I live and work in DC, but I'm not followed locally. This can create 'funny' situations, like when I was worried about my boobs.
Traveling costs money, and I need every spare dollar at the moment. Yet I care about my health. After thinking about it, I thought I should start by fixing that consult issue.
But I do have strong trust issues, and bad precedents with the healthcare system (who messed up quite badly), so I just can't imagine consulting a random physician :embarrassed:
So, can anyone recommend me a MTF friendly endo or general practitioner who prescribes HRT within a driving distance? (up to 2h sounds reasonable)
Also, I'm on estrogel. The choice was deliberate. I insisted on that to avoid trashing my liver. Hopefully an endo receptive to the patients requests, or that already prescribes estrogel would be nice.
All drugs are not equal. I just don't want any changes to my HRT, unless it's from someone I trust. But trust is earned, and it takes time :-\
Hi,
I live in DC and go to Whitman Walker. You'll get assigned a PA who will administer and monitor your HRT. They are all under the supervision of a medical doctor. There is also a pharmacy there, and the prices are typically lower than elsewhere. I haven't known anyone to have a negative experience with them.
If you haven't already looked into them, I would strongly recommend it. It really is a one stop shop.
Thanks a lot! On which location do you go? Elizabeth Taylor or Max Robinson?
Also, by "administer and monitor your HRT", that means injections, right? Needles are :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Don't they do estrogel?
Dr. Samuel Westrick, 6080 Falls Rd #204, Baltimore, MD 21209
(410) 323-2757
A lot of his patients are MtF. I've been going to him for my hormones for more than two years.
Quote from: charlotte15 on April 25, 2015, 05:11:33 PM
Thanks a lot! On which location do you go? Elizabeth Taylor or Max Robinson?
Also, by "administer and monitor your HRT", that means injections, right? Needles are :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Don't they do estrogel?
Nope, I just mean they prescribe and do bloodwork. I was on topical testosterone until a recent price increase. They've got everything.
I go to Elizabeth Taylor. They're also opening a new center near Elizabeth Taylor sometime in May.
Thanks a lot!
I had more questions but I found your blog and found most of my answers, so I deleted them.
Only a few questions remain- how much do you pay per consult? Did you need a referral? Will an informed consent letter be sufficient? Did you have to write one from scratch??
I'm asking because I moved to the US only recently, and the prices for everything medical are totally over the board, and the system is complex and hard to navigate.
I checked GoodRx - the prices for estrogel are frightening. $100 per tube!!! That's more than 10 times what I paid, and it was 100% out of my pocket, even with a prescription!! I need to save for surgery - no insurance ever pays a cent for FFS.
I'm totally chicken for needles. They reminds me too many things. Can't. Won't. Even if it's free.
If I can't get an estrogel prescription at a price that I can pay, I'll self medicate. I understand it's against the rules of the forum so I won't discuss that here. Someone please PM me. Life sucks. Whatever.
They operate on a sliding scale for people that don't have insurance. It could be as low as nothing, but it's based on income. I have insurance and I pay $20 per visit. No referral needed. You just fill out new patient paperwork and they schedule you in for the next available slot. For new patients there is a bit of a wait to get started.
They might be able to put you on a patch. Not sure if that is cheaper or not. I switched to injections when the price of testosterone gel went up. I didn't think I'd be able to self inject, but it isn't so bad.
I goto Whitman-walker health, and I love it. I don't pay because my income is below poverty level atm, but the PCP I have and the therapist I had seen were both just really amazing. It was also dead simple to become a patient, and the clinic hosts other things like a name/gender change clinic (that I sadly missed last time it happened, but it doesn't matter I managed to file my name change last week :P ). Also having an in house pharmacy is really nice.
I don't know about the specifics of what the doctor I have will or won't assign, but for a while I was self-medding and there was no judgement, and she did my bloodwork, and decided to continue the hormone regimen at the same dosageI was on after we got the blood work results back (though on legit prescriptions thru Whitman-Walker). There was no judgement, just a sincere desire to help
ftmax, I read on your blog they ask if you're not binary. I'm MTF but I live with a cis woman and I don't plan to change that. I don't like boys, they disgust me.
I know it may freak out some therapists, because MTF are supposed to want to be just like cis women: they should want to be a princess and marry the boy of their dream etc.
I want to get FFS as soon as I reach 1 year on HRT and can pay for that, so I can be a cute princess too, but I only so that I can be with the woman of my dreams. This may not play well with their diagnosis rule or whatever.
Can you tell them the truth or do you have to tell them a nice story?
I was asked what my gender identity, sexual orientation, and prefered pronouns were, I was totally honest, and no one has any issue there that I am a lesbian who strongly identifies as a feminine woman.
Yeah, I don't think they care one way or another. For transguys, a low dose testosterone may be more effective for non-binary guys in achieving the qualities they desire without overdoing it, which I think is why they asked. I don't identify as non-binary, but my sexuality typically falls into the realm of "other" and no one has said anything negative about it.
I've never had a negative experience with the doctors there at all, to be honest. Everyone that I've worked with has gone above and beyond to make sure I get exactly what I need, when I need it. The only slight hiccup I've had there was with the legal department during that name/gender change clinic that Hikari mentioned, but they've since more than made up for it.