Is a letter from the therapist required to begin anti-androgens only?

I talked to my therapist and he said no. He'll write me one when I need it, but I shouldn't need it for this.

I do plan on calling my GP today and asking. He's friendly and knows I'm transgender, but he's not a specialist and I may need to help him understand dosage, etc. I will keep him for Estrogen treatment when the time comes, too... if he's amenable to it, otherwise I have a new GP appointment in February.

Quote from: kabit on October 08, 2013, 08:02:09 AM
Is a letter from the therapist required to begin anti-androgens only?

I talked to my therapist and he said no. He'll write me one when I need it, but I shouldn't need it for this.

I do plan on calling my GP today and asking. He's friendly and knows I'm transgender, but he's not a specialist and I may need to help him understand dosage, etc. I will keep him for Estrogen treatment when the time comes, too... if he's amenable to it, otherwise I have a new GP appointment in February.

I got started on Spironolactone at about half the normal dosage before I got my letter, this was due to my dysphoria progressively getting worse because I was terrified about continuing to masculinize (I'm only 19). My doctor compromised because he could tell that if he didn't do anything I might have committed suicide...and I was REALLY bad then for dysphoria/depression/suicide.

Part of why I was able to get started on a T blocker was that I provided a lot of information including the WPATH standards of care, and the info made him more at ease because he knew what dosages were safe and reasonable. I was also very sure of my decision to go on hrt.

Best Wishes

-Skye

Same here Skye, I was sure of HRT as well, but needed the Spiro to block the "T" that was interfering with the therapy sessions. I was just to jittery and alert to get to the bottom of some issue's. Spiro relaxed me enough to get done what had to be done. My therapist didn't bat an eyelash for Spiro, Estradiol, different story, but it worked out fine after a while. Being prepared and knowledgeable helped me out a lot by showing it was not a spontaneous decision to transition. All I can say is, be prepared.

I'm very prepared!! I know what I want from it (basically everything AAs do): reduced body hair over time, reduced sexual drive, ability to exercise without forming male muscle patterns, reduced aggression, etc. I also know what the risks are and how to reduce them (mainly high potassium & DVT).

E will wait some time, but I know a bit about that too (expectations & side effects)... though I'm considerably less informed yet on which forms of E are best -- this seems complicated.

It's unfortunate that my GP is not willing to do any endo work with me, since my appointment with him is only 3 weeks away... but my endo appointment isn't too far off, either!! I feel certain I'll be getting a Sprio script when I meet with her. If I don't it's because of the ACE inhibitor I'm on now (which I plan to stop 2 days before this appointment to ensure it's all out of my system).

I have done everything right, as far as I can tell... including getting my weight significantly in line (40 lbs lost to date). My GP appointment should tell me what my other health factors are, too (basically my current A1c diabetes status). I fully expect to walk out with a spiro script... and will be visiting Wal*mart on the way home ($4 spiro 25mg tabs).

Yay - the day after Christmas... Wal*mart should be empty, right? Boxing what again, come now? At least none of them will be in the pharmacy.

Go get them baby! Full steam ahead!