I did injections for years, before switching to topical gel. I was never within range when my level was tested on injections, but I am bang on with two pumps daily every time I am tested. You don't want your levels to swing wide because that is how you lose hair, get gynecomastia lose your testicles, etc. Things you probably want to avoid.🤠

Please go over your Medicare insurance plan because I'm also on Medicare (Humana)
and they fill my HIV regimen which is covered. You may also look at the Ryan White program because they may cover it as well.

I do inject my butt

Hey there. I have experience with both the gel and the injection.
I started on the gel, once daily, in 2010. It did increase my testosterone to well within acceptable levels. However, in 2024, for whatever reason, my testosterone plummeted to below the lower end of the healthy range. So at that time my doctor switched me to the injection. The injection brought my testosterone way too high at . 5 milliliters and I got polycythemia, which is too many red blood cells in short. So my HIV doctor suggested that I reduce to 4 ml and that did bring my testosterone down just a little bit but well within the high end of the range and did bring my red blood cell count and hemoglobin down. All good.
Depending upon my next Lab work, I may have to reduce even more, but I feel confident that we will get my red blood cells where they need to be simply by adjusting my testosterone injection.
It's not surprising to me that your testosterone went down when you switched to the gel. Almost always, the topical gel is not going to increase testosterone levels as much as an injection. I take my 4 ml once a week. I inject myself in the upper to middle part of my quad. The only other recommended injection site is the upper buttock. However, if you live alone that is very difficult to do.

I just came back from seeing my doctor yesterday trying to figure out which route we are going with the testosterone therapy. I’ve tried patches they burned my skin. I tried the pellets, they started coming out. The gel was just kind of messy for me, I think it might have been the process that I had an issue with. I did try the prefilled injectables and they seem to work but my insurance that I had at the time covered them but now that I’m on Medicare, they don’t cover them. So she gave me some samples of what I was taking before and then in three months, we’ll see how it goes because my levels were extremely low 119.