forest Aug 6, 2023

Hi there #trans and #biochemistry fedi, do you know any way of taking your own blood for getting lab results that show the effects of #HRT in the blood?

As in: I'd want to check my own hrt levels and get a result saying how high my #estrogen / #estradiol, #testosterone and other relevant levels are in my blood. For doing that I'd assume I somehow need to draw my own blood and then either analyse the blood myself or send it to a lab for analysis who will get back to me with my results.

If you know any other way of determining those values that doesn't involve drawing blood, please let me know!

What would also be important is that this doesn't cost much as I'd like to take several samples to track progress (or lack thereof) over a period of time.

Relevant information: I'm situated in BW, Germany.

Boosts are highly appreciated!

#askfedi

Show threadMad
@taminaminam from my understanding, there are 2 quantitative hormone assays done. 1 of them is mass spectrometry, which just involves a really fancy expensive machine. The other is an enzyme linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA), which is a super common biochemical tool. Generally, ELISAs are run on 96 well plates, and results are either determined by how brightly colored the reaction ends up being, or by how fluorescent. Sadly, both kinds of assay kits are in the $200-700 range
Aug 7, 2023 at 5:06pmWeb
Show threadforest Aug 7, 2023
@madasrabbits while getting myself a mass spectrometer and actually understanding the readings probably wouldn't be feasible, that'd just be really fucking cool
Show threadforest Aug 7, 2023
@madasrabbits the thing you're referring to in your other reply is an ELISA then if I'm assuming right?
Show threadMadAug 7, 2023
@taminaminam yeah, Elisa kits are in the 200-700 USD range, plus they require some equipment which is also not too accessible, sadly