DIY HRT Guide
NOTICE
I am not a medical professional and have little to no medical experience, nor am I legally sanctioned in my state or country of residence. I am not liable for any harm or damage that may or may not come from using this guide. You are using it solely at your own risk, and acknowledge this by using it.
I've wanted to write a DIY estrogen injection guide for a while, so after being on injections for a while myself and doing a lot of research on the different formulations, effects, and other information, as well as advice from fellow transfeminine people, This is what I have come up with. If you find anything that is inaccurate or a page for something has been shut down you can email me and I try to update this page as soon as possible; I recommend keeping a backup of this page as well in case someone tries to take it down for any reason such as the government or terms of service, or anything else.
Injection Supplies
You can get supplies from many places, such as medical supply providers, or even Amazon, which is what I do as it is cost-efficient in the long run. It should be noted with needles the smaller the gauge, the bigger the needle is. Generally you want to use larger gauges when injecting, not smaller.
- I personally use 25 gauge needles for injecting, I personally do intramuscular, but if you do subcutaneous, I'd recommend looking it more.
- For drawing my estrogen into the syringe I use 21 gauge needles, though some people will use 18 gauge as they're larger and draw quicker.
- For my actual syringes, I use standard slip-top 1ml syringes, though I've heard luer-lock syringes are a lot better due to it locking the needle.
As for other supplies you'll need besides the actual things you use to inject the estrogen, you'll probably want these as well.
- I often get on-brand bandaids as they're large and you can get a pack of 100 for like US$9 off of amazon.
- I also recommend getting a pack of sterile alcohol wipes for cleaning the top of the vial and the injection spot.
That should be all the actual supplies you need for the injections, let's move onto where you can actually get estrogen.
Estrogen Supplies
The recommended way to get estrogen is obviously via a prescription if you can, there is services like Plume which give you a trans-friendly endo for like US$100 a month (without insurance), however if you can't afford to go the "legal" route there is other methods to obtain your source of estrogen.
- Astrovials is a good website for people based in the EU, it has a low price of 40 EUR for Valerate for example, and you can buy it in bulk.
- Otokonoko, I can personally vouch for. I use them for my Enanthate and haven't had any issues ordering from them, but aren't US based.
- Panacea is also a good source of estrogen, though based in Australia so it might take a while for it to arrive. They are reliable though.
At the end of the day I recommend checking diyhrt.market for up to date pricing and availability, they constantly update the page with new data.
Estrogen Dosing
While I recommend the "legal" route with an endocrinologist to find your recommended levels, if you are unable to do that then what I recommend is following the dosing guide from diyhrt.wiki for transfems. This is the dosage I am personally using since switching to DIY.
- Estradiol Valerate (EV): 4mg every 5 days (0.1mL, assuming a 40mg/mL vial)
- Estradiol Cypionate (EC): 5mg every 7 days (~0.13mL, assuming a 40mg/mL vial)
- Estradiol Enanthate (EEn): 7mg every 10 days (~0.18mL, assuming a 40mg/mL vial)
Note that each dose is different for everyone and there is no "universal dose." If you start to feel sick after injecting, lower your dose as your dose is way too high. You can use this site to simulate your dosage and interval and see what your levels should be like; If your levels are in the 600-700 range, lower your dose and try to aim for roughly 200-400. This is my Enanthate dose for example which lands me around 300-400 with no adverse effects.
How To Do Injections
I have a few resources for how to actually do the injection, though take these as advice and not an actual guide. I use them personally, however.
- I recommend looking into the z-track method as it stretches the skin in a way to help prevent leakages after injection.
- This video by a trans woman helped me quite a lot when doing my first injections, so I can personally vouch for it.
- Lastly, this video guide by the university of Iowa is also really helpful, I would recommend giving it a watch first.
If you still need help I would recommend finding a trans community on Discord and asking for advice there.
Blood Tests
I would recommend getting blood tests every 3 months for the first year of injections, then after that every 6 months. I can't exactly recommend places to get injections as I am only in the US and I don't know what blood labs are like in other countries. For people based in the US however, I personally can recommend Quest Diagnostics for blood tests. Just set up an appointment and tell them you want to get your estrogen and testosterone levels checked and they will be able to do so. It can be a bit pricey without insurance, but trust me, it's worth it and helps you manage your levels.
Rough Costs
After all of this is considered, here is a rough price breakdown for the things you'll be paying for, minus blood work as that can vary based on the lab.
- The injection supplies from amazon will roughly come to US$50 with taxes and shipping involved, for others, I can't really give an estimate.
- Estrogen vials will range from around US$70 to US$160 depending on the estrogen formulation, Valerate tends to be on the cheaper side.
Of course all of this will vary depending on your location, taxes, import fees, and other things. Do research on costs yourself before ordering.