Yesterday my therapist told me to find a local endocrinologist so he could issue a letter of recommendation for my first appointment and get me started on hormone treatment.  I have spent the entire morning looking on the web for help in doing this and so far all I have discovered is that I have no idea what I am doing.  I have never needed a doctor of any kind before, so I am basically clueless as to what I am doing and/or how to go about this.  (In the past, when I have needed a doctor I normally found that the Emergency Room had a steady supply  )

I also think living in a relatively rural area is making this a bit more difficult. 

How have others done this?  Any help and/or info would be great.

Thank you.
Have a great day.   

Well searching for endocrinologists is a good start.

But I have no idea of your location so I really can't give you any specific suggestions.

However, as a general rule, if you have any LGBT clinics in your area, calling them is probably a good start.

Beyond that, about the only thing you can do is start calling offices and discussing the issues with them.

It may be a bit daunting having to call and ask about HRT, but if you request to speak to either the doctor or his nurse, they should be able to answer your questions directly and without judgement.  If they won't prescribe for you they should say that upfront.

I live in Chicago and there are several endo's in this area who deal with HRT and trans issues so it wasn't too hard.

Once you find one, they will probably want to do a complete blood screening and liver function test before they would prescribe for you.  HRT can be dangerous and needs very close supervision from a physician, so please do not self medicate.  You cannot become more feminine faster by over dosing on hormones and could endanger your liver.  So please be careful.

Best of luck!  And feel free to ask any questions you may have!

-Sandy

Quote from: Stephanie2664 on February 09, 2010, 09:56:18 AM
Yesterday my therapist told me to find a local endocrinologist so he could issue a letter of recommendation for my first appointment and get me started on hormone treatment.  I have spent the entire morning looking on the web for help in doing this and so far all I have discovered is that I have no idea what I am doing.  I have never needed a doctor of any kind before, so I am basically clueless as to what I am doing and/or how to go about this.  (In the past, when I have needed a doctor I normally found that the Emergency Room had a steady supply  )

I also think living in a relatively rural area is making this a bit more difficult. 

How have others done this?  Any help and/or info would be great.

Thank you.
Have a great day.   

It's even harder in the U.K to find a good endo! I'm always on the look out for an experienced endocrinologist who is knowledgeable and experienced with gender dysphoria patients. It's proving quite difficult and I find I have to guide them into trying new medications in order to implement the best result possible from HRT or anti - androgens.