Hi guys. I'm looking for some hormone help -- nothing medical, don't worry! Just a few honest opinions.
I recently got some lab work done. I haven't been ill, and a doctor didn't order the tests. It was all just out of pure, semi-professional curiosity. Pretty much everything came back as expected, except one thing: my estradiol levels are surprisingly low, around 30 pg/mL. Given that I am a 22 y/o (ie: not in menopause) female bodied person of a healthy weight, and also given where I was in my menstrual cycle, I'd expect it to be a fair bit higher.
So. If I were cis, I'd probably mention this to my doctor. Buuuuuut. Y'know. I feel like I've got three options here:
- Talk to my doctor, with the risk that they put me on estrogen.
- Talk to my doctor, in the process coming out as trans, and beginning HRT.
- Just shuddup and not worry about it, it's probably fine! (<-- the most appealing option)
Now, for some complicating factors about my specific situation:
- I'm 99.99% sure I'm not cis, but I'm still in that uncomf. questioning stage where I'm scared I don't know who I am or what I want. I'd just started to daydream about going on T, but I don't want to rush things lest I make a mistake.
- Going on T would mean coming out to, uh, everyone. I'm sweating just thinking about it.
- Adding to the coming out flop sweat is the fact that I currently work in a trans care clinic, and like. Jeez, I personally know like half the providers who do HRT in this area, and all of them who do low income HRT. I'd have to come out to my boss like, straight out the docket. Very uncomfortable with the idea of this.
- Currently, my testosterone is at normal female levels. Not a lot of it up in this bod, naturally.
- I know it's not the same as boosting E, but I was prescribed spironolactone briefly a few years ago for totally unrelated reasons and it made me feel like an absolute garbage monster. I hated myself, I hated my body, I hated everyone I'd ever met. I'm a little nervous that supplementing with estrogen will make me feel the same way again.
- On the flip side, I currently feel great, physically. I'm in the best shape of my life, I lost 5 lbs, I've got visible upper body muscles, and I even dropped a cup size. Why mess with a good thing?*
* Calcium levels, mostly. If it turns out my estrogen really is too low, I don't want to give myself osteopenia out of negligence.
I know this question probably sounds silly to a lot of you, but I'm really not sure how to proceed. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
It's better to be safe than sorry. In this case being trans is knowledge your doctor needs to know to make sure you receive appropriate treatment if low hormone level turns out to be an issue. Then if turns out to not be an issue you don't have to move forward any faster than your ready for. I agree with Suzanne regardless, it would be a great idea, seek professional help you regardless of which option you choose.
Mariah
I'd load up on calcium and vitamin D, first of all, just in case.
If it were me, I'd also check with the doctor to be sure there was no potential health risks underlying the situation (ie, ovarian dysfunction that meant a cancer check was in order, or something). Once reassured that that was not an issue, I'd tell the doctor I was happy to live with the situation as it is; they can't exactly force you to do anything, and that allows you time and space to decide what you *do* want to do next.
Ah, y'all are probably right. I think maybe I'll give myself an internal compromise and just mention it at my next physical, rather than book one just for this. But you're right, it probably should be brought up.
Hey there,
mentioning it at the next physical sounds like a good idea to me!
If you decide to load up on Vit D and Calcium, don't forget to get enough magnesium as well - afaik, the VitD can't be metabolized properly without.