First contact / How did you start HRT in the UK?

[Corra]

Hey girlies

So, i had my first meeting with my doctor's practice councilor. He was a lovely guy and said he'd gladly organize my referral to the Gender identity clinic in London... Who do a two part assessment (two different professionals) to determine if i can start HRT. The waiting list can be up to 6 months(!) for the first appointment.

I was wondering what experiences / approaches other UK girls have had / taken, whether there's another (faster / closer!) route i can take... I'm based in Wiltshire (South West)

Either way, i wanted y'all to know i was moving forward and 2014 is MY year!

xxx

[big kim]

If you have the money things move faster going private.I self medicated(not advising doing it as I think some of my health problems today come from this)

[Corra]

If you have the money things move faster going private.I self medicated(not advising doing it as I think some of my health problems today come from this)

So... contact a private clinic from the start? I'm not exactly on a high paid salary, but it's a consideration to add to my list (yeah... i need to start a list ha)

xxx

[AdamMLP]

If a guy can butt in, from the sounds of it you've been referred to Charing Cross, which has quite a long waiting list, and longer waits between appointments even once you start being seen by them. It might be worth looking into The Laurels in Exeter, where the wait is normally around 4 months for a first appointment. You've just got to be aware that the NHS takes its own sweet time. I've been waiting just under 3 months and still don't know what's doing on between my GP and local mental health team.

[Seras]

I went private for my HRT since the NHS rules with regards to prescribing HRT are a cruel joke. Oh and they are slow as anything. It took over 6 months just to get my first NHS appointment.

[Corra]

@Lxndr
Yeh, i'll check out The Laurels tomorrow (been a long day out shopping with mum )

@Seras
It's not sounding too hopeful then on the NHS... which is crazy as we pay for it!! Could you tell me a bit more about your experience going private? And why NHS rules are such a joke? I'm hearing the same thing from a lot of places about how slow they are... but is there more? Do i have to fight a giant purple dude and 50 ninjas first?

xxx

[Seras]

I will outline the whole process for you:

NHS:

1) See GP
->Couple weeks
2) Referred to local psych to make sure you are not a mental.
->Couple weeks
3) Assuming not mental, get referred to one of the gender clinics, in my case, Charring Cross, London.
->6 months
4)Appointment at clinic.
5) Get asked a bunch of stuff and told the requirements for HRT. Legal name change, RLE experience of 1 year.
->6 months
6)Next appointment
->And so on. Until you satisfy their requirements.

The private doctor I went to:

->Pay ~£250
1) Phone up get an appointment within 2 weeks.
2)Have interview type thing where he assesses you a bit. Agree to have another appointment in 3 months and have a blood test (my GP was willing to get the blood test done on NHS) in the mean time.
-> Pay ~£100
3) Have a follow up appointment take blood tests results. Assuming all normal and you have seen a psych who has confirmed your not crazy within the last 6 months you get hormones.
Pay ~£100
4) Buy hormones for ~3 months (my GP was not willing to prescribe on his behalf so no NHS prescription).
5) Agree to follow up appointments with blood tests every 3 months for the first year at least.

------------

Hope that helps. I was with the NHS for a while I think I had 3 appointments, even went to my last appointment with them fully dressed and all even though I am not really sure how well I pass. Through London crazy busy rush hour on train. Apparently that doesn't show dedication though because my name is not legally changed and no RLE for a year. So no treatment for me.

Private I had hormones within 6 months and no problems or hassle or unfair requirements. If you have the money I would recommend private every time.

[Corra]

I will outline the whole process for you:

NHS:

1) See GP
->Couple weeks
2) Referred to local psych to make sure you are not a mental.
->Couple weeks
3) Assuming not mental, get referred to one of the gender clinics, in my case, Charring Cross, London.
->6 months
4)Appointment at clinic.
5) Get asked a bunch of stuff and told the requirements for HRT. Legal name change, RLE experience of 1 year.
->6 months
6)Next appointment
->And so on. Until you satisfy their requirements.

The private doctor I went to:

->Pay ~£250
1) Phone up get an appointment within 2 weeks.
2)Have interview type thing where he assesses you a bit. Agree to have another appointment in 3 months and have a blood test (my GP was willing to get the blood test done on NHS) in the mean time.
-> Pay ~£100
3) Have a follow up appointment take blood tests results. Assuming all normal and you have seen a psych who has confirmed your not crazy within the last 6 months you get hormones.
Pay ~£100
4) Buy hormones for ~3 months (my GP was not willing to prescribe on his behalf so no NHS prescription).
5) Agree to follow up appointments with blood tests every 3 months for the first year at least.

------------

Hope that helps. I was with the NHS for a while I think I had 3 appointments, even went to my last appointment with them fully dressed and all even though I am not really sure how well I pass. Through London crazy busy rush hour on train. Apparently that doesn't show dedication though because my name is not legally changed and no RLE for a year. So no treatment for me.

Private I had hormones within 6 months and no problems or hassle or unfair requirements. If you have the money I would recommend private every time.

This is kinda an ideal approach. I'm not exactly 'well off' but to be honest... this is something definitely worth spending money on! Thanks so much, i am sure this really will help. I'm going to start looking into private tomorrow (gotta speak with my dad as i used to have somewhat cover under his Honda plan lol) How did you go about finding in your private doctor? Do i need to be looking for one who specializes in gender issues, or d'you reckon a private practice will have staff that can sort this? I'm way more hopeful now! <3

xxx

[Pippa]

1) go to your GP
2) get a psychiatric evaluation
3) referral to the GIC clinic
4) Hormones

Oh, and after 18 months of treatment, your GP might actually start reading the letters from the clinic and get the dosage right (I should have been receiving a testosterone blocker 12 months ago in addition to my oestrogen and it took me pointing this out to get my prescription changed)

[Seras]

I just searched about online for reputable ones. There were none local though so I had to travel to London (though for me that is only an hour). In fact the one I went with I saw mentioned here and she had good results with him so I went for him too. Don't wanna get ripped off. I have heard of some scammy "practices". My doc is specialised in this, he has a clinic where all he does is this kinda stuff. As a by the by some people have had great results going the NHS route, but for me going full time and name changing without any taste of hormones was not something I was prepared to do, and it was a point they were not prepared to bend on. So it wasn't for me. If you have time and are prepared to do that, then they can work for you. NHS is great for most things IMO, but for this? Not for me.

I would definitely find someone who specialises in this. Otherwise at the very best it will just take longer as they have to learn about stuff at the worst you will be wasting your money.

---

Good luck though wherever you go.

[Corra]

1) go to your GP
2) get a psychiatric evaluation
3) referral to the GIC clinic
4) Hormones

Oh, and after 18 months of treatment, your GP might actually start reading the letters from the clinic and get the dosage right (I should have been receiving a testosterone blocker 12 months ago in addition to my oestrogen and it took me pointing this out to get my prescription changed)

Yet another thing i'm not too thrilled about... low or incorrect doses! ¬_¬ thank you for the input

[Corra]

I just searched about online for reputable ones. There were none local though so I had to travel to London (though for me that is only an hour). In fact the one I went with I saw mentioned here and she had good results with him so I went for him too. Don't wanna get ripped off. I have heard of some scammy "practices". My doc is specialised in this, he has a clinic where all he does is this kinda stuff. As a by the by some people have had great results going the NHS route, but for me going full time and name changing without any taste of hormones was not something I was prepared to do, and it was a point they were not prepared to bend on. So it wasn't for me. If you have time and are prepared to do that, then they can work for you. NHS is great for most things IMO, but for this? Not for me.

I would definitely find someone who specialises in this. Otherwise at the very best it will just take longer as they have to learn about stuff at the worst you will be wasting your money.

---

Good luck though wherever you go.

I gotta say, I'm with you on not liking the sound of going full time and name changing without any taste of hormones!!

Interesting, so i could potentially still be traveling to London hah! Would you be willing to pass on your doctor's details please? If you aren't comfortable posting here, you could PM me if you aren't comfortable with that, no worries. I'm really thinking this is a better route for my well-being.

Thank you for the luck, I'm traditionally bad lucked ;0

xxx

[AdamMLP]

Just wanted to point out that you no longer have to have the psych referral between seeing your GP and getting a GIC referral with the NHS. I know most of you are thinking of private now, but thought I'd mention it for anyone else who might be reading this.

[Corra]

Just wanted to point out that you no longer have to have the psych referral between seeing your GP and getting a GIC referral with the NHS. I know most of you are thinking of private now, but thought I'd mention it for anyone else who might be reading this.

Good to know, the councilor i saw basically just said i seemed in a good frame of mind and he'd look at referring me, so it was kinda something of nothing :p

[Corra]

I just searched about online for reputable ones. There were none local though so I had to travel to London (though for me that is only an hour). In fact the one I went with I saw mentioned here and she had good results with him so I went for him too. Don't wanna get ripped off. I have heard of some scammy "practices". My doc is specialised in this, he has a clinic where all he does is this kinda stuff. As a by the by some people have had great results going the NHS route, but for me going full time and name changing without any taste of hormones was not something I was prepared to do, and it was a point they were not prepared to bend on. So it wasn't for me. If you have time and are prepared to do that, then they can work for you. NHS is great for most things IMO, but for this? Not for me.

I would definitely find someone who specialises in this. Otherwise at the very best it will just take longer as they have to learn about stuff at the worst you will be wasting your money.

---

Good luck though wherever you go.

Hey, thanks for the PM, I've booked in now for the 24th... How fast was that compared to NHS! (Still not heard from the councilor about even getting the referral off!)

I'll let you all know how i get on ^__^ Now to look at booking travel...

xxx

[Seras]

Good luck.
It is really easy to get to, really near Regent Street. If you take the train in you just gotta get off at your train station, you are west so I guess Paddington? Then jump on the tube to Oxford Circus or Regents Park. Not much difference in either. Then it is like a 5 minute walk.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or whatnot.

[MaryXYX]

I went the Charing Cross route.  It took about six weeks from seeing my GP to seeing the psychiatrist who says I'm not crazy.  I was already full time by then.  Then six months for the first CX assessment and another five months to the second.  That's when I started getting prescription hormones.

Like many of us I wanted to do it the other way around so I was self medicating for a year before I went full time.  This is not recommended because of a variety of risks.  If you do decide to go this way make sure you are getting regular blood tests for liver function, PSA, etc. and learn about VTE!  The attitude of CX to self meding is "You shouldn't do that but we know you do".

[Corra]

I went the Charing Cross route.  It took about six weeks from seeing my GP to seeing the psychiatrist who says I'm not crazy.  I was already full time by then.  Then six months for the first CX assessment and another five months to the second.  That's when I started getting prescription hormones.

Like many of us I wanted to do it the other way around so I was self medicating for a year before I went full time.  This is not recommended because of a variety of risks.  If you do decide to go this way make sure you are getting regular blood tests for liver function, PSA, etc. and learn about VTE!  The attitude of CX to self meding is "You shouldn't do that but we know you do".

Yeh i gotta say i'm not at all interested in waiting a year + to be prescribed hormones! And i'm also not at all interested in self medication! Both are very unappealing...

[Corra]

Good luck.
It is really easy to get to, really near Regent Street. If you take the train in you just gotta get off at your train station, you are west so I guess Paddington? Then jump on the tube to Oxford Circus or Regents Park. Not much difference in either. Then it is like a 5 minute walk.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or whatnot.

Hey, thanks, really. My mum's gonna come with me now and we're gonna make a day of it and do some shopping Nervous but excited!

[Seras]

That's what I normally do

Love London.