Switching into Defy?

[starda]

I've been self-treating for TRT for about 6 months now. While the treatment has largely been a great success, I'd really like to move my care into the hands of a doctor. This is something I'm concerned about. I did have the option to work with an endocrinologist but decided against it as I felt really uncomfortable with him as my doctor. My family doctor had tested me at 284ng/dL two years ago and referred me to this endo, who did more testing in the morning and on LH/FSH. He concluded from the testing that my problem was indeed secondary hypo, but not worth treating as my reading in the morning came back at 428ng/dL.

So no treatment was started, and then a year later (this past year) my fam doctor tested me again at 84ng/dL and said I needed to go back to the endo. I went to see the endo again and he prescribed Axiron and didn't want to discuss injections (though they are much cheaper). When I asked about HCG and fertility concerns, he shrugged and said he didn't understand how a woman's medicine would help. That was a deal breaker for me, if I'm going to shut down my HPTA with exogenous testosterone, it has be done safely and with my concerns taken seriously.

So I did some research for a few months and concluded I'd do my treatment on my own. I got a protocol dialed in with some bloodwork and here it is below:

200mg Test Cyp IM (100mg M, 100mg F)
1000iu HCG (500iu M, 500iu F)
No AI
20mg Cialis once or twice a week

Protocol took some fine-tuning to work out, but the patience paid off. Life has never been better. Bloodwork puts my Total T ~1100 consistently just before an injection and my testicles are doing great (better than ever) thanks to the HCG. I feel my age again and have made great strides forward with my confidence and towards building a happier future.

However, I don't want to keep treating myself. It's not sustainable or responsible, and the only reason I didn't look for another doctor to treat me in the first place was because I'm in college and don't have transportation/much money. Good TRT doctors are few and far in between, and they're definitely not common in college towns. Luckily I'm graduating this year with a great-paying job (woohoo engineering), so I'd like to move my care to the hands of a medical professional now that I have the financial means.

Has anyone had experience switching from self-treatment to a place like Defy? I'd really like to start up with them and have heard great things about their standard of care, but I'm not sure how they view individuals who have been treating themselves. This issue has caused me a good amount of anxiety thinking about how I'm going to switch from doing this on my own to having professionals handle the problem.

 

[Tom Larabee]

Just call them, you won't be the first nor the last patient who has had to deal with poor care from Doctor's and worked it out on your own.

 

[Vince Carter]

Defy is so great that you should expect a seamless transition. I moved over to Defy from a similar telemed model and there was no lapse in my therapy. You've made a great choice.

 

[CoastWatcher]

Doctor Saya has written that he's heard it all. Just make the call and put your mind at ease.

 

[starda]

Thanks for the confidence boost, glad to hear this isn't so uncommon

 

[Eddard]

I'm similar to a lot of other guys. I switched to Defy from a different telemedicine provider. Dr. Saya changed my protocol from a cookie cutter one to one that makes much more sense. Transition was seamless.

 

[giannid]

Do yourself a favor and go give blood a few weeks before you get your initial blood work for defy. Like yourself I self prescribed for awhile and my hematocrit, rbc, and hemoglobin was high from taking testosterone. They won't treat me till my numbers go down so I had to give blood and get retested. What makes things worse is I had to wait over a month for my initial consultation. So it was have blood work done, wait over a month to have a consultation, then them tell me to donate blood and get retested. So while I was waiting, I came off testosterone so I could give them a good base line. Man do I feel like hell without it. So now I'm waiting.

 

[Vince Carter]

Do yourself a favor and go give blood a few weeks before you get your initial blood work for defy. Like yourself I self prescribed for awhile and my hematocrit, rbc, and hemoglobin was high from taking testosterone. They won't treat me till my numbers go down so I had to give blood and get retested. What makes things worse is I had to wait over a month for my initial consultation. So it was have blood work done, wait over a month to have a consultation, then them tell me to donate blood and get retested. So while I was waiting, I came off testosterone so I could give them a good base line. Man do I feel like hell without it. So now I'm waiting.

That's real good advice now that we're seeing Defy delay or modify treatment for those coming in to the clinic with HCT initially.