T Update
I've been back on T (1.25 g 1% gel) for almost two months now and have nothing to report. I haven't gotten any new changes and am still crazy as ever. I'm posting because I switched from raloxifene to anastrozole two weeks ago, after two months on raloxifene. It wasn't really doing the trick (I was still having cycles, after over two years on low-dose T) so my super-awesome doctor switched me to an aromatase inhibitor. I started feeling better almost immediately. I think it was the mania I got when I started and restarted T in the past, before I was taking any psych meds. It only lasted a few days this time, instead of the few weeks when I started and restarted T before.
I also just got back my blood test results from when I was on raloxifene. (The pre-raloxifene test results were apparently lost in some system and even my doctor never got them. WTF?) Anyway, as of two-ish weeks ago, my total T was at 228 ng/dL and my free T was at 18.5 pg/mL. Those numbers are both fine by me even though they're below the normal male range. The raloxifene apparently was doing its job; my estradiol was at 24 pg/mL, safely within the male range, but somehow my ovaries just made do. /-: That's what I remember from when I started T, that I had basically no estrogen or testosterone in me but somehow still had cycles. There were some other numbers I wasn't sure how to interpret. My dihydrotestosterone was at 55 ng/dL and my estrone was at 34 ng/dL, both squarely within the male range. Everyting was fine on the other tests, but I'm worried about what I'm going to have to pay for all this. . .
I also just switched to generic gel from AndroGel last week and it was an ordeal I'll record here in case anyone on the Internet ever finds it useful or something. My doctor wrote a prescription for the brand name gel. The pharmacy was happy to give it to me, but my insurance wouldn't cover it so it was stupidly expensive. I had a week's worth left at home so decided to fight it because I didn't have $500 to drop on one prescription. The pharmacy didn't stock the generic and wouldn't order it unless my doctor rewrote the prescription for the generic. So I had my doctor do that (which involved me making a trip to their office to pick up the piece of paper, because T is still a controlled substance for which faxed/phone prescriptions cannot be accepted) and the pharmacy ordered the generic. When I went to pick up my meds, they said it would be $200 because my insurance had denied the claim. I contacted the insurance and they said it wasn't covered because one bottle of gel was a 60 day supply at my dose and they only cover a 30 day supply, even if it only comes in one size. WTF?! They covered a 10 mL vial of T when I was on injections, and that would have been almost a year's supply at my dose! So they were just fucking with me. I had to ask my doctor fax them documentation saying I really did need it and they agreed to cover it but charged me the copay for a brand name instead of for the generic. I was sick of fighting and had already run out of T at this point (I had to use packets for a couple days, estimating my dose by eye) so just paid the extra $15. At least I won't have to do it again for another two months.
I also just got back my blood test results from when I was on raloxifene. (The pre-raloxifene test results were apparently lost in some system and even my doctor never got them. WTF?) Anyway, as of two-ish weeks ago, my total T was at 228 ng/dL and my free T was at 18.5 pg/mL. Those numbers are both fine by me even though they're below the normal male range. The raloxifene apparently was doing its job; my estradiol was at 24 pg/mL, safely within the male range, but somehow my ovaries just made do. /-: That's what I remember from when I started T, that I had basically no estrogen or testosterone in me but somehow still had cycles. There were some other numbers I wasn't sure how to interpret. My dihydrotestosterone was at 55 ng/dL and my estrone was at 34 ng/dL, both squarely within the male range. Everyting was fine on the other tests, but I'm worried about what I'm going to have to pay for all this. . .
I also just switched to generic gel from AndroGel last week and it was an ordeal I'll record here in case anyone on the Internet ever finds it useful or something. My doctor wrote a prescription for the brand name gel. The pharmacy was happy to give it to me, but my insurance wouldn't cover it so it was stupidly expensive. I had a week's worth left at home so decided to fight it because I didn't have $500 to drop on one prescription. The pharmacy didn't stock the generic and wouldn't order it unless my doctor rewrote the prescription for the generic. So I had my doctor do that (which involved me making a trip to their office to pick up the piece of paper, because T is still a controlled substance for which faxed/phone prescriptions cannot be accepted) and the pharmacy ordered the generic. When I went to pick up my meds, they said it would be $200 because my insurance had denied the claim. I contacted the insurance and they said it wasn't covered because one bottle of gel was a 60 day supply at my dose and they only cover a 30 day supply, even if it only comes in one size. WTF?! They covered a 10 mL vial of T when I was on injections, and that would have been almost a year's supply at my dose! So they were just fucking with me. I had to ask my doctor fax them documentation saying I really did need it and they agreed to cover it but charged me the copay for a brand name instead of for the generic. I was sick of fighting and had already run out of T at this point (I had to use packets for a couple days, estimating my dose by eye) so just paid the extra $15. At least I won't have to do it again for another two months.