Going to start self medicating hrt.

[Guest charli38]

I am going on a soy diet to boost my estrogen levels. I might also get some other natural estrogen producing vitamins. Going to see if I can find a natural way to block my T production also. My GT wants to do therapy for 6 months before giving me a letter for HRT. I am not gonna wait that long! I want to start going partially out full time by next month (driving in my truck as her). I am lucky enough to have great insurance that will cover my transition needs. They cover the therapy, the hrt, and found out last night they even cover the srs and some of the other feminization surgeries! And I make enough where I work that if I do this I could be fully a woman a lot sooner than I thought.

If anyone knows of a way to naturally and safely block T production (without the use of a hammer! Lol!), please let me know.

Love, and hugs all around,

Charli

[JJ]

Charli from everything I have heard and read there is no safe way to either boost E or surpress T. There are people pushing things they say will do one or the other and sometimes they call them vitamins even but they are unregulated products that I have heard too many personal stories on here about the harm they do. I know 6 mnths seems like a long time-but it will give you time to work on aspects of presentation like voice and gestures.

A soy diet will actually be good for you though it has been proven to be useless as far as upping estrogen in a meaningful way. It if makes you feel better then that isn't a problem. It's supplements of any kind that can be a massive problem. I have heard the stories ehre personally where people were not able to transition ever because of the damage those supplements can do. And they were the lucky one. Is 6 months worth never being able to transition at all?

And I do understand the drive. Your therapist does too. If they say you will not be ready for 6 months there is probably a reason. Therapists job is to help you do what is best for you and not to stand in the way or delay you. Not to mention it is possible your therapist will be likely to see you as needing longer to acquire the patience and stability necessary for transition if they discover you are self-medicating. Some won't even treat patients who self medicate.

Changing your body from one hormone to another is a very serious undertaking that requires close medical supervision. If there was any herbs or vitamin or natural food that would do it then it would become a controlled substance because of the dangers it posed so there are not any. Except those pushed in shady unregulated products which while relatively ineffective can also pose huge health risks.

I also realize this is not what you want to hear. And that it sounds like I'm being dramatic about this.But it is too often life and death and that is dramatic. Making the wrong choices now can cost you everything.

You have a long time ahead to enjoy all the benefits of doing it right -or pay for trying to find a shortcut. It's worth the wait.

Johnny

[Guest Jo-88]

Reasons not to do what you are planning.

1. Herbal estrogens (phytoestrogens) and fungi estrogens (mycoestrogens) are not effective at all.

2. Phyto/mycoestrogens are expensive.

3. Phyto/mycoestrogens are DANGEROUS... you are not a plant or mushroom, these chemicals do nothing but severely tax your liver.

4. People have gotten extremely sick from taking "herbal estrogens"

Do you see short people chugging miracle grow? No because its for plants. If you do not believe my above claims please feel free to research this and discover it on your own. Just because its "herbal" or "all natural" does not make it safe or effective... I mean there are herbs that are deadly poisonous. Don't buy into the marketing.

Do the 6 months of therapy before HRT or find a doctor who will do it on request (a Dr. familiar with WPATH will most likely require no therapy or minimal therapy)... it will be well worth the effort. Also congrats on the awesome insurance.

[Guest Brenda Hailey]

I am going on a soy diet to boost my estrogen levels. I might also get some other natural estrogen producing vitamins. Going to see if I can find a natural way to block my T production also. My GT wants to do therapy for 6 months before giving me a letter for HRT. I am not gonna wait that long! I want to start going partially out full time by next month (driving in my truck as her). I am lucky enough to have great insurance that will cover my transition needs. They cover the therapy, the hrt, and found out last night they even cover the srs and some of the other feminization surgeries! And I make enough where I work that if I do this I could be fully a woman a lot sooner than I thought.

If anyone knows of a way to naturally and safely block T production (without the use of a hammer! Lol!), please let me know.

Love, and hugs all around,

Charli

Charli I understand your desire to get the truck in high gear, but there are many things to consider when doing this. Self medicating is a dangerous prospect at best, there are just to many variables and unknowns to do it safely,,,,,those are the facts.

I myself have taken to heart the advice I have been given here at Laura's and today I am greatfull I listened.

Granted I did not have the compulsion to self medicate as you are having right now but I knew I needed to do HRT at some point so I took everyones advice and went to therapy and went to my doctor and discussed these things openly. And after all my research after the somewhat limited time I have spent in therapy and with the consultation of my doctor, I am still not fully on HRT yet, but by my own choice.

I have had a therapist letter ready and waiting for me for weeks now, for my endo, I just havent taken it yet,as I wasnt settled enough in my heart to take the plunge yet.

After some more soul searching and research and undeniabilty of the facts about my true self I decided to start my journey and went to my GP doctor with my therapists approval and started a the first portion of my HRT. Even just this first step is filled with many possibilities and constant monitoring of myself as well as from the doctor. These things can drop your blood pressure and make you pass out (or worse) if you are not careful so knowing what you are doing with doses specific to YOU and the help of doctors is very important. Not to mention all the other things that can go wrong with other levels of needed minerals and nutrients in your body that these medications effect. Also the over the counter stuff you may be taking now may interfere with what the doctors can or will prescribe to you later on as your REAL treatment begins.

Its all about blood tests and getting things right. That in the end is going to give you a better experience later, because you stand your best chance of having everything "go right". You simply arent going to know any of these numbers about your health taking stuff on the road unsupervised.

Having something happen while you have that ruck rolling could not just hurt you but someone else you are sharing the road with.

Even with proper doctor supervision bad reactions can and still do happen in some cases,which makes it even more important to work with a doctor at the very least.

I agree your therapist may not be correct in their evaluation of you at this point ,but you may be better served as to working on a solution that gets you a letter from the therapist quicker instead of putting your whole transition in jeopardy,by throwing caution to the wind. I would explain to my therapist if it was me those exact sentiments, and how waiting 6 months is not in my best interest and why.

Of course my situation is completely different,but can also serve as a reminder we are all different and need to transition according to our needs,as those needs can only be addressed by truly knowing what they are with monitoring.

Just my two sense, I would rather the hammer didnt hit you in the forehead unexpectedly.

Brenda Hailey

[Guest lukas64]

Also, if you absolutely can't wait, find an informed consent clinic, or tell your therapist that you are thinking of self-medicating, there isn't actually a requirement to do 6 months of therapy and that might speed it up, if she thinks it might do less harm to give you the letter earlier.

List of informed consent clinics: http://wiki.susans.org/index.php/Informed_consent

Very informative: http://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/jzubd/worked_tonight_on_the_informed_consent_provider/

[VickySGV]

There are Endo's and other doctors who do not require a letter to start HRT as Lukas has pointed out. This is well within the SOC7 guidelines. You may have to look a bit to find them, which could be a month or two, but its by far the best way. If you are taking a diuretic other than Aldactone, (Spiro) ask you PCP if you can have him/her change you over if there are no contraindications. They will give you a piece of paper to initial about the side effects, and the stuff works fine for me. (My spiro is only for hypertension, it was not prescribed by my endo, but she was not unhappy with it being there.) I like its direct effect on my blood pressure, and its "negligible side effects".

Why do you have to wait to start transitioning until you get the hormones? There are things you can do before the first little pill hits the back of your throat, or dissolves under your tongue (or makes the injection site hurt). Go and get a decent wardrobe for work now. Make-up such as Derma Blend covers beard shadow very well, and just wearing the foundation is a way to get your looks headed right. Name change does not require hormones. HR paperwork with your company can get going. The whole process is going to take until you are well along with the HRT even if it comes in 6 months. You may find that just the preparation takes your mind off of wanting the phyto 'mones. I am still finishing off details of my former self, and its been 4.75 years. Beat the Christmas rush!!

Having a good healthy diet, and OTC vitamins either per the bottle instructions or your M.D.'s will help your body to look and feel right, as far as skin and body tone go. Do not attempt to hurry things up by going over the above limits, it does not work!! On the other hand, my dose of E is considered to be ineffectual by TG lore, but I like how I look now, and the feeling on the right hormones is too wonderful.

Oh yeah -- I did use the "estrogen vitamins" and they shrunk my rear end, right in the place I kept my wallet!!!

[Guest charli38]

I just really want to get my body ready for feminization before hand. Don't want to take anything dangerous. Just kinda want my body to be prepared and healthy for the changes it is going to be going through.

Thanks for all the helpful advice ladies! You are all so very wonderful!

Charli

p.s. Brenda I like the new pic. You look great girl!

[VickySGV]

OK Charli -- you did get our attention. Good diet, good exercise, no fast foods, good and safe sleep, knock off smoking, and you will cannonball down the road on the good, controlled stuff you get!!

[Charlize]

Charli, i lived as a woman long before HRT. Then i managed to start but had to stop for a bit due to a heart condition. We really don't need E to be who we are. Trans women lived as themselves long before HRT or surgery. Please don't hurt yourself by self medication. I'm happy to be on HRT again but there is life without it. For me it wonderful just to learn to live as me. That was a challenge in itself. HRTis the cherry on the top not the foundation.

Hugs,

Charlie

[Guest charli38]

Yeah Vicky, now I think about it I should have made a different title. Lol!

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Keep a healthy diet (not easy on the road), drink plenty of water, and try to get some exercise. Physical changes are going to take a little while before they become noticeable. What you'll really start to notice are the emotional changes...

[Guest lostflower]

Hi Charli

Self medication is a very last option anyone should ever consider and only then if there are no other options

Try to find a informed consent clinic if you really can't wait but if you can there may be a loophole or two that can be tried ask if your GP will prescribe Finasteride as a treatment for male pattern baldness

Hannah