Are any of these TRT specialists online? If I continue with my GP, since he is checking my levels, couldn’t I just increase or decrease accordingly based off his blood work? Or is there any other advantages to a TRT specialist? With my main concern being hair loss, I’m betting the specialist would be a better fit. I feel like I’m going to owe you the price of an office visit after this

AlphaMD's Answer

Well, essentially in medicine you have a provider who oversees your care. If you're overseeing yourself you assume all risk related to self treatment and your PCP is not a fault if you have any issues that come up nor can they advise you about them since they didn't agree to provide that care.

If you come to your PCP and say "I'm having hairless" their first response will probably be "Okay, well Rogaine works well". You'd need to say you're self-treating with Testosterone, then they'll only be able to *give an opinion, maybe* and intentionally stay away from real advice to avoid liability.

Someone who works in TRT does play the same role as a PCP, except they're able to stay with you as partner and much more likely to work with you on your goals than against you. They'd know common things to pay attention to or offer advice based on your intentions. They are accepting being your caregiver & you can talk to them to get their professional medical treatment & advice.

Essentially, unless you're a patient of someone who wants to treat you for TRT - you'll have to rely on self diagnosis, generalization conversation (like this thread), & have no real backup plan if things don't go the way you want.

In the end it really is up to you. I hope this is what you were kind of asking.