I actually draw with a 23g needle and inject IM with a 25g, both take a little patience but it cores the stopper less, and the 25g can be more comfortable going into my vastus lateralis, definitely takes time to push the medicine through it though.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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Good to know! I might drop to 23g if I keep coring
I have a syringe with a needle you can't remove, so no separate drawing and injection needle. It's 29G insulin needle. Works very well for me actually.
Higher gauge is less hard on the rubber stopper, so that's part of why I use this syringe, it also is a minimal dead space syringe so not much is wasted per injection. I also find it more convenient to not change needle, but it has some minor drawbacks. If something happens to the needle the entire dose you drew is wasted f.ex, and of course when you inject it won't be as sharp because you used it on the rubber stopper.
I do subcutaneous injections into my thigh, alternating which one I inject into, but sometimes I kinda forget which side I'm at and just pick one at random :P
I use alcohol wipes on the vial first and then injection site. After injecting I wipe the vial again because I often see a drop at the top of the rubber stopper.
I have moomin bandaids in case I need them :3
I have moomin bandaids in case I need them :3
I just put a bandaid on every time because it makes me feel happy and accomplished :3
but it has some minor drawbacks
I see what you did there 😁
EDIT:
when you inject it won’t be as sharp because you used it on the rubber stopper.
This is the main reason I swap needles for drawing vs injecting (as well as just the sanitation reasons - I like that the needle that goes in my body is sterile).
After injecting I wipe the vial again because I often see a drop at the top of the rubber stopper.
I do this too!! I always have wondered if it could cause any problems - but I just assume it's OK.
suq in the belly once a week
I make little baggies so I have all the supplies for a single injection together.
In the baggies go:
- a 1 mL leur lock syringes, preferably with reduced deadspace for less medication waste
- a 21 G (green) 1 inch needles for drawing
- a 27 G (grey) half inch needles for injecting
- an alcohol swab to sanitize the vials and the injection site
- a bandaid for when there is bleeding (I like the Hello Kitty ones)
This is the way, including the baggies so you can assemble a bunch of kits with everything you need for one dose. We use 18G to draw and 22G to inject.
Needle length depends on where you're injecting and how far you need to reach to hit muscle (ie: how big yo ass is).
I used to draw with 18G, but I cored several vials, so I switched to drawing with 21G (so far I haven't cored any with that gauge, but I've heard some chatter that it's possible).
and good call out re needle length, like you've said, IM requires longer needles for injecting than subq
I would find injecting into muscle unnerving I think, but my needle phobia is pretty bad. I wouldn't want to inject with 22G either 😰
I saw a video on YouTube with some techniques on how to not core your vile. I started doing this and haven’t had problems since.
If I recall correctly, it involves going in at a pretty steep angle, something like 30° off perpendicular to the membrane. Put the attack point of the needle (bevel facing up) right on the existing hole of the membrane and push the needle down slightly to try to reopen that same hole, then slide the needle into it. Once the tip is thru the membrane, you can angle the needle straight in.
yes! That's the technique I use (even now with 21G, but also when I was drawing with 18G). I still cored vials that way, I think it happened because the width is so great and I was drawing from the vial twice a week back then, and I was using the vials for months, so the rubber got real torn up despite the technique (which does really help compared to just sticking the needle in at 90 degrees).
Haven't had issues with 21G yet, even when I was drawing twice a week - but now I only draw once a week (though vials last much longer now, because both frequency and dose were lowered post-op).
Basically same setup here except 25G injection needle, nice!
I did IM with 25G 1 inch into upper glute for 1.5 years.
Now i do the same with 25G half inchers because i somehow managed to order the wrong needles, but i feel completely fine + the muscle is close enough.
1 mL syringe. Sanitizing spray on injection area + hands.
I currently do subq with 30G 1/2" insulin syringes. The needle is directly attached to the syringe, so I draw and inject with the same needle and it works perfectly for me. I cycle through 8 spots on my abdominal area, spaced separately from the 5 spots I cycle through for another medication I take subcutaneously so there isn't overlap. I pinch my skin with my off hand, and inject at a 45° angle, bc that's what works best for my body type.
Since I do DIY, my Estradiol Cypionate is 40mg/mL, so I only inject 0.05mL (2mg) once per week (down from starting at 0.1mL which is 4mg based on lab results and a gradual decline in dosage), thus I need to use a 0.3mL syringe so I can get an accurate dosage (hence the insulin syringes).
I've never cored my vial, and given that it's a 10mL vial, I need it to last as long as possible so that I can get my money's worth, so I don't mind the tedious 30G draw.
Nice! That's awesome! I was struggling so hard to draw with 30G, not sure if I was just doing it wrong or what. Using standard pharmacy EV
Put the vial in your armpit until your body heat warms it up. That helped me when I used a thicker oil and drawing was slow. The first time I didn't warm it for long enough and I thought it didn't work, but I later learned I just had to keep it there for a little while.
My Estradiol is going to be a different viscosity than yours given that it's homebrew and 40mg/ml, but I don't really have trouble drawing mine; just takes a little patience
30G, insulin syringe 0,5ml 100U, EEn in Grapeseed oil 50mg/ml, 80ug (volume)