Just The Facts

Recently I had the first appointment with the doctor. The doctor that specializes in gender therapy. It's not so different from a regular doctor. They weigh you, take your blood pressure, and ask some questions. Since this was the first visit there were a lot of questions.

Most were pretty generic but a few I remember are:

1. What is your goal with HRT?
• Just to get an idea of what plan to enact. I guess they do different itineraries if you want the biggest bust or just the mental effects, etc. 
2. What changes, if any, have you noticed?
• Make sure the pills are working and you are paying attention. In my case especially since I had gone DIY first and the pills were from overseas and could have been anything.
3. Do you want different forms of the medications (delivery methods)?
• Same results but different prescriptions.

There was also a bit where they give you a few pieces of paper that describe the effects of HRT and make sure you understand them and some information on changing gender markers/name/etc in our state.

The last thing we did was a blood draw since I had only had the one from January. 

Results

The meeting was actually pretty eventful. We switched me from E pills to patches and from spiro (anti-androgen) to finasteride (similar but also halts hair loss). The patches because instead of taking 2 pills a day I can use a patch for a week and that is way less hassle if it works.

The results of the blood test were good. I don't have HIV or syphilis, I didn't think I did but had never been tested as far as I knew. My estradiol (estrogen) levels were 78 (target is 150-ish) but it had been 10 hours since I had my last dose at that point. My testosterone was 6 (female range 6-36, male range 300-1200). I didn't get a cholesterol test because I had eaten before I went so I have to fast before I go next. Next time we are doing another round of bloodwork because we switched all the meds around (and need that cholesterol data). 

I picked up my prescription when I got back home. Another reason we switched me to finasteride instead of just supplementing the spiro was because if the dose was an addition it would have been a very low dose, which would have counted as just cosmetic for insurance (because it would only stop hair loss). Switching to the higher dose replaces the spiro and counts as medical. With my insurance the patches were the same 'tier' as the pills but nobody knew what the price would be until I got into the pharmacy. Picking up the prescription was a pleasant surprise. The total for both (a months supply) was $22. I was expecting over a hundred but I guess my insurance finally has a use!

Mulligan

I tried to start the patches the day after but it already started to fall off and came off after 2 days. I switched back to pills until I get to the next week where I will try it again. I bought some medical tape to try to shield it from catching clothing and especially the shower. I also need to find a spot that isn't flexing so much. I haven't really noticed much difference with the finasteride. For the first 2 days I had a much higher libido than I had in the last few months. I am thinking that is just the time it took for that one to start kicking in. It seems to be waning a little now. It's all new though so won't know much until my next visit.