Results

While on masculinizing hormone therapy, you'll meet regularly with your doctor. He or she will:

• Document your physical changes
• Monitor your hormone concentration, and use the lowest dose necessary to achieve desired physical effects
• Monitor changes in your lipids, fasting blood sugar, blood count, liver enzymes and electrolytes that could be caused by hormone therapy
• Monitor your behavioral health

You will also need routine preventive care if you haven’t had certain surgical interventions, including:

• Breast cancer screening. This should be done according to age-appropriate breast cancer screening recommendations for cisgender women. If mammography isn’t possible due to masculinizing chest surgery, breast self-exams are recommended.
• Cervical cancer screening. This should be done according to age-appropriate cervical cancer screening recommendations for cisgender women. Be sure the pathologist knows that you’re on testosterone therapy. This therapy can cause your cervical tissues to thin (cervical atrophy), which might mimic a condition in which abnormal cells are found on the surface of the cervix (cervical dysplasia).
• Evaluation of vaginal bleeding. If you have persistent or recurrent vaginal bleeding, early evaluation is important.
• Supplementation. This includes standard calcium and vitamin D supplementation, along with bone density assessment according to the age-appropriate recommendations for cisgender men.