[jannet.duff]

O.K. all.  I went to get on meds and formally accepted into the program.

We went over the "Informed Consent" form, he had his nurse draw blood.  He sort of outlined his program in more detail.  1st, he does not order a full hormone panel.  He said even if insurance companies claim to be open to Transgender care, sometimes they fall a little short.  What he looks for is Total Testosterone and Potassium in the system as a better marker, that plus how the patient looks, feels and if there is no medical complications.  He said that many CIS women can spike with E for short durations without worries and a few times men spike when the body is trying to shift from male to female.

So, for Lotus, and a couple of other's.....  you can breath again....  

He said, in his opinion, that finasteride can sometimes not help in MtF Trans folks.  But that it does wonder's for keeping down DHT in FtM Trans.  (protects hair from being shocked and stop growing)  Also, Finn can in some, cause elevated T by working the testicles to produce even more T.  ( I had elevated LH, and my T went from upper 300 to 600's because of that!)  Hence the reason through conversion of T to E and causing Gynecomastia in some males.  (The body is getting false feedback of sorts)

So, here is my new program....

From 50mg of Spiro to 100mg of Spiro.  Estrogen patches at .050mg dose rate per day.  He said that he very rarely starts anyone any higher for the 1st month due to the fact that the shock to a person metabolism and the rest of the endo system can vary so much.  Thus causing side effects more severe or quicker that he would have just ramping up.

So, in 2 months, I go back and have another blood test for Potassium and Free T.  He also said that whatever fullness I might of lost, due to me be off any active estrogenic herbs, should bounce back real quick and that what ever my plan was helped my body to some degree in shifting due to me already having decent sized breasts and some hips.  He said I wouldn't know myself in 6 months and that in 18 months I would look totally different.  But how successful would depend on my determination, sticking to the guidelines and of course.....  genetics.

I am pretty happy, except I have to wait till tomorrow for my patches as they were not in stock at my pharmacy.....

Aria, that`s a Lovely bit of news!
and Think starting off slow on the E is a really good idea too, and ramp up slowly, sounds like you have a really good doctor on your side!

*Jullie wrote: "So how will the man card stack with that statement

You will not know yourself ?"

of course the answer could be (as it was in my case) Did she ever Have a "Man card" in the first place, or just a carefully forged ID?
the last part`s really neat in that when you Do let her out, you`ll have to learn all about yourself again, so either way it`s true statement


* I can`t get the quote thingy to work, so I just did it that way instead.

That's great news ... It sounds very similar to how my program started.  Not too sure about the 18 month bit though, I'm at 10 months in now and I feel my changes are insignificant. Hopefully your Dr will up your HRT to a useful amount.