Prepping for the first HRT injection
Your partner has shared with you that they want to start HRT, how exciting! Helping them with their first HRT injection may feel intimidating, so here are a few steps you can take to make this a memorable experience; full of joy, love, and support. FYI reader, we are not doctors and we are writing from the perspective of having personal experiences with testosterone injections. Disclaimer Statement.
First, some necessities:
- A satisfied stomach!
- Elis learned it helped them to eat a snack or meal before their injections to regulate their body.
- A big deep breath, a mindful moment to center yourself, maybe a nice co-regulating hug with your partner
- Vial of hormones
- Tip: Always follow the instructions of your doctor/pharmacist/care physician. Additionally, our tip is to remember to get the vial of hormones to room temperature. You can hold the vial in your (clean!) hands to warm it up a little bit before loading the syringe.
- Different types of needles
- One needle is used to draw the hormones up from the vial into the syringe
- One needle is used to inject the hormones into your body
- If you feel anxious around needles, familiarize yourself using trusted resources* or speaking with your physician.
- 2 alcohol pads
- One for cleaning the vial
- One for cleaning the injection site
- Water, a cool washcloth, and/or a chair if your partner feels faint around needles
- 1 bandage
- A sharps container
*For more information on how to inject gender affirming hormones, follow the instructions provided from your doctor or use a trusted resource such as Planned Parenthood’s Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy Injection Guide. Happy learning!
Providing verbal support
Your partner’s first HRT injection is a beautiful moment of life-saving self care that deserves to be celebrated. If you feel uncomfortable physically helping your partner prepare for their injection, you can support them verbally.
Examples:
- “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!”
- “Let me know how I can best support you during/after your shot.”
- “I’m so excited for you. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
- “Thank you for including me in your HRT journey. I love you!”
- “Would you like me to help you document this moment?”
- Written notes and cards are an additional sweet and thoughtful way to communicate your support.
After care
Your partner’s hormones have been injected! Whether you took part in helping them with the physical injection or not, check in with yourself by taking a moment for self-reflection. Take a deep breath, how are you feeling? What parts of supporting your partner through their first HRT injection did you feel comfortable with? Be thoughtful about how you want to show up for them in the moments right after their injection.
If your partner consents to physical touch, reach out to them to hold their hand or rub their back. One question that Khali had for Elis after their first injection was, “how will you remember which side of your stomach to inject each week?” This question was actually the inspiration for our first passion project: The Trans Joy Tracker. <3
Celebrating and working through internalized transphobia
Elis celebrated silently, mostly to themself in the moments right after their first HRT injection. In retrospect, and with the help of trauma-informed therapists, Elis realized they didn’t know how to celebrate themself after that first injection. It was confusing for them to feel empowered and authentic while also feeling fearful and shameful. Fearful of how they’d be treated by transphobes and hateful bigots. Internally shameful due to childhood experiences with harmful church/religious falsities and America’s negligence of LGBTQ+ people in this country.
It’s incredibly difficult to work through internalized transphobia. It’s not a “one size fits all” experience and it can feel damningly isolating to try to work through alone. If your partner chooses to celebrate privately, for reasons they may or may not share with you, please respect that as part of their journey.
Also consider that change is normal and natural regarding thoughts, feelings, and circumstances. In the following weeks and months, sometimes Elis would feel confident going into an injection, and other times they would struggle through much of the process. The more they communicated how they were feeling to Khali, the more Khali learned about them and how to best support them through the process. Communication is key!
Communication going forward
If you helped your partner prepare and/or administer their hormones, how do you feel about it and how would you feel about doing it again for their next dosage? If you feel uncomfortable with any part of preparing and/or administering their hormones, open up a dialogue about other ways you may want to be involved going forward. Maybe prepping the syringe felt easy, but as you administered the shot, uncomfortable feelings started coming up. In this scenario, ask your partner if they’d be open to administering the shot themself.
If your partner is also uncomfortable with administering, discuss whether a third party, such as a skilled practitioner, could administer the shot. No shame, no blame! It is completely okay to have these conversations to find a solution that works well for both of you.
After taking weekly injections for well over a year, Elis and Khali had a candid discussion about how Elis’s injections were going. They had been experiencing several symptoms that were making the injection process difficult and stressful, and Khali brought up the fact that there are other ways of administering testosterone. Some time after that conversation, Elis decided to make the switch to a daily testosterone gel. As we mentioned earlier, change is normal and natural. Explore what works best for you and your partner with the help of medical professionals.
Conclusion
Starting hormone replacement therapy as a trans or queer person is an exciting time! While this is an exciting experience, it may also be a nerve wracking time for your partner. There are going to be new things that they may have to navigate. You can support them by regularly checking in and communicating with them. If they show resistance towards opening up to you at first, try not to take it personally and give it some time. Again, they’re navigating a lot internally and externally. Have grace for each other and be kind.
Cheers! Happy first HRT injection!
Tip: For those in America, stop at a Walgreens if you are low on needles. Typically, but not always, they can sell you needles and syringes over the counter.
