My friend - the surgeon is waiting for me to do an orchiectomy and removal of the scrotum. But he said that he is a surgeon, not an endocrinologist. I underwent androcur therapy twice, but a year has passed. Question: Is it possible to have castration without HRT? Or is it better to use androcur at least 6 months before? To be honest, I'm already 50 yo and for many years I really want to do it...

Thanks!

Christinap (imported) wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2019 2:19 pm My friend - the surgeon is waiting for me to do an orchiectomy and removal of the scrotum. But he said that he is a surgeon, not an endocrinologist. I underwent androcur therapy twice, but a year has passed. Question: Is it possible to have castration without HRT? Or is it better to use androcur at least 6 months before? To be honest, I'm already 50 yo and for many years I really want to do it...

Thanks!

This is common among Doctors. Messing with hormones can be a tricky business. Usually, the reason for an Endocrinologist has to do with possible Testosterone, maybe Estradiol or some other feminizing hormone depending on what the end goal is, after the Orchiectomy.

While a lot of us do go through an anti-androgen chemical "tryout" including myself before committing to surgery, I don't think it's necessary to do a chemical castration before you have the surgery. If you've already tried it twice and that's what you want, go ahead and do it would be my advice.

I will say that not having any sex hormones in your body is not a good thing. Not recommended at all.

Your question as to the use of androcur is something else entirely. Its use will lower the amount of T in your system and give you a taste of what it's like. I did that with Spironolactone for 7 months before I had my orchi.

As many have discovered after castration there is a lot more to the needs in our body to have some form of hormones in order to maintain proper health than meets the eye. Many will argue the point including the medical community. That is where the term quality of life enters the picture. And that is a very subjective concept since each of us consider quality of life differently. I'm not altogether sure that even the medical community can agree on what quality of life means. to me it is the many things that come into play to keep me active, pain free and HAPPY. Of course I would like it to include longevity but none of us know what may happen to us as we travel our individual journey.

I personally discovered that I needed some form of hormone replacement after removing the major hormone factory in my body. It took a while before I realized that and as with all of us I came to a crossroad in deciding how to accomplish my need for some type of hormone. "T" or "E" ? That was the question, and I chose the path of "E". That was a personal choice and will differ between each of us. Lack of hormone of some sort can have negative effects on the body over time. And by all means communicate with the medical community on the matter and be very clear telling them your life goals in order to come up with what is the best treatment for YOU!

GordonGG (imported) wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2019 3:51 pm I will say that not having any sex hormones in your body is not a good thing. Not recommended at all.

That is exactly what the Surgeon who's going to do my Penectomy told me. Problem is finding an Endocrinologist who will work with a Gender Non Conforming individual is tough. I've been trying to come up with one for a couple of months now with no success. There are quite a number of them who will deal with MtF or FtM Transgender folks but they do not seem interested in helping out a Nullo.

zeebster (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:29 am That is exactly what the Surgeon who's going to do my Penectomy told me. Problem is finding an Endocrinologist who will work with a Gender Non Conforming individual is tough. I've been trying to come up with one for a couple of months now with no success. There are quite a number of them who will deal with MtF or FtM Transgender folks but they do not seem interested in helping out a Nullo.

I recommend checking with Planned Parenthood. They provide hrt for nonbinary folks with no hassle whatsoever.

hopper44 (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2019 12:02 pm I recommend checking with Planned Parenthood. They provide hrt for nonbinary folks with no hassle whatsoever.

Not a bad idea at all and one I'd not thought of so I checked it out this afternoon; I searched all the Planned Parenthood sites from Colorado, to Utah, to Idaho, to California, to Arizona to New Mexico. While some of them advertised for LGBTQ services, everyone of them had a note saying that NO hormone replacement services were available....

zeebster (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 6:50 pm Not a bad idea at all and one I'd not thought of so I checked it out this afternoon; I searched all the Planned Parenthood sites from Colorado, to Utah, to Idaho, to California, to Arizona to New Mexico. While some of them advertised for LGBTQ services, everyone of them had a note saying that NO hormone replacement services were available....

Sorry to hear that. They have been providing hrt in the northeast for a few years now, didn't realize they weren't doing it out west.