In Desperate Need of Advice!

[jessicariddhi]

Lately, I've been wanting to be on hormones (M2F) and it has even cross my mind to buy them online without a prescription as it will take me a long time before this happen. What should I do? I know that would be irresponsible of me, even reckless as you need a doctor's supervision. But I'm desperate.

[KarynMcD]

You could always try informed consent.
How old are you and where do you live?

[jessicariddhi]

Hi KarynMcD, I'm 35 years old. What do you mean informed consent?

[Rambler]

If you are thinking you want to start hormone replacement, the best options are to begin searching for endocrinologists and LGBT friendly clinics in the area that are know to help administer hrt. It might take some calling around or request for a referral from a general practitioner and some finagling with your insurance company. You should also start speaking to a therapist, one who specializes in gender issues can help but isn't required. This is a great first step because talking it out will definitely help you figure yourself out, and if you end up going to a doctor who requires a therapists letter prior to beginning hrt, then you've already set the ball rolling. They may also have referral resources for you. Depending on the country you live in, standards of care being practiced, and availability of doctors, it could be possible to start in as little as a few weeks.

[ainsley]

Hi KarynMcD, I'm 35 years old. What do you mean informed consent?

In what area do you live?

[jessicariddhi]

Hi Ainsley, I live in the Caribbean. Sint Maarten to be exact and doctors and clinics were not made for transgender. The knowledge is not there. I was diagnosed in Amsterdam and was to start a year ago but moved back.

[thylacina]

Hello jessica riddhi,

You say it yourself, it would be irresponsible, even reckless. Some of these medications have powerful side-effects .. that even with a doctor's supervision, you can still pay a high personal price by losing your health for a long time.

Consider one of the standard meds, spironolactone, a med which the community is reluctant to speak badly of because often it is the only anti-androgen being offered.

Yet at the turn of the century, and for a few years, i took spironolactone under expert medical supervision, and not being sufficiently warned of it's risks. i suffered from random dizziness and passing out due to my blood pressure suddenly falling. And my eyesight was partially impaired by this. i also started to develop adreno-kidney disease, which put blood in my urine until i found a doctor who diagnosed and treated my kidneys instead of snickering about "delusional ->-bleeped-<-s" claiming to pee blood. And it caused me to develop dementia, which i am still stuggling to overcome now years later.

As you can tell, spironolactone is my crusade. But estradiol has it's side effects too, which are still a risk even under medical supervision.

There is more than one solution for morphing your body. Muscles can be reduced with the proper exercise. Hairs can be lasered.

If you really want advice, while you are waiting for medically authorized HRT, drink a cup of Rooibos tea every other evening before bed. At least one scientific paper says it could help your hormone levels without all the nasty side-effects.

Lately, I've been wanting to be on hormones (M2F) and it has even cross my mind to buy them online without a prescription as it will take me a long time before this happen. What should I do? I know that would be irresponsible of me, even reckless as you need a doctor's supervision. But I'm desperate.

[ainsley]

Hi Ainsley, I live in the Caribbean. Sint Maarten to be exact and doctors and clinics were not made for transgender. The knowledge is not there. I was diagnosed in Amsterdam and was to start a year ago but moved back.

Oh, I see.  I am afraid I've no helpful advice for expediting your treatment under doctor supervision.  I can tell you this, I went to a doctor after years of self medicating because I wanted to "go legit", so to speak.  The doctor I went to was oblivious to trans care...completely.  I took the time to educate her about the WPATH standards, the requirements for HRT, and showed her to the exact section where I was qualified based on my situation.  She agreed, and began prescribing and doing my blood levels.

Often times we are left to educate those we are required to go to for treatment.  Do your homework, read the standards, and be prepared to teach them how to treat you.  Do it respectfully and you will likely have a positive outcome.

As for buying online, well, I live in America and I say anyone is free to do what they want with their body.  Period.
No matter what you do: Research.  Research some more.  Then do some more research.

[Janes Groove]

Maybe you could fly to miami for an informed consent clinic.

[AlyssaJ]

I don't know how long your wait will be but I'll tell you this, get used to being forced to be patient.  You'll be impatient waiting to get on HRT.  Once you start taking it, you'll be impatient to see the effects.  Once you start seeing effects, you'll be impatient for the progress to move faster.

As you mentioned and others have discussed, self-administered HRT without a doctor monitoring your care, could be potentially very dangerous.

[josie76]

Please get a doctor to prescribe and monitor your HRT. With the right information you may find a general practitioners who will do this for you. Very often it gets left to endocrinologists but an internist is perfectly qualified to handle the situation.

Spironolactone is the most common testosterone limiter but does have side effects. It does lower blood pressure because it is a diuretic. It causes frequent unrination but it does not cause your body to expel potassium. There is both the risk of dehydration and excessive potassium buildup. Both can cause dizziness and weakness, even passing out. It's important to not eat potassium food sources and to intake plenty of sodium salt. Blood tests are needed to watch your potassium levels.

Bio identical estradiol has no real history of blood clots but past treatments of other estrogens do. These studies were primarily done in older women where hormone replacement was used to aleiviate menapause symptoms. Horse estrogen collected from pregnant mare urine was a very popular prescription once as were other synthetic estrogen compounds. These all had much more risk to their usage. Again blood levels need to be checked periodically by a doctor.

[Gail20]

I self-medicated awhile even while under a good Doctor's care.  I bought more potent Estrogen on-line, figuring more would be better. . .  not so.  The extra Estrogen caused my Thyroid to slow down its output and it never came back to normal so now I'm on daily Thyroid medication for the rest of my life.  I had done a lot of research and thought I knew what I was doing, but our bodies are incredibly complicated and you dont want to mess with them any more than is necessary . . . .

[jessicariddhi]

Thank you all for the reply. You guys make a wonderful case. I had some time to think about it and will talk to my doctor here to see what the possibilities are and if not...I will just have to be patient. I began doing small things like growing out my hair, shaving my legs, growing my nails...each one at a time...getting myself acquainted...when the time is right, things will fall into place.

[Meghan]

Thank you all for the reply. You guys make a wonderful case. I had some time to think about it and will talk to my doctor here to see what the possibilities are and if not...I will just have to be patient. I began doing small things like growing out my hair, shaving my legs, growing my nails...each one at a time...getting myself acquainted...when the time is right, things will fall into place.

Just one day at the time and easier than rushing to do all at one.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[DawnOday]

It appears Jamaica is a little behind the curve and I could not find any resources but there are Transwomen in Jamaica.  I did find a website whose contributors you might be able to contact and create your own support network. https://transwavejamaica.wordpress.com/    Be Safe.

[bobbisue]

    perhaps you could find a local doctor who would consult with the doctor who you saw in Amsterdam in order to properly monitor your therapy

    bobbisue

[Shellie Hart]

I experimented for months before I found the most safe method of all. Works wonderfully and very effectively for me and it's cheap.  I don't know how much more I can say legally here, but this method has given me many wonderful changes that I could discuss if allowed by the rules...