Hrt ?

[satin n lace]

I just read a post (please advise) so now i have a queastion i have a apointment this Tuesday to see a doctor to start hrt do you need to go see a physiologist before starting because i don't believe in that. i can see if your like a teenager or early twenties but i'm thirtyeight i should'nt need someone to tell me that i can or can not do something.

Thanks for any comments on this.

[Kathryn Martin]

Hi there, the issue about seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist to determin if there are co-mornidity issues, that is if your need to start Hormone therapy is not because of gender identity disorder but the result of some mental illness.

So in general no MD will prescribe hormones for what is otherwise a healthy male until this has been confirmed.

Kathryn

[sandra-leigh]

The regulations vary from state to state.

I did a poke around for California; in the time I spent, I did not find anything expressing hard regulations. I did find UCSF information pages about HRT, one of which (http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/trans?page=protocol-hormone-ready) does mention exactly the factor Kathryn mentions above,


If prescribing cross-sex hormones for a patient who has not used them before, assess for pre-existing physical and mental health conditions to aid in determining which preparation and dosage to prescribe (see section Hormone Administration)

The emphasis is not strong about the "mental health conditions": the pages are not at all phrased in terms of the "gatekeeping" that some states use, where you have to jump through hoops to prove that you are "transsexual enough". Further up the page I indicated it specifically says that the only reason to deny HRT should be the presence of cancers that are sensitive to the drugs, and that anything else should be worked around.

[CharleneT]

Depends a lot on your doctor and his/her relationship with you. If following the HBSOC, the doc will want an evaluation from a psychologist or psychiatrist that says you have GID. Often this is done mostly to "cover their a##" in case of problems later. The doc will see the external diagnosis as a safety for them. So, that is why a lot of times they get called "gatekeepers".

HRT in the short term is reversible, but not so much in the longer term. One problem is that they do not really know the "when" of too long. So expect that doc to want to make sure it is a good road for you before writing out the script. These days, more often than not, they do not really hold you back though. Chances are good that doc will write out scripts based on almost any external evidence or even just interview with you.

[Bree-asaurus]

Can I ask what the problem is with talking to someone about your issues before starting HRT? If you can find a good psychiatrist that deals with gender identity issues, it could only help. Talk to other transexuals in your area and find a recommendation for a psychiatrist or therapist.

If it's a money issue, transition is expensive anyway. The cost of a few therapy sessions that can actually help you isn't going to ruin your transition.

If it's a "I shouldn't have to wait" issue, transition will require lots of waiting anyway. Might as well start learning how to be patient now.

If it's an issue of fearing rejection, again, find a recommendation for a good therapist. If you're truly transexual, a good therapist will see this and shouldn't deny you HRT.

If you have a problem with authority and someone telling you what you can and can't do, get over it. Because you're going to need permission over and over again as you progress through transition.

[Wendy_Marie]

Satin,
I have issues with Authority and I have issues with Therapist too...albeit mine stem from bad experiences from when I was forced to go as a teen....Blah blah...Behaviorial Issues..Blah...Problems with authority..Blah this was all I remember hearing back then.

You have to realize that some States do require therapy prior to HRT and before I began I thought the same thing...I feared that a therapist was going to tell me "Oh your feelings aren't normal." or "Your not a girl, your just confused..." Etc... But while that may have been true back when I was forced into Therapy in the late 1970's....Therapy is far more understanding and sympathetic towards the patient's concerns now.

And while you, or I may not need Therapy to know who we are, what we are...and where we want to go...there are those out there who are confused and incapable of making decisions for themselves which have life long consequences....and that is really all therapy is for....To determine if you are a threat to yourself...orthe community at large.

There is an old question I read in an ancient (From the early 1900's) Psychology Textbook many years ago......"Do the insane know that they are insane?" not saying that as a CD/TG we are insane.....but this is the mentality that pervades society even today.

As for me...if I have to jump through a hoop or two from the Doctors Office or my Therapist's office to get the peace of mind I hope to find inside the brown plastic Rx bottle of Female Hormones from my Pharmacist...then so be it....

it can't be any more miserable, degrading or embarrassing to me than that which I have suffered from for more than forty years already.

[Louise C]

I just read a post (please advise) so now i have a queastion i have a apointment this Tuesday to see a doctor to start hrt do you need to go see a physiologist before starting because i don't believe in that. i can see if your like a teenager or early twenties but i'm thirtyeight i should'nt need someone to tell me that i can or can not do something.

Thanks for any comments on this.

Kathryn is right. It's not a case of them telling you "you can" or "you can't" - please don't take this as condescending towards you, but this is a serious business this HRT thingy,- it will take you from one extreme to another in mind and in body, so you really should be getting as many pro's on side as possible...... if they accept your GD is present, then you're going to need them, believe me.

Do yourself a favour and book an appointment or get a referral from your doc.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Can I ask what the problem is with talking to someone about your issues before starting HRT? If you can find a good psychiatrist that deals with gender identity issues, it could only help. Talk to other transexuals in your area and find a recommendation for a psychiatrist or therapist.

If it's a money issue, transition is expensive anyway. The cost of a few therapy sessions that can actually help you isn't going to ruin your transition.

If it's a "I shouldn't have to wait" issue, transition will require lots of waiting anyway. Might as well start learning how to be patient now.

If it's an issue of fearing rejection, again, find a recommendation for a good therapist. If you're truly transexual, a good therapist will see this and shouldn't deny you HRT.

If you have a problem with authority and someone telling you what you can and can't do, get over it. Because you're going to need permission over and over again as you progress through transition.

now that is just plain old straight shootin great advice!!

[Bree-asaurus]

now that is just plain old straight shootin great advice!!

Aw! That means a lot coming from you :D

[satin n lace]

Thanks for all the comments and advice i know it's a long hard road i know it won't be easy my wife and i know that. I just called the doctors office and the receptionist said she does requires a letter the receptionist said we should still come so we are. We do have a lot of questions to ask her. I just want to be who i am and what i feel.

Bree K i guess i do have to get over it i just don't like people telling you what you can and cannot do there's enough of that in the world now a days. Thanks for all your advice :)

[Kaitlyn Michele]

:) I call it like i see it!

[Bree-asaurus]

Thanks for all the comments and advice i know it's a long hard road i know it won't be easy my wife and i know that. I just called the doctors office and the receptionist said she does requires a letter the receptionist said we should still come so we are. We do have a lot of questions to ask her. I just want to be who i am and what i feel.

Bree K i guess i do have to get over it i just don't like people telling you what you can and cannot do there's enough of that in the world now a days. Thanks for all your advice :)

It sucks... I know :/ It will be okay though, you'll be happy and be yourself. You just have to follow some annoying rules for a little while.

[Aprilrain]

i guess i do have to get over it i just don't like people telling you what you can and cannot do there's enough of that in the world now a days. Thanks for all your advice :)

when it comes to drugs you definitely have to get over it! The DEA feels they have the right to control drugs in the US

[Cindi Johnson]

Some years ago I had a tracheal shave which permanently altered my body, and a couple of years later I also had a rhinoplasty which similarly changed me, permanently. Only now do I see that I should have consulted a therapist first, for my own good and my own well-being, of course. To think that I made such decisions, on my own! How stupid of me.

My neighbor got a tattoo last week, but did not get the blessing of a therapist first. Geez!

Alcohol kills thousands each year, including many innocent non-drinkers who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Definitely we should demand that anyone who drinks in America see a therapist first!

Smokers die not by the thousands, but by the hundreds of thousands! From now on, anyone who uses tobacco should be required to get a written OK from a therapist first! Not to do so condemns so many to early death.

Pregnancy? Really big issues there! Therapist, here we come!

OK, I think you all get my point. But no, I am not against therapy per se. If it’s useful to you, or to me, great! After all, what’s $100 an hour amongst friends? My problem is that TG’s are often REQUIRED to see a therapist.

Maybe I’m a fool. So be it. But it does seem to me that by requiring us to see a therapist (and only us!), we allow society to say that the medically correct assumption is that TG’s are mentally unstable. Yes, we are unstable unless and until we get a therapist to say otherwise.

Would the gays stand for this? For example, if New York required a gay couple to get the approval of a therapist before they could be married, would the gays in New York just passively say, “Sure, after all, it is what’s best for us.” No way! They would be marching, picketing, you name it. Yet over and over again, on this board and elsewhere, we TG’s almost without exception embrace the requirement that we MUST see a therapist in order to get a prescription. Not a physician, mind you. A therapist.

I don’t get it. Sometimes it seems we TG’s are our own worst enemies.

I suppose this will post will be deleted for some reason or another. So be it. Made me feel better just to write it.

Cindi