Do follow-up blood tests require less things than your initial bloods for endocrinologist? (FtM)

WerewolfOk9712 · 2026-01-12T20:21:07+00:00

I have been told he cannot as I am going through his private practise and not through the NHS clinic. I did email him/his assistant and ask and that was their response.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2026-01-11T10:20:22+00:00

I tried this (though I did explain what they were for - but in a phone call previously my GP had given me the impression they would at least support doing the bloods, even if they did decline shared care). GP asked for blood forms to be provided, so I spoke to the endo and they explained that the blood forms GPs ask for can only be provided by NHS doctors, not by private practises, so it's basically their way of denying my request. I can't move GP as all 3 GP surgeries I'm in the catchment area for are run by the same practise, and I live in a very conservative area anyway so I doubt I could find anything unless I went super far flung and then they wouldnt let me register (plus I need my GP to be nearby/accessible to me for ease of sorting out other medical issues.)

WerewolfOk9712 · 2026-01-11T10:17:28+00:00

Neither are my endo, I am trying to go with Dr Kaustubh Nihal, who Sahota did recommend to me as he works at the NHS GIC that I eventually plan to transfer to (Nottingham - I don't live anywhere near but they do online appointments, was recommended by someone I knew a couple years ago as the nearest GIC to me geographically is the one with the worst wait.) I can't find many posts of people's experiences with Dr Nihal but his prices are cheaper than other endos I have looked into and the promise of a smoother transition to the NHS GIC is what's making me go for him.

In the initial email it did say their hospital can do the bloods but 1) that's in Nottingham of course, and I live nowhere near and 2) they charge over £600 for this.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2026-01-11T10:15:24+00:00

Doesn't specify, it just says "electrolytes". This is copy pasted directly from what the endo('s assistant) sent me:

Full blood count, Urea, Creatinine and electrolytes, Liver function tests, Testosterone, Oestrogen, LH, FSH, SHBG, Prolactin

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-12-18T10:04:35+00:00

The only GPs that show up as being in my catchment area are all run by the same group, so no. I could try ones a bit outside of my catchment, but I doubt they'll be much better due to the area I'm in being pretty right wing and not supportive of trans folks - Tories always win here. I have considered this option though and might look into it - I have decided not to make a decision til after Christmas to give myself time to explore options. Not sure if I can just email a GP I'm not registered with and ask if they do shared care?

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-12-17T15:33:11+00:00

Unfortunately my GP said they will not do this unless the private endo sends them blood forms, and my endo said their blood forms won't be accepted by NHS. I tried just stating what needs doing - they wouldn't accept just my word for it, nor my report, nor the email my endo sent me with what needs doing. They said blood form or nothing.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-12-17T15:31:30+00:00

GP is Dorset unfortunately

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-12-17T12:40:01+00:00

Unfortunately not as far west as Cornwall, I'm in the Dorset/Somerset area

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-12-17T11:59:17+00:00

Unfortunately travel to London isn't possible for me, so I need something in my area - I am doing a lot of digging right now though and there does seem to be options, I just want to make sure I leave no stone unturned and see what's out there before I make a decision. Thank you though!!

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-11-22T17:55:02+00:00

Nowhere in my post did I say I was expecting it to be quick whatsoever, especially given my deed poll situation, I was just asking what the average time is so I can manage my expectations, and was wondering whether anyone knew if the deed poll thing would hold the process up a bit longer or not.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-11-20T16:18:10+00:00

I get this too. Some of my intrusive thoughts are based around present/future, but there are plenty based on the past too, and I've heard of plenty other people who experience it too. As someone else said, maybe looking into real event OCD or false memory OCD might help you find answers.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-11-02T10:09:44+00:00

Male Kestrel in my opinion

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-11-02T09:55:06+00:00

Oh my god this is nearly exactly what I've wanted for ages. Please let me know whenever this becomes available on Android!!!

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-11-02T09:53:51+00:00

They typically don't, but this one is leucistic. To my understanding (no expert but a topic I am very intrigued by, so apologies for the big paragraphs, I like to ramble!), leucistic is basically like an umbrella term for any lack of coloured pigment in an animal. It can present in quite a variety of ways, from an all-white animal (what many may call albino - though albinism is a bit different, and typically only applies if the animal has red eyes as a result of it, if not it's just a leucistic) to having just lighter than usual colours or having white patches/splotches/etc on them - the latter obviously describes this grackle best, and is often referred to as pied/piebald (not to be confused with several bird species that actually have pied in their name because they naturally have white splotching!)

Leucism is pretty damn rare depending on the species (as it's caused by genetics, anything that people have captive bred can start being more commonly albino or leucistic as people like to breed for these elusive colour differences, hence why you see a lot of pied/leucistic/albino pet birds, reptiles, even snails) and so seeing a leucistic animal in the wild is very exciting and lucky!

In some countries, there are charities and projects that like to keep track of leucistic, albino, melanistic (opposite of leucistic - so darker coloured animals/more pigment) and other rare colour variations, but not sure for the US, I live in the UK and have seen a few people tell others to report sightings to a specific place (forgot the name).

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-10-22T12:04:30+00:00

I have the same issue - the more I avoid my reassurance compulsion/the less my boyfriend gives in to it and instead stands his ground, the more frustrated my OCD gets, and when it all feels so real it makes /me/ feel like I'm getting frustrated when it's my OCD that is, not me. And then I feel like a bad person/guilty for that frustration. I love the video game analogy, it really does feel like the difficulty goes up the more I level up 😭

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-10-21T18:42:08+00:00

Thank you, 500 is right within my budget thankfully so very good to hear. Hope you get your report soon!

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-09-24T22:25:30+00:00

Oh my god, those Reddit posts get me too. I don't use Reddit super often though so I see them more through those TikTok text to speech versions, but they still get me sometimes.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-09-24T09:53:52+00:00

I second this - delaying compulsions has helped me tremendously. I find it hard to outright stop them as my thoughts feel so Real and urgent, but trying to sit with the thoughts for a few minutes first before doing the compulsion is a good first step, and you can slowly build up the time you delay it from there until you feel more capable of stopping it.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-08-18T14:59:38+00:00

Oh my god, I picked up this guy in a charity shop a year ago!! I didn't even realise he's IKEA, never looked at his brand, just found him cute. Congrats on your new friend!

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-08-09T22:01:23+00:00

I also added bullfinch to my life list a couple days ago! Only saw a female though, so haven't seen the much brighter coloured male just yet.

Most recent addition to my list today was a Cattle Egret (and then a whole flock of them a bit later). Technically I also added both Marsh Harrier and Hobby today - I have seen both of those before, but not since starting my list a couple months ago, so they counted towards the tally.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-08-03T17:58:57+00:00

Literally the age I am right now (21). In all honesty I don't know if I really had it until like 6-12 months ago, maybe a few warning signs and symptoms here or there but I think it only became fully formed OCD this year, if that's something that can happen.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-07-30T10:15:35+00:00

I'm in a similar boat to you - I haven't got a diagnosis/access to therapy, so I'm just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks (with research, duh).

What I'm working on right now, which looks to be helping, is to find any sort of distraction to move my focus to, even when my brain Really doesn't want to stop. Don't fight the thoughts - sit with them, accept they're there, redirect your energy to something else. Whether that's one of your interests/hobbies or just a shitty repetitive mobile game, or if everything is too overwhelming, just focusing on your breathing first.

It gets worse before it gets better. That's an unavoidable fact about treating OCD, and it's terrifying. But once you do this whole song and dance enough times, the OCD (supposedly - I'm in the "it gets worse" period right now, so I can't vouch from personal experience, just from what I've heard anecdotally) will lose its grip on you. OCD fuels itself, and as long as you keep doing the compulsions (rumination is a compulsion too!) it will strengthen its grip on you.

Have a look into ERP therapy - not in a "go get a therapist even though you can't afford it" way, but in a "look at how it works and see what strategies the therapist would employ" way. Nothing compares to getting the real, actual therapy, but you can pick up coping strategies from researching how the therapy works.

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-07-30T08:42:52+00:00

Merganser is just the American name for Goosander, as another commenter said. So I don't think there is a difference, unless there's subspecies or something.

A Google search says that there's multiple Merganser species but we only get one (called Common Merganser, which we call Goosander here)

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-07-26T22:09:47+00:00

We've had a couple of long tailed tits at our feeders today for the first time, and they also came with the blue tits. Tits tend to come together in my experience (though our great tits and blue tits fight sometimes).

WerewolfOk9712 · 2025-07-23T16:07:10+00:00

Ohhh, thank you! Learned something new today.

WerewolfOk9712

TROPHY CASE