Hey there, I'm really excited that in just a few days I will be getting my pre-T blood test. According to my doctor, two weeks after the test they will call me back to the office to discuss my results and give me my first injection and teach me to self-inject.

1. Just wondering- but what are they testing for- anything other than hormone levels?

2. I was told I may want to forgo eating that morning so I don't throw off the test results. Does food impact that somehow? I will be pretty hungry if I don't eat that whole morning. My dr isn't the one doing the bloodwork and couldn't say for sure but he thinks they may want me on water only from the time I wake up that morning (I get up at about 6) until my test around 10:30

3. And will energy drinks, coffee, redline, and bodybuilding protein shakes have any influence on my test results?

4. Also, how often do people NOT get their injection after the first test and need to have it run again?

I am kind of nervous and all this is on my mind so I figured someone here would probably know. I just want to be sure everything comes out fine with my test so that I get my medicine and everything sorts itself out as quick as possible. less

For most blood work you should do what the doctor says. energy drinks, coffee, etc may have impact on some tests for blood sugar, cholesterol etc.

Many different foods will raise your cholesterol levels and if your cholesterol is high, they may want to stabilize them before starting hormone therapy. So, if they tell you not to eat don't eat! It is important to follow the pretest instructions to the letter, even a little cheating could result in unusual test results (as they expect FASTING blood levels) and post pone treatment in some cases. (I'm basing this on most forms of medicine, I do NOT work in gender reassignment nursing, but am extrapolating what I know about blood work and most types of results and treatment options.)

You are probably fasting for the blood sugar and cholesterol tests. Hormone supplements can effect cholesterol levels, so they need to get a baseline reading of your fasting levels. The same with blood sugar. If the tests are obviously out of whack, say a liver function test is out of range or your BUN is low or high, they will want to make sure you are as healthy as can be before starting any kind of treatment.

I don't work in this type of medicine, so I don't know all the tests they are doing, but many tests before treatments are routine and usually they want to assess overall health and get baseline readings on you.

Do not use energy drinks, do not eat, usually you can have water after midnight. There are good reasons for these restrictions. After they take your blood you can eat and drink normally, so just wait and don't eat or drink anything except water.

If your blood sugar is high (most foods can do this) or low (caffeine and some energy drinks can lower blood sugar in some people and raise it in others) they may want to redo the test. So sit tight and follow the Dr's directions to the letter.

Good luck on your tests. I hope your hormone treatments start asap! less