Hello everyone! 

After receiving the letter from the therapist giving the okay to start HRT, generally what happens when you first go to a doctor you've never been to? How long does it take to physically start the hormones, in your experience? Also, what tests needed to be done before you were given the medical okay to start and was prescribed?

Any other information on the topic please also respond with down below. Transmen, transwomen, and any other identified person I did not mention are welcome to respond, even with just an opinion or knowledge of a friend's experience.

Thank You!

I am a transman by the way

I had my GP do a complete physical and bloodwork (standard panels) before going into my endo. I showed them to her and walked out with a prescription, had them filled that day, and started right away.

I'm not in the USA so I don't know how you would go about it.  I got my doctor to send me to a gender psych, who told my doctor to send me to the gender hospital.  They have a six month waiting list and everything requires a second opinion, so after a year they told my doctor to prescribe hormones.  By then I had been self medicating (definitely not recommended, but we do ...) for about three years.  As soon as my doctor knew I was self medding - well before the hospital visit - she ordered blood tests.  The important ones are liver function and PSA.  Now I get liver function, PSA, estrogen and testosterone checked twice a year.  I guess it would be more often if they thought there was a problem.

As for timing, after the one year delay to see the second hospital shrink it took their admin people 13 weeks to type the letter to my doctor.  When the letter arrived my doctor phoned me and said the prescription was with their receptionist.  I went straight there, took it to the pharmacy and got the hormones.  YMMV!

Got my Endo appointment coming up so i'll get back to you on that, watch this space!

I don't have my letter yet (my therapist said when I ask I'll get it... but my household is not ready yet) but I called around.

I don't know if my GP will prescribe. The recommended Endo requires the letter first and currently has a 2-3 month wait. I have an appointment with the prescribing GP my therapist recommended ... in February (which is *why* I made the appointment). I did all of this last week. Maybe there are quicker options, but I don't know about them (and this fits my schedule).

So... 2-3 months after getting the letter if you don't work it all out ahead of time. I'm in RI, USA.