need help for a friend

phoenixlord

hay all a friend of mine is trans and she has been obtaining her hormones ect... online recently on rte it seems importing stuff like this is being halted. she has under gone 2 operations so far and now is afraid all that pain and suffering she has gone through has been wasted.

i was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this as i am very afraid of this coming about.:(

Chuchoter

Get them from where you're supposed to be getting them. If she is ordering from dogey Chinese websites God only knows what they could be doing to her.

phoenixlord

crayolastereo wrote: »

Get them from where you're supposed to be getting them. If she is ordering from dogey Chinese websites God only knows what they could be doing to her.

problem is she didn't want to wait six months before getting her prescription as far as i know they aren't coming from china.

Chuchoter

Has she gone through all the rigmarole of the endocrinologist? I understand that the wait is a bit irritating but those hormones are serious business, they affect lots of other things apart from just what you want them to. If she's taking these and she has an underlying condition that might interact that could cause massive problems. And it doesn't matter whether or not they are from china. Drugs go through rigorous testing and controls in the EU and with good reason, if she's getting it from a seemingly legit website, they could contain inferior chemicals than the real thing. We do not have doctors and pharmacists for no reason.

phoenixlord

crayolastereo wrote: »

Has she gone through all the rigmarole of the endocrinologist? I understand that the wait is a bit irritating but those hormones are serious business, they affect lots of other things apart from just what you want them to. If she's taking these and she has an underlying condition that might interact that could cause massive problems. And it doesn't matter whether or not they are from china. Drugs go through rigorous testing and controls in the EU and with good reason, if she's getting it from a seemingly legit website, they could contain inferior chemicals than the real thing. We do not have doctors and pharmacists for no reason.

she has gone through all that and has a referral ect.... just from what i can gather she didn't want to wait that long she was really suffering. i know she was very carefull about choosing a place to order from but i agree with you going through the proper channels would have been a better choice. just dunno what to do for now.

she is gonna contact her GP and see if he can give her a prescription but there is always the fear of being turned down by him. i have contacted a few doctors and clinics on her behalf but getting them to issue a prescription seems to be more bothersome than it appears to be.

Chuchoter

If she has the referral and has done all the therapy/doctor thing the GP will give it to her, if she hasn't done all the stuff then things might get more complicated. Also, they may not be able to discuss medical things over the phone. It could also be like being on the pill where you have to go to the doctor every 6 months to get checked over to get a repeat prescription. Good luck anyway!

phoenixlord

crayolastereo wrote: »

If she has the referral and has done all the therapy/doctor thing the GP will give it to her, if she hasn't done all the stuff then things might get more complicated. Also, they may not be able to discuss medical things over the phone. It could also be like being on the pill where you have to go to the doctor every 6 months to get checked over to get a repeat prescription. Good luck anyway!

k thank you very much for your advice

L.Jenkins

Pheonix, if your friend hasn't seen an endocrinologist and is ordering stuff online, she seriously needs to stop for her own health and well being. You should find out how far along in the process she is. Typically this means she needs to see a Psychologist, Dr. Kelly and Psychiatrist Dr. Lucey or local services Psychiatrist before seening an Endocrinologist, Dr Shay.

Ordering hormones online can be dodgey and dangerous to her health and if she goes the correct path, nothing will be a waste.

Louisevb

A consultation with James Kelly over three months for example and then a referral to Loughlinstown will take another three months and then two consultations in Loughlinstown will take another three or four. That's under twelve months.. Is that a long time to make sure that your liver is functioning correctly? If she has a referral at all which I'm beginning to doubt given what the OP is saying what difference does three or four moths make until she sees Dr O'Shea. Anyone doing that needs to seriously look at why they are doing hormones in the first place if they cannot work through normal channels.

electrobi

Louisevb wrote: »

If she has a referral at all which I'm beginning to doubt

The OP has already stated his friend got a referral...

Louisevb

electrobi wrote: »

The OP has already stated his friend got a referral...

I saw that so then what is wrong with waiting for three months...?
OP may have been told there was a referral, that may not necessarily be true
It's not a three years wait for treatment ... it just doesn't ring true to me.

Chuchoter

She has a referral to the doctor I don't think she ever actually went and followed through the whole thing.

Louisevb

To be honest ... that strikes me as someone who is still unsure of what they want. I could be wrong but perhaps they should not have been given any diagnosis but have been left to consider it for a longer period of time

Eebs

There are numerous reasons your friend is afraid/won't go to Loughlinstown. There are numerous, valid reasons people try to seek hormones from other channels - mostly because of the process involved in trying to get them and the fear of being told no.

We're not here to try talk about those reasons though, because frankly, I don't think it's our place to judge.

What she is doing is pretty dangerous. She should definitely try and get into the proper channels. What she needs to do is come clean, ring James Kelly and get his frank and confidential advice on this and then go to Loughlinstown.

It's scary, it's difficult but ultimately it's the ONLY way to do this.
Her only alternative is to start again in the UK - BUT that will start her process all over again. If she has started the process in Ireland, she should go back to the channels and just come clean.

If she gets all her boxes checked (diagnosis, referral etc.) it's possible that she could be on hormones as soon as she gets a dexy scan. She will have to realistically probably come off them to get her bloods done. I'm not sure on that. Sadly there is only the hard way to do this, which I think is unfortunate.

My advice is to start looking at the proper channels NOW so that she can get her prescription asap. And ring Dr. Kelly and just be honest, ask his professional opinion - not a board full of opinionated Trans people with second hand knowledge (self included). If she wants to transition she needs to get back into the system ASAP. There is no other way.

Louisevb

My advice is to start looking at the proper channels NOW so that she can get her prescription asap. And ring Dr. Kelly and just be honest, ask his professional opinion - not a board full of opinionated Trans people with second hand knowledge (self included). If she wants to transition she needs to get back into the system ASAP. There is no other way.

Isn't that what most have been saying? I do object to being called opinionated.

phoenixlord

When people get scared they do what ever they can to find the answers sometimes its better to ask thos going through this. Thanks for all your comments but things are starting to look up :P she will be speaking to her GP and getting what she needs