DISCLAIMER: This is not medical advice, engage in DIY HRT at your own risk; the intent of this post is harm reduction. This information is not intended for minors; by reading further you agree you are over the age of 21.
DISCLAIMER 2: This is not rigorous scientific research. I conducted this experiment over the course of a work day, carrying out my actual work while trying to not arouse suspicion. That being said, I am using these results to inform my own DIY HRT.
Earlier this year, I bought estradiol enanthate (EEn) from Dragon Ordnance ( dragonordnance.io or dragonordnance.com ; .io seems to be down but they’re run by the same people). Shipping was expensive ($50 I think) because they are located in China, but the prices are low ($5 for a gram that will last over 2 years). You have to email them for information on how to send payment, either sending cryptocurrency or a cash transfer via the Wise app. The people are really nice too; the person processing orders had COVID when I ordered and my order was delayed a week or two so they sent me double my order. I’m sitting on a 25 year supply now so I’m going to be giving away a lot of E to friends.
I also bought MCT oil as a solvent for the injectable solution and benzyl alcohol as a preservative from Dragon Ordnance. I used a volumetric flask to make a 50 mg/mL EEn solution with 2% v/v benzyl alcohol, but if you don’t have access to volumetric flasks you can make a vial with 500 mg EEn, 0.2 mL benzyl alcohol, and 9.35 mL MCT oil. This wiki is a good resource for DIY MtF HRT, but the owner of the group is an outspoken anti-communist. I plan on injecting 0.3 mL (15 mg EEn) every 14 days, but this wiki recommends 0.22 mL (11 mg EEn) every 7 or 10 days. Use distilled water to determine which liquid is MCT oil and which is benzyl alcohol. The MCT oil will float on distilled water, while the benzyl alcohol sinks. Also, 1 mL of benzyl alcohol will dissolve in 25 mL of water if you mix it thoroughly, while MCT oil will not dissolve in water.
I happen to be a chemist who has access to a variety of analytical instruments so I ran UPLC to test for purity and GC-MS to verify that the chemical is actually estradiol.
The UPLC chromatogram indicates very high purity (>99%), as only one peak was visible.
The extracted UV-Vis spectrum of the UPLC at 8.429 minutes (the sole peak above) was consistent with the expected UV absorption of estradiol esters.
The GC-MS chromatogram similarly indicated the presence of just one compound at 26.628 minutes (the first peak is the solvent I used, and the following two peaks are solvents commonly used in our lab and are likely only present in this chromatogram due to residue on the sample injection needle). The small peak between 14 and 15 minutes is likely a breakdown product formed in the harsh GC conditions.
The mass spectrum at 26.628 minutes indicates the compound is estradiol enanthate. The NIST library we use indicated a >90% chance that the compound is some estradiol derivative based on the fragmentation. The base peak at 384.3 m/z is sufficient evidence to identify the compound as estradiol enanthate, which has a molar mass of 384.56 g/mol.
I am confident that the powder sent by Dragon Ordnance is high purity estradiol enanthate and would highly recommend this vendor for their low price, quality product, and good service.
This wiki is a good resource for DIY MtF HRT, but the owner of the group is an outspoken anti-communist
how can you be like this as a trans person handling DIY shittruly, like, have some self-respect, at least be an anarchist.
this wiki recommends 0.22 mL (11 mg EEn) every 7 or 10 days
I inject like 2-3mg every 7 days. 11mg sounds so high
good post i support appropriating lab equipment for this purpose
yeah that would make my tits explode, mine swell painfully (and temporarily) on a too high dose, did that for years with little permanent gain in breast growth. i think the wiki is probably too assertive, a lot of things are ymmv and you really need blood tests done to determine blood estradiol levels. i tried bica and got some nasty side effects, spiro is the easiest ive tried
Thanks for using instrumentation to get real results, and reporting them scientifically. Lack of equiptment to verify purity is one of the big sticking points for diy hrt injectibles. Unfortunately this doesn’t guarantee that the supplier will be pure in the future.
How many samples did you run to verify homogeneity? How do you plan on storing it? Does estradiol decompose at this time scale?
Just one sample haha. Was trying to do it quick to not to get fired. I’m not too worried about problems with homogeneity since the powder appeared to be that of a pure compound (fine, white powder).
Fair enough, I get nervous with injectables. Any thoughts on storage and decomposition?
Once in solution you can store in a cool, dry, dark place and it should be good for 3 years. Powder should be stable for a lot longer though
Like, how long are we talking before it’s below some standard threshold of potency? Can you take it as a powder?
I would trust the potency to not be a problem for the duration of the typical manufacturer recommendation of 3 years. That is if you follow storage instructions (cool, dark, and dry). Light and heat will especially be problems for decomposing estradiol esters. You can take the powder sublingually but you have to measure out 2 mg daily and make sure to get this extremely small amount under your tongue. If injections are a problem, you could get 17-beta-estradiol and make a gel that you just apply to your skin once or twice daily. Here’s a guide for that https://groups.io/g/MTFHRT/wiki/30843
saving this post. i already dabble with gray market research chems and you’re telling me i can apply my amateur chemistry nerdism to trans myself??!?
This is a really good post, thank you. I was wondering how you’re planning to sterilize your injectables? I know Lena says you can boil them, but is that actually a reasonable thing to do? Or do you have access to an autoclave?
Thanks! I don’t have access to an autoclave but tbh you don’t really need to even boil them. The benzyl alcohol will kill anything in the solution except the endospores. The autoclave kills bacterial spores IIRC from my microbiology course, but the risk is very low for IM injections (not an expert on this so look into it further if you’re worried). Boiling will NOT kill endospores, so IMO, there’s no difference between boiling and just using benzyl alcohol.
For my own comfort, please make sure that anyone else using your stuff is made aware of the possibility. You mentioned giving away some of the excess.
Absolutely!
Anything here that would come back to you at work if Dragon Ordnance saw this and it potentially got attention? It’s not unusual for brands to track mentions of themselves online, especially the small ones.
I don’t see anything identifiable. Thanks for looking out though!
