Injections is the best way to get estrogen, AFAIK, and I have had great results with injections.

It is, however, a challenge for some people to get used to stabbing yourself. I have needle phobia as well, which made it quite difficult to manage at first, but where at the beginning I had to spend 30+ minutes mentally preparing and injecting under special conditions, now I can seemingly do it anywhere and with no preparation. It is usually painless and easy for me.

I have so many suggestions if you want them, but if injections sound scary, at the very least look into subcutaneous (subq) injections with a small gauge needle like 27G. They're like the needles for injecting insulin. I am not sure whether I would be able to handle intramuscular injections, and being able to inject subq has made injections possible for me.

Probably worth reading through this: https://old.reddit.com/r/TransWiki/wiki/hrt/injections

it's not bad,,,,, once you get over the brain fear of stabbing yourself its nice to only have to do it once a week or so

now if you have trypanophobia (needle phobia) it might be harder,,,, still know creatures who have done it though

Im going to ask for injections, but also looking into getting an auto injector to do the stabbing part for me.

I recently started DIY and while the first time doing it was stressful but I got the hang of it very quickly (like on the 3rd time) also I do subq and sometimes I don't even feel any pain

I’ve do intramuscular. It’s not too bad, though I don’t like needless also, I need to look into getting smaller ones for the injection part…

I've been doing injections for a few years now. I started with intramuscular but moved to subcutaneous a while back. It's a lot more convenient only needing to do them like once per week, and it only takes about 10 minutes these days now that I'm practiced at it. My E levels have been consistently good, and I'm happy with my results. Definitely recommend!

At first I kept imagining I'd have some sort of stroke. So I visited my gp to get properly informed and since then I haven't been afraid anymore. Now I'm still learning how to properly breathe while doing it. Also, sometimes it itches, and so sometimes it doesn't. I don't quite get why yet. But it isn't so bad.

I used gel for half a year and it was somewhat stressful and so I made the move to injections.

The first injection was very scary for me, but I've been doing them for a while now and it's starting to get pretty routine. It's so much easier in the long run :) I just need to remember what day to take the injection, as opposed to having to apply gel at a specific time several times a day.

I do sub-q een. Initially I had some reaction to one of the ingredients, but since figuring out what I was reacting to by trying different esters it has been smooth sailing.

If possible, I would definitely recommend transdermal patches! I'll be super honest, injections aren't for everyone. My previous self had done IM injections when I was into bodybuilding, and it slowly became a huge stressor for me. I dreaded it every time I had to do it- beyond just the physical prepping, there was the mental aspect which got so much worse after a bad pin- nothing crazy, just nicked a nerve and my quad muscles spasmed like crazy. All that said, I do believe that sub-q injections would be way less stressful and a bit more convenient. I think it just comes down to how you feel about needles (which you can mentally train yourself to get more accustomed to) and how prone you are to trauma/PTSD (bad pin or injection site issues). As with most things, it all gets easier over time.

I just switched. It's so nice cutting out the application and drying time twice a day. I was expecting the oily depot injection to be painful, but it wasn't at all. Not sure what fluctuating hormone levels is going to be like, but at least I have gel as a backup.

My doctor doesn't offer self injections, but I'd like to start at some point, especially once we've got the dose figured out.