Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey guys! My first appointment for HRT is 3 days. I am super nervous and just want everything to go perfectly. I called my insurance to see if the two prescription my clinic said I'll be taking will be covered. The prescriptions are called "Estradiol & Spirolactome." They looked it up for me and they said yes for Spirolactome. When I asked for Estradiol. They said they did not see it, so I asked about "estrogen". They said yes they cover estrogen and Spirolactome. I don't know if estrogen and estradiol are the same. If my insurance does not cover the prescription will I just have to pay out of pocket?

Estrogen is a term for many different molecules with some being produced by animals, others by plants and some are made in the laboratory. In humans, there are three - Estradiol E2, Estrone E1 and Estriol E3. The body normally produces E2 and that's the most potent estrogen in humans. E2 can be converted to E1 for storage however E1 is about a 10th the potency of E2. At some point, E2 is converted to E3 which is almost useless as it's a waste product that's eliminated from the body. If you are being given a human body compatible hormone in pill form, most likely it will be estradiol as it's really cheap and effective.

Depending on where you live, it is possible to get Estradiol Valerate which behaves a bit differently in the body however in the end, it's still estradiol E2.

Quote from: Dena on March 24, 2018, 03:06:32 PM
Estrogen is a term for many different molecules with some being produced by animals, others by plants and some are made in the laboratory. In humans, there are three - Estradiol E2, Estrone E1 and Estriol E3. The body normally produces E2 and that's the most potent estrogen in humans. E2 can be converted to E1 for storage however E1 is about a 10th the potency of E2. At some point, E2 is converted to E3 which is almost useless as it's a waste product that's eliminated from the body. If you are being given a human body compatible hormone in pill form, most likely it will be estradiol as it's really cheap and effective.

Depending on where you live, it is possible to get Estradiol Valerate which behaves a bit differently in the body however in the end, it's still estradiol E2.

Thank you for that information. If my insurance does not cover estradiol. Will i have to pay out of pocket?

Not a big deal if you do have to pay. From the right store, a 6 month supply of estradiol would only cost about $40. I use Walmart as Estradiol is less than anywhere else.