What to get without prescription in US TX pharmacies?

[surfbabe (imported)]

Hi! Long time leecher here, finally having a question which probably isn‘t answered somewhere else, yet.

(If it is - sorry!)

I‘m traveling to the US/Texas end of October, and now I‘m wondering, what I could possibly buy there without a prescription?

I‘m non-binary AMAB and currently having a lot of fun trying out different medications. However, Germany and Austria, where I live, have annoyingly high bars to get treatment. So I resorted to the net for now, which is somewhat difficult and expensive.

I‘m currently taking Finasterid 5mg. I like that a lot. Is that available and affordable?

I‘m also taking Estradiol Gel. Is that available for AMABs?

I would also be interested in Androcur or Spironolactone for a test run before I finally get rid of my balls.

And I am especially interested in SERMs like Raloxifen and Tamoxifen, because I like everything, Estradiol does, except the breast growth thing.

Anybody with knowledge of the US/Texan pharmacy/prescription system willing to share their knowledge with me? That would be super helpful!

Many thanks in advance!

[JessicaH (imported)]

Texas here. What's available doesn't change state to state. All the stuff you are asking about will require a prescription. You can get many of those from a doctor that uses "informed consent" but it's going to be hard to get more than 3-6 months worth of stuff. What part of Texas will you be? I may can direct you to an informed consent doctor/clinic. Those kind of drugs are not "controlled" so there isn't any list that makes sure you aren't filling prescriptions from different doctors. There are also some online providers that can prescribe. Androcur isnt sold in the US but spiro is. All the medications you are asking about are cheap at about $4 for a 30 day supply

[surfbabe (imported)]

Jessica, thank you very much, that was very informative. I‘m a little surprised, I have to admit. I could buy Finasteride in Bosnia without any hassle just recently. I would have expected, at least that is available easily in the US.

Anyway, I‘m landing in Dallas, will stay in Lubbock for a few days and don’t have plans, yet, for the rest of my stay, but I‘m looking hard at Austin.

What are the procedures going through a doctor/clinic? I guess I don’t have to prove citizenship or membership of US social security? I read that the US medical system is pretty fucked up with people using Ubers instead of ambulances because of absurd co-pays, flying to Mexico payed by insurance just to buy meds and getting stuck with 50k+ bills from emergency helicopter rides they didn’t order?

Anyay, if I will need to pay a doctor 200$+ just for a prescription, and spend a day for that, then it might still be cheaper to keep relying on Russians sending meds from Czech, or doing a weekend trip to Bosnia. �� (Not that I like these options, but, hey… ��A BANNED LINK WAS POSTED!)

[WheelyCurious]

Some ways the US is far less free than many other countries in certain areas, and medical things are one of them... There are basically two - three classes of drugs, depending on how you want to define it... The common low risk sorts of drugs are "over the counter" with no prescription required... They mostly fall in what the "White Rabbit" song describes as "The Pills your mother gives you...." Anything stronger needs to be 'blessed' by our FDA (Food & Drug Administration) - it hasn't approved Androcur, so AFAIK, the US is the only country where you can't legally get it... There are a fairly large number of drugs that have been approved in other countries, but not in the US so can't be purchased here. OTOH, if a drug gets approved in the US, it will probably be approved everywhere else.

Also our medical monopoly has basically made anything but over the counter drugs "prescription only" so you have to go to them in order to get a prescription (aka 'permission slip') before you can buy them... In theory this includes even certain medical supplies and equipment, like my wheelchair, and my catheters (but I can buy the same catheters on e-bay...)

That said for most drugs it is pretty straightforward - go to the doctor, (PAY him...) and convince him to give you a prescription, which he will either hand you on paper or transmit electronically to the pharmacy of your choice... (electronic is nice because the pharmacy will generally fill it and have it ready for you to pick up - no waiting) you go to the pharmacy, pay them some more and pick up the drugs... (note that there can be significant variations in the price for the same drug, especially if you don't have insurance, enough so that there are price comparison services to see which of the major chain drug stores have the best price for a particular drug)

Some drugs, mostly the ones with a high chance of misuse, mostly narcotics, but including testosterone (but not estrogen...) will have some extra hoops like requiring photo-ID to pick up, or other headaches, but follow essentially the same process....

WheelyCurious

[surfbabe (imported)]

Thank you so much! This is very informative.

I mean, I‘m used to this style from central Europe, but I thought in the „Land of the Free“, there would be more stuff freely available.

So, it‘s the east which is wild, nowadays?

Anyway. Over here, getting these drugs prescribed is also a huge hastle, because I need to go through a lengthy process with a psychologist AND a psychatrist, just to get an Endocrinologyst or Gynecologist covinced, that I‘m worthy of the stuff and I’m not going to sue them for mistreatment a year later. Argh.

Is that easier then, in the US? Does money talk? What are these online options?

[WheelyCurious]

Mostly my comments about 'pay' are related to the generally high costs of health care in the US....

In terms of getting prescriptions for our sorts of meds, the best doctors to see are ones associated with 'Transgender Centers'... There are centers in many (most?) larger cities, that offer in-person services. There are also some on-line virtual services but I've never dealt with them so I don't know what their procedures are like.

In theory, now that the new SOC v8 with it's chapters specifically addressing eunuchs and non-binary folks has been released, things should be easier. However it has only been out for a few weeks so we don't have much reported experience to go on (not sure I've seen anything specifically mentioning it)

My personal experience, which started a few months ago, was pretty painless in dealing with a center that runs out of one of the major US research hospitals, located in a pretty liberal state, and having doctors that at least had some idea about the SOC v8 draft... I had a couple of virtual, and one in person appointment and walked out with a medication change plan, I had to do a thorough explanation of what I wanted and my understanding of the consequences, but that wasn't a big problem (IMHO if you can't do this, you probably shouldn't be trying to get :cut; ) On my second in person, I started chemical castration w/ Lupron (one of the major US drugs of choice, arguably better than Androcur, but expensive)

WheelyCurious

[fhunter]

I could buy Finasteride in Bosnia without any hassle just recently. I would have expected, at least that is available easily in the US.

I am curious - was it just 'over the counter' or available in some specific place? Also - was estrogen accessible there too? (I am pretty close to Bosnia, so it is possible to visit it)

[surfbabe (imported)]

I am curious - was it just 'over the counter' or available in some specific place? Also - was estrogen accessible there too? (I am pretty close to Bosnia, so it is possible to visit it)

Over the counter in a (seemingly) regular pharmacy in Banja Luka. No eyes were blinked. I asked for it, asked for more, payed with credit card, no issue. As if I asked for a nasal spray against a running nose.

Didn‘t try asking for Estrogen, as I still have over a year worth on stock (for my low-dosing needs) and didn’t want to gamble the Finasteride deal.

[surfbabe (imported)]

@WheelyCurious, thank you very much for your insights.

I heard about these centers.

So, to sum it up:

- Prescription is as necessary as in central Europe.

- Transgender care is way better and easier to get.

- AFAIU, there‘s a better infrastructure of shady web suppliers who don’t ask too much questions in the US, too.

Thank you.

Unfortunately this is all too much hastle to go through on my pretty short visit and the supposedly steep payments for doctors make my shady suppliers in Europe a little bit more attractive again.

Hope they don’t go away until I battled this stupid trans healthcare system over here, then.

[Losethem (imported)]

Short version in the US... If you go into a large name-brand pharmacy (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) and you can't find what you're looking for out on the shelf where you can pick it up, then take it up front to pay for it, odds are you need a prescription for it.