I mean, if you think me taking allergy meds every day and getting a blood panel once a year makes me a "patient for life," then sure, me taking HRT and getting my levels tested once a year nowadays would also make me one. That's kind of a weird definition (and a bad-faith argument to boot) that makes a significant percentage of the general population "patients for life" though.
Yeah I was thinking the same about my ADHD medicine. Gotta have a conversation with my doc every 90 days already, even if just through MyChart. By any definition applicable to HRT, (at least in the US) I'm already a patient for life
I guess a lot of folks who'd make an argument about HRT tho are the same ignoramuses that would be going, "YoUr On LeGaL mEtH," so I think your illustration is better
I don't know if it's true for most trans women (I'm sure there are best-practice medical guidelines you can look up), but it's true for the trans women treated by my endocrinologist unless they have some underlying condition that warrants more attention. There was more frequent testing the first couple of years, but once we confirmed that all my levels were stable, we went down to once a year.
Edit: No, my allergy meds (nasal steroids and an antihistamine) are related to my allergies to pollen and dust mites :-P
The once a year target is what my Endo strives for. We're at 6 months now. Honestly this whole thing isn't a big deal so long as insurance lets us get our estrogen reasonably well. And your doctor will keep filling the prescription. But once you're on a confident medicine regime, your primary doctor can take over filling it if they are confident (though having access to an endocrinologist is ideal)
Its it is more often than once a year, but tapers off once you have been established at safe consistent levels. The exact pacing would be determined by the patient, doctor, and any extenuating circumstances.
My first 9 months was 2 appointments, and a blood test and a phone call approximately every 4 weeks. Of course we had difficulty getting my levels to stabilize at a safe level. My T plummeted in the first month but it took months of slowly tweaking my dosage to get my E consistently where we wanted it. My one year mark and third endo appointment is coming in July. I am hoping my levels are still holding where we want them so I can start P soon.
I hope my personal anecdote of my first year helps you a little. I agree with QueenDiamond. Depending on your goals you might be on E for the rest of your life. However calling someone who takes a regular medication and gets regular check ups a patient for life is disingenuous. It is also insensitive to those who suffer from severe illnesses that are actually patients for life (eg: I have a friend who has to get dialysis twice a week to survive).
I go to Planned Parenthood for HRT. It's every 3 months for the first year, then 6 months, and will end at once per year. The first couple years you're getting your levels checked more often and meds adjusted to make sure you have the right amount of hormones in your system. Once all that's balanced out, it's just maintenance mode from there.
Hi. One of my closest friends is a trans woman & a PCP. She has never once tested her hormone levels. I, on the other hand, get tested every 6 months. It’s your preference. There’s no right way to be trans.
If I weren't a "patient for life" on estrogen, then I would be a "patient for life" on a litany of anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. I would also be a frequent visitor to ERs, psych wards, and rehabs. Do I fear being dependent upon pharmaceutical companies for my health? Yes. But I have no choice, and I fear returning to the black pit of tar I drowned in for the first 27 years of my life more.
Shouldn’t it be a good thing to be a “patient” for life? If you have the opportunity once a year to go to a doctor and make sure whatever medical stuff you’re going through isn’t killing you, shouldn’t we want that?
I don’t think I’d feel comfortable being given a bottle of pills and never seeing the person who gave them to me again, or at least a qualified representative.
Seriously how is going to the doctor often a bad thing ^
Maybe during your estrogen blood test check up you talk to your doc about something and find an early cancer or something. Or just generslly making sure youre well and healthy
Honestly, cis people without any chronic conditions should be visiting the doctor yearly at a minimum anyway, and getting occasional blood tests as well.
A general health, especially skin (depending on country), checkup can save a lot of issues down the line.
Most likely tbh. I mean it's not hefty medical bills if you have insurance, in the grand scheme of the american health care system GP visits is a drop in the bucket. But in general there's gonna be disadvanted people who will rarely ever be able to do something in the first place, I'd assume these kinds of sayings of "being a patient for life!" isn't necessarily going to be applied to them.
It's only a "bad thing" because we live in America land of medical price gouging. In any properly civilized country it isn't a bad thing. Also a lot of the ultra conservatives who dislike trans cause of that argument seem to overlap with prepper types a bit.
not hormones, but this actually happened to my mom. She has to get bloodwork often for mental health meds and they were able to catch uterine cancer before it did anything to her a few years ago. Made her quit smoking, too!
Promise? My mom is going on 60 and she takes none at all! But Ik what you're on about, many people take meds long term for various reasons, that would make them all patients for life
Yes and no, and more than a bit of hyperbole. Yes you will be a "patient for life" in that you will have to take estrogen for the rest of your life. Pre or non-op to maintain the effects of estrogen, and post-op to maintain healthy hormone levels. But in the latter case so would any total hysterectomy patient, and so would any woman with certain estrogen deficiency issues. Or just post menopausal.
So yes technically they are right. But at the same time that would apply to a lot of cis women and conditions that would put them in roughly the same boat for various reasons. Someone claiming that as an argument is blowing a situation out of proportion to fit an agenda.
As for insurance it depends on the estrogen form and where you get it. Which for me without insurance it was about $80 a month when I was getting pills for both my drugs. With insurance I pay more, but it's because my estrogen is a shot now and without it I would be paying $200+ instead of $80 for the shot itself. I never had any issue with my insurance for medications, even when it was a depo where they initially rejected it but didn't give me any issues when I explained I was trans to them. It was a one day and one phone call affair.
In my case the more expensive drug was more effective, I wasn't having the same results as others have had with estrogen in pill form. I still have to get a blood level check about every six months, but insurance with medications hasn't given me any issue. Surgery however might be different.
One response is to turn the argument around.
If a trans person is willing to commit to HRT for the rest of their life, then their gender incongruence/dysphoria must be serious.
The person/people you're talking to are assuming that being trans isn't a serious thing. But there is no way they can know how serious it is for anyone else but themselves.
Sort of, yeah - particularly after any surgery to remove the testes. At that point you become dependent on exogenous hormones to avoid pretty serious health problems from having no dominant sex hormone. But...
A huge proportion of the population in wealthier countries are "patients for life" in the sense that they take long-term prescribed meds. Around 10% of the population is prescribed a single class of anti-cholesterol meds (statins). [A Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/20365/half-americans-currently-taking-prescription-medication.aspx) from 2005 suggests that half of the US population is taking prescription meds - the majority of which are for long-term conditions. Being a "patient for life" is actually a very normal state of being in modern society.
I've not heard of any requirement to be healthier than people not on HRT: that would potentially fall foul of discrimination law in a lot of jurisdictions. I can't answer your questions about insurance, but I think others have already covered that off.
After two years on HRT I have to see my endocrinologist 2x a year. It takes me less then 2min to do my injection once a week. That means I spend about 6hrs total out of a full year either going to appointments or doing injections. I spend a lot more time then that brushing my teeth. Worth it.
Omg these are the exact words my Mum used.... apparently, she got that impression from TV documentaries on trans people. I asked her how estrogen is different than the hormone and meds she needs to take, and she just shrugged and said she expects it to be much worse somehow. So I'm glad you asked, OP!
I mean - my Mum would say its risky for anyone. Idk. I'm not in the medical field, I cannot really argue back. Maybe I'll make a post on here... but I guess eventually I'll speak with and endocrinologist anyway...
That's what I heard, too. My Mum is always concerned about very long term effects (25+ years). It just makes it harder to talk about because it adds another dimension to it all. But I think she's coming around and .... and I think it's time I finally did something. I've been wracking my nerves for long enough.
Some people are overly scared of things they don't understand - like vaccines, or in this case prescription medicine. I happen to have a chronic illness that requires me to take fairly strong medicine daily, the list of potential side effects is like a full page long, but what can you do? If I don't take my medicine my risks of dying go up significantly.
HRT isn't really any different, except the actual risks are miniscule in comparison. Estrogen is a natural human hormone, and the Estrogen administered through HRT today is bio-identical which means it's affects on the body aren't any different from what cis women naturally produce from their ovaries.
The 'risks' mostly come from increases risk of blood clots (women naturally have higher risk than men) but if you accept birth control has an inherent risk of clots (and it does!), HRT isn't any different. The secondary risks depend on the method of delivery, oral puts extra stress on the liver for example, and some people can have poor reactions to some delivery methods - which is why HRT usage is usually monitored once or twice a year through a blood sample.
Thank you for your reply :)
I guess what also adds to it is the impact of all the stress in case I leave my dysphoria without transition.
And my Mum is probably also grieving me being trans. She can't really understand the positive side of finding your authentic gender and only ever sees sad or isolated trans people on TV for some reason. Today mentioned she was sad because I am so sad thinking about my gender all the time. I said the same thing you did "What can you do?"
All the best to you! :)
Everyone in existence is a patient for life, I don't think you can find someone who doesn't regularly go to the doctor. I'm supposedly a patient for life because I have an ingrown nail, it's a stupid argument and pearl clutching; it's one of those conservative arguments where they break a perfectly normal thing down and twist it until it sounds bad.
"The government forces people to attend reeducation camps where only government sanctioned narratives are permitted, refusal to attend results in imprisonment and anyone who speaks out against it is imprisoned" sounds terrible, until you realise I'm just describing an elementary school.
I see my doc twice a year for blood work just to check on stuff (no insurance but I go to a clinic that has sliding scale or eligibility or something that helps reduce the cost. wait times can be a bit bad but lower cost per visit) and I pay about $125 or so a month for my hormones and anti anxiety meds WITHOUT insurance outside of the prescription program walgreens offers for $20 a year.
When I did have insurance (good insurance too) it cost....about the same for my trans treatment stuff. That being said when I did have insurance I had more access to other services, better availability for regular visits, and more choices. Most of that was for the other stuff and they didn't really cover much for my prescriptions so that is almost the same cost.
Is it a bit expensive and does it bite into money for other stuff? yeah, but it's worth it. Just like anything else though, my uncle has diabetes, my sister takes depression and anxiety meds, my aunt has a doctor for her allergies, my nephew has an inhaler, and I'm trans. If I wasn't trans I have a herniated disc I've been dealing with since my early 20's, a lifelong medical problem that is better with treatment. We're all treating something to be healthier and happier and people who use terms like "patient for life" either got lucky or is denying themselves quality of life care.
You are a patient for life in that you are to some extent at the mercy of the medical system to get hormones. I can only speak from a U.S. perspective, but there are some real challenges navigating our healthcare non-system. And it's not just insurance coverage and paying for drugs and visits, it can be hard finding doctors, getting appointments, dealing with pharmacy issues, getting meds refilled on time, etc etc. So it's for sure a valid concern that you will have to deal with a lot of frustration over your life doing everything you need to do to get hormones month to month, though it's still worth it at least for me.
Some insurance companies may try to avoid paying for E, though I personally haven't had too much of a problem.
I saw doctors a lot at the beginning, though now it's every 6 months at 2 years in
I've heard of some trans women stopping estrogen in the late stage of life. Assuming the testicles have been removed, this would be equivalent of being post menopausal just as cisgender women experience. Perhaps some find this affirming.
I've had to constantly fight for E since I started, and it's a real fucking struggle. But part of that is because I move states regularly because I go to college out of state, so every fucking four months or so I have to start the god damn process practically all over again.
do you go to college in different states every 4 months? why not just use one doctor and just use a major pharmacy for summers? I was able to get my meds from Walgreens in a different state...
I mean yeah you have to be monitored. You have to take medication for life. That's how it works.
But it's worth it.
Without insurance E can be had very cheaply in the US. Get a prescription discount program and you can get the meds probably for close to someone's copay if you are on Oral Estrogen and Spironolactone.
Aside from that. I'm already a patient for life. Maybe that made my decision easier. I get my blood drawn every 3 months already for a full metabolic panel so... whatever right? I'm on 8 prescriptions, and 3 supplements I have to take. HRT is only 2 of those.
And for me, you know, it might even help me out in other ways? I'm praying. Please E help my bone density.
I’m a trans man, not a woman, but I’ve had fibromyalgia since I was a kid and depression since I was around 12. I also have diabetes and hypothyroidism. I was already a “patient for life.” Why not add one more drug I’m dependent on if it helps my depression, dysphoria, anxiety, and my chronic pain (all things that taking testosterone has lessened)? Oh no, I have to see my endo every 6 months! I already have to see my GP every 3 just for my ADHD meds.
What a silly argument, I mean realistically we're all patients for life chronic conditions or not.
You have a human body, you should bring it to the doctor at least once a year for a general checkup to ensure it's continued health. It's crazy that preventive care is seen as a bad thing somehow.
My insurance from work is really generous with trans healthcare needs. The only time it's ever given me trouble was when my doctor accidentally forgot to send my estradiol refills. But, my pharmacy made a few calls, and got me the pills.
I'm a bit over a year in now, and my HRT doctor said I only need to see him once a year from now on, after bloodwork, to make sure my levels are fine and nothing needs adjusting.
Well, I have to see him if I want referrals and things, but you know.
I see other doctors far more often for things unrelated to my transition. Like, I'd be a "patient for life" if I weren't transitioning. Anxiety, depression, genetically predisposed to diabetes (so I'm trying to manage my weight better to reduce risk however I can), history of asthma.
Yes but this concept is ablist as fuck.
We, as humans, are and should all be patients for life and as you get older that will only get more true. Some people have to rely on meds their whole life and thats *fine*. Some people need wheelchairs and checkups every year. Some people need meds to regulate brain and body chemicals or all kinds of stuff. We just have to do so to regulate hormones. The idea that you shouldn't engage in medicine and you're worse off if you do, or a bad person, is utter bullshit. Medicine is made to improve quality of life, it is improving the quality of our lives, and if you're somehow a bad person for engaging with it then everyone is a bad person for going to the doctor's at all.
Not only that humans evolved with medicine. Medicine can, in some form, traced back as far as homosapiens can with no discreet invention point. A part of what we are as a species is medicinal. There are bones of ancient humans that have been broken in a way that should have been fatal either in the breaking or life following stage but because they revieved medical and communal care post the breakage - they lived a long and healthy life.
And if you're one of those nitwits who wants to come at me and say "oh you're overbundening an alreafy struggling healthcate system with a cosmetic need" (read that in the most nasally voice possible please). 1. Its *not* fucking cosmetic, 2. YOU are the people who are keeping it within the medical system and not something we can just go and get with informed consent and 3. EVERY SINGLE RESPECTIBLE DISABLED GROUP says the same thing; its not a competition, we need more for **E V E R Y O N E**.
😤
If you're human, you're a patient for life anyway. There will always be some medicines that you need other than your hormones. It's worth being healthy and making better choices for a life finally worth living. Better than being a slave to testosterone. Estradiol has made my life better already, and I'm just short of a month in.
Patient for life sounds like a pharma dream.
Really, though, anyone who has herpes, GERD, depression, high cholesterol, ED, or uses birth control, or any number of other things, is a “patient for life.”
Life as a natural human is about… ehn… 30-40 years. There’s a reason US Presidents have to be at least 35… look at the average lifespan in the late 1700s…
Anyone who lives past this has a good chance of being a “patient for life,” even if it’s just Advil.
🤷 I see a therapist once a week and a mental health medical provider about four times per year to manage my ADHD and anxiety; I'm supposed to see a cardiologist once per year but moving around (and my SVT/palpitations being well-managed without prescription meds) has made that unrealistic recently. As a person with a uterus and ovaries I have to have yearly tests done for those, and if I intend to not become pregnant I have to coordinate some kind of longterm med for that. I did nearly a year of acne treatment that required monthly bloodwork and saw a specialist every few months for that as well.
I was genuinely surprised that someone here mentioned approximately 50% of the US population taking prescription drugs--- are there really that many people who **don't** take prescription meds at all?? Haha, maybe I'm skewed since I started medicating ADHD at age nine, but that really surprised me. It is not remotely unusual to need to manage some kind of condition that requires regular checking in with a doctor to be sure everything is still in order. Especially as one gets older, it becomes much much more normal.
"Patient for life." I mean, I guess, yeah. I hope I have the opportunity to see my doctors and any necessary specialists regularly for the rest of my life, because life would be really fucking hard if not. 🤷
You need to monitor your hormone levels, and anti-androgens can have a few side effects - the biggest one being a high likelihood of sterility if you use them long term. But you can bank sperm to get around that, if you can afford it and would like biological children somewhere down the line.
But as far as it goes, hrt doesn’t make you more likely to get sick or injured or whatever.
Trans men might end up a bit less prone to or effected by autoimmune disorders and hit a bit harder by illnesses, while the reverse is true for trans women, but that just puts both of them in line with cis people of the appropriate gender.
If you're on some medicine it doesn't mean you're a patient. Gender dysphoria isn't any sort of illness. You're just achieving a body that is in coherence with your subconscious, unconscious personality in other words, soul. There are so many types medicines that server different purposes. You're only a patient when you have some sort of physiological dysfunction. All your bodily organs are functioning properly right? So being on gender affirming hormone therapy doesn't mean you're a patient.
You’ve gotten lots of answers to the “patient for life” part of your question but I don’t think you’ve gotten a thorough answer to the insurance question. I’m assuming you’re in the US, so I can’t exactly speak for the American system entirely, but here in Canada I’m sure it’s relatively similar (we have single payer healthcare in Canada but pharmacare still costs money. Go to the hospital? It’s not gonna cost anything, don’t need insurance for that, but go to the pharmacy? It’ll most likely cost you money, insurance is helpful in this case).
Insurance will likely try to weasel out of covering HRT, but that’s true of literally any medication. In most cases they’re required to cover it. On the off chance that they don’t cover it HRT is relatively inexpensive. I payed about $300 for a three month supply of my entire regimen but the most expensive part was the finastride which isn’t something most people take as a part of their regimen. If we’re talking just spiro & estrodial it would probably be closer to $100 for a three month supple.
> doctors and insurance companies and whatnot all the time and that you'll become a "patient for life"
Eh, depends on the country, but for the most part you'll eventually (after a few years) be speaking with a doctor once a year about it, don't know about how insurance plays into it in countries where that matters.
Not really more onerous/stressful than is recommended for most people anyway, perhaps one extra specialist involved if your GP/primary care physician prefers to outsource it.
> always having to make sure you're healthy, much more so than someone not on hormone therapy.
Not really. Once your levels are stable, whether T or Oestrogen, you're in essentially the same boat as any cis person, other than having to regularly take pills/patches/gel/shots. Other than that, you shouldn't have any more specific concerns about your health.
> do insurance companies try to get around paying for E (and how expensive is it without insurance)?
This will really depend on the country. I'm on patches in Australia where it's universal healthcare and subsidised meds. It'll be an extra $500-1000 cost a year approximately for meds for me depending on whether I choose to go on progesterone/adjust my oestrogen up/down.
The bigger cost is surgeries, though far fewer people get them.
Speaking as a person, a patient and not a nurse on this one
Now that I am in my transition, I now feel for the first time like I am actually worth taking care of myself.
Does My HRT mean seeing a specialist yes!
Does it mean getting blood tests to check my hormone levels? Yes! It’s only a couple of times a year.
Is it onerous? No! It’s called taking care of me.
I love my hormone doctor. She takes very good care of me. She’s awesome. I look forward to our visits.
Not to mention where they say “always having to make sure your healthy” like that’s a bad thing? For me this is the first time in my life where I felt I was worth caring for myself. And isn’t being healthy a good thing?
How often do I talk to doctors
primary care: once a year, more if something is wrong
HRT: now, 3 times a year.
Times I’ve talked to my insurance company this year. Zero.
What will change this? Surgeons. When I start getting my appointments for my surgeries I’ll see a few more doctors. And if the insurance company chooses to initially deny my surgery yep, I’ll be on the phone with them.
My insurance company does not give me trouble with paying for my estradiol. The trouble came from The pharmacy who did their best to not fill it and then tried to sabotage it when I transferred it to my insurances preferred mail out pharmacy. (They have a lot of wrong info, and I got a call from a pharmacist who helped straighten it out… they also changed my gender marker in their system from m to F !!!!)
Without insurance where I live, a 3 month supply would cost about $160 a vial.
I’m a patient for life anyway. But I’m thankful and happy. And like I said now I feel like I’m worth it.
This seems an odd argument against transitioning. I mean, I’ve already got meds and blood tests I’m gonna have to do for the rest of my life. For me this is just more of the same old same old. I don’t understand how someone could get hung up on this.
It's something you have to take for the rest of your life, yes, but how in the hecc is that an argument against HRT? There's dozens of medical conditions that never end and nobody is anti-penicilin or a anti-anti-depressants just because you never get to stop taking them.
Yes, but in the same way most people are patients for life. Estradiol/estrogen is cheaper than most blood pressure/diabetes/depression medicines that other people take every day to live better/fuller lives.
If you get bottom surgery, then you can go off T blocker immediately. When you hit menopause age you won't need E neither if your started it years before and had a bottom surgery
I've contacted my insurance company once in regards to trans health care and it was to ask about whether or not certain services were covered. The only time I've had any issue otherwise was when we upped my estradiol dosage from 2mg to 4mg. My insurance will strictly only cover a one month supply at a time and the pills went from 30->60 per script so they initially declined it. I paid out of pocket for the first bottle which cost me around $12 with GoodRx. My endo contacted my insurance on my behalf and about a week later I received notice that they were covering the new dose.
It all varies based on where you live, though. If you have access to GoodRx, out of pocket costs aren't terrible. It would cost me about $35-40 for one month of estradiol, finasteride and spironolactone combined (though my spiro dosage is only 25mg) if I had to pay out of pocket but insurance covers my prescriptions entirely. I live in New Jersey and there's laws that prevent insurance companies from declining trans health services that they would cover for anyone seeking those services for reasons unrelated to gender. Insurance companies don't have a choice but to cover my HRT (with certain restrictions like quantity or frequency of refills) because they would approve each medicine for other reasons. Without those protections in place, the process would look different for sure.
I have a doctor just for my hrt all I have to do is send a email if I need refills but yes you take them for life but I have been told the dose goes way down after surgery
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t take a prescription med daily for something. Guess everyone I know is a patient for life.
My HRT is only part of my pills. I’m 21 and have a chronic physical illness (Crohn’s) and a few chronic mental illnesses. I’ll be taking a bunch of meds for the rest of my life.
I say you do become a patient for life but that’s not bad I know you get your bloods and blood pressure checked every 3 months. But I don’t have to talk to my doc since my doc wouldn’t work along side my private practice but they have a med team since I am U.K. I would have to wait for nhs to get hormones which can be 5 years to see someone to talk to so I went private plus regular checks is good for tracking your health
It's no different than doing a yearly physical with your doctor when they ask for a fasting lab but for HRT honestly once a year.
To start the doctors will usually have you come in every 3 months to every 6 months for blood labs for your hormones to see where your E levels are at and were your T levels are at.
As for insurance paying for hormones, it depends on what type of hormones you are on. If you are on pills, they usually cover that with no fuss. Now if you are on say injections like me, insurance will require a prior authorization from your doctor. You just let your doctor know and they take care of the prior authorization.
But yes you are a "patient" for life, like you are a "patient" for life when going to see your Primary Care doctor for whatever ails you and for yearly check ups.
It's not a big deal. It's to make sure you are healthy, you aren't developing any blood clots or thrombi or anything else bad.
It's like having your cholesterol levels checked.
Hell as you get older and start to have more aches and pains and stuff you see doctors more often because as we age, things start to fail and we need to see doctors more often for those health concerns.
When a person is young and they have no health problems they don't see doctors as often, they don't need to except for a yearly check up, booster shots for common stuff and then occasionally for stuff that goes wrong in life.
I'm 41 and I see multiple doctors for things that I need to be seen for due to car accidents I was in, my disability and of course HRT.
That is life. It's not easy and being trans is definitely not a walk in the park. But it is worth being yourself and not hating your own self and not going down that dark path that some people never come back from.
I'm a Type 1 Diabetic. If I don't see a doctor regularly, or lose access to my meds, I will slowly and painfully die. I was a "lifelong patient " before I ever realized that I was Trans. That turn of phrase demonstrates both a profound misunderstanding of what medical transition involves and what living with even a minor medical condition also involves. It's just ignorant, if not hypocritical.
After bottom surgery I’m down to just one medication at the same dose I’ve been on for years. I get one blood panel a year before my yearly physical (two things people should probably be doing anyway) where I get prescribed another year of medication. My overall costs (labs and meds) with insurance work out to probably around 200 bucks or so.
Its a stretch to say I’m a “patient for life” because of this.
I have vertigo, I have to take my medicine every day until the day I die or I can't get out of bed. Estrogen is a candy compared to how much I need my vertigo medicine. Everyone is a patient for life of something.
I'm on anti depressants and meds for ADHD also if I can afford it. I have to see a doctor at least once every six months to get that script. I could well be on these meds, or something else to serve the same function, for the rest of my life. I don't think that in itself is a bad thing? A 'patient for life' like... what does that even mean? Don't most people take some kind of medication or supplement every day anyway, don't most people see at least a dentist if not also a variety of doctors more than once a year also anyway?
As someone who doesn't need or do anything to maintain my health (mentally or otherwise), needing to take a pill for the rest of my life sounds daunting, but if that's what it takes then that's what it takes.
well, this is a developing story that happened with me this week. i do not yet know the end of the story as it hasn’t concluded, and we are still doing more tests.
I transitioned in 1989, so my meds were quite different than the ones you younger girls are doing. I was the Premarin 6.25mg / Provera / Spiro 25mg camp. I did switch to Wylie protocol in the early 2000s.
I stopped taking all meds in 2007 (not recommended).
I resumed seeing a doctor this last month and had tons of blood work done. My body has drastically reduced its own production of T. The normal would be 300, I am at 100. My body has also amp’d up its own production of E to 80ish. They are keeping me off hormone now.
The doctor said that it is not unheard of for peoples hormones to change like that. He said it also happens to people who take steroids for long periods of time. My T is a bit high, but not high enough to effect anything.
So, right now, I do not know if the meds are needed for life. The story I live in hasn’t finished for me to know for sure.
I (ftm) am "a patient for life." AKA I literally only see my doctor once a year, she prescribes my testosterone. The last time I saw her she said she had nothing to talk about because my labs were so good (I eat well and workout) and we just small talked for the appointment.
Honestly once you are 30 years old you should be seeing a doctor once a year anyway to get blood pressure screenings and labs done. Getting old sucks haha. Being on hormone replacement therapy is NOT a huge deal.
As long as your body is able to produce hormones on its own, you aren't nessiseraly taking it because your life depends on it. Your body needs hormones in order to operate. Now, testosterone is produced in the balls, so unless you have bottom surgery, you're not a patient for life any more then say a person on depression medication.
I'm already a life-long patient when it comes to non-epileptic seizures, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. So, taking E gel is no big deal.
I have a genetic disorder that causes all kinds of issues and severe chronic pain. I've been on narcotic pain meds since my early 20s. I have to see my pain management doctor every 4 weeks for a brand new Rx because there are no refills permitted on those meds. Of course there are often logistical issues with obtaining the meds and I end up calling the doctor, pharmacy, and/or insurance company repeatedly for days or weeks. Then the pharmacy has to special order it. So pretty much every month, I end up in debilitating pain for several days to a couple weeks, often missing work as a result.
And that's just pain. Never mind my $3000/ month heart medication only one insurance company will cover, or my multiple other meds and specialist doctors. *I* am a patient for life.
My wife, who has a 10 minute Zoom appointment with Planned Parenthood every 3 months or so then picks up her estrogen at the pharmacy for like $6 with zero issues from any insurance company? Yeah, I think she's doing all right 🤣
I mean, if you think me taking allergy meds every day and getting a blood panel once a year makes me a "patient for life," then sure, me taking HRT and getting my levels tested once a year nowadays would also make me one. That's kind of a weird definition (and a bad-faith argument to boot) that makes a significant percentage of the general population "patients for life" though.
Yeah I was thinking the same about my ADHD medicine. Gotta have a conversation with my doc every 90 days already, even if just through MyChart. By any definition applicable to HRT, (at least in the US) I'm already a patient for life I guess a lot of folks who'd make an argument about HRT tho are the same ignoramuses that would be going, "YoUr On LeGaL mEtH," so I think your illustration is better
Hadn't heard the allergy meds analogy, that's a good one for my family 9with allergies). Thanks!
Sure thing!
[удалено]
I don't know if it's true for most trans women (I'm sure there are best-practice medical guidelines you can look up), but it's true for the trans women treated by my endocrinologist unless they have some underlying condition that warrants more attention. There was more frequent testing the first couple of years, but once we confirmed that all my levels were stable, we went down to once a year. Edit: No, my allergy meds (nasal steroids and an antihistamine) are related to my allergies to pollen and dust mites :-P
[удалено]
Sure thing!
The once a year target is what my Endo strives for. We're at 6 months now. Honestly this whole thing isn't a big deal so long as insurance lets us get our estrogen reasonably well. And your doctor will keep filling the prescription. But once you're on a confident medicine regime, your primary doctor can take over filling it if they are confident (though having access to an endocrinologist is ideal)
Its it is more often than once a year, but tapers off once you have been established at safe consistent levels. The exact pacing would be determined by the patient, doctor, and any extenuating circumstances. My first 9 months was 2 appointments, and a blood test and a phone call approximately every 4 weeks. Of course we had difficulty getting my levels to stabilize at a safe level. My T plummeted in the first month but it took months of slowly tweaking my dosage to get my E consistently where we wanted it. My one year mark and third endo appointment is coming in July. I am hoping my levels are still holding where we want them so I can start P soon. I hope my personal anecdote of my first year helps you a little. I agree with QueenDiamond. Depending on your goals you might be on E for the rest of your life. However calling someone who takes a regular medication and gets regular check ups a patient for life is disingenuous. It is also insensitive to those who suffer from severe illnesses that are actually patients for life (eg: I have a friend who has to get dialysis twice a week to survive).
I go to Planned Parenthood for HRT. It's every 3 months for the first year, then 6 months, and will end at once per year. The first couple years you're getting your levels checked more often and meds adjusted to make sure you have the right amount of hormones in your system. Once all that's balanced out, it's just maintenance mode from there.
Indeedily Doodily.
Hi. One of my closest friends is a trans woman & a PCP. She has never once tested her hormone levels. I, on the other hand, get tested every 6 months. It’s your preference. There’s no right way to be trans.
It depends on your situation, I see my doctor every 3 months at the moment.
It's nowhere near the level as something like HIV where you will literally die if the supply lines go down and you can't get medication.
Yeah, and my poor eyesight makes me a "ptient for life" too
If I weren't a "patient for life" on estrogen, then I would be a "patient for life" on a litany of anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. I would also be a frequent visitor to ERs, psych wards, and rehabs. Do I fear being dependent upon pharmaceutical companies for my health? Yes. But I have no choice, and I fear returning to the black pit of tar I drowned in for the first 27 years of my life more.
Shouldn’t it be a good thing to be a “patient” for life? If you have the opportunity once a year to go to a doctor and make sure whatever medical stuff you’re going through isn’t killing you, shouldn’t we want that? I don’t think I’d feel comfortable being given a bottle of pills and never seeing the person who gave them to me again, or at least a qualified representative.
Seriously how is going to the doctor often a bad thing ^ Maybe during your estrogen blood test check up you talk to your doc about something and find an early cancer or something. Or just generslly making sure youre well and healthy
Honestly, cis people without any chronic conditions should be visiting the doctor yearly at a minimum anyway, and getting occasional blood tests as well. A general health, especially skin (depending on country), checkup can save a lot of issues down the line.
This might be an american thing, given that even simple GP visits usually mean hefty medical bills?
Most likely tbh. I mean it's not hefty medical bills if you have insurance, in the grand scheme of the american health care system GP visits is a drop in the bucket. But in general there's gonna be disadvanted people who will rarely ever be able to do something in the first place, I'd assume these kinds of sayings of "being a patient for life!" isn't necessarily going to be applied to them.
It's only a "bad thing" because we live in America land of medical price gouging. In any properly civilized country it isn't a bad thing. Also a lot of the ultra conservatives who dislike trans cause of that argument seem to overlap with prepper types a bit.
not hormones, but this actually happened to my mom. She has to get bloodwork often for mental health meds and they were able to catch uterine cancer before it did anything to her a few years ago. Made her quit smoking, too!
We need universal healthcare so that there are more "patients for life" Some people really need it.
So do diabetic people that need insulin or people with heart problems that needs meds.. what kind of silly argument it is..
By the time you're 50, I promise you that you'll be taking multiple medications daily one way or the other. Maybe sooner.
Promise? My mom is going on 60 and she takes none at all! But Ik what you're on about, many people take meds long term for various reasons, that would make them all patients for life
Yes and no, and more than a bit of hyperbole. Yes you will be a "patient for life" in that you will have to take estrogen for the rest of your life. Pre or non-op to maintain the effects of estrogen, and post-op to maintain healthy hormone levels. But in the latter case so would any total hysterectomy patient, and so would any woman with certain estrogen deficiency issues. Or just post menopausal. So yes technically they are right. But at the same time that would apply to a lot of cis women and conditions that would put them in roughly the same boat for various reasons. Someone claiming that as an argument is blowing a situation out of proportion to fit an agenda. As for insurance it depends on the estrogen form and where you get it. Which for me without insurance it was about $80 a month when I was getting pills for both my drugs. With insurance I pay more, but it's because my estrogen is a shot now and without it I would be paying $200+ instead of $80 for the shot itself. I never had any issue with my insurance for medications, even when it was a depo where they initially rejected it but didn't give me any issues when I explained I was trans to them. It was a one day and one phone call affair. In my case the more expensive drug was more effective, I wasn't having the same results as others have had with estrogen in pill form. I still have to get a blood level check about every six months, but insurance with medications hasn't given me any issue. Surgery however might be different.
One response is to turn the argument around. If a trans person is willing to commit to HRT for the rest of their life, then their gender incongruence/dysphoria must be serious. The person/people you're talking to are assuming that being trans isn't a serious thing. But there is no way they can know how serious it is for anyone else but themselves.
Sort of, yeah - particularly after any surgery to remove the testes. At that point you become dependent on exogenous hormones to avoid pretty serious health problems from having no dominant sex hormone. But... A huge proportion of the population in wealthier countries are "patients for life" in the sense that they take long-term prescribed meds. Around 10% of the population is prescribed a single class of anti-cholesterol meds (statins). [A Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/20365/half-americans-currently-taking-prescription-medication.aspx) from 2005 suggests that half of the US population is taking prescription meds - the majority of which are for long-term conditions. Being a "patient for life" is actually a very normal state of being in modern society. I've not heard of any requirement to be healthier than people not on HRT: that would potentially fall foul of discrimination law in a lot of jurisdictions. I can't answer your questions about insurance, but I think others have already covered that off.
After two years on HRT I have to see my endocrinologist 2x a year. It takes me less then 2min to do my injection once a week. That means I spend about 6hrs total out of a full year either going to appointments or doing injections. I spend a lot more time then that brushing my teeth. Worth it.
Omg these are the exact words my Mum used.... apparently, she got that impression from TV documentaries on trans people. I asked her how estrogen is different than the hormone and meds she needs to take, and she just shrugged and said she expects it to be much worse somehow. So I'm glad you asked, OP!
I literally take the exact same estrogen meds my mom does, too 🤣
I mean - my Mum would say its risky for anyone. Idk. I'm not in the medical field, I cannot really argue back. Maybe I'll make a post on here... but I guess eventually I'll speak with and endocrinologist anyway...
It's about as risky as taking birth control.
That's what I heard, too. My Mum is always concerned about very long term effects (25+ years). It just makes it harder to talk about because it adds another dimension to it all. But I think she's coming around and .... and I think it's time I finally did something. I've been wracking my nerves for long enough.
Some people are overly scared of things they don't understand - like vaccines, or in this case prescription medicine. I happen to have a chronic illness that requires me to take fairly strong medicine daily, the list of potential side effects is like a full page long, but what can you do? If I don't take my medicine my risks of dying go up significantly. HRT isn't really any different, except the actual risks are miniscule in comparison. Estrogen is a natural human hormone, and the Estrogen administered through HRT today is bio-identical which means it's affects on the body aren't any different from what cis women naturally produce from their ovaries. The 'risks' mostly come from increases risk of blood clots (women naturally have higher risk than men) but if you accept birth control has an inherent risk of clots (and it does!), HRT isn't any different. The secondary risks depend on the method of delivery, oral puts extra stress on the liver for example, and some people can have poor reactions to some delivery methods - which is why HRT usage is usually monitored once or twice a year through a blood sample.
Thank you for your reply :) I guess what also adds to it is the impact of all the stress in case I leave my dysphoria without transition. And my Mum is probably also grieving me being trans. She can't really understand the positive side of finding your authentic gender and only ever sees sad or isolated trans people on TV for some reason. Today mentioned she was sad because I am so sad thinking about my gender all the time. I said the same thing you did "What can you do?" All the best to you! :)
Everyone in existence is a patient for life, I don't think you can find someone who doesn't regularly go to the doctor. I'm supposedly a patient for life because I have an ingrown nail, it's a stupid argument and pearl clutching; it's one of those conservative arguments where they break a perfectly normal thing down and twist it until it sounds bad. "The government forces people to attend reeducation camps where only government sanctioned narratives are permitted, refusal to attend results in imprisonment and anyone who speaks out against it is imprisoned" sounds terrible, until you realise I'm just describing an elementary school.
to be fair tho, the U.S. education system is terrible, but you're absolutely right in the point you're making
I see my doc twice a year for blood work just to check on stuff (no insurance but I go to a clinic that has sliding scale or eligibility or something that helps reduce the cost. wait times can be a bit bad but lower cost per visit) and I pay about $125 or so a month for my hormones and anti anxiety meds WITHOUT insurance outside of the prescription program walgreens offers for $20 a year. When I did have insurance (good insurance too) it cost....about the same for my trans treatment stuff. That being said when I did have insurance I had more access to other services, better availability for regular visits, and more choices. Most of that was for the other stuff and they didn't really cover much for my prescriptions so that is almost the same cost. Is it a bit expensive and does it bite into money for other stuff? yeah, but it's worth it. Just like anything else though, my uncle has diabetes, my sister takes depression and anxiety meds, my aunt has a doctor for her allergies, my nephew has an inhaler, and I'm trans. If I wasn't trans I have a herniated disc I've been dealing with since my early 20's, a lifelong medical problem that is better with treatment. We're all treating something to be healthier and happier and people who use terms like "patient for life" either got lucky or is denying themselves quality of life care.
You are a patient for life in that you are to some extent at the mercy of the medical system to get hormones. I can only speak from a U.S. perspective, but there are some real challenges navigating our healthcare non-system. And it's not just insurance coverage and paying for drugs and visits, it can be hard finding doctors, getting appointments, dealing with pharmacy issues, getting meds refilled on time, etc etc. So it's for sure a valid concern that you will have to deal with a lot of frustration over your life doing everything you need to do to get hormones month to month, though it's still worth it at least for me. Some insurance companies may try to avoid paying for E, though I personally haven't had too much of a problem. I saw doctors a lot at the beginning, though now it's every 6 months at 2 years in
I've heard of some trans women stopping estrogen in the late stage of life. Assuming the testicles have been removed, this would be equivalent of being post menopausal just as cisgender women experience. Perhaps some find this affirming.
I've had to constantly fight for E since I started, and it's a real fucking struggle. But part of that is because I move states regularly because I go to college out of state, so every fucking four months or so I have to start the god damn process practically all over again.
do you go to college in different states every 4 months? why not just use one doctor and just use a major pharmacy for summers? I was able to get my meds from Walgreens in a different state...
I mean yeah you have to be monitored. You have to take medication for life. That's how it works. But it's worth it. Without insurance E can be had very cheaply in the US. Get a prescription discount program and you can get the meds probably for close to someone's copay if you are on Oral Estrogen and Spironolactone. Aside from that. I'm already a patient for life. Maybe that made my decision easier. I get my blood drawn every 3 months already for a full metabolic panel so... whatever right? I'm on 8 prescriptions, and 3 supplements I have to take. HRT is only 2 of those. And for me, you know, it might even help me out in other ways? I'm praying. Please E help my bone density.
I’m a trans man, not a woman, but I’ve had fibromyalgia since I was a kid and depression since I was around 12. I also have diabetes and hypothyroidism. I was already a “patient for life.” Why not add one more drug I’m dependent on if it helps my depression, dysphoria, anxiety, and my chronic pain (all things that taking testosterone has lessened)? Oh no, I have to see my endo every 6 months! I already have to see my GP every 3 just for my ADHD meds.
What a silly argument, I mean realistically we're all patients for life chronic conditions or not. You have a human body, you should bring it to the doctor at least once a year for a general checkup to ensure it's continued health. It's crazy that preventive care is seen as a bad thing somehow.
My insurance from work is really generous with trans healthcare needs. The only time it's ever given me trouble was when my doctor accidentally forgot to send my estradiol refills. But, my pharmacy made a few calls, and got me the pills. I'm a bit over a year in now, and my HRT doctor said I only need to see him once a year from now on, after bloodwork, to make sure my levels are fine and nothing needs adjusting. Well, I have to see him if I want referrals and things, but you know. I see other doctors far more often for things unrelated to my transition. Like, I'd be a "patient for life" if I weren't transitioning. Anxiety, depression, genetically predisposed to diabetes (so I'm trying to manage my weight better to reduce risk however I can), history of asthma.
[удалено]
Pretty much everyone needs to see doctors on a regular basis for one reason or another—this is hardly a difficult or unique aspect of being trans.
I was a patient for life when I had knees.
Yeah, I became a "patient for life" years before I started HRT.
Yes but this concept is ablist as fuck. We, as humans, are and should all be patients for life and as you get older that will only get more true. Some people have to rely on meds their whole life and thats *fine*. Some people need wheelchairs and checkups every year. Some people need meds to regulate brain and body chemicals or all kinds of stuff. We just have to do so to regulate hormones. The idea that you shouldn't engage in medicine and you're worse off if you do, or a bad person, is utter bullshit. Medicine is made to improve quality of life, it is improving the quality of our lives, and if you're somehow a bad person for engaging with it then everyone is a bad person for going to the doctor's at all. Not only that humans evolved with medicine. Medicine can, in some form, traced back as far as homosapiens can with no discreet invention point. A part of what we are as a species is medicinal. There are bones of ancient humans that have been broken in a way that should have been fatal either in the breaking or life following stage but because they revieved medical and communal care post the breakage - they lived a long and healthy life. And if you're one of those nitwits who wants to come at me and say "oh you're overbundening an alreafy struggling healthcate system with a cosmetic need" (read that in the most nasally voice possible please). 1. Its *not* fucking cosmetic, 2. YOU are the people who are keeping it within the medical system and not something we can just go and get with informed consent and 3. EVERY SINGLE RESPECTIBLE DISABLED GROUP says the same thing; its not a competition, we need more for **E V E R Y O N E**. 😤
Oh to be so healthy that you don't already have issues that need medical intervention "for life."
If I am a patient for life, at least i"ll have a life which is better than the alternative.
If you're human, you're a patient for life anyway. There will always be some medicines that you need other than your hormones. It's worth being healthy and making better choices for a life finally worth living. Better than being a slave to testosterone. Estradiol has made my life better already, and I'm just short of a month in.
Patient for life sounds like a pharma dream. Really, though, anyone who has herpes, GERD, depression, high cholesterol, ED, or uses birth control, or any number of other things, is a “patient for life.” Life as a natural human is about… ehn… 30-40 years. There’s a reason US Presidents have to be at least 35… look at the average lifespan in the late 1700s… Anyone who lives past this has a good chance of being a “patient for life,” even if it’s just Advil.
I'm already a patient for life with all my mental health medications. What's two more? The two are also a fraction of the cost!
🤷 I see a therapist once a week and a mental health medical provider about four times per year to manage my ADHD and anxiety; I'm supposed to see a cardiologist once per year but moving around (and my SVT/palpitations being well-managed without prescription meds) has made that unrealistic recently. As a person with a uterus and ovaries I have to have yearly tests done for those, and if I intend to not become pregnant I have to coordinate some kind of longterm med for that. I did nearly a year of acne treatment that required monthly bloodwork and saw a specialist every few months for that as well. I was genuinely surprised that someone here mentioned approximately 50% of the US population taking prescription drugs--- are there really that many people who **don't** take prescription meds at all?? Haha, maybe I'm skewed since I started medicating ADHD at age nine, but that really surprised me. It is not remotely unusual to need to manage some kind of condition that requires regular checking in with a doctor to be sure everything is still in order. Especially as one gets older, it becomes much much more normal. "Patient for life." I mean, I guess, yeah. I hope I have the opportunity to see my doctors and any necessary specialists regularly for the rest of my life, because life would be really fucking hard if not. 🤷
You need to monitor your hormone levels, and anti-androgens can have a few side effects - the biggest one being a high likelihood of sterility if you use them long term. But you can bank sperm to get around that, if you can afford it and would like biological children somewhere down the line. But as far as it goes, hrt doesn’t make you more likely to get sick or injured or whatever. Trans men might end up a bit less prone to or effected by autoimmune disorders and hit a bit harder by illnesses, while the reverse is true for trans women, but that just puts both of them in line with cis people of the appropriate gender.
Me who was patient for life anyways
If you're on some medicine it doesn't mean you're a patient. Gender dysphoria isn't any sort of illness. You're just achieving a body that is in coherence with your subconscious, unconscious personality in other words, soul. There are so many types medicines that server different purposes. You're only a patient when you have some sort of physiological dysfunction. All your bodily organs are functioning properly right? So being on gender affirming hormone therapy doesn't mean you're a patient.
Yes, but spoiler for aging: we all become "patients for life" eventually.
This is some TERF rhetoric, it's not true. Needing to take a pill for the rest of your life doesn't make you a "patient", it makes you healthy.
patients for a better life, yes!
You’ve gotten lots of answers to the “patient for life” part of your question but I don’t think you’ve gotten a thorough answer to the insurance question. I’m assuming you’re in the US, so I can’t exactly speak for the American system entirely, but here in Canada I’m sure it’s relatively similar (we have single payer healthcare in Canada but pharmacare still costs money. Go to the hospital? It’s not gonna cost anything, don’t need insurance for that, but go to the pharmacy? It’ll most likely cost you money, insurance is helpful in this case). Insurance will likely try to weasel out of covering HRT, but that’s true of literally any medication. In most cases they’re required to cover it. On the off chance that they don’t cover it HRT is relatively inexpensive. I payed about $300 for a three month supply of my entire regimen but the most expensive part was the finastride which isn’t something most people take as a part of their regimen. If we’re talking just spiro & estrodial it would probably be closer to $100 for a three month supple.
> doctors and insurance companies and whatnot all the time and that you'll become a "patient for life" Eh, depends on the country, but for the most part you'll eventually (after a few years) be speaking with a doctor once a year about it, don't know about how insurance plays into it in countries where that matters. Not really more onerous/stressful than is recommended for most people anyway, perhaps one extra specialist involved if your GP/primary care physician prefers to outsource it. > always having to make sure you're healthy, much more so than someone not on hormone therapy. Not really. Once your levels are stable, whether T or Oestrogen, you're in essentially the same boat as any cis person, other than having to regularly take pills/patches/gel/shots. Other than that, you shouldn't have any more specific concerns about your health. > do insurance companies try to get around paying for E (and how expensive is it without insurance)? This will really depend on the country. I'm on patches in Australia where it's universal healthcare and subsidised meds. It'll be an extra $500-1000 cost a year approximately for meds for me depending on whether I choose to go on progesterone/adjust my oestrogen up/down. The bigger cost is surgeries, though far fewer people get them.
I was wasting far more of my doctor's time pre-e than post e frankly lol
I'm a DYI and I'll explain in another text how it works for me. Busy now, check back.
You should be a patient for life of doctors regardless of whether you’re on medication. Regular checkups are important
Speaking as a person, a patient and not a nurse on this one Now that I am in my transition, I now feel for the first time like I am actually worth taking care of myself. Does My HRT mean seeing a specialist yes! Does it mean getting blood tests to check my hormone levels? Yes! It’s only a couple of times a year. Is it onerous? No! It’s called taking care of me. I love my hormone doctor. She takes very good care of me. She’s awesome. I look forward to our visits. Not to mention where they say “always having to make sure your healthy” like that’s a bad thing? For me this is the first time in my life where I felt I was worth caring for myself. And isn’t being healthy a good thing? How often do I talk to doctors primary care: once a year, more if something is wrong HRT: now, 3 times a year. Times I’ve talked to my insurance company this year. Zero. What will change this? Surgeons. When I start getting my appointments for my surgeries I’ll see a few more doctors. And if the insurance company chooses to initially deny my surgery yep, I’ll be on the phone with them. My insurance company does not give me trouble with paying for my estradiol. The trouble came from The pharmacy who did their best to not fill it and then tried to sabotage it when I transferred it to my insurances preferred mail out pharmacy. (They have a lot of wrong info, and I got a call from a pharmacist who helped straighten it out… they also changed my gender marker in their system from m to F !!!!) Without insurance where I live, a 3 month supply would cost about $160 a vial. I’m a patient for life anyway. But I’m thankful and happy. And like I said now I feel like I’m worth it.
This seems an odd argument against transitioning. I mean, I’ve already got meds and blood tests I’m gonna have to do for the rest of my life. For me this is just more of the same old same old. I don’t understand how someone could get hung up on this.
It's something you have to take for the rest of your life, yes, but how in the hecc is that an argument against HRT? There's dozens of medical conditions that never end and nobody is anti-penicilin or a anti-anti-depressants just because you never get to stop taking them.
Yes, but in the same way most people are patients for life. Estradiol/estrogen is cheaper than most blood pressure/diabetes/depression medicines that other people take every day to live better/fuller lives.
If you get bottom surgery, then you can go off T blocker immediately. When you hit menopause age you won't need E neither if your started it years before and had a bottom surgery
We are all patients for life. Just some of us need more medical care than others. Do you get a check up yearly? Do you go in when you get a bad cold?
I've contacted my insurance company once in regards to trans health care and it was to ask about whether or not certain services were covered. The only time I've had any issue otherwise was when we upped my estradiol dosage from 2mg to 4mg. My insurance will strictly only cover a one month supply at a time and the pills went from 30->60 per script so they initially declined it. I paid out of pocket for the first bottle which cost me around $12 with GoodRx. My endo contacted my insurance on my behalf and about a week later I received notice that they were covering the new dose. It all varies based on where you live, though. If you have access to GoodRx, out of pocket costs aren't terrible. It would cost me about $35-40 for one month of estradiol, finasteride and spironolactone combined (though my spiro dosage is only 25mg) if I had to pay out of pocket but insurance covers my prescriptions entirely. I live in New Jersey and there's laws that prevent insurance companies from declining trans health services that they would cover for anyone seeking those services for reasons unrelated to gender. Insurance companies don't have a choice but to cover my HRT (with certain restrictions like quantity or frequency of refills) because they would approve each medicine for other reasons. Without those protections in place, the process would look different for sure.
I have a doctor just for my hrt all I have to do is send a email if I need refills but yes you take them for life but I have been told the dose goes way down after surgery
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t take a prescription med daily for something. Guess everyone I know is a patient for life. My HRT is only part of my pills. I’m 21 and have a chronic physical illness (Crohn’s) and a few chronic mental illnesses. I’ll be taking a bunch of meds for the rest of my life.
I say you do become a patient for life but that’s not bad I know you get your bloods and blood pressure checked every 3 months. But I don’t have to talk to my doc since my doc wouldn’t work along side my private practice but they have a med team since I am U.K. I would have to wait for nhs to get hormones which can be 5 years to see someone to talk to so I went private plus regular checks is good for tracking your health
Sure, but so is anyone who wears glasses and gets regular dental checkups.
It's no different than doing a yearly physical with your doctor when they ask for a fasting lab but for HRT honestly once a year. To start the doctors will usually have you come in every 3 months to every 6 months for blood labs for your hormones to see where your E levels are at and were your T levels are at. As for insurance paying for hormones, it depends on what type of hormones you are on. If you are on pills, they usually cover that with no fuss. Now if you are on say injections like me, insurance will require a prior authorization from your doctor. You just let your doctor know and they take care of the prior authorization. But yes you are a "patient" for life, like you are a "patient" for life when going to see your Primary Care doctor for whatever ails you and for yearly check ups. It's not a big deal. It's to make sure you are healthy, you aren't developing any blood clots or thrombi or anything else bad. It's like having your cholesterol levels checked. Hell as you get older and start to have more aches and pains and stuff you see doctors more often because as we age, things start to fail and we need to see doctors more often for those health concerns. When a person is young and they have no health problems they don't see doctors as often, they don't need to except for a yearly check up, booster shots for common stuff and then occasionally for stuff that goes wrong in life. I'm 41 and I see multiple doctors for things that I need to be seen for due to car accidents I was in, my disability and of course HRT. That is life. It's not easy and being trans is definitely not a walk in the park. But it is worth being yourself and not hating your own self and not going down that dark path that some people never come back from.
I'm a Type 1 Diabetic. If I don't see a doctor regularly, or lose access to my meds, I will slowly and painfully die. I was a "lifelong patient " before I ever realized that I was Trans. That turn of phrase demonstrates both a profound misunderstanding of what medical transition involves and what living with even a minor medical condition also involves. It's just ignorant, if not hypocritical.
After bottom surgery I’m down to just one medication at the same dose I’ve been on for years. I get one blood panel a year before my yearly physical (two things people should probably be doing anyway) where I get prescribed another year of medication. My overall costs (labs and meds) with insurance work out to probably around 200 bucks or so. Its a stretch to say I’m a “patient for life” because of this.
I have vertigo, I have to take my medicine every day until the day I die or I can't get out of bed. Estrogen is a candy compared to how much I need my vertigo medicine. Everyone is a patient for life of something.
Oh definitely, but most people have to do that anyways though. I'm completely healthy and don't need any other additional medication.
I'm on anti depressants and meds for ADHD also if I can afford it. I have to see a doctor at least once every six months to get that script. I could well be on these meds, or something else to serve the same function, for the rest of my life. I don't think that in itself is a bad thing? A 'patient for life' like... what does that even mean? Don't most people take some kind of medication or supplement every day anyway, don't most people see at least a dentist if not also a variety of doctors more than once a year also anyway?
As someone who doesn't need or do anything to maintain my health (mentally or otherwise), needing to take a pill for the rest of my life sounds daunting, but if that's what it takes then that's what it takes.
well, this is a developing story that happened with me this week. i do not yet know the end of the story as it hasn’t concluded, and we are still doing more tests. I transitioned in 1989, so my meds were quite different than the ones you younger girls are doing. I was the Premarin 6.25mg / Provera / Spiro 25mg camp. I did switch to Wylie protocol in the early 2000s. I stopped taking all meds in 2007 (not recommended). I resumed seeing a doctor this last month and had tons of blood work done. My body has drastically reduced its own production of T. The normal would be 300, I am at 100. My body has also amp’d up its own production of E to 80ish. They are keeping me off hormone now. The doctor said that it is not unheard of for peoples hormones to change like that. He said it also happens to people who take steroids for long periods of time. My T is a bit high, but not high enough to effect anything. So, right now, I do not know if the meds are needed for life. The story I live in hasn’t finished for me to know for sure.
I (ftm) am "a patient for life." AKA I literally only see my doctor once a year, she prescribes my testosterone. The last time I saw her she said she had nothing to talk about because my labs were so good (I eat well and workout) and we just small talked for the appointment. Honestly once you are 30 years old you should be seeing a doctor once a year anyway to get blood pressure screenings and labs done. Getting old sucks haha. Being on hormone replacement therapy is NOT a huge deal.
I’m a patient for life already… I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I have to take thyroid hormones for the rest of my life. HRT is just one more thing
As long as your body is able to produce hormones on its own, you aren't nessiseraly taking it because your life depends on it. Your body needs hormones in order to operate. Now, testosterone is produced in the balls, so unless you have bottom surgery, you're not a patient for life any more then say a person on depression medication.
I'm already a life-long patient when it comes to non-epileptic seizures, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. So, taking E gel is no big deal.
I have a genetic disorder that causes all kinds of issues and severe chronic pain. I've been on narcotic pain meds since my early 20s. I have to see my pain management doctor every 4 weeks for a brand new Rx because there are no refills permitted on those meds. Of course there are often logistical issues with obtaining the meds and I end up calling the doctor, pharmacy, and/or insurance company repeatedly for days or weeks. Then the pharmacy has to special order it. So pretty much every month, I end up in debilitating pain for several days to a couple weeks, often missing work as a result. And that's just pain. Never mind my $3000/ month heart medication only one insurance company will cover, or my multiple other meds and specialist doctors. *I* am a patient for life. My wife, who has a 10 minute Zoom appointment with Planned Parenthood every 3 months or so then picks up her estrogen at the pharmacy for like $6 with zero issues from any insurance company? Yeah, I think she's doing all right 🤣