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I've been doing NBE and synthetic hormones for the past decade, off and on. Never discussed it with a doctor. I've recently retired from the Army, so there's a reason for the lack of discussion. To be honest, I'm just going for big breasts here. I've wanted them for 25 years. I'm currently sitting at a 46B/C. Probably time to rope in a professional. Here's where I need advice. I don't have a doctor. I'm not going to bring this up with the VA docs for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don't trust them. Number two, my wife works for the VA as a provider and while she can't dig into my health record, her colleagues are not restricted. I know HIPAA exists, but I also know there are ways around it. That leaves a civilian doc. So, how do I go about finding one that is sympathetic and willing to get moving on verifying my hormone levels and tailoring the meds appropriately?
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Planned parenthood clinic has doctor's or you can do an internet search for trans friendly doctor's. I use Planned parenthood clinic in my area, I didn't have a primary care physician at the time. I do have a cpc now but I haven't discussed it with her because I am not sure what she will say. I am not transitioning just feminizing.
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(05-02-2026, 03:43 AM)nuwomyn101 Wrote: I've been doing NBE and synthetic hormones for the past decade, off and on. Never discussed it with a doctor. I've recently retired from the Army, so there's a reason for the lack of discussion. To be honest, I'm just going for big breasts here. I've wanted them for 25 years. I'm currently sitting at a 46B/C. Probably time to rope in a professional. Here's where I need advice. I don't have a doctor. I'm not going to bring this up with the VA docs for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don't trust them. Number two, my wife works for the VA as a provider and while she can't dig into my health record, her colleagues are not restricted. I know HIPAA exists, but I also know there are ways around it. That leaves a civilian doc. So, how do I go about finding one that is sympathetic and willing to get moving on verifying my hormone levels and tailoring the meds appropriately?
Hello Nuwomyn101.
It's nice to meet a fellow army veteran. I medically retired from the Army last year. Unfortunately, even if you wanted to get hormones through the VA, that is no longer an option for veterans to get a new HRT RX since March of last year. I was already prescribed HRT through the HRT prior to that date and was grandfathered in.
As far as finding a civilian doctor, I would recommend looking for informed consent clinics in your area. Prior to the VA, I got my HRT through my local Planned Parenthood.
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Does PP bill through Tricare?
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PP did for me when I was starting on HRT from 2021-2022, but I didn't have any other insurance at the time. Do you have other insurance?
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If money is an issue PP will bill on a sliding scale and most pharmacies have prescription cards that will discount prescriptions to a price equal to or less than most insurance copays.
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(06-02-2026, 03:45 PM)flamesabers Wrote: PP did for me when I was starting on HRT from 2021-2022, but I didn't have any other insurance at the time. Do you have other insurance?
No. Also, how does PP ensure you are getting the right dosage of E and anti-androgens? I saw they offer telehealth. Makes me wonder if they are doing blood tests.
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07-02-2026, 04:49 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2026, 04:51 AM by
tomi66.)
I have an appointment with my doctor every 3 months 6 months when I get too busy, she takes labs for E, T and liver panel to make sure levels are good and adjust dosage as needed.
I tried a teledoc, not pp, I wasn't impressed. I like in person visits. I have an appointment at PP in 2 weeks. If you don't have insurance they will do a sliding scale.
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(07-02-2026, 04:39 AM)nuwomyn101 Wrote: (06-02-2026, 03:45 PM)flamesabers Wrote: PP did for me when I was starting on HRT from 2021-2022, but I didn't have any other insurance at the time. Do you have other insurance?
No. Also, how does PP ensure you are getting the right dosage of E and anti-androgens? I saw they offer telehealth. Makes me wonder if they are doing blood tests.
I only did in-person visits with PP. For my initial visit, they prescribed me 2mg of oral E and 50mg of spiro. They didn't do a blood test for that visit to get a baseline, but they did one for every follow-up visit. I think it was about a year after starting HRT, I asked about progesterone and they prescribed me 100mg. Unfortunately, they wouldn't prescribe bica, even though my T levels weren't being suppressed enough by 8mg of E and 200mg of spiro. I tried switching spiro for finastride, but had unpleasant side-effects from that medication.
Ultimately, I switched to the VA for HRT to get a better selection of medication. I'm now on estradiol cypionate injections and Elegaard injections for my anti-androgen. Once I got on the right medication, it didn't take long for my hormone levels to get to cis female levels.
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(07-02-2026, 05:40 AM)flamesabers Wrote: (07-02-2026, 04:39 AM)nuwomyn101 Wrote: (06-02-2026, 03:45 PM)flamesabers Wrote: PP did for me when I was starting on HRT from 2021-2022, but I didn't have any other insurance at the time. Do you have other insurance?
No. Also, how does PP ensure you are getting the right dosage of E and anti-androgens? I saw they offer telehealth. Makes me wonder if they are doing blood tests.
I only did in-person visits with PP. For my initial visit, they prescribed me 2mg of oral E and 50mg of spiro. They didn't do a blood test for that visit to get a baseline, but they did one for every follow-up visit. I think it was about a year after starting HRT, I asked about progesterone and they prescribed me 100mg. Unfortunately, they wouldn't prescribe bica, even though my T levels weren't being suppressed enough by 8mg of E and 200mg of spiro. I tried switching spiro for finastride, but had unpleasant side-effects from that medication.
Ultimately, I switched to the VA for HRT to get a better selection of medication. I'm now on estradiol cypionate injections and Elegaard injections for my anti-androgen. Once I got on the right medication, it didn't take long for my hormone levels to get to cis female levels.
So, how do you do go about having the conversation? Just say I'm a guy but want breasts? Maybe it's the environment I've been in for the last 25 years, but I figure that's bound to raise eyebrows more than being transgender.
