Telling your Doctor

[Jordan]

I read a lot of treads where there is a lot of you girls thatsay that my doctor knows that I dress as a women is there a reason why you tell your doctor? I normally take womens vitiams should if I told my doctor could he give me something better to make me feel more femine is that why you tell your doctor?

[Kathi Lake]

Jordan, vitamins - or any other drug - are not going to make you feel more feminine. That has to come from inside you.

Some here have posted the exact outfit that they were going to wear to the doctor's office. That much planning, and springing that surprise on their doctor, sounds more like exhibitionism than anything else to me. Is that what you're after?

Before you chat with your doctor, you really need to have a good long chat with yourself. Ask yourself where you are and where it is you want to go. Get a plan in place, go to counseling and then go to your doctor. How you choose to dress then should be how you normally dress, not an attempt to break the ice. Your words should do that, not your clothes.

Maybe I'm weird and all, but, . . .

Kathi

[Jordan]

I guess what I am trying to ask is there a hidden benefit telling your doctor?

[Billijo49504]

Well, even if he or she won't give you hormones, and you experiment on your own, they can at least keep track of your testing...BJ

[JenniferB]

There's absolutely no reason to tell your doctor a dang thing unless you're going to chemically alter your body.

[sissystephanie]

There's absolutely no reason to tell your doctor a dang thing unless you're going to chemically alter your body.

I don't do anything to chemically alter my body, but I do always wear silk or satin panties. So I did tell my primary doctor, because he does give a very complete exam once a year! That does involve checking my prostate!! Both he and his nurse know I CD, and don't care! I have gone there completely dressed enfemme, only because I was going somewhere else later and did not have time to change!

[ReineD]

I disagree with not telling a GP. They are bound by confidentiality, and they are trained to look at the big picture. Gender ID is a significant part of a person's psyche and if issues come up in the future, it might help if your doctor knows. He might refer you to someone else if he feels it would be beneficial for you.

Also, re the multiple vitamins .. the only difference between those marketed for men vs. women is the strength of the various vitamins. Men's will have higher dosages of the vitamins we all need (vitamins A, C, K, Niacin, Thiamine, Zinc, etc) because their body weights are generally more than women's. Women's vitamins will have higher iron because of their menstruation cycles. There are other differences based on the types of cancers commonly associated with both. You should google nutritional requirements of males & females, and take the vitamins appropriate for your gender. I think there have been studies that show that too much iron for men is not good ... do check up on this.

[maggiecdva]

I am in total agreement with kathi. From all the posts it seems like many people put more planning it what to wear than the actual reason for going to the doctor.

Somewhere I posted a comment to the effect that I wondered if some of us secretly get a thrill about showing our femenine clothes off. I know I once did.

Now I wear whatever I want to the doctors and spend more time concentrating on my health than what color undies I have on.

Hugs - maggie

[Daenna Paz]

Before you chat with your doctor, you really need to have a good long chat with yourself. Ask yourself where you are and where it is you want to go. Get a plan in place, go to counseling and then go to your doctor. How you choose to dress then should be how you normally dress, not an attempt to break the ice. Your words should do that, not your clothes.

[SIZE="3"]Words to live by ...

I went and told my doctor so I could have labs to support my HRT[/SIZE]

Maybe I'm weird and all, but, . . .

[SIZE="4"]Oh yeah ... you are SO weird ... [/SIZE]

[Annie M]

I have to take a physical soon, been putting it off as my longtime doctor isn't on my new insurance. And the PA's normally do the physicals, I don't expect any issues but my breast development may create a few questions I just don't feel like answering. Maybe I should just go infem! This too shall pass.

[kimdl93]

I haven't made it a point to tell my doctor, and she hasn't asked. I doubt that she noticed my shaved legs - or for that matter cares. From what I've read here and my own acquaintances in the profession, physicians and nurses have seen pretty much everything.

Now, if I was needed counseling to deal with emotional issues or seeking HRT, then I think it would be imperative to tell my physician.

[boardpuppy]

I haven't specically told my PA.....but she does monitor my blood/liver due to the meds I'm on because of major serurgry. Some time ago know, from a nurse, I got a look that said what are you doing, ...I don't know, I'm still working out the answers for myself. When I get all the answers, there are a lot of people to tell/talk to. I try to not directly embarrass the SO (in her mind), she goes to the same facility.

Hugs,
Alice

[Lorileah]

Keeping secrets from your doctor. Always a good idea right?

OK so dressing up in women's clothing isn't going to kill you. But the hiding and sneaking and not telling your spouse can lead to stress conditions which can lead to health problems. I think the OP has already given a clue to what may be down the road. Female vitamins really don't do anything to alter anything to make someone more feminine (they are vitamins which the for women are just higher in some of the vitamins and minerals a woman may be deficient in like iron), what you don't need will just wash out. But you can see that there is the potential there to move up. Herbals may cause some changes in body metabolism that can lead to illness. Then maybe real hormones?

So you don't say anything to your doctor and in 90% of the cases it does not matter because it is just clothes. Until the divorce or other thing happens. Then you get depression. Treating depression is always best by knowing the source. But don't worry about that until it happens.

Personally I love my doctor. Saw her just yesterday. She knows about my gender dysphoria and she keeps track of if I am doing well or not. She makes an effort to even talk to me about how things are going and ask to see pictures. She knows what Lori looks like and we discussed how over the last year Lori has become a stronger personality to the point of even maybe taking over. She has given me her insight as to how we could proceed and if we even should proceed. If she didn't know about this maybe she would take a different tack as to why I have health issues that are stress induced and how we care for them.

Yeah, probably not a good thing to tell your doctor after all why should they care? Good doctors DO care and look at the whole picture and help you work towards what will make you happy and healthy.

Edit: I even told her I was on a forum for TG's and how it helps me communicate and know that I am not alone in this.

[Kathi Lake]

My point is, if you're not transitioning, then why is it even an issue? Lorileah has a good point on the stress aspect, though. I guess it depends on the doctor you're going to and why.

For instance, I went to the doctor yesterday. He saw my hairless chest, my Argenteeny Pinkini-clad toenails, my Hanes boyshort panties and more. Why? Simple, it's because it's what I happened to be wearing at the time. I've pretty much standardized on the boyshorts because they're comfortable. I usually wear polish on my toes. I always keep my chest smooth. I didn't do it for, or in anticipation of, the appointment, I just did it because it's me. He saw pretty much everything because he is a dermatologist and was doing a full-body skin check as I've had a few suspicious-looking moles. I was also getting a consult for laser hair removal.

So, you don't really have to "come out" to your doctor. Just be yourself. If, however, one of your conditions is gender (or stress - thanks, Lorileah), then by all means, let your doctor in on it.

Kathi

[Phyliss]

With my first appointment with my Dr. she told me to be always truthful with her so that she could do a decent job of keeping me healthy. It took me quite awhile to "come out" to her. Once I did, it seems that I feel much more comfortable during my visits. No, I haven't gone to see her while dressed up. kinda pointless, when I have to get UNdressed for a physical.
She did say to me, last year, that if I ever wanted to "transition" to be sure to tell her so she could get me the correct help. I did promise her that I would and to not worry about me finding odd drugs on line and not telling her.
I guess I'm glad I told her, now there's no secret to hide, and she can treat me, knowing all there is to know.

[Barbara Dugan]

I think is a good idea.. My doctor asked me if I was gay because she read me and saw that something wasn't right with me, I had changed BP medication a few times and nothing seemed to work because of the depression and stress I was going through, we discuss medication and therapy that I just recently started.

[sandra-leigh]

Eventually my doctor accidently asked me a question about social interactions that would have been difficult to answer truthfully without revealing my crossdressing, so I paused a brief moment and then decided to tell him. It has made some differences to my treatment: he now has a better idea of why I was not reacting to medications as well as would be expected.

I recently discovered that I have some gynecomastia (that is, I am growing breasts, possibly 1 1/2 cup sizes increase from before so far), and I am going to have to talk to my doctor about that. Not that I wish to be cured of it but rather that the causes of that can involve heart or liver and a medication I am on can affect liver function, so I need to work with him to ensure that I'm not getting a side effect of something nasty. If it turns out to be a "clean" side effect... well, I'm not in a hurry to get off that medication (I got indepenant verification today that it isn't just my imagination, that I really do have Breasts now.)

In a day or two I am going to have my testostorne level checked; if it turns out to be low for a male, then if I had not told my doctor about being CD / TG then it would probably be difficult to explain why I do not wish to increase it (at least not until my bust is bigger.)

There is a possibility higher than the normal that I might be XYX instead of XY; at some point I'm going to have to get that checked. Maybe sooner rather than later as it would affect the tracking of the gynecomastia: if I am XYX then the growth becomes more understandable.

And if the growth is a harmless side effect, then it would probably still be a good idea to get onside with an endochronist to be sure that my body balance is okay and that I'm not at risk of blood clots or the like.

See how things can add up to make a difference in your treatment?

(To be clearer: I am not taking HRT or any herbal product, just a medication to treat a medical disorder. I did not ask for bust development, but I'm not about to turn it down!)