post-op HRT monitoring

[Jenna Marie]

I had GRS last summer. This week was my second visit to the endocrinologist since then. She will be running all the standard blood work and all that, but when I asked her whether I should be concerned about continuing risk factors, she said at this point I'm basically the same as any other woman who's been put into surgical menopause (that is to say, without ovaries or uterus). That got me to thinking about whether it's worth it to continue seeing a specialist for this sort of follow-up, considering that (without getting into specific numbers) my pre-op HRT dose was within the range of that prescribed to cis menopausal women and was so low that she hasn't changed it post-op. Most of those women just get handed a prescription and sent on their way, without any real oversight. The FDA has reviewed this range of doses and decided that it's safe without serious supervision.

I really like the endocrinologist herself, but her front desk staff is a pain in the neck, the appointments are inconveniently located and I usually end up waiting an hour to an hour and a half, and her lab charges three times what my local doctor's does (insurance pays most of it, but not all). I know I could shop around for another endocrinologist, and I haven't wanted to do that because I do like the doctor, but now I'm wondering if I can just go to my GP and have him write the prescription and run blood tests every six months. He knows what tests I need, and how to interpret the results, and she doesn't seem to think my dose will change much.

So what does everyone think? Do we need to see an endocrinologist for the rest of our lives, or in a year or so could I consider switching over to just standard monitoring by a GP?

[Jamie D]

I avoid poorly run medical offices.  Too many patients and long waits are red flags.

Two tips:  Try to get the first appointment of the day, or the first appointment after lunch.

[AusBelle]

I'm 16 years post op now.  While I haven't seen an actual endo since just after srs, I still see the same GP that I saw pre op, who manages a lot of T people.  It's always good to have someone who knows and understands our needs to look after us.  Even if it's just one or two visits to them a year to make sure things are going well.

[Jenna Marie]

Jamie : Thanks. She manages to be late even with the first appointment in the morning, and after lunch it's hopeless. In fact, they're often working through their lunch periods because they're so behind. I think it might be because she works with a lot of elderly people and pregnant women, so I'm not sure if they're disorganized or just constantly plagued with emergencies, but the effect on my end is the same.


AusBelle : I appreciate the input from someone who so far past GRS! that's more or less exactly what I had hoped to do, except that my GP is not all that experienced with trans people, so it sounds like the smart thing to do for a few years might be to go to the endocrinologist once a year and to him for an alternating appointment (so I see someone every six months).