HRT Update #2
Hiya, update shortened: I got my prescription and I'm on what I wanted! Started on the 4th!
Ok so the long update: The wait from the consultation to the physical/prescription appointment was about a month, which in all honesty (considering how extremely busy this clinic is) is absolutely amazing. I made sure to book as soon as I could, so maybe that helped with the wait times.\ During the month I had to wait, I got blood work done. It was kind of nerve-wrecking, since it was my first time getting blood removed on purpose (plus needles are scary). My results were what was expected. I got a lot of things tested, but here are the numbers for the more interesting 3:
Estradiol: ~35.14 pg/ml
Testosterone: ~561.96 ng/dL
Prolactin: 15 ug/L
(Please note that hormone levels can vary a decent amount person-person. I put mine here as a reference of progression when I get my next blood test.)
So, which drugs and dosages did I end up with. I was prescribed 12.5mg of cyproterone every other day, and 1mg of estradiol twice-daily orally. I was told I can take the estradiol sublingually if I wished, but there's reports that lupin estradiol (the one I got) doesn't dissolve very well. I'll give it a shot but I don't know how well that'll go. I was told to take the cyproterone for 1 week, then start the estradiol. I beleive this is mainly to make it easier to identify side-effects (as well as to initially decrease testosterone levels, but mainly the side-effect thing). For some reason I was given 2 months of drugs instead of 3 by the pharmacy, but guess I'll figure out why in 2 months.
In 3 months, I have follow-up bloodwork and an appointment. I assume this is to see what my levels look like and to adjust dosage. 2mg of estradiol seemed low to me but I presume it's just to start off. I'll make sure to give an update on hormone levels as well then, to see how much they've changed. As of writing this, I've only taken 1 cyproterone, so obviously I'm not seeing any changes yet, but I do feel like I'm generally happier (unlikely the drug, probably just because I'm starting HRT)! I will make updates every once in a while if I start seeing any major changes.
Overall, I am very happy with how things are going so far! I'm excited to see what changes will come in the future and hopefully everything goes smoothly!
Thanks for reading!
side note: I am planning on a general update regarding my whole transition excluding the hrt. In my opinion, HRT deserves it's own updates. Not sure when I'll get it out, but hopefully soon!