If you live somewhere rural...

[FTMax]

Or where it would otherwise be a pain for you to drive out to the doctor/pharmacy to pick up your hormones, what do you do?

I've always wanted to live somewhere more secluded, and I'd like to make more concrete plans to do that when I'm further along in transition. But with HRT starting this week, it kind of feels like an anchor keeping me firmly in civilization. For the sake of conversation, let's say I'd be living more than an hour away from the nearest pharmacy where I could have a prescription filled.

Do I use an online pharmacy and just get it filled and mailed to my house? Make the trip to a pharmacy once a month? See if due to where I live I'm able to advance fill and maybe pick up a prescription for a longer period of time?

I'd like to hear everyone's experiences/opinions on this.

[StevieAK]

I live in Alaska and travel often and i get three months at a time.

[Indoctrinated]

A PO box perhaps? Not sure if it's closer to your home...

[Emjay]

For me personally, my insurance requires maintenance medications to be mail ordered in three month supply increments and HRT qualifies as that so I can really be anywhere I want to be.

That would be my vote if at all possible, it's cheaper and much easier to just order refills when I'm due.  My doctor is even able to send prescriptions to them electronically so I don't have to mail or fax anything either.  Perfect! 

[Alexis2107]

You want to live in the sticks?  Get used to driving and have a good dependable car.  I have 2 or 3 appointments a month in the city... I am used to it... in fact, I kind of enjoy it in the fall time, watching the trees change colors, etc... your insurance should tell you if you can get prescriptions mailed to you or not.  Unless you plan to live on top of a mountain only accessible by 4 wheelers or snow mobiles, pharmacies shouldn't be too far away.  Maybe in the next town over.  And get used to going to the post office... I don't have mail delivery... but the post office is required to give you a free post office box, standard letter size, if you don't have a mailing address otherwise.  I love it... going to hate it when I move :\

[FTMax]

Yep haha. I've been living in/around DC my entire life. If I hadn't converted my "let's buy land" fund into "let's pay for surgery" fund, I'd already be gone.

[ImagineKate]

I live in a rural area. Actually it's rural for NJ but who cares.

Nearest grocery store is 6 miles away, which is far by NJ standards.

You can do mail order. Even Wal-Mart does mail order. I believe your first prescription will have to be picked up in person but they can mail refills and reorders. Your endo or other medical practitioner can send the scripts directly to the pharmacy. Really, it's not that bad. And Wal-Mart is literally everywhere.

Also if you live in a really rural area you will have to go to the post office and pick it up. Fortunately even though I live in a rural area we have door to door delivery via rural mail carrier. However when we moved in we had to go to the post office and fill out some forms.

I know a lot about rural and off grid living as well as prepping and survival. Ask me anything you want.

[Alexis2107]

I live in a rural area. Actually it's rural for NJ but who cares.

Nearest grocery store is 6 miles away, which is far by NJ standards.

You can do mail order. Even Wal-Mart does mail order. I believe your first prescription will have to be picked up in person but they can mail refills and reorders. Your endo or other medical practitioner can send the scripts directly to the pharmacy. Really, it's not that bad. And Wal-Mart is literally everywhere.

Also if you live in a really rural area you will have to go to the post office and pick it up. Fortunately even though I live in a rural area we have door to door delivery via rural mail carrier. However when we moved in we had to go to the post office and fill out some forms.

I know a lot about rural and off grid living as well as prepping and survival. Ask me anything you want.

I got little excited when the post office announced last year that they were hiring 600 new rural route delivery drivers in the state I live in... only catch is have to have your own vehicle, but they paid you millage.  Anyways, even with that... still no mail delivery... still going to the post office. -_-

But yea, getting prescriptions isn't hard in the mail...I'd assume they would come in a package so you would have to show ID to the mail lady at the window to get it. 

[ImagineKate]

If they deliver to home, I don't know if you have to show ID. I have had mail order scripts show up in my mailbox.

At the window, they ask me for ID to pick up all packages.

When I had a PO box they would put those that could fit in there.

Hormones are non restricted. They are not narcotics or anything so it's not really a big deal to mail them first class.

[Alexis2107]

Yeah, I'd assume anything that is a controlled substance, they'll attach a certified ticket to it making you sign for it... be at post office or at home

[ImagineKate]

21 CFR §1300.01 defines what a controlled substance is. Interestingly enough, anabolic steroids are listed as controlled substances but not estrogens. So I don't believe estrogens are controlled substances. In fact on my wife's medications only some have the label on them and she gets prescriptions via mail order, including when we did fertility treatment.

But since ftmax is a FTM, he would want T, so those may be classified as controlled substances.