MTF Not Out using bioidentical hormones - T levels and Primary Care Physician?

[Marcieelizabeth]

Hi all!  Good Morning , I hope it is for all of you as I cannot tell you how much I value you all even though I think this is only my third day on this site!  

I am a longtime  woman born with a male body - who is at a ripe older age is finally getting enough strength and knowledge to try to move forward and realize who I am!

My question/concern is - I am just beginning to try to become the woman I am, Marcie!  I have always known this to be was me, and my true self.  I have a perpetual smile as I write that and as I am on here reading your posts I alternately cry, smile, and dream!

I am not yet seeing a therapist ( I WILL) or a doctor (I will) as I am not even there yet (Not quite) - but I am taking bioidentical progesterone, estrodiol, and pregnolone (1-3 weeks).  I know, I know I need to get with a doctor and therapist, but until then...I am already seeing significant breast changes in tenderness and growth!  I am past an A cup and I am a 48 band!

The question!  Has anyone not told the PCP about using hormones and had Testosterone show up on your T levels in a physical?  Will it?  I expect it will!  What did you do?  Was it difficult to explain to them?  I am apparently a wimp as my true self!, or at least about coming out right now! 

AM I being irrational in this fear?  Maybe I just need support (lol...like a bra?)  to continue moving forward without all these fears turning me around!

Thanks and Hugs, and LOVE to all you girls! 

Marcie

[Deborah]

I told my PCP after I had been on HRT for over a year.  It was medically supervised but with another doctor.  I really didn't find it very hard to tell her at all since I had already been with another Dr.

You really need to tell the Dr if you are taking other prescription meds.  If something does turn up in the physical the Dr needs to know what's going on to make a proper diagnosis. 

And no,  you're not a wimp.  We have all been right where you are now. 



Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[Dena]

Most likely it's not going to show up in the tests and that's the problem. There are a few additional tests that need to be run when you are taking HRT and for the first year or two, they should be run more than once a year. My advice is to come clean with your doctor so you can be properly monitored and have a long healthy life.

[CharleeGrrl]

I told my PCP after I had been on HRT for over a year.  It was medically supervised but with another doctor.  I really didn't find it very hard to tell her at all since I had already been with another Dr.

You really need to tell the Dr if you are taking other prescription meds.  If something does turn up in the physical the Dr needs to know what's going on to make a proper diagnosis. 

And no,  you're not a wimp.  We have all been right where you are now. 



Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

Mind if I ask if you're using Black Cohosh or something similar?

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[Laurie]

Marcie.

Bad Girl! Tell your doctor as it is essential your doctor knows what meds or over the counter things you are taking to properly treat you. That was the impetus for me telling my doctor of the illicit HRT meds I had been taking. Yes I too started w/o consultation with a doctor and I should not have.  I was concern with them possibly interfering with the medications my doctor had already prescribed for me. Specifically I was concerned with my blood pressure and potassium levels as I had added spironolactone as an AA which is meant as a BP medication and I was already on a med for that. I felt I had to tell my doctor what I was doing in order for him to properly treat me.
   I was finally doing the right thing by telling him. After a few questions he ordered my HRT meds for me through the VA, ordered additional labs for checking hormone levels, and set the ball rolling for gender therapy. I am now getting the all around care and monitoring I should be getting and my doctor has the information he needs to properly treat me including my HRT.
   Hormone levels are not part of a normal checkup and need to be ordered in addition to the regular labs.
   Do the right thing and tell your doctor so he has the facts to treat you properly.

Hugs,
   Laurie
 

[Deborah]

Mind if I ask if you're using Black Cohosh or something similar?

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Right now I'm on regular HRT prescribed by a Dr.  It includes estradiol, spironolactone, and progesterone.  So I get tested specifically for hormone levels every six months by that Dr. and only go to my PCP once in a while when I am pressured by the hormone Dr. to get a regular physical exam.  I use the two separate Doctors only because of insurance complications.

A long time ago I did do Black Cohosh for a couple of years.  I did have some marginal physical effects at the cost of daily near physical debilitation from migraine headaches.  Regular HRT works a lot better and measurably improves the mental state and mood. 

One other thing if you are getting your hormones from an overseas internet pharmacy.  It's way less expensive to get them with a prescription, with or without insurance.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[Marcieelizabeth]

Charleegrrl -

What I have been taking for several weeks is the following but cannot give you amounts because of rules but the phytoestrogens I take have a combination of Barage seed, Evening Primrose, Soy Bean Extract, Mexican Root Extract, Organic Flax seed  Oil, Black Cohosh, and Dong Quai.  I have been applying bio-identical progesterone cream 2x daily then added Pregnenolone cream as well 2x daily. 

I am thinking of adding some herbs that are anti-androgen in activity but I cannot believe how much difference these have made so far. 

and Laurie -

I know you re right, but if I started that way I do not think I would ever have started.  Thanks for the info and concern!

I have also read up on and considering bioidentical estriol and estrodial, as well as the substance we cannot talk about, and Heishi mushroom? and maybe raw ovaries?

Hugs Marcie

[AnneK]

I told my PCP after I had been on HRT for over a year.  It was medically supervised but with another doctor.

Don't doctors communicate in the U.S.?  I find when I go to another doctor, my physician gets a report, even if it wasn't a referral.  That even happened with my dog, when I had to take her to an emergency clinic, the regular vet knew about it.

[CharleeGrrl]

Right now I'm on regular HRT prescribed by a Dr.  It includes estradiol, spironolactone, and progesterone.  So I get tested specifically for hormone levels every six months by that Dr. and only go to my PCP once in a while when I am pressured by the hormone Dr. to get a regular physical exam.  I use the two separate Doctors only because of insurance complications.

A long time ago I did do Black Cohosh for a couple of years.  I did have some marginal physical effects at the cost of daily near physical debilitation from migraine headaches.  Regular HRT works a lot better and measurably improves the mental state and mood. 

One other thing if you are getting your hormones from an overseas internet pharmacy.  It's way less expensive to get them with a prescription, with or without insurance.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

Thank you for the details. These things help us all. I've been going to the VA for years for HRT, and I'm seen at the Women's Clinic here in Boise. Great treatment, bloods every six months, no difference in the treatment between my PCP and my specialist.
   The VA has a whole program; just no surgery... yet!
   

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[CharleeGrrl]

Marcie, the variances in your testosterone levels may or may not show up in a periodic physical. It all depends on what specific meds you are using, and the dosage levels.
   I went on MD prescribed hormones back in the '90's. I was on HRT for four years, and I stopped due to personal reasons.
   Back in '13, I went in for a physical at the VA and my PCP noticed my testosterone levels were virtually non-existent. He tried putting me on home-injections of Testosterone, but that lasted all of a hot minute. I told my MD the truth about thatnj part of my life; I thought I had buried "my past", but you can't bury what's never done.

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[Deborah]

Don't doctors communicate in the U.S.?  I find when I go to another doctor, my physician gets a report, even if it wasn't a referral.  That even happened with my dog, when I had to take her to an emergency clinic, the regular vet knew about it.

No, they don't communicate.  In my case though I was getting my hormones through an insurance that recorded it in my electronic files that my PCP uses.  So if I hadn't told her she would have seen the list of meds anyway.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote