blood work?

[Michael Joseph]

Now that I'm finally on health insurance, the only things holding me back from t are a physical and blood work. I was wondering if anyone knew what exactly they do blood work for, and how long it takes for them to review it? I was so excited when making these appointments I forgot to ask, so any insight would help.

Thanks,
Michael

[Arch]

When I was insured, my labs went through in a couple of days. Of course, I was getting hormones outside of my insurance, so I had to wait for my doc to mail my results to me.

A lot of the guys I know have general blood work like CBC and all of that. I suppose that's to ensure overall health. But the clinic I've been going to is particularly keen on red blood cells and cholesterol. Also, my GP checked my T level before I started and after I had been on T for over a year.

[Cindy]

Most path labs will have the results back to the requesting medic within 24 hours. None of the screens that they are doing for FtM or MtF are unusual and are totally automated. it will take longer to get the blood sample to the lab than it does to do the test.

I can 'cheat' by looking up my results and most are on the reporting system within 2 hours.

What they will check for if LFT = liver function tests, to ensure that you do not develop any liver disease. The liver is the major organ for metabolism of the sex hormones. They will also look for resting levels of FSH, LH. Oestrogen and testosterone and the SHBG= sex hormone binding globulin. They will also be looking for changes in how you metabolise calcium as that is very hormone dependent and will change as you remove oestrogen and increase T. Your RBC profile will also change from a female profile to a male profile (& of course the opposite for MtF to a  lesser degree). Increased iron levels and increased Hb with associated increases in packed red cell volume etc will be monitored and there are a variety of tests that examine this and they are lumped under a CBE. In the case of FtM they may also want to look at some of the indicators of muscle development such as CtK, you will be hopefully building up muscle mass while I am definitly losing it ( thank you hormones).

I do think one thing we need to keep in mind is that we are putting our physiology under a lot of stress and good medics and endocrinologists know that, and take time and care to make sure we remain healthy. I've been  really quite astonished about how much care my endocrinologist is giving her patients. She is looking at my total health and not just my responses to sex hormones. he wants me to be healthy. And I'm very very happy with the care, I read sometimes here about the slapdash care people are given, and I've got a medical team from psychologists to medics to endocrinologists to radiologists to surgeons who are looking after me.  I'm very pleased they are as well

Happy T times

Cindy

[Michael Joseph]

Thank you for the replies:) And cindy I think that about completely covers it! I appreciate the detailed response. Im so excited to start, these next couple weeks are gunna feel like the longest weeks of my life

[anibioman]

they do blood work to ensure you have proper blood sugar levels, cholesterol, make sure you dont have any conditions that could be a problem. also to get a base line of your sex hormone levels.

[Nygeel]

I don't know the name of the test but there's a sort of batch test where you're tested for liver function, kidney function, cholesterol, blood sugar, blood cell count, and all that sorta junk to check your general health before hormones.

Hormone levels aren't completely necessary to test regularly, but if your doctor codes things the right way you should be able to get that covered (I think my doctor codes it as endocrine disorder non-specified).