I started seeing this doctor to start HRT around 3 months ago and went in for my check up today. From what I've seen in youtube videos I'm taking a lower dose than most people start off with. Also... The only things he's checked so far is my cholesterol..
I've heard how important it is to watch your hormone levels and to make sure to get them checked but this doctor doesn't even seem like he cares to check them at all.
I'm confused... Should I seek a different doctor? He's only been taking in HRT patients for two years now.. I'm kind of worried.. I haven't felt sick or anything but I feel like maybe I should be more aware of what's going on in my body.. Just curious if anyone's in a similar situation?
Ask him about it before assuming anything. Part of the reason to see doctors is to ask them health care related questions and he can explain it better than people here (seeing as he knows what dose you're taking among other things) and get your levels checked.
if you're concerned, you should talk to him about it. my doctor doesn't check either (also on a lower dose to start with) but i'm also seeing an endo who does because he's the one prescribing it and adjusting my doses, my doctor just gives me my shots and makes sure everything is okay in between endo visits. i think when i go on a higher dose, my doctor giving me my shots will check everything more regularly.
the most important thing is to be honest with doctors and share your concerns so you should do that.
I'll make sure to ask him on my next appointment. Thanks a lot. :)
My endo doesn't check hormone levels at all.
I agree you should just ask him about your concerns before getting too worried.
I don't get my testosterone levels checked. I'm pretty sure my doctor would order tests for that if I asked her to, or if she didn't want to, she'd explain why. If we had major differences of opinion on anything I would try to seek out another doctor.
I do get bloodwork somewhat regularly, metabolic panels and basic stuff to check how I'm doing. When I first started hormones I think it was every month or two, and as time has gone on it's down to every 4 to 6 months. My clinic put their system online in 2012, so I just looked at what's in the records, and there are a lot of edits where they "corrected" my gender. I'm not sure I want to care about how they are factoring that in. For most medical purposes, we are somewhere in between.
I worry more about my liver function and cholesterol and blood pressure than my T levels, personally. I would definitely raise hell about my T levels if I weren't experiencing changes though.