Starting T

[Peroxxide]

So I'm going my first endocrinology appointment in April, and I'm super excited. I'm in the UK, and was just wondering how long it will take for me to start T after my initial appointment at the endo? I'm 17 years old, and was referred in January. I also have some concerns about starting T that I was hoping someone could put my mind at ease. I'm very worried about two things: going bald, and getting ovarian cancer. I already have PCOS, so I'm nervous about making it worse. It does briefly mention ovarian cancer in the leaflet the endo clinic sent me but doesn't cover much. Do they do screening or keep a close eye on patients who are more likely to develop the cancer? Would it put me higher up on the list to have a hysterectomy to prevent cancer? As for going bald, I know I'm only 17, but my dad says he was completely bald by the age of 18. All of his brothers are bald. My mum has no brothers. Although, her dad has hair and my nan's brothers have hair. My dad's father is bald. Will I start balding within the first year because my dad lost his hair so early?

[LordKAT]

Hi peroxide, welcome to Susan's.

You have many valid questions. I'll deal with the balding first. Whether that will affect you are not is individual. Supposedly you get that gene from your mothers side. If it happens, there are remedies. Some remedies may interfere with T doing it's job so you will have to think through your options and discuss this with your doctor.

I'm not in the UK so I will let someone else answer about how long it will take.

Ovarian cancer is a possibility and often patients on T will be referred to have a hysto. You can choose to have the ovaries removed at the same time. It may be more difficult due to your age. Talking to your therapist or possibly endo will help answer that.

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[Daydreamer]

I'm not a doctor, so I can't say anything about the risks with T and it's possible relation to any sort of cancers. You should talk to your endo about that, especially the possibility of needing a hysto. In my honest opinion, you should be in very good hands if you're an at-risk patient or you have health issues. My endo wants me to get blood work pretty frequently, more so than I thought I would need, because I have hypothyrodism. 

And I second what LordKAT said about the balding issue. Do you know much about your mom's side of the family? You might get lucky and not have a major hair loss problem.

[Dex]

I had pcos and endometriosis prior to starting T. I always had pain in relation to the pcos. It was nearly all the time. After starting T, that got a little better initially but then went right back to the same pain. My provider that I see for my hormones (a Family practice doc) said some of her patients just never see improvement. She referred me to OB and I ended up having a hysterectomy at 15 months on T. That was about 4 weeks ago so I'm still healing from that but at least the ovary pain I always had is gone. So I can't speak much to the long term effects, but I do know my 15 year documented history of PCOS and endometriosis (with two previous laparoscopies) certainly helped when it came to getting insurance coverage for the hysterectomy.

[mm]

Dex, i am so glad your hysterectomy has solved many or your problems.  What procedure did you have?  I would like to have the lap procedure so I would have a minimum of scaring afterwards.  Do you have any negative effects from having it? I can see only positive effects for me.

[Dex]

I had a total laparoscopic hysterectomy with salpingo/oophorectomy.

Steristrips tend to stay on me for a really long time so I left them on for just over 2 weeks to help hold the small incisions together for as long as possible. I have 4 incisions of less than an inch each. One in my belly button, one about 5 inches to the left of my belly button and then one just to the inside of my hip bone on each side. Even only 4 weeks out with them being pink and healing, they are hardly noticeable.

I haven't had any negative effects yet. The only thing that was initially negative is my hormones were all off. I injected 2 days after surgery per my surgeons instructions and since you don't know how your body will react, my doc had me on my same dose initially. Well, after about 2 doses at that dose (I inject weekly), my wife was telling me I was acting irritable and just not myself. I felt it too, I was definitely crabby about everything. I went to my hormone doc and it ended up that my T levels ended up being way too high compared to my normal. So she cut my dose in half and since then I've felt like my normal self again.

Other than figuring that out, it's been great. I feel so much better mentally knowing those parts aren't there. And I'm happy physically about not having the pain anymore but also emotionally that I don't have the pain to remind me of those parts anymore either.