awww crap!!!

[Rachaelgirl39]

Well just got my test results today from my yearly endo appt. Looks like my enzyme levels are abnormal and I am being switched to the patch. The aww crap part comes in because I just called the pharmacy and its gonna be outta pocket and dammit wouldnt ya know its gonna be 75.00 dollars and thats for generic brand. Damn liver!...lol.

[Karen564]

Sorry to hear that....
If that's the case then, I would ask him to start you on the injection route...it's cheaper that way...
If needles aren't your thing, you can get the patches cheaper on-line depending on the quantity your buying at one time.. of course your stuck buying the patches at whatever cost at the moment just so you have them now & don't have a lapse in your meds...but after that, I would seek the cheaper routes..

[Melody Moore]

This just highlights one of the most important reasons why people should never self-medicate with hormones without being under
the care of a medical practitioner who will carry out the necessary blood tests to monitor enzymes in the liver & kidneys. So it was a
good thing that your doctor picked up on this. It's a bummer you have to now go on trans-dermal patches, but for now its for the best.

Something else I have come to understand is that Hormone Therapy has more than likely contributed to my own gall
bladder issues that have affected me over the past week & a half, and now requires surgery in 6 weeks time to remove it.

What I found out was that Oestrogen converts to cholesterol which is what forms crystals known as 'gall stones'. So I found out the very
hard way that higher Oestrogen levels do increase the risk of gall bladder issues like Cholecystitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholecystitis) which I have now been diagnosed with.

I was a high risk candidate for such issues because I had high cholesterol to start with before I ever started hormone therapy.
So healthy diet & a healthy body is also very important consideration before starting hormone therapy. I just hope that my trans
sisters never have to suffer the pain that I have had to endured over the past week because its been like living in sheer hell. Not
even powerful painkillers like Morphine have much affect on the excruciating pain - it only made the pain slightly more tolerable.

[dilane]

Not being able to take oral meds is also a blessing, because the patch doesn't increase the chances of blood clotting like oral medication does.

You could also use injectable -- that's the cheapest, and also bypasses the liver and blood clotting risks. That is, if you have the ovaries to give yourself a shot. (your doc can show you how)

You can also get pellets inserted, they last for months, but are the most expensive and have the same advantages as patch/injectable hormones.

Melody, would using the non-oral route reduce the cholesterol complications? I've read somewhere that it does.

-- Diane

[Melody Moore]

Thanks Dilane, I'm going to be talking to my specialist in a couple of weeks time at my next appointment about your suggestion because it has still been on my mind anyway. At the moment here in Australia they have a 'one sized fits all' mentality when it comes to prescribing hormones under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) (http://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home), a government subsidy for the prescribing of essential medications. The choices of hormone therapy that is currently available under the PBS are very limited, so it's heath issues like this that highlight the need to revise such medications under this system. So this is now another suggestion I am now putting into a list of collective submissions to present to my local Federal minister in the next couple of weeks for our government here in Australia to address. :)

[Jennifer in CO]

even the patch didn't slow down my problems...shot my blood pressure up to almost 200...Doc still doesn't have it under control completely and doesn't know what caused it as coming off the patch didn't stop it...its been a wild ride this time as opposed to the first time which was all hunky-dory

Jenn

[Rachaelgirl39]

Karen,
Whats the average cost using injection versus patches?

[Karen564]

Karen,
Whats the average cost using injection versus patches?

The cost all depends on your dosage, which I don't know what yours is...But to give you an idea, Injectables cost roughly 1/2 compared to the patch going by avg. dosing & prices..

[Kathryn Martin]

Karen,
Whats the average cost using injection versus patches?

Patch: 90 day supply = $112.00 where I am

[CharleneT]

IM Estradiol valerate, 6 month supply, $34 . . . that's pretty hard to beat. I know that Walmart has a $4/month estrogen script, but that is for a much lower dose (oral).

[tanyalynn51]

IM Estradiol valerate, 6 month supply, $34 . . . that's pretty hard to beat. I know that Walmart has a $4/month estrogen script, but that is for a much lower dose (oral).

Didnt know Walmart had it that cheap- Albertson's is 7.99 for my oral, which is still cheap.