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Comment by slowmotiony | Hacker News Reader

There is Trestolone which is studied and shown to be very effective (patients had zero sperm in their ejaculate after several months of administering the compound), but there are hormonal side effects similar to testosterone, which kind of explains why it's pretty much only used in the bodybuilding community.

The pill in the article is a non-hormonal one, which is interesting

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Vasalgel (a reversible injection that prevents your swimmers from making it into the sauce) is another interesting one that has never made it to release for perplexing reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_inhibition_of_sperm...

This one requires two injections right into the most awkward bit of ye old twig and berries, the first to numb the pain from the second. Afterwards you walk around sore with a swollen scrotum for a week.

Doesn't seem that perplexing. Unless you're into that sort of thing, not that there is anything wrong with that..

Vasalgel (a.k.a. RISUG) may not be for everyone, but even 1% of the male population would be a gigantic market, and yet RISUG never found corporate backing (it's been around for 40 years).

I've been waiting for this for more than 10 years now, ever since I've learned about it.

IUDs are a thing for women and what you are describing sounds similar to the experience putting in or taking out an IUD is according to some women who described it to me.

I don't know how long the injections last but if they last a similar time as IUDs. I think this would be acceptable. But maybe there aren't enough men that are willing to get birth control like this, to market this product. The incentive for women to take birth control is much higher after all.

I have never known a woman to describe IUDs as anything like this.

Have you ever read about what it's like to get an IUD inserted? I would recommend checking that out and then asking whether a small injection to the genitals is really the worst possibility.

I'm sure nothing could be worse. You're welcome to volunteer to get either procedure, both, or neither. I would recommend elective medical procedures stay optional.

I've heard someone say the pain from inserting an IUD was so great they backed out halfway through the procedure.

An ex-gf of mine gently flicked my gonads once without warning, that was no picnic either. Luckily, just like an IUD, it isn't mandatory. Horses for courses.

Injections into the penis are probably a non starter for a lot of people. I had a vasectomy, so I don't have anything to worry about now but I'd choose a pill over a shot any day, no matter how frequent. Also, being able to stop taking a pill whenever I want is a benefit. Had I not already chosen a permanent path, I'd sign up for a trial today.

>Injections into the penis

Pass.

This hardly compares to what women on the pill have to go through, for years. Why are we so squeamish about this?

Women get IUDs inserted with nothing more than OTC painkillers, generally. Especially in people who have never given birth it can be cripplingly painful and cause severe cramps for weeks.

I think it's impossible to compare these things accurately but women have been taking the pill for more than half a century. It's been proven to be relatively safe and reliable for most people. Something for men would be great but I'm certainly not going to risk future fertility with something that new and untested, particularly when my partner has a much more tested and safe alternative. On top of that, men have a very simple, effective, and safe option available - condoms. They have their own downsides but they don't outweigh the risk, pain, and anxiety of an injection in the scrotum.

Huh?

I would think that the pill, both the men's and the women's version, would be imminently more preferable to an injection any day of the week? Particularly injections which require preparatory injections to numb pain deemed to exceed acceptable FDA levels for humans. If there is a men's and women's version of a pill, and a men's and women's version of an injection, most men and women would choose the pill.

That seems common sense to me, not squeamish-ness. This pill will garner infinitely many more users. (I mean, assuming it works I guess?)

Because it's halfway to having a vasectomy. Disgusting manipulation of flesh.

So don't do it? But why prevent other people from doing it?

I'm not preventing anyone, I don't mind if people jab themselves.

are the side effects really that much worse than what women have to deal with with their birth control? I’ve heard a lot of hormonal horror stories from women on the pill

Since noone actually responded about the side effects of Trestolone, I can give it a try as a steroid user. The effects of Trest are very similar to testosterone. On one hand you feel great, get stronger, your workouts are more fun, libido and confidence through the roof, and you feel a general sense of well being. On other hand it's very strong and it aromatizes into methyl-estrogen, so if you don't dial in your dosage perfectly, you may experience estrogen related side effects - you can get very emotional for no reason, get hormonal acne or have your tits grow. To actually use it a proper birth control, would require every day injections and an endocrynologist to oversee your hormone levels. I suppose that's mostly why the research has been abandoned.

Thanks that’s exactly the info I was looking for!

From what I'm told the pill makes menstruation less painful and awkward for some women. To the point that they don't notice it very much.

Perhaps there are different kinds but this is what I'm told..

And for others it's the opposite and some women have long lasting side-effects after quitting taking the pill (unregular menstruation is a common one).

One gf I had basically stopped having periods and cramps at all and was just fine with that. She pointed out that she was always one of the lucky ones with "light symptoms" anyway.

that’s absolutely not true of all women, some can’t even take hormonal birth control at all - it’s relatively common to have problems with it, sometimes even long-term

it’s nowhere close to a solved problem, unfortunately

Yeah most AAS or SARMs makes good birth control. Downside is it often needs to be run with a test base (depending on what stack) and it can be very hard to get natural test production and fertility back to what they were after going off. PCT is often not pleasant and still may not get it all the way back. I have a few buddies who ended up on lifetime TRT in early to mid 20s doing this. Stuff like HCG can help but is more $ and hassle. There was also some research that suggested it may itself be suppressive over a long enough term, though I think that's no longer current.

Bottom line: playing with the endocrine system is risky and not always reversible. I will likely not be taking a hormonal birth control untill I see a lot more longitudinal data.

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