Consult your physician before injecting or ingesting any medicinal compounds. Now let’s get to it.
All but one version of Testosterone is comprised of two things – the ester and the Testosterone itself. I guess you could put a third element in there which would be the suspension agent but we’re going to keep this at the conceptual level. This is where the M&M’s come into play. We are going to pretend like the hard candy shell is the ester and the chocolate inside is the Testosterone. The first thing we realize is that no matter what color the M&M is, the chocolate is always the same. It looks the same, it tastes the same, it is the same. This is exactly like Testosterone. No matter which type of Testosterone you have, acetate, propionate, enanthate, cypionate, whatever, It’s all exactly the same on the inside. Testosterone is Testosterone. The ester separates different versions by lengthening or shortening the timeframe with which your body can actually use it. Let’s pretend the hard candy shell on an M&M can be thicker for some colors and thinner for others. This represents the shorter and longer esters in Testosterone. The only rule here and this is very important is that total size of the M&M cannot change. The M&M itself must remain the same size – the same height, width, and circumference. Therefore, if we make the outer candy shell thicker we end up with less chocolate on the inside. Ultimately what we’re doing here is sacrificing the amount of usable Testosterone in order to be able to inject less frequently. Let’s use the example of Testosterone propionate and Testosterone cypionate. Testosterone propionate needs to be injected every other day because it has a thinner candy shell. Testosterone cypionate can be injected as infrequently as once a week because the candy shell is thicker. However, out of 100 milligrams of Testosterone propionate, 80 percent of it is actual Testosterone and 20 percent is the unusable ester. Testosterone cypionate, on the other hand, only gives you 69 percent of actual Testosterone because 31% is consumed by the longer Esther. Out of the same one cc of Testosterone propionate versus Testosterone cypionate, assuming the concentration in both is the same you’ll get 11% more usable Testosterone out of Propionate. Over the course of a year 11 percent adds up so the question any sane person would have is if we get a lot more Testosterone out of Testosterone propionate why don’t we use it instead of what’s far more commonly prescribed which is Testosterone cypionate. Well, there are a few reasons.
- You have to inject Testosterone propionate at least every other day. Some find that to be tedious.
- Testosterone propionate usually comes in a 100 milligram concentration where Testosterone cypionate routinely has a 200-milligram version. Therefore, you would have to inject twice as much propionate as you would cypionate in order to get the same 200 milligrams. Most people would rather not have to inject an entire extra cc into their bodies on a weekly basis.
Testosterone propionate, for most people, has wicked post-injection pain which is commonly referred to as PIP. Pip is when you inject the compound into your body and it hurts like hell. Another reason people would inject Testosterone propionate is it’s usable by your body a lot faster than Testosterone cypionate is. However, if you Vikro-dose you eliminate the ester from the equation altogether because you’re injecting every day so after about a week the ester just doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve already made a video on Vicro-dosing. The title is something like stop harpooning yourself.
To summarize I break my weekly one cc injection of Testosterone down into seven daily doses.
Instead of using an inch long, 25 gauge needle in my leg which is like playing Russian roulette with your nerves and arteries, I use a small half-inch insulin syringe in my shoulders and pecs which gives me four different injection sites. I get up every morning, backfill an insulin syringe to 14.2 and inject it. Why? Because it keeps my Testosterone levels extremely stable. I also convert far less Testosterone into estrogen because I’m not giving my body a huge surge of it once or twice a week. It keeps my red blood cell count a lot lower. I’ve had countless people tell me that Vikro dosing has made their TRT Protocol far better than injecting once or twice a week and I’ve never heard anybody that’s tried Vikro-dosing go back to once or twice a week injections. Nobody ever.
To continue my story, one of the pharmacies we use just finished compounding a 200-milligram version of Testosterone propionate. That makes the concentration equal to that of Testosterone Cypionate. So we now get 11% more Testosterone and we don’t have to inject twice as much Testosterone Propionate as Cypionate. Problem solved – or is it?
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this new product. In my mind, I was going to coin the phrase Vikro-dosing because using 200 milligrams of Testosterone propionate would give people an 11 percent increase in usable Testosterone without them having to change anything they were currently doing. That would be awesome. I’m pretty sure I met the FedEx guy on my front porch with my insulin syringe in my hand. That’s how excited I was. I immediately injected my daily dose of Testosterone using the newly acquired Testosterone propionate and I waited. Everything was good for about 12 hours and then my shoulder started feeling a little bruised. By the next morning, it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. Welcome to PIP. I did the injection on Monday, today is Saturday, and it still hurts to raise my arm. It is the most pain I’ve ever been in? Of course not, but it certainly isn’t pleasant.
The next day I was not looking forward to my injection. I already had pain in my shoulder and the thought of injecting into my left pec, virtually disabling the entire left side of my body, did not sound appealing at all. I recently started lifting heavy at the gym against my own advice, I might add, so I had DECA prescribed to protect my joints. I thought to myself what if I dilute the Testosterone propionate with a Vikro-dose of DECA? Could that decrease the acidic content of the Testosterone and make it tolerable? I loaded both compounds into the syringe, mixed them up, said a prayer, and hoped for the best. To my surprise, no PIP whatsoever. The name Vikro- dosing could potentially be resurrected. To be honest, since I’ve started using it, I’d recommend a therapeutic dose of DECA anyway. I’ll do a video soon on the virtues of DECA but for this story let’s just say it solved a big problem for me now.
Here’s another thing with Testosterone it’s a schedule 3 drug which is closely monitored by the DEA. Therefore, if you purchased 10 mL of 10 Propionate only to find out it gives you wicked PIP, you can’t return it like you’ve bought a shirt on Amazon. You buy it, it’s yours and you can’t order again until you’re 10 days away from that prescription running out. There is even a national database that gets searched by all licensed pharmacies before your prescription is filled. You can’t just call another clinic and have them send you a vial either, everybody knows the last time you got Testosterone.
What is the takeaway from this? First Testosterone propionate, in any form, has been known to cause all kinds of PIP. If you have a 160/40 blend of sipping probe 180/ 20 250, it doesn’t matter. Many people experience injection pain if Testosterone propionate is in the compound at all. Given my experience, even though the DECA smoothed everything out I personally won’t purchase anything with Testosterone propionate ever again. Screw that shit. It’s not worth the risk.
Second I’m going to recoin the phrase Vikro-dosing to include a daily microdose of Testosterone cypionate mixed with a microdose of DECA. It’s a beautiful combination. If you include HGH into your protocol as well you won’t need anything else to accomplish your goals, no matter what your goals are. Third where could one possibly get a consultation with a medical professional to discuss whether Vikro dosing is right for you? Yep! Viking Alternative Medicine! You can even schedule your own appointment on our website www.vikingalternative.com. I hope you learned something from this video.
