Susan's Place Transgender Resources

On April 11th I will be taking another huge step in my path of transition.  I have made an appointment at the urging of my therapist to see a doctor about HRT.  The earliest appointment was on that day so I am getting excited as to what will come from that appointment.  I know that they will be doing a full blood work up because they have advised me to fast on the morning of the appointment as well as making me an early morning appointment.

I am just curious to hear about some of your stories from that first appointment for HRT.

April 11th can't get here fast enough.  I have another appointment with by GT next week and I am so looking forward to it as well.

Have a great weekend

Jeri

The appointment itself was disappointing for me.

Five minutes of basic questions, ten minutes of answers five minutes of explanations, then a prescription, and bye, see you in 3 months.

blood work i hear is standard. >.>

Quote from: Silvrnite on March 25, 2012, 12:48:22 AM
blood work i hear is standard. >.>

Not only do the doctors want to establish a baseline, against which to measure your future progress, but they will also want to assess your liver function and general health.

Quote from: A on March 24, 2012, 11:44:01 PM
The appointment itself was disappointing for me.

Five minutes of basic questions, ten minutes of answers five minutes of explanations, then a prescription, and bye, see you in 3 months.

Word for word... this was the same for me. They dont give a crap about how ready you are,  Thry just want you to come back so they can renew your prescription for $100 every 3 months...

Very anticlimatic appointment - same as the others.
Fronted up, the endo read through the referral and the psychs report (8 year old report!!!!), and then we discussed what I wanted to achieve with meds.
Quick general exam (blood pressure, chest exam), then he wrote out a script for low dose E (2 months + 2x2 month repest), along with 2 blood test referrals.  One for baseline, and one for 6 weeks time.
"See you in 6 weeks"
Total appointment time was 30 minutes.

Expect to wait around a bit for the blood test if the endo wants to check your prolactin levels - they want you sitting around for 15 minutes before taking the sample.  They did do glucose as well, but as I already had a test done a few weeks earlier, they didn't really care about that one.

That seems to be pretty much standard.  The Psych has already done all the preliminary work and referred you, so the Endo is really only interested in the physical details, contra-indications, making sure your expectations of results are realistic, that sort of thing. 
How fast did you run to the Pharmacy?  ;D

Karen.

Quote from: justmeinoz on March 25, 2012, 06:05:23 AM
How fast did you run to the Pharmacy?  ;D

If you're asking me, I went and had the blood test done first!  I don't mind having blood taken, it's more the bruising that I occasionally get afterwards that get me.  I walked to the pharmacy - didn't run - there is a certain amount of decorum that I like to preserve thanks!

The puzzled and semi-dirty looks from the girls as I presented the script made for a good laugh, as well as the usual "you know this is a hormone right?"  I really should have stirred the pot and said - "I have no idea what this stuff is, could you explain it all to me"

I find it weird that they make you do bloodwork AFTER you have the prescription. Should there be any risks, you couldn't know and might start the medications without knowing... Personally, I had my results in hand when I entered the office.

Alainaluvsu: Actually, I don't think that's what his motivation was in my case. I just think he felt me shy and just cut through the formalities. He was very nice, actually.

luna nyan: Haha, such cruelty. But serves them right, I guess. But come to think of it, you were prescribed estrogen, but no anti-androgen? Isn't that, uh, uneffective?

As for the pharmacy, uhm, that evening, I guess. I almost forgot to go. I'm not one who is in a hurry about stuff, or remembers stuff. o.o

Actually, the pharmacist didn't give me a weird look or anything. He just told me, "it's rare to have a hormone deficiency at your age". I guess that with my scarf and all, he just assumed me to be a female made ugly by hormonal problems.

Quote from: A on March 25, 2012, 10:17:42 AM
I find it weird that they make you do bloodwork AFTER you have the prescription. Should there be any risks, you couldn't know and might start the medications without knowing... Personally, I had my results in hand when I entered the office.

Alainaluvsu: Actually, I don't think that's what his motivation was in my case. I just think he felt me shy and just cut through the formalities. He was very nice, actually.

luna nyan: Haha, such cruelty. But serves them right, I guess. But come to think of it, you were prescribed estrogen, but no anti-androgen? Isn't that, uh, uneffective?

As for the pharmacy, uhm, that evening, I guess. I almost forgot to go. I'm not one who is in a hurry about stuff, or remembers stuff. o.o

Actually, the pharmacist didn't give me a weird look or anything. He just told me, "it's rare to have a hormone deficiency at your age". I guess that with my scarf and all, he just assumed me to be a female made ugly by hormonal problems.

With my case, my doctor was very sweet and understanding (come to find out she has a "partner" that is transsexual). Mine also did make sure I didn't have any contraindications to taking any of the meds she was about to prescribe to me. However it was very straight forward - listen to lungs, take temperature, take blood pressure, come in "here's your prescription, go get blood work and see you in 3 months". Although in my case, I had been self medicating for 2 months prior to the appointment so she just prescribed me the same dosage I had been taking. I regret doing that because I don't have a baseline.

In most cases I'd say just estradiol is uneffective, but in some MTFs strictly taking estradiol can suppress testosterone effectively. Afterall, if estradiol alone can get your testosterone down to optimal levels, what's the point in putting unneccessary drugs into your body? I know I'd love to get off of spiro if I didn't need it.

I have never had a pharmacy give me any looks or laughs or comments. I live in a very unaware place in regards to transsexuals (I also live in the bible belt), so it's surprising to me that I have not had more strange looks than I have. The pharmacy I've been going to for the past couple months has even gone so far as to not pronoun me or sir / maam me, even though I go in with full facial hair and dressed as a guy half the time.

Quote from: A on March 25, 2012, 10:17:42 AM
luna nyan: Haha, such cruelty. But serves them right, I guess. But come to think of it, you were prescribed estrogen, but no anti-androgen? Isn't that, uh, uneffective?

My endo and I aren't really looking at making me really "blossom" so to speak - only to get me to a somewhat more androgynous state, both hormonally/physically.  Theoretically speaking the dosage should have minimal feminising effect (I won't say dosage here) but have more of a anti-androgen effect.  As I said, I'm in no hurry - so long as the hairline stops receding, the facial bones don't get any heavier, and I don't get more body hair, I should be reasonably happy.

As I said before, I have a followup appointment in a few weeks, more blood, and possibly adding spiro or androcur to the mix.  It's really a case of finding the right mix and I expect it'll take a while.