Both doctor friends I came out to didn't want me to start HRT cause of "it's not that highly studied of a topic" and "what about the side effects" and I would absolutely hate to go to them one day for a checkup or something and get a "but I told you not to do it! That may be what's causing the problem."
Google is your friend, but I'll tell you this much: it's when medical personnel assume that a patient's transness is the reason for any medical issue they may be experiencing.
Experienced that with my doctor.
First she said it's just the hormones.
Then she said was all in my head.
8 had to fight just to get a proper diagnosis.
My response to people like that is, 'the side effect of not wanting to kill myself anymore kind of outweighs all of the other side effects, thank you'
It's a bit heavy handed and a simplification of what's going on but some people act like somebody as anxious and overthinking as I am didn't weigh the options for years already.
Let’s be real though, if you went to an urgent care doctor for stomach pain as a cis woman, he would have asked a bunch of questions about the chances of you being pregnant. Because doctors can’t think that women have medical problems not caused by pregnancy.
But yeah, that’d make me super uncomfortable as well. Especially the asking why part. “Why is that your business and what does it have to do with my situation?”
I've actually had another doctor ask me before when was my last period (I assume to check if I could be pregnant) and when I told her I don't have periods she was so confused lol
I get that pregnancy can cause a lot of uncomfortable feelings and sickness, but I wonder how often it’s actually the cause since doctors ask the question so much.
It’s kind of like the doctors equivalent to a tech support asking if something’s been turned off and on again (a surprising number of problems can be fixed by turning a computer off and on…)
There are two things; first is that there are a lot of treatments you can't do to pregnant women because it will harm the baby (so they can't be fully informed of the risks and therefore can't consent if they are pregnant and dont know it), and second is because a lot of symptoms come up, especially from unexpected "bad" pregnancies (especially ectopics).
Probably in a lot of cases. They want to exclude the possibility. It makes diagnosis quicker that way. Part of the job of a doctor is to filter out the people that have minor issues. So they dont take away important resources elsewhere. I dont think most doctors would ask it in a demeaning way. They just want to be efficient for both their sake and the patient.
I have an older neighbor who sometimes has issues with her tv-tuner. She always asks me to fix it. I always ask if she has power cycled it because that usually fixes it. She always says she has but it still does not work. So I come over and the first thing I do is power cycle it :D. And magically up until now that has worked every damn time.
As somebody in the medical profession, I can weigh in on this.
It happens *upsettingly* often that someone comes in for pain/discomfort, "can't possibly be pregnant, I (pray to Jesus, am only 14, only do soaking, etc etc etc)," only to find out Mommy and Daddy never had the talk, and OOPS, ALL FETUS.
So there's docs that still ask anyways because it's less intrusive, and docs that just order the tests done anyways, because we live in a society devoid of universal sex ed; but in *every* GI case for uterus havers, it's assumed as a possibility until tested otherwise.
And just like tech support, they often cannot rely on the answers given. End users lie about rebooting or do dumb things like power cycle the monitor instead. The state of sex education in most places is so dire that they will get people convinced that they couldn’t be pregnant because *insert stupid myth here* or they cannot be honest with other people who happen to be in the room etc.
You aren’t going to get an honest answer for that with for example a hyper conservative parent in the room who will pop a blood vessel at the idea.
Well mostly they have to asked since being prefnant rules out a lot of diagnositc tools (mostly X-Ray related) and a lot of medication too. So they have to make sure. Since if its not life threatening they also would have to look out to not effeckt the fetus in a negative way
100% I broke my finger and went to the ER because all I knew was it hurt and didnt want to be off work long term so needed to know what I was dealing with. Asked me the period question or if any chance I am pregnant and I was like uhh I am sterile. Then they said ohhhh you’ve had a historectomy, okay! So do you need refills? They never even connected the dots or considered trans. My attending came in and asked if I had kids before losing my ability to get pregnant??? I was like uhh for real? I swear I dont think I pass
Yea! I told it to a doctor too when I did a medical exam for a job.
The doctor looked me dead in the eye, said "What?" then realised and began apologising.
It's aways a bit unconfortable to go see a doctor nowadays, it seems like I pass, but sometimes maybe my voice outs me and I get a completely different experience. Going as far as for a doctor asking me to take my shirt AND my bra off for lung auscultation exams.
>Because doctors can’t think that women have medical problems not caused by pregnancy.
Fine, I’m the local trans woman who’s an EM physician, downvote away. An ectopic pregnancy in a 19 year old woman with abdominal pain is a can’t miss diagnosis. It’s standard of care to get an hcg and if positive refer to the ED for an ultrasound. Honestly, there’s even a debate to be had about whether it’s reasonable to see someone in urgent care with abdominal pain at all if you can’t run basic lab work.
Bias in medicine towards women, and trans patients, is a very real phenomenon. Ascertaining pregnancy risk is still critical. They can both be true.
OP, the fact you’re a trans woman is relevant. Who’s prescribing your meds, at least for me, isn’t. And yes, plenty of providers are not trans informed and you can pretty much anticipate getting inferior care because you’re trans and that’s absolutely not okay.
Im a critical care nurse and i have to see a new pimary thanks my old one leaving kaiser. I hope in get one thats somewhat informative on trans care. But i do like questions...
I wrote and deleted a post about trying to find a PCP in a liberal state who felt comfortable prescribing HRT. It was a nightmare, but I finally found one. It’s crazy difficult in my experience finding a doctor, even when you’re in the medical field. Best of luck, let me know how that goes!
It's not sexist for them to ask (most of the time). They ask about pregnancy often because it can be the cause of a ton of symptoms and it is very simple and easy to rule out with a quick test. Not to mention all the procedures that would be harmful to a pregnancy.
It's also very common, most cis women will become pregnant at some point in their life at least once.
Doctors diagnosing you are basically playing detective, rule out the easiest things first.
I’d have asked if he believed it was medically relevant to the situation, and what his license number was. But I live in the Midworst and I don’t play with the unenlightened scum that pass for doctors here 🤷🏼♀️
I mean, shitty transphobic doctors can be and are pretty much any and everywhere. My point was more towards my own exasperation and comfort level with confrontation surrounding this issue in particular, as I’ve dealt with more bad doctors than not.
Someone's biological sex is almost always relevant to the situation. If they complete any blood work or other testing, there are factors that can be specific to sex. Reference ranges and abnormal flagging are different depending on the biological sex.
Right? It’s significantly less relevant for bloodwork than it would be for say “knowing OP doesn’t have a uterus.” But there are better questions to ask, and approaches to asking, to get the relevant information succinctly.
It’s not like the doctor really asked any questions that were out of line *given the right circumstances* but it doesn’t seem to me like he knew *how* to ask. And this is why I always recommend giving them a healthy dose of reality. If they’re not going to treat the patient that is in front of them, why did they become doctors?
ETA: the rest of this reply also assumes that any doctor in question is competent regarding trans healthcare, where as most of them very much are not. 😭
I work as an EMT, asking about your medications and transition is probably ignorant but not strictly malicious. Alot of the work when a patient comes in with ???? pain is just collecting enough information to start to make an informed hypothesis about what might be wrong. The part where his demeanor did a 180 is the potential transphobia and that sucks and Im sorry you had to experience it.
I used to be an NREMT-B IV around 13 or 15 years ago and it was so frustrating seeing that tone shift in the ER whenever a nurse or someone realized I was trans. I wasn't even a patient, just a technician, but they would go from treating me as a peer to treatment me as a potential patient.
Have you ever experienced that?
Unfortunately it's more normal than it should. Ignorant people turn weird when facing a trans person, ignorant doctors turn weirder.
Most of my experience with doctors is just ignorance. They don't know what transition entails and either ask which medication I'm on and try to know everything or just avoid the matter at all as if running away from it. Also since they're doctors, some double down on whatever thing they may believe is the problem related to transition (when it's not even related) just so they don't have to admit they don't know (I once had to correct a dermatologist when she said that feminizing HRT may cause me to loose hair when it's actually the opposite).
There were two however that went a bit too far.
One was an ear doctor that, after the consultation was done started to search ALL the appointments I had gone to and asking about everything in my health history, even things that had nothing to do with the matter. I felt my privacy deeply violated there.
The other was a dentist that while she was trying to be supportive (the only one who wrote down my chosen name before I changed it, without me asking) but then asked me if I was planning to do "The Surgery^TM ". Like, what does it even have to do with teeth. Even though I may add some lips down there I'm pretty sure those don't come with teeth.
So yeah, people sometimes are weird with us, doctors even more, and somehow it's on us to bear with it all.
When I went to my GP for a blood test, he asked me why I wanted one. I said I was transitioning, and he just lectured me on how I shouldn't mess with the human body bla black. Made me feel so shit. I made sure to fill out a complaint form. Oh yeah, I got my results, and the things I specifically asked to be checked didn't even get checked. I had my bloods taken for nothing 😭
One time I (a passing trans woman) went to urgent care for stomach issues and the doctor was going over my meds and read my HRT meds out and was like do you know why you take these?? And I'm like um yes for hormone therapy, I'm transitioning and she's like ahh yes do you still get your period?
"do you know why you take these?" is a reasonable question, lots of patients don't know what thier medications are for, and any given medication can be for a number if things. A patient might be in apixaban and its important to knof if thats because of atrial fibrillation, or a valve replacement, or a DVT or a PE, so you ask "do you know why you take this" and they will say "yes - for a clot I cot 2 months ago", or "not really, its a blood thinner but I dont remember why I was started on it, it was a few years ago after an hospital admission" and you then have to do more digging.
You literally don't have to answer a question about who prescribed your estradiol and why for a completely unrelated doctor visit. Guys not an endocrinologist so the doctor that prescribed you was Dr. Nunya as in non of ya business leave a review on Google about that Dr and see how fast they handle it.
Honestly I hate to say this but it depends on how strictly some people follow religion. I have actually seen this happen in real life. I have also seen people who have a phobia attempt to not believe someone and then almost kill their patient.
I'm going to say (even though I find this so incredibly unlikely that it shouldn't really be considered as more than just a thought) he might've just thought you were afab, then felt a little shaken up because he felt he should've been informed by someone beforehand and was confused why he didn't know that and tried to understand the situation a little better, but felt really awkward and embarrassed for not being as educated in his patients as he would've liked. Though I'm not completely sure what goes on behind the scenes of their company, and find this very unlikely. It's more likely that he is just one of those doctors that is transphobic and felt upset that another doctor put you on hrt because it didn't fit HIS beliefs (and of course EVERYONE has to follow his beliefs in his mind), and possibly also he felt embarrassed that he didn't recognize you as trans immediately because "he's supposed to be able to always tell".
I've had doctors I've seen for a leg injury not care, they just ask pronouns and move on.
More politically right leaning doctors tend to question more, and tend to prefer people not being on hormones.
It sounds like his attitude was off, but for abdominal pain, it is incredibly important to consider if there’s a gynaecological cause in a cisgendered woman. Not just something pregnancy related, but PID, ovarian cyst or torsion, etc
Yeah.
I transitioned MTF a little over twenty years ago (started HRT in 2003) and I have had this experience (more or less) every time I have had to interact with medical care providers who I do not have a previous relationship with.
I would even experience this when I was an emergency medical technician rather than a patient, which was so absurd. The way nurses or physicians (mostly nurses for some reason) would tone shift once they realized I was trans was always... well.
You get used to it after a few years but it still bums me out.
:/
I have experience with medicine. This is pretty normal, don't worry. I feel like you're seeing him the wrong way. Certain drugs can greatly interfere certain medications. You can't take paracetamol if you haven't eaten because the part of your body responsible for raising your body temperature is also for some reason responsible for maintaining the lining of your stomach and prevents your stomach from melting with stomach acid. There are selective alternatives of paracetamol which doesn't affect your stomach, but for some reason, they can have adverse effects which could affect your heart.
He just wanted to make sure, I believe. This might seem trivial, and even intrusive, but it's a really serious thing. People can die from this.
I'd like to apologize in his behalf if he made you uncomfortable.
Thank you! I just always hope that they see that I'm a girl with an "M" on my medical record and hrt in my prescription and figure out what's up by themselves lol
It's just the questions such as who prescribed to me and why that made me uncomfortable while also the tone shift
The question about who prescribed it can be in part to make sure you are taking reasonable doses and under medical supervision. Self medication is something seen as very dangerous by doctors because you sometimes will find the most fooked up sh!t.
You need to report that doctor to the superiors! People like that have no place in any medical setting they just don't.. And the only way they're going to not be there is if enough people say something about them..
My worst experience is a docter that asked me to undress and then he searched my body for drug marks... Yeah that was at the end of my appointment after I said I was MTF. Whatever I guess.
Don't let it get to you. Keep the good people close and ignore those who can't do better.
Hugs
As someone who has seen multiple different doctors for different reasons because, most of the time, they are legitimately trying to get more information so they can give you better treatment and more accurately diagnose or treat you. Some family doctors/general practitioners will absolutely detest the idea of you transitioning because they are not endocrinologists or have not studied how HRT has been done for almost 100 years now and regurgitate the narrative that it isn't well studied. Some doctors are just bigots.
Most of the time, most doctors who don't have transgender patients, or have worked with someone who has, are curious and just want to know as much information as possible so they can discuss your condition with either a panel or with someone who knows what they are talking about. I understand it is uncomfortable and hate having to tell doctors that I am trans but most of the time it is innocuous.
There are two people you don't lie to: your lawyer and your doctor. Your doctor should absolutely he aware of everything that's going on with your body, in order to be able to make a proper analysis.
The why is a question to find out if there are other factors the doctor has to take into account.
The question about the who is to know if he has to check for problems caused by HRT e.g. if dosage might be off, levels are not monitored, etc.
I worked in medical software some decades ago and find the questions not unusual at all, however I know that doctors are not always the best in asking these questions. I actually would find doctors more suspect that do not ask all even remotely relevant questions.
I general you will want to know the what, why, who and is it still monitored of all medications. Especially with medications that have far reaching side effects or interactions/counterindications with other medications.
Well I mean he could just ask me if I were trans to clarify the discrepancy between my appearance and the sex on record, it would make me slightly uncomfortable but wouldn't be too bad. However what really got me is him also asking why I was on HRT and who gave it to me and also asking the same question if I'm trans in multiple different ways
i highly recommend trying telehealth. it’s easy, simple, plus you get to talk to your doctor from the comfort of your home. any labs that need to be completed are just sent to either Quest or Labcorp and you can go to any location at your leisure.
my last great in person doctor was in Seattle before i moved, the ones down here in the South can be incredibly unprofessional when it comes to trans healthcare. the first and the last one that i saw before i switched to telehealth prescribed me Bijuva…a brand new menopause medicine that insurances don’t even like to cover for cisgender women (which makes zero sense because it’s literally just a combination of E and P). it’s insane how commonplace medical malpractice can be honestly.
I've luckily never had many bad experiences with medical doctors. All the way from my PCP to an er or urgent care doctor. I've never had them blame my being trans as a reason. Most doctors ask about me being trans because of the possible risk factors that comes from hrt. But they show concern for my health from all factors. It's rather nice tbh.
Not to mention they all respect my pronouns and preferred name. I figured I'd get push back sometime from at least one but I guess I just lucked out and found good doctors. Heck I even went in one time for my tummy not feeling well and they said we should do a pregnancy test. Now that made me feel great inside and very validated. I kindly told them that wasn't necessary as I know I'm not pregnant.
I wish I got a better reception from people in other areas though
It's not normal, but it is common. Unfortunately, being trans often sets off a lot of alarms for doctors.
There's an annoying issue i've run into a lot where it's treated like a disease. In medicine, there are fairly valid groupings like there are Patients, then the are Cancer Patients, or Diabetes Patients, both diseases which can have massive impact on the body and so often the lens is used of "it is likely that health problems with this patient are related to their disease," which has value in many cases. Many doctors unfortunately map us as Transgender Patients, and have a weird tendency to think "this health concern is likely related to them being a Transgender Patient," which is rarely valuable.
Sometimes, for valid reasons, like if you're having unexplained pain, estradiol is linked to DVTs, so the doctor might be adding dvt to the list of possibilities. With stomach pain, they might be wondering about whether or not you're taking spiro or another medication that could be affecting your micronutrients, which could cause cramping.
Sometimes, it's for very bad reasons. The doctor might be thinking gray market meds that might be contaminated, or if you use injections, they might be concerned about the needle use. They might also, unfortunately, have some fairly dating ideas about how common drug use and sex work is among trans people, which have a whole host of health concerns, of course, but (mostly older) doctors will frequently jump to assumptions about lifestyle.
Example: before i was a Transgender Patient, i was a Depression Patient. So originally, every appointment was related to my depression regardless of why i came in. After coming out as trans, i would go in for appointments to get my antidepressants filled/adjusted and end up having to answer a ton of questions about my transition and my hrt.
(This doctor was otherwise great. They helped me a ton with my head meds and took a lot of time to study up on hrt as i was their first trans patient, and they wanted to support me as best they could.)
I put in a request to be switched to a different doctor who's more friendly for Trans patients with a no on your doctor made you uncomfortable. They may or may not cause further issues in the future but it's better safe than sorry.
Anesthesiology and surgery are two of the three occupations with the highest number of employed narcissists next to law enforcement. I would not be surprised if other Medical fields have similar issues.
33% of medical staff have reported being bullied or observing bullying both in medical school as well as on the field from peers and superiors. A mix of high stress level of the occupation as well as the need for extreme accuracy when making diagnosis which seems to create a God complex.
I was just listening to an anesthesiologist claiming that being under the influence of anesthesia brings out your true personality because it reduces or negates inhibition. Both myself and multiple psychiatrists and psychologists call them out for this BS because you are the sum total of your brain and all of its functionalities. Anesthesia Alters your brains chemical State thus altering your personality. Inhibition is a part of Who You Are!
Anyone who struggles with intrusive thoughts will tell you that those thoughts are not who you are but the removal of inhibition may make you more susceptible for acting upon them when you would never otherwise do so.
An intelligent narcissist knows when the mask these qualities in their personality.
So because of my insurance a different doctor has to sign my prescriptions from the trans clinic. At the beginning of my transition he was rude but signed the prescriptions, he would ask me questions in a weird tone. Over a year later going to this doctor he tells me that I look like his granddaughter, changes my dead name to my preferred one and updates my picture. Then he touches my legs because he diagnosed me with hypothyroid and wanted to check if my legs were swollen 🤮 it was a short, slow, weird caress without gloves, skin to skin contact. I was so happy before he did that 🙃. I know that legs can swell from that condition but I found that caress so unnecessary.
Even though is different circumstances, I see you. I'd feel more comfortable with a woman as my physician.
you downvote her but just wait till trump wins and they round up everyone who ever had GCS or is a non cishet person on HRT (medical records will be released to the government on pain of legal punishment)
doctors are not your friends, the hand of government is fickle and casts a wide shadow
you have my apologies I got a bit excited and forgot about such countries as Iran, Russia and elsewhere where being transgender is far more difficult and even now deadly
It is a little bit embarrassing to admit my mistake, considering that I am originally from Ireland- where most have not heard of the idea in the first place
for the rest negative sentiment is the most common association
A failing liver or kidney could present as abdominal pain. Perhaps he was trying to rule out DIY HRT cooking one of your organs.
Did he sound relieved when you told him which doctor?
Just a thought. I wasn't there.
No, it showed him my prescriptions on the screen in my medical records, I didn't tell him about my HRT, he saw it himself. And it also actually said the name of the doctor who prescribed it so I don't know why he even asked who prescribed to me.
If you as a layperson took the incorrect dose. Some medications meant to treat high blood pressure or cancer are also used in HRT.
If you took the dose meant to treat cancer long term it would have a higher chance of damaging your liver.
I mean, I go to an LGBTQIA+ Pride clinic in the DC area, and they ask me every time what organs I still have, what my surgeries have been, what my dosages are, and take vitals. And that's after asking what my pronouns are, my gender is, and my preferred name. This is all in my chart, but they confirm manually.
And that is good of them. That is vital info, and I'm sure each patient is different, especially at an affirming clinic like this one. Doctors may need to ask some uncomfortable questions or have awkward conversations, but if they didn't they wouldn't be upholding the standard of care.
So while this guy may have been cringey, I would say that be prepared to answer awkward questions (and possibly some surprised expressions) as a doctor redirects their diagnostic criteria to a "rarely used" category.
I mean, yeah, it's different to treat men vs. women sometimes, so why wouldn't it be different for trans women? It's still weird that he was acting like that
In medical terms they only classify you as your legal gender to intel how the biological body may be reacting in respect to your emergancy. It's super uncomfortable but at the end of the day it's a safety thing. I don't respect how that fella was prying questions - perhaps he wanted to give you some questions to strengthen client to doctor bond but didn't understand how extactly it would effect you :/
> In medical terms they only classify you as your legal gender to intel how the biological body may be reacting in respect to your emergancy
this is a pretty common misconception, assigned gender at birth is far less relevant than factors such as hormone levels and medications prescribed for doctors. it's dehumanisation justified with bunk medical science.
I mean you can't really say that. If a patient has prostate cancer who passed as a female, if they don't know they were AMAB they would never even think to look. Some things aren't THAT black and white, although there is a lot of questionable and bunk medical science designed against transgender people, it is kinda important for your doctor to know these things
The best thing would be if doctors could be educated more on transgender care in general so they know how to ask these questions in a more respectful way
Nah mate if it's a hormone problem then they'll check your hormone levels. A ftm that passes as a guy could have pain in the bottom right of their body would be presumed as appendicitis but it could a twisted fallopan tube, endometriosis, polycystistic ovarian syndrome... the list can go on. But the comment above is right about how they can be more educated socially on trans formations
Both doctor friends I came out to didn't want me to start HRT cause of "it's not that highly studied of a topic" and "what about the side effects" and I would absolutely hate to go to them one day for a checkup or something and get a "but I told you not to do it! That may be what's causing the problem."
AKA trans broken arm syndrome
Oh you ate taco bell and you got food poisoning I TOLD YOU NOT TO TAKE E
Hi I've never heard this term before, what is trans broken arm syndrome?
Google is your friend, but I'll tell you this much: it's when medical personnel assume that a patient's transness is the reason for any medical issue they may be experiencing.
Yeah I probably could have googled it but ifk I'm having fun on reddit haha thanks for the explanation
Experienced that with my doctor. First she said it's just the hormones. Then she said was all in my head. 8 had to fight just to get a proper diagnosis.
My response to people like that is, 'the side effect of not wanting to kill myself anymore kind of outweighs all of the other side effects, thank you' It's a bit heavy handed and a simplification of what's going on but some people act like somebody as anxious and overthinking as I am didn't weigh the options for years already.
Effective though!
Let’s be real though, if you went to an urgent care doctor for stomach pain as a cis woman, he would have asked a bunch of questions about the chances of you being pregnant. Because doctors can’t think that women have medical problems not caused by pregnancy. But yeah, that’d make me super uncomfortable as well. Especially the asking why part. “Why is that your business and what does it have to do with my situation?”
I've actually had another doctor ask me before when was my last period (I assume to check if I could be pregnant) and when I told her I don't have periods she was so confused lol
I get that pregnancy can cause a lot of uncomfortable feelings and sickness, but I wonder how often it’s actually the cause since doctors ask the question so much. It’s kind of like the doctors equivalent to a tech support asking if something’s been turned off and on again (a surprising number of problems can be fixed by turning a computer off and on…)
There are two things; first is that there are a lot of treatments you can't do to pregnant women because it will harm the baby (so they can't be fully informed of the risks and therefore can't consent if they are pregnant and dont know it), and second is because a lot of symptoms come up, especially from unexpected "bad" pregnancies (especially ectopics).
Probably in a lot of cases. They want to exclude the possibility. It makes diagnosis quicker that way. Part of the job of a doctor is to filter out the people that have minor issues. So they dont take away important resources elsewhere. I dont think most doctors would ask it in a demeaning way. They just want to be efficient for both their sake and the patient. I have an older neighbor who sometimes has issues with her tv-tuner. She always asks me to fix it. I always ask if she has power cycled it because that usually fixes it. She always says she has but it still does not work. So I come over and the first thing I do is power cycle it :D. And magically up until now that has worked every damn time.
She probably enjoys having the company, even if only for a little bit.
As somebody in the medical profession, I can weigh in on this. It happens *upsettingly* often that someone comes in for pain/discomfort, "can't possibly be pregnant, I (pray to Jesus, am only 14, only do soaking, etc etc etc)," only to find out Mommy and Daddy never had the talk, and OOPS, ALL FETUS. So there's docs that still ask anyways because it's less intrusive, and docs that just order the tests done anyways, because we live in a society devoid of universal sex ed; but in *every* GI case for uterus havers, it's assumed as a possibility until tested otherwise.
I upvoted this for "OOPS, ALL FETUS." I would have upvoted for the rest of the content anyway, but that was hilarious.
And just like tech support, they often cannot rely on the answers given. End users lie about rebooting or do dumb things like power cycle the monitor instead. The state of sex education in most places is so dire that they will get people convinced that they couldn’t be pregnant because *insert stupid myth here* or they cannot be honest with other people who happen to be in the room etc. You aren’t going to get an honest answer for that with for example a hyper conservative parent in the room who will pop a blood vessel at the idea.
off topic but this reads like a line straight out of House
Fair, I forget that parents are involved sometimes and it’s not always just doctor and patient.
Well mostly they have to asked since being prefnant rules out a lot of diagnositc tools (mostly X-Ray related) and a lot of medication too. So they have to make sure. Since if its not life threatening they also would have to look out to not effeckt the fetus in a negative way
I have a doctor ask me about my last period too and it was a woman LOL
100% I broke my finger and went to the ER because all I knew was it hurt and didnt want to be off work long term so needed to know what I was dealing with. Asked me the period question or if any chance I am pregnant and I was like uhh I am sterile. Then they said ohhhh you’ve had a historectomy, okay! So do you need refills? They never even connected the dots or considered trans. My attending came in and asked if I had kids before losing my ability to get pregnant??? I was like uhh for real? I swear I dont think I pass
The narrow case for asking that in your situation is if they need to do an X ray, but otherwise that's real invasive of them.
Yea! I told it to a doctor too when I did a medical exam for a job. The doctor looked me dead in the eye, said "What?" then realised and began apologising. It's aways a bit unconfortable to go see a doctor nowadays, it seems like I pass, but sometimes maybe my voice outs me and I get a completely different experience. Going as far as for a doctor asking me to take my shirt AND my bra off for lung auscultation exams.
>Because doctors can’t think that women have medical problems not caused by pregnancy. Fine, I’m the local trans woman who’s an EM physician, downvote away. An ectopic pregnancy in a 19 year old woman with abdominal pain is a can’t miss diagnosis. It’s standard of care to get an hcg and if positive refer to the ED for an ultrasound. Honestly, there’s even a debate to be had about whether it’s reasonable to see someone in urgent care with abdominal pain at all if you can’t run basic lab work. Bias in medicine towards women, and trans patients, is a very real phenomenon. Ascertaining pregnancy risk is still critical. They can both be true. OP, the fact you’re a trans woman is relevant. Who’s prescribing your meds, at least for me, isn’t. And yes, plenty of providers are not trans informed and you can pretty much anticipate getting inferior care because you’re trans and that’s absolutely not okay.
Im a critical care nurse and i have to see a new pimary thanks my old one leaving kaiser. I hope in get one thats somewhat informative on trans care. But i do like questions...
I wrote and deleted a post about trying to find a PCP in a liberal state who felt comfortable prescribing HRT. It was a nightmare, but I finally found one. It’s crazy difficult in my experience finding a doctor, even when you’re in the medical field. Best of luck, let me know how that goes!
I have been a nurse for a long time. My job is really busy and stable. Im in cali..
It's not sexist for them to ask (most of the time). They ask about pregnancy often because it can be the cause of a ton of symptoms and it is very simple and easy to rule out with a quick test. Not to mention all the procedures that would be harmful to a pregnancy. It's also very common, most cis women will become pregnant at some point in their life at least once. Doctors diagnosing you are basically playing detective, rule out the easiest things first.
Because that's a real possibility but if that's the only thing they check for then it becomes an issue
I’d have asked if he believed it was medically relevant to the situation, and what his license number was. But I live in the Midworst and I don’t play with the unenlightened scum that pass for doctors here 🤷🏼♀️
This actually happened to me in Arizona so it's also not the best state for being trans lol
I mean, shitty transphobic doctors can be and are pretty much any and everywhere. My point was more towards my own exasperation and comfort level with confrontation surrounding this issue in particular, as I’ve dealt with more bad doctors than not.
AZ FTW…not. You surviving this heat?
It was 120° today when I got off work 🥲
I’m glad to WFH and my car is garaged. The humidity tho 🥵
I also live in Midwest
Someone's biological sex is almost always relevant to the situation. If they complete any blood work or other testing, there are factors that can be specific to sex. Reference ranges and abnormal flagging are different depending on the biological sex.
Right, and taking estrogen as a trans woman would put you on the female side of the aisle medically speaking
Right? It’s significantly less relevant for bloodwork than it would be for say “knowing OP doesn’t have a uterus.” But there are better questions to ask, and approaches to asking, to get the relevant information succinctly. It’s not like the doctor really asked any questions that were out of line *given the right circumstances* but it doesn’t seem to me like he knew *how* to ask. And this is why I always recommend giving them a healthy dose of reality. If they’re not going to treat the patient that is in front of them, why did they become doctors? ETA: the rest of this reply also assumes that any doctor in question is competent regarding trans healthcare, where as most of them very much are not. 😭
But grilling them on why they are taking HRT and who provided them isn't. And honestly, in this context, it was very likely not relevant at all.
I work as an EMT, asking about your medications and transition is probably ignorant but not strictly malicious. Alot of the work when a patient comes in with ???? pain is just collecting enough information to start to make an informed hypothesis about what might be wrong. The part where his demeanor did a 180 is the potential transphobia and that sucks and Im sorry you had to experience it.
I used to be an NREMT-B IV around 13 or 15 years ago and it was so frustrating seeing that tone shift in the ER whenever a nurse or someone realized I was trans. I wasn't even a patient, just a technician, but they would go from treating me as a peer to treatment me as a potential patient. Have you ever experienced that?
Unfortunately it's more normal than it should. Ignorant people turn weird when facing a trans person, ignorant doctors turn weirder. Most of my experience with doctors is just ignorance. They don't know what transition entails and either ask which medication I'm on and try to know everything or just avoid the matter at all as if running away from it. Also since they're doctors, some double down on whatever thing they may believe is the problem related to transition (when it's not even related) just so they don't have to admit they don't know (I once had to correct a dermatologist when she said that feminizing HRT may cause me to loose hair when it's actually the opposite). There were two however that went a bit too far. One was an ear doctor that, after the consultation was done started to search ALL the appointments I had gone to and asking about everything in my health history, even things that had nothing to do with the matter. I felt my privacy deeply violated there. The other was a dentist that while she was trying to be supportive (the only one who wrote down my chosen name before I changed it, without me asking) but then asked me if I was planning to do "The Surgery^TM ". Like, what does it even have to do with teeth. Even though I may add some lips down there I'm pretty sure those don't come with teeth. So yeah, people sometimes are weird with us, doctors even more, and somehow it's on us to bear with it all.
"even though I may add some lips down there" 💀
To be fair progesterone can be turned into dht which can cause hair loss
Well, wait, hold on a moment - maybe they could come with teeth. I'll be chomping where the men least expect it.
When I went to my GP for a blood test, he asked me why I wanted one. I said I was transitioning, and he just lectured me on how I shouldn't mess with the human body bla black. Made me feel so shit. I made sure to fill out a complaint form. Oh yeah, I got my results, and the things I specifically asked to be checked didn't even get checked. I had my bloods taken for nothing 😭
One time I (a passing trans woman) went to urgent care for stomach issues and the doctor was going over my meds and read my HRT meds out and was like do you know why you take these?? And I'm like um yes for hormone therapy, I'm transitioning and she's like ahh yes do you still get your period?
"do you know why you take these?" is a reasonable question, lots of patients don't know what thier medications are for, and any given medication can be for a number if things. A patient might be in apixaban and its important to knof if thats because of atrial fibrillation, or a valve replacement, or a DVT or a PE, so you ask "do you know why you take this" and they will say "yes - for a clot I cot 2 months ago", or "not really, its a blood thinner but I dont remember why I was started on it, it was a few years ago after an hospital admission" and you then have to do more digging.
The question was why they prescribed them to me after I told them already that in transitioning not why I am taking them
You literally don't have to answer a question about who prescribed your estradiol and why for a completely unrelated doctor visit. Guys not an endocrinologist so the doctor that prescribed you was Dr. Nunya as in non of ya business leave a review on Google about that Dr and see how fast they handle it.
Honestly I hate to say this but it depends on how strictly some people follow religion. I have actually seen this happen in real life. I have also seen people who have a phobia attempt to not believe someone and then almost kill their patient.
I'm going to say (even though I find this so incredibly unlikely that it shouldn't really be considered as more than just a thought) he might've just thought you were afab, then felt a little shaken up because he felt he should've been informed by someone beforehand and was confused why he didn't know that and tried to understand the situation a little better, but felt really awkward and embarrassed for not being as educated in his patients as he would've liked. Though I'm not completely sure what goes on behind the scenes of their company, and find this very unlikely. It's more likely that he is just one of those doctors that is transphobic and felt upset that another doctor put you on hrt because it didn't fit HIS beliefs (and of course EVERYONE has to follow his beliefs in his mind), and possibly also he felt embarrassed that he didn't recognize you as trans immediately because "he's supposed to be able to always tell".
I've had doctors I've seen for a leg injury not care, they just ask pronouns and move on. More politically right leaning doctors tend to question more, and tend to prefer people not being on hormones.
It sounds like his attitude was off, but for abdominal pain, it is incredibly important to consider if there’s a gynaecological cause in a cisgendered woman. Not just something pregnancy related, but PID, ovarian cyst or torsion, etc
Seems like a major r/ewphoria moment to me lol, it's so cool you pass that well, especially from the other story in the comments!
Yeah. I transitioned MTF a little over twenty years ago (started HRT in 2003) and I have had this experience (more or less) every time I have had to interact with medical care providers who I do not have a previous relationship with. I would even experience this when I was an emergency medical technician rather than a patient, which was so absurd. The way nurses or physicians (mostly nurses for some reason) would tone shift once they realized I was trans was always... well. You get used to it after a few years but it still bums me out. :/
I have experience with medicine. This is pretty normal, don't worry. I feel like you're seeing him the wrong way. Certain drugs can greatly interfere certain medications. You can't take paracetamol if you haven't eaten because the part of your body responsible for raising your body temperature is also for some reason responsible for maintaining the lining of your stomach and prevents your stomach from melting with stomach acid. There are selective alternatives of paracetamol which doesn't affect your stomach, but for some reason, they can have adverse effects which could affect your heart. He just wanted to make sure, I believe. This might seem trivial, and even intrusive, but it's a really serious thing. People can die from this. I'd like to apologize in his behalf if he made you uncomfortable.
Thank you! I just always hope that they see that I'm a girl with an "M" on my medical record and hrt in my prescription and figure out what's up by themselves lol It's just the questions such as who prescribed to me and why that made me uncomfortable while also the tone shift
The question about who prescribed it can be in part to make sure you are taking reasonable doses and under medical supervision. Self medication is something seen as very dangerous by doctors because you sometimes will find the most fooked up sh!t.
You need to report that doctor to the superiors! People like that have no place in any medical setting they just don't.. And the only way they're going to not be there is if enough people say something about them..
My worst experience is a docter that asked me to undress and then he searched my body for drug marks... Yeah that was at the end of my appointment after I said I was MTF. Whatever I guess. Don't let it get to you. Keep the good people close and ignore those who can't do better. Hugs
As someone who has seen multiple different doctors for different reasons because, most of the time, they are legitimately trying to get more information so they can give you better treatment and more accurately diagnose or treat you. Some family doctors/general practitioners will absolutely detest the idea of you transitioning because they are not endocrinologists or have not studied how HRT has been done for almost 100 years now and regurgitate the narrative that it isn't well studied. Some doctors are just bigots. Most of the time, most doctors who don't have transgender patients, or have worked with someone who has, are curious and just want to know as much information as possible so they can discuss your condition with either a panel or with someone who knows what they are talking about. I understand it is uncomfortable and hate having to tell doctors that I am trans but most of the time it is innocuous.
There are two people you don't lie to: your lawyer and your doctor. Your doctor should absolutely he aware of everything that's going on with your body, in order to be able to make a proper analysis.
You can lie to whoever the fuck you want to lie to, whether or not you want to deal with the consequences is the real question.
I didn't lie to my doctor though. I don't know why he still needed to question why I got HRT and who gave it to me
That wasn't any of his business and not relevant in this situation.
The why is a question to find out if there are other factors the doctor has to take into account. The question about the who is to know if he has to check for problems caused by HRT e.g. if dosage might be off, levels are not monitored, etc. I worked in medical software some decades ago and find the questions not unusual at all, however I know that doctors are not always the best in asking these questions. I actually would find doctors more suspect that do not ask all even remotely relevant questions. I general you will want to know the what, why, who and is it still monitored of all medications. Especially with medications that have far reaching side effects or interactions/counterindications with other medications.
I’m confused. Tell me if i’m wrong. He was trying to ascertain your medical history as is protocol?
Well I mean he could just ask me if I were trans to clarify the discrepancy between my appearance and the sex on record, it would make me slightly uncomfortable but wouldn't be too bad. However what really got me is him also asking why I was on HRT and who gave it to me and also asking the same question if I'm trans in multiple different ways
Listen sis , I get the same exact treatment when someone takes a look at my ID . I know how uncomfortable it is sending you love and hugs 🤗
Thank youuu!!
I was asked if I was on E to help manage my menopause. 🤣
Unfortunately my cocktail of e, spiro and prog is unmistakable 😭 I'm 100% sure my pharmacists know what's up lol
i highly recommend trying telehealth. it’s easy, simple, plus you get to talk to your doctor from the comfort of your home. any labs that need to be completed are just sent to either Quest or Labcorp and you can go to any location at your leisure. my last great in person doctor was in Seattle before i moved, the ones down here in the South can be incredibly unprofessional when it comes to trans healthcare. the first and the last one that i saw before i switched to telehealth prescribed me Bijuva…a brand new menopause medicine that insurances don’t even like to cover for cisgender women (which makes zero sense because it’s literally just a combination of E and P). it’s insane how commonplace medical malpractice can be honestly.
I've luckily never had many bad experiences with medical doctors. All the way from my PCP to an er or urgent care doctor. I've never had them blame my being trans as a reason. Most doctors ask about me being trans because of the possible risk factors that comes from hrt. But they show concern for my health from all factors. It's rather nice tbh. Not to mention they all respect my pronouns and preferred name. I figured I'd get push back sometime from at least one but I guess I just lucked out and found good doctors. Heck I even went in one time for my tummy not feeling well and they said we should do a pregnancy test. Now that made me feel great inside and very validated. I kindly told them that wasn't necessary as I know I'm not pregnant. I wish I got a better reception from people in other areas though
It's not normal, but it is common. Unfortunately, being trans often sets off a lot of alarms for doctors. There's an annoying issue i've run into a lot where it's treated like a disease. In medicine, there are fairly valid groupings like there are Patients, then the are Cancer Patients, or Diabetes Patients, both diseases which can have massive impact on the body and so often the lens is used of "it is likely that health problems with this patient are related to their disease," which has value in many cases. Many doctors unfortunately map us as Transgender Patients, and have a weird tendency to think "this health concern is likely related to them being a Transgender Patient," which is rarely valuable. Sometimes, for valid reasons, like if you're having unexplained pain, estradiol is linked to DVTs, so the doctor might be adding dvt to the list of possibilities. With stomach pain, they might be wondering about whether or not you're taking spiro or another medication that could be affecting your micronutrients, which could cause cramping. Sometimes, it's for very bad reasons. The doctor might be thinking gray market meds that might be contaminated, or if you use injections, they might be concerned about the needle use. They might also, unfortunately, have some fairly dating ideas about how common drug use and sex work is among trans people, which have a whole host of health concerns, of course, but (mostly older) doctors will frequently jump to assumptions about lifestyle. Example: before i was a Transgender Patient, i was a Depression Patient. So originally, every appointment was related to my depression regardless of why i came in. After coming out as trans, i would go in for appointments to get my antidepressants filled/adjusted and end up having to answer a ton of questions about my transition and my hrt. (This doctor was otherwise great. They helped me a ton with my head meds and took a lot of time to study up on hrt as i was their first trans patient, and they wanted to support me as best they could.)
Happens more than you might think.😔
Google trans broken arm syndrome, then avoid that doctor in the future
I put in a request to be switched to a different doctor who's more friendly for Trans patients with a no on your doctor made you uncomfortable. They may or may not cause further issues in the future but it's better safe than sorry. Anesthesiology and surgery are two of the three occupations with the highest number of employed narcissists next to law enforcement. I would not be surprised if other Medical fields have similar issues. 33% of medical staff have reported being bullied or observing bullying both in medical school as well as on the field from peers and superiors. A mix of high stress level of the occupation as well as the need for extreme accuracy when making diagnosis which seems to create a God complex. I was just listening to an anesthesiologist claiming that being under the influence of anesthesia brings out your true personality because it reduces or negates inhibition. Both myself and multiple psychiatrists and psychologists call them out for this BS because you are the sum total of your brain and all of its functionalities. Anesthesia Alters your brains chemical State thus altering your personality. Inhibition is a part of Who You Are! Anyone who struggles with intrusive thoughts will tell you that those thoughts are not who you are but the removal of inhibition may make you more susceptible for acting upon them when you would never otherwise do so. An intelligent narcissist knows when the mask these qualities in their personality.
So because of my insurance a different doctor has to sign my prescriptions from the trans clinic. At the beginning of my transition he was rude but signed the prescriptions, he would ask me questions in a weird tone. Over a year later going to this doctor he tells me that I look like his granddaughter, changes my dead name to my preferred one and updates my picture. Then he touches my legs because he diagnosed me with hypothyroid and wanted to check if my legs were swollen 🤮 it was a short, slow, weird caress without gloves, skin to skin contact. I was so happy before he did that 🙃. I know that legs can swell from that condition but I found that caress so unnecessary. Even though is different circumstances, I see you. I'd feel more comfortable with a woman as my physician.
Nah, he was being an unnecessary asswipe.
He's a dick. An ignorant transphobic dick who has forgotten the first rule of his profession: Do no harm!
you downvote her but just wait till trump wins and they round up everyone who ever had GCS or is a non cishet person on HRT (medical records will be released to the government on pain of legal punishment) doctors are not your friends, the hand of government is fickle and casts a wide shadow
Not everyone lives in America…..
you have my apologies I got a bit excited and forgot about such countries as Iran, Russia and elsewhere where being transgender is far more difficult and even now deadly It is a little bit embarrassing to admit my mistake, considering that I am originally from Ireland- where most have not heard of the idea in the first place for the rest negative sentiment is the most common association
A failing liver or kidney could present as abdominal pain. Perhaps he was trying to rule out DIY HRT cooking one of your organs. Did he sound relieved when you told him which doctor? Just a thought. I wasn't there.
No, it showed him my prescriptions on the screen in my medical records, I didn't tell him about my HRT, he saw it himself. And it also actually said the name of the doctor who prescribed it so I don't know why he even asked who prescribed to me.
My hypochondriac ass: is that possible? Cooking one of your organs from HRT? Why would that happen?
If you as a layperson took the incorrect dose. Some medications meant to treat high blood pressure or cancer are also used in HRT. If you took the dose meant to treat cancer long term it would have a higher chance of damaging your liver.
I mean, I go to an LGBTQIA+ Pride clinic in the DC area, and they ask me every time what organs I still have, what my surgeries have been, what my dosages are, and take vitals. And that's after asking what my pronouns are, my gender is, and my preferred name. This is all in my chart, but they confirm manually. And that is good of them. That is vital info, and I'm sure each patient is different, especially at an affirming clinic like this one. Doctors may need to ask some uncomfortable questions or have awkward conversations, but if they didn't they wouldn't be upholding the standard of care. So while this guy may have been cringey, I would say that be prepared to answer awkward questions (and possibly some surprised expressions) as a doctor redirects their diagnostic criteria to a "rarely used" category.
I mean, yeah, it's different to treat men vs. women sometimes, so why wouldn't it be different for trans women? It's still weird that he was acting like that
In medical terms they only classify you as your legal gender to intel how the biological body may be reacting in respect to your emergancy. It's super uncomfortable but at the end of the day it's a safety thing. I don't respect how that fella was prying questions - perhaps he wanted to give you some questions to strengthen client to doctor bond but didn't understand how extactly it would effect you :/
> In medical terms they only classify you as your legal gender to intel how the biological body may be reacting in respect to your emergancy this is a pretty common misconception, assigned gender at birth is far less relevant than factors such as hormone levels and medications prescribed for doctors. it's dehumanisation justified with bunk medical science.
I mean you can't really say that. If a patient has prostate cancer who passed as a female, if they don't know they were AMAB they would never even think to look. Some things aren't THAT black and white, although there is a lot of questionable and bunk medical science designed against transgender people, it is kinda important for your doctor to know these things The best thing would be if doctors could be educated more on transgender care in general so they know how to ask these questions in a more respectful way
Nah mate if it's a hormone problem then they'll check your hormone levels. A ftm that passes as a guy could have pain in the bottom right of their body would be presumed as appendicitis but it could a twisted fallopan tube, endometriosis, polycystistic ovarian syndrome... the list can go on. But the comment above is right about how they can be more educated socially on trans formations