#hrt is healthcare

[lgbtqtext]

[campbellbeans]

given recent events, the NHS deciding to conveniently "lose" my entire medical record and attempting to restart my entire transistion progress at a different GIC is especially frustrating anyways:

[cparen]

This needs to be yelled from the rooftops. My initial HRT doc was good, but I was prepared with data and advocate for myself.

"Sign here that you understand your breast cancer risk goes up"

Yeah, but not as high a risk as my wife's, right?

"That's true"

And my prostate cancer risk drops to practically nothing.

"That's also true... You've done good reading."

And with all of that, there's a good chance this will overall lower my lifetime risk of cancer, right?

"Sigh, look... We don't have to tell you about any of the benifits. Just the risks. It's terrible, but that's how the system is."

Fucking medicine.

one of the more depressing things about trans subreddits is seeing just how badly people's doctors are lowballing them on HRT dosage and how frequently their doctors are fucking idiots.

[shamebats]

The gynecologist was surprised to learn I wanted an IUD because apparently another trans guy just recently told her, very confidently, that he can't get pregnant because T makes you infertile.

Guys. Boys. Dudes. Folks... Don't play with fire.

Testosterone can inhibit some of the other hormonal levels that trigger ovulation, making ovulation less predictable. Many peoples’ ovaries will release eggs less frequently, if at all. However, this doesn’t mean that ovulation entirely stops if someone is taking testosterone. This means that a person on T can still be fertile and get pregnant while on testosterone.

[brooke2valley]

Today is the day! WISH ME LUCKKK!!!💕🥳

It's just the consultation, but it's the first step in this long journey, so I'm ready 💕

[genderqueerdykes]

i love you so much if you are a person, trans, intersex or something else who takes testosterone hrt and loves what it's done for you. people often treat testosterone like it's a tragedy, but most people who want to take it end up loving its effects. even if people don't, that's okay, they're unique experiences that don't diminish the other. it just always makes my heart sing when someone else finds out that they love what testosterone HRT does for their mental and physical health. it's a blessing

[lovelena-125]

How is your new year going so far?

Reblog and dm let me be your first guests of the year so we can have fun 🥰🥒

[messengerhermes]

Injectable Testosterone Note

Hey Uh FYI--- If you're on injectable testosterone and your injection site *itches* and stays swollen like a bug bite for several days after you do your shot? That can be a sign that you either have an allergy to the carrier oil in your serum, or may not be injecting properly. Either way, please talk to your care team about it! If the itching spreads to random parts of your body, then it is very likely an allergy. Testosterone serums are made with three different carrier oils depending on the type: Cottonseed, Sesame Seed, or Grapeseed oil. Cottonseed is the most common carrier oil and the one most likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

Good news is, you can switch your serum! If you're allergic to one, ask your doctor to switch you to another one! Seriously, I itched like a flea bitten beast the first few months on T and then switched my serum and the problem resolved!

[taliabhattwrites]

Less Fearmongering about Testosterone, Please, Or: There is no "Boy HRT"/"Girl HRT" Dichotomy

Hello folks, I'm a trans woman and I'm on testosterone gel.

As an immigrant to a regime that is currently setting trans standards of care on fire, there is no way I can acquire any of the drugs I need to put in my body through the official channels. I've been on E monotherapy (weekly injections, no T-blocker, works out really cheap and I have a few years' worth stockpiled) for a while now, and started T-gel about a year ago.

We initially grabbed it because my wife was interested in microdosing and I decided to do so with her (though she's on injections now). Most feminizing HRT regimes nuke our T levels to lower than the healthy range for cis women, and that frankly isn't good and can lead to various health issues. T is, ultimately, just a hormone, and even if I had too much of it in the past, I still need some of it to be healthy. One noticeable effect for me is that it's helped a lot with my energy levels.

In terms of acquisition, T is actually relatively abundant compared to E because a lot of cis men buy and take steroids, while most cis women who need E are just getting it prescribed by their doctors without much fuss. Our community is the only one that really has a need for E-compounders, while the population of people who consume steroids is way higher.

Funnily, our biggest challenge in acquiring the gel was just finding a forum that would point us to a gel supplier instead of just insisting that "Gel doesn't lead to enough gains, bro! Here just buy these injections." All very well-intentioned advice, of course, but that was very much not my goal and not what I needed.

Where I am, it's legal to purchase and own T, just not to sell it. T possession is not particularly harshly cracked down upon, given that its use amongst a certain crowd is basically an open secret. Gauge your level of risk but ultimately, the official policy on trans existence is discouraging transition and making it harder for us to be able to change our sex. A friend from Germany showed me this extract that explicitly advocates for therapy to dissuade bodily transition:

It's from the guidelines for transition-related care by the association of German health insurances!

If you can get it from a doctor, good. Do that and don't forget you'll constantly have to advocate for yourself. Even if you can, however, you should frankly have your back-up options sorted out, because we live in times increasingly hostile to transitional care, and we all need to have fallbacks.

Maybe the world will eventually become less trans-eliminationist, but in the meantime, transition is always going to carry with it a certain level of risk. All I can really advise is to take charge of your own bodily autonomy, to decide how you want to shape your sex, and if you feel like you can't currently do that, to start making plans for when you eventually can. That kept me going for five years in the closet, and eventually paid off.

Good luck, and death before detransition.

[geek-22]

Trans men and enby's,

Testosterone does not work as birth control.

Your doctor may tell you this, a nurse might, but it DOES NOT.

For the love of god, wear protection

[floral-ashes]

New publication with my best title yet! Using CRISPR gene editing as an anchor, I offer reflections on high-tech conversion practices, high-tech medical transition, and the ethics of hype.

Link to the paper here.

Link to an audio version here.

[shamebats]

[brooke2valley]

Hey yall, I just wanted to thank everyone for the luck and well wishes I received yesterday

The consultation went very well, and it seems like I should be able to move forward so long as I do the correct prep work. 💕

It's going to take a while, but I'm so lucky to have such an amazing support system in my chosen family, my partner, and in you all, so genuinely, thank you <3

[everyponie]

tired of seeing people hate on bi lesbians and gay girls while I as a trans person may not be able to access life saving healthcare in the state I live in. A lot of yall are being really quiet about that but verrrryyyy loud about things that hurt no one!! it's genuinely so annoying. Like trans people here in Florida, including CHILDREN, are losing access to trans Healthcare. Why is no one talking about it??? yall will complain online about some kid using neopronouns but you won't stand up for us trans individuals in red states??? and I don't wanna hear yall be like "you can worry about both things" because you can't! People are DYING. CHILDREN are being put in danger by this court ruling. Pick your fucking battles and for the love of God PICK THE IMPORTANT ONES.

[genderqueerdykes]

hello, here with another trans, intersex & queer health post. just wanted to let folks know about a temporary side effect of hormone replacement therapy that i don't really see talked about: some folks who take estrogens and/or testosterone HRT may experience swelling in the ankles, and feet. this can also be caused by a wide variety of other conditions and medications:

however, if nothing else has changed and you're experiencing this, it could be from this. this is usually very temporary, during fluctuations or changes in dosage, and is generally harmless. most folks taking HRT never experience or notice this, but even though it's usually easily resolved with home remedies, it's important to put the information out there for people who may be experiencing this with no answers. luckily, this can usually be easily reduced by propping up one's feet, light exercise, and more. if you are experiencing this and want to read more:

[just-like-aerin]

TIL discussing exact dosage / treatment options is apparently against the rules of r/trans because like, "don't take medical advice from the internet / doctor knows best" or something but like, isn't it pretty commonly accepted, especially when it comes to trans healthcare and medical transition in specific, that some doctors don't know what the hell they're talking about and we should be able to discuss information openly that would allow all of us to better advocate for ourselves in the face of providers with outdated knowledge or who are just ignorant?

Yes this is one giant run-on sentence, no I will not apologize