Art of Transliness — Hey guys. I live in a very remote southern area in the US and getting on T in the first place was hard enough. I’ve been on T almost 7 months now and my doctor is another state away. Since I’ve been going to him he has had me on 1ml. He’s never given me blood tests or had my levels checked or anything. He’s /very/ old and seems to kinda know what he’s doing but I’m really worried about my levels being too high so I self dosed myself for .8. after 3 mo. Should I trust him or my body?

Answer

Hey guys. I live in a very remote southern area in the US and getting on T in the first place was hard enough. I've been on T almost 7 months now and my doctor is another state away. Since I've been going to him he has had me on 1ml. He's never given me blood tests or had my levels checked or anything. He's /very/ old and seems to kinda know what he's doing but I'm really worried about my levels being too high so I self dosed myself for .8. after 3 mo. Should I trust him or my body?

Anonymous asked

Zak: I don’t think self dosing yourself is a good idea, and there really isn’t a way to listen to your body in this situation in my opinion (though I do understand your concerns, because too much T can be a huge issue). However, I also think that you might want to evaluate whether or not this doctor is a good choice for you. It is very unusual that a doctor wouldn’t test your blood at all since that is the main way a medical professional can get an idea of how the testosterone is affecting your body and your health. Obviously it can be incredibly difficult to find another doctor, I certainly can relate (my doctor is in a different state as well), but it might be worth considering. Finding a doctor to prescribe you T in the first place is often more difficult than finding one who will continue writing your script for T. Even your GP can write you a script for T.

If finding a new doctor absolutely isn’t possible for you, though (and it very well may not be), consider talking to your current doctor about your concerns. Tell him that you’ve read that testosterone can increase red blood cell count and cholesterol and that you wonder if he could test to make sure you are okay. Also tell him that you feel your body is telling you that your dose is too high and that you have heard that too much testosterone can be dangerous because it is converted to estrogen. If you have to be more direct with him, than do so. Let him know you’d like him to test your levels and your blood. Also, since you have been adjusting your dose yourself, you are probably going to have to be honest with him about how much T you’ve been putting in your body before a blood draw so he can potentially adjust your dose accordingly. Your doctor is there for YOU and if he brushes off your concerns than that is not good.

By the way, a good way to deal with blood draws for a doctor out of state is to have your doctor fax a call for blood draws to a doctor in your town or your local hospital, you can get your blood drawn in town and have your results faxed to your doctor for him to look out before you go to your out-of-town appointment. This is what I do (I’m sure there are other good ways to do it as well) and might be a good thing to suggest to your doctor when you ask him if he will test your blood.