Measuring Hormone Levels...?

[polecat (imported)]

I'm not castrated in any sense yet, perhaps sadly. But I was curious, I heard on the radio they could measure your testosterone in the lab from a simple spit sample. Is that true? How much would that cost? There aren't any sort of "home pregnancy kit" type things, for testing other hormones, are there?

I ask because well... I just wanted to see whether mine were normal.. I mean it's not like I claim there's some physical thingy to make people transsexual, but just that sometimes I feel like um... like I already was experiencing some side effects.

This is so stupid... but bear with me. Just that one of my greatest fears about castration (it's NOT becoming a eunuch, I can tell you!) is that I already have hard to control mood swings. I already get anxiety and depression sometimes. Heck, I was puzzled for the longest time how hot flashes could be an indication of castration, because um... I kinda get some every now and again. The whole waking up covered in sweat, having to walk around to cool off, get a cold drink. Don't usually get "cold" flashes if those even exist, but yeah...

I'd be afraid that after the operation, it'd get so much worse that I would actually be forced to listen to my impulse to kill myself. Like, what mood swings I have now made ten billion times worse. If that ever happened, why would anybody want to live? I'd help someone kill themselves if they had only a life of depression to look forward to worse than I have!

But anyway, between that and my cyclic, overwhelming sexual highs, I think something might be wrong with my hormones. I don't have health insurance, or a job for years, so I can't pay to ask a doctor to measure it, or to prescribe hormone drugs or whatever. Lucky enough to have a roof over my head, and barely enough saved to pay for halfway through school. But still, maybe if...

How about this: if I do go and try depo provera, at what $130 a month? and somehow it clears up some of what I perceive as sexual tension, i.e. anxiety, and I manage to then get a paying job, then I will be happy to pay that $130 for the rest of my employed life. But I want to test my hormone levels regularly. I heard you can get in trouble and reaction to hormone drugs can vary from person to person.

Even if I can pay that $130 a month, I probably won't be able to get a job that has health insurance, so that means no visits to the doctor still. Is there any way I can work around that $100-just-to-talk-to-me system, maybe with my own hormone tests to pee on or something? Even if I do somehow get the help of a physician, is there any way I could measure my own hormone levels on the side?

[Robby (imported)]

Low Libido? Check this out! (http://www.testmyhormones.com/low_sex_d ... libido.htm)

First Alert Hormone Testing... Click on me! (http://www.bocaultra.com/products_first_alert.asp)

AndroCHECK Saliva Collection Kit (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/med/androcheck.html)

Salivary Hormone Testing (http://www.life-enhancement.com/article ... .asp?ID=28)

For more sites on the subject matter, use Google and search on "saliva testosterone test"...

[polecat (imported)]

Thank you so much!! I don't want to raise my libido though. So it's about $140 to test 5 hormones, huh. Well, now I know.

[polecat (imported)]

Heck, I was puzzled for the longest time how hot flashes could be an indication of castration, because um... I kinda get some every now and again. The whole waking up covered in sweat, having to walk around to cool off, get a cold drink. Don't usually get "cold" flashes if those even exist, but yeah...

You know, that's dumb. It was a baseball player who hit the ball while wearing a shirt, and concluded that the shirt was magical and helped em hit balls harder. It can't be hot flashes, just me pulling patterns out of chaos. It's gotta be something else, like maybe how it's just freaking impossible to try to sleep when it's 80F degrees or above all night. I mean, I hang around here, so I must be just subconsciously mimicking what I've seen said.