💾 Archived View for tranarchy.fish › transexualism › self-med.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 02:58:29. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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↳ includes reference blood levels for what they test for prior to prescribing HRT through clinics, and also suggestions/a guide for people who want testosterone as well
↳ info on the details of HRT, including dosages (we recommend reading "An Introduction to Hormone Therapy for Transfeminine People" as a start).
↳ a pretty good aggregation of basic info about self medding. Specifically would recommend ignoring their advice about GenderGP as most people we know have had bad experiences with them. Either go full self med or, if you can afford it, consider going private through another provider. Does have decent set of links to various suplies and some good resources for how to to subq and IM injections.
↳ aggregate site of hormone suppliers for feminizing HRT.
↳ for how to do intramuscular or subcutaneous injections (lotta bullshit intro but u can just skip the first video in each series)
Harm Reduction and Testosterone
↳ unfinished document but full of info for doses, different kinds of T etc.
MuscleGurus bodybuilding forum
↳ large bodybuilding forum with threads dedicated to customer experiences of steroid suppliers. Good place to look if considering buying injectable T
Blood tests are the most essential part of any HRT, because they let you know if your hormone levels are good, and if your organs are working properly (very important!).
Ideally, get a blood test before starting HRT so you know what your baseline levels are, and screen existing health conditions that may make some medications unsafe.
Get your blood tested every 1-3 months before your levels stabilise, and then 1 or 2 per year after that. Try and get your test as close before your next dose as possible. If possible, don't take vitamins for a few days prior.
Your GP might monitor your bloods for you if you ask them, but this is very dependent on the individual. We have linked some lists of trans-friendly GPs here:
Steroid Harm Reduction Clinic, Edinburgh
↳ run a free walk-in on Mondays at 5pm (only runs sometimes: try and check the website or phone them). Results take a few days & they'll phone you with them. Generally pretty chill and friendly, but also not a gender service at all so kinda just operating on goodwill and knowing what levels to take.
↳ run a free walk-in bloods service for trans ppl every Wednesday from 4:30-7pm (called 56T). They are v friendly and quick (also do several other vital services for queer folks). Results take about 2 weeks.
↳ offer free bloods on Tuesdays, 4-7pm, but currently only by appointment, with ~a month booked up (again, also do other services)
↳ sell by-mail blood tests, but these are not suitable for HRT, so you should buy one of their in-person tests and go to one of their clinics. It's ~80£/test, and you have to find a test including the relevant levels for your medication -- fwiw GenderGP recommend this one:
https://www.medichecks.com/hormone-tests/sports-hormone-check
Your results may show some levels are out of normal range. Accounting for which medication you're on, alter your medication or doses accordingly. This is complicated, so get advice with this. Very important for your safety. Mind the units.
Reference ranges for blood tests
↳ see also the safe selfmed Google Doc linked above. Note the female E levels listed are for ppl with a menstrual cycle, a better range for transfems is 100-200 pg/mL (350-700 pmol/L). Additionally if you're on something like bica or spiro, your T levels will not be lowered much, if at all. this is fine, because that's the way those medications work, but you should check e.g. genitals for changes instead to make sure it's working.
https://git.sr.ht/~tranarchy/website/tree/main/item/pages/transexualism/self-med.gmi