• QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    23·
    3 days ago

    for those scared it’s worse than the official way, my doctor literally used chatgpt to answer my question right in front of me 😭

    the place was made during the aids crisis and now they just kinda do what queer people need without really understanding it

    They’re very nice though, he changed my reasoning for HRT from gender dysphoria to thyroid issues in case Republicans try to ban it when I asked

    • GalacticSushi@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      16·
      3 days ago

      he changed my reasoning for HRT from gender dysphoria to thyroid issues in case Republicans try to ban it when I asked

      Unfathomably based

  • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    51·
    4 days ago

    And for those who want to get hormones, but are scared of going DIY rather than official: it’s in practice just like going the official route, but without the long waiting times and all the gatekeeping.

    If you have a GP and endo you trust, and they’d be fine with DIY, it’s useful to inform them. Undergo blood tests every three months. Other than that, DIY is just, get the hormones, read the instructions, do.

    Guide for what kind of hormone method to use

    For the lulz: Is it worth to give a transfem person a paycut of 25% in exchange for paying all HRT and SRS?

    Edit: since the first link seems to no longer show the text, see my new comment directly below this one, which posts the text I had in that link.

      • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago

        Thanks!

        Just saw the original post to which I wrote the HRT guide response (with your tips, ty!) is removed a while ago - I still have the text though. Should I put it up on the DIY community and hrt room?

        Edit: posted, see above.

    • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      Replying so I can repost the guide.

      I personally use spray, it’s like gel but dries much quickier (2 min dry enough, 1 hr to fully dry). But the ‘fully dry’ is moreso that in that time you’d best not shower yet, that’s it.

      Dries in 2 min enough to put clothes over the sprayed spot and do your thing. I have a skin that is drier than the Gobi desert, so that also helps.

      You’ll need to do it daily, but depending on the person, you can have it 1x a day or twice, and up to three doses per time.

      Whether or not you want HRT, it’s valid. DIY just means you take the meds without a formal prescription. If your situation allows you to do so safely and swiftly, without problems with doctors and/or governments, I’d recommend the official path. Otherwise, DIY is also perfectly valid. Stay safe and aware! If you do HRT, always keep a few months’ worth of supply in stock, just in case.

      GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR MEDICATION PATH (TL:DR; below)

      This guide assumes you already have decided to get HRT. It’s not meant to replace official advice from affirming and up-to-date doctors, etc. and all that legal stuff.

      The following options consist of injections, pellets, patches, gel, spray, sublingual pills, and oral pills.
      If you (wish to) carry a child, you may need to change your HRT regimen temporarily.
      The following text in this paragraph only applies if you haven’t had orchi-/ovariectomy; except for injections and pellets which can work monotherapically, all methods additionally require the hormone blockers for the hormone you want to reduce.

      All of the listed HRT methods are safe and work well, it’s mainly subtle nuances between them. Which is best, just depends upon your situation and preferences.

      If a method, for whatever reason (costs, laws, insurance, transport…), is unavailable for you, then answer as if negative for that method.

      1. Do you dislike needles and scars?
      Yes -> See question 2
      No -> See question 4

      2. Do you have sensitive skin?
      Yes -> See question 3
      No -> See question 5

      3. Do you prefer ease of use (although there may be liver/blood issues), or effectiveness?
      Ease of use -> Take pills orally (health risk long-term)
      Effectiveness -> See question 6

      4. Do you want it to be easily available, or for it to be applied less often?
      Easily available -> Injections
      Apply less often -> Pellet implant

      5. Do you want to hide it more easily, or to apply it less often?
      Easier to hide -> Gel/Spray; see question 7
      Apply less often -> Patches

      6. Do you often encounter flammable situations and/or is your skin damaged at the area where you’d apply the hormone?
      Yes -> Take pills sublingually (small health risk)
      No -> See question 7

      7. Do you prefer it to dry quickly, or for it to possibly yield higher hormone levels?
      Dries quickier -> Spray
      Higher hormone levels -> Gel

      TL:DR; If you still don’t know which method to use, or feel indifferent - and it is an option -, then I would recommend injections. WillStealYourUsername below me also has some good explanations.

      Why that method?

      They’re the gold standard for combining safety with effect. Consider the following. If you want pills and consume nicotin, you will have to stop with the latter before starting. Patches are pretty visible and can fall off or cause allergic reactions. Spray/gel has to dry for 2-5 minutes, with a cooldown of one hour before showering.

      Like spray/gel, it bypasses the risk for the liver (sublingual reduces the risk to an extent).
      Though they need to be applied more often than pellet implants (which are only once every 6-12 months), they are more affordable and like patches, are not on a daily, but weekly basis. Their doses can be more easily finetuned, and they can work on their own, without blockers being necessary.

      Does it have downsides compared to other methods? They hurt a bit (obviously), your hormone levels will spike and fall more sharply, it takes more preparation, and administering it isn’t as easy or convenient. But still, injections are the best widely available method. They’re the ‘jack of trades, master of some’, if you will.

      • Jorunn (she/her)@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
        5·
        3 days ago

        Oral should be the last thing considered on that list right after sublingual.

        A better way to determine what HRT to take is this linear list:

        • Implants/Pellets. Hard to get. Requires very minor surgery, but they last up to a year or something.
        • Injections. Hard to get prescribed in some parts of the world. Easy and cheap to get DIY.
        • Patches. Expensive. Some find these don’t work well on their skin, or that they don’t stick well because they exercise a lot. Apothecaries can run out of these easily and you might suddenly be out for a while. You can tape these down with body safe tape or try a different location to see if it sticks better.
        • Gel. Some find these don’t work super well on their skin. Relatively cheap when you do DIY.
        • Spray. Some find these don’t work super well on their skin. Also relatively cheap on DIY.
        • Pills, sublingual. Slightly higher rate of side effects (very small). Article on oral vs sublingual.
        • Pills, oral. Higher rate of side effects (small). Another article on oral vs sublingual.

        Injections can be scary but they are very convenient. With valerate you take injections every five days, with enanthate you take injections every 7 days. Undecylate can be taken once a month.

        Most routes require that you take blockers which can come with their own side effects and risks. Injections and implants do not need this, and some can even do HRT without blockers on patches, gel, or spray, but this depends on the individual. I therefore recommend injections as the safer and most comfortable option.

        If you do patches I recommend building a stockpile of reserve HRT in case patches are hard to get for a while. This has happened many times and will happen again. You should ideally have a little stockpile for every route, but it’s extra smart on patches.

        Gel/spray is a great option too, but you do need to apply it once or even multiple times per day. It can be a bit of a hassle.

        Most pills can be taken sublingually but not all. If they can be taken sublingually then there’s really no reason not to. You might need to take less pills this way too meaning pills become cheaper in practice, or that you can build a stockpile easily if they are prescribed.

        All routes are equally effective in terms of results.

        Also visible scarring from needles is not much of a thing.

            • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
              1·
              3 days ago

              Another question, I realise: how do you know when a method isn’t “effective”? That might probably vary a lot by person, but I’m interested for others.

              For some like patches it’s pretty clear, the skin having an allergic or sensitive reaction. But what with the others?

              • Jorunn (she/her)@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
                1·
                2 days ago

                Low levels on blood tests compared to what is expected. Now gel and spray kinda give very varied results on blood tests, but if you get consistently low levels then likely that means that transdermal might not be that effective for you

                • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                  1·
                  2 days ago

                  honestly just wish it were possible to live measure your estradiol levels, that’d be nice

                  also just read on the spray for my specific method on that transfem science site, and it says it tends to yield lower estrogen levels, but research is insufficent for three doses a day (which i do).

                  according to this site, symptoms of low estrogen seem to be problems with sleeping, dry skin, hot flashes.

                  for high, it’d be anxiety, more tiredness, depression, headache.

                  seeing as i seem to lack either low and high E symptoms, though i sometimes have headaches and dry skin, i’ve no idea what i then have. i dont do progs yet, and have been doing anti-androgens for ten months now (started hrt that long ago too).

                  ironically (a bit nsfw), but ive noticed my libido rising rapidly whenever i take anti-androgens, only for it to subside after a week. So perhaps the body tries to produce more T at first, as a reaction?

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 days ago

        Yeah I don’t like needles but injections are goat. Anecdotally, it’s common to get additional development after switching to injections from pills.

        Pellets sound good, but they’re often not prescribed.

        Also boof your P

        • birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          Yup, for me the choice was basically:

          1: needles not available (even if they were, I don’t like them, and i’d personally feel a bit like a junkie),

          2: pellet not available

          3: patches wouldn’t work on my sensitive ass skin

          4: oral seemed so convenient but i decided not to. wanted to avoid the minor risks of either pill method (tbf, the newer ones have neglible risks and you def could do some years with them, but still).

          5: that leaves gel and spray. hormone levels are easier to keep constant, and i can vary, so i can simulate a period, feels kinda affirming.

          and especially: spray dries quickier, so, that’s it!

          still pretty convenient. it’s also kinda fun, i like to imagine it as a lil’ gun you shoot on your skin. pew pew :3

        • medgremlin@midwest.socialEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          The problem with pellets is that they can release the hormones at uneven rates as they dissolve because they aren’t perfectly homogeneous. There’s also a chance that your body rejects it and forms a fibrous capsule around it that prevents it from releasing the hormones at all.

            • medgremlin@midwest.socialEnglish
              1·
              3 days ago

              It’s really hard to pin down because of inconsistencies between manufacturers. I’ve had patients that got pellets and had no effects whatsoever, and some that got way too much because it dissolved too quickly. It also kind of matters who is implanting them and if they know what they’re doing. (Pro tip, chiropractors and naturopaths do not know what the fuck they are doing.)

  • Oxysis/Oxy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    32·
    4 days ago

    Thankfully the university I go to got me on hrt in a week. Got my levels all where they should be within the first few months. I’m very happy

  • Delphia@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    As a bodybuilder who wants easier access to testosterone I support the trans community for the right reasons as well as the wrong ones.

    I want you to be happy with what you see in the mirror too. I just want to see a ridiculously buff brick shithouse in mine.

      • w3dd1e@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        Oh wow. I take that.

        I stumbled on this post while browsing “all”.

        I’m a supporter of trans rights and I believe that if a trustworthy doctor prescribed their patient something, it’s none of mine or anyone else’s business. The government should stay out of it. I didn’t learn much more about the topic. Since I’m not trans, I wouldn’t need to know about HRT, right?

        But, as someone who takes Spiro, I can’t believe that anyone would have a problem prescribing it to a healthy trans woman. This makes me more angry about the backlash of giving HRT to trans youth.

        I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to learn about it and what it’s like to be a trans person dealing with all that hate.

        • Jorunn (she/her)@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
          1·
          1 day ago

          An extra part of the joke is that 50mg spiro and 2mg estradiol is severe underdosing. Often they overdoes the blocker and underdose the estradiol, but sometimes they underdose both. This is in addition to all the hoops you mention that we need to go through to get HRT in the first place.

          There are also other more effective blockers with less side effects but they’re not as cheap and therefore not as often prescribed. More proof that this is totally about our health

          Edit: There are ofc doctors and clinics where you get excellent care, just, terrible care is all too common globally.