Hello gals and pals, I know this may seem abstract and “could never happen” and as most people around me say “collapse is a slow process so you’ll have time” but as the Seneca effect has shown - that is usually not true - collapse can and mostly likely will be much faster than we imagine.

And considering geopolitical tensions and the fact that most hormone precursors are made in China I can see the supply drying up almost entirely

I guess my question is - how are you preparing?

For me community is a massive one - learning where to get blood work done outside the system, how to diy, how to get in touch with homebrewers - but at the same time I’ve not found anyone who actually makes hormones from scratch - most still mix existing precursors into injectables.

I’ve though about storing pills and making them into stickies but I still doubt they’d last more than 5 years even if stored in ideal conditions. on further research it appears pills could retain 50% or more of their potency for 15-20 years if stored in extra vaccum sealed packaging in a cool dark place

And I know the HRT pharmaceutical business is much bigger than just trans people but AFAIK very few cis people cannot live without exogenous hormones as most produce at least some by themselves - which I dont think is the case if you’re trans and have been on HRT for years/decades (not to mention after bottom surgery) - so I can see how their production can get deprioritised in favor of much more critical things like insulin for example.

How are you dealing with all of this?

  • zeezee@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
    7·
    3 months ago

    thank you for sharing 🙏

    yeah I’ve actually wondered about this as well and the good news is that QoL seems to be relatively the same between natural and surgically induced menopause (what transfemmes would be most similar to)

    tho physical effects seem to be much more severe:

    Compared with women of the same age who still had their ovaries, women who were under age 46 when their ovaries were removed were 64% more likely to have arthritis, twice as likely to have obstructive sleep apnea, and nearly three times as likely to have had a bone fracture.

    however they do say that if you’re on HRT until 50 the risks are greatly reduced

    I would also imagine that using expired hrt tablets might help as well since they just become less potent over time and from what I’ve read estradiol tablets are pretty shelf stable so if stored well could retain up to 50% potency for decades post exp. date - might be worth getting some just in case to vaccum seal and store in a cool dark drawer

    • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      it’s worse, and living without sex hormones threatens health in many ways - nobody should expect to just live without sex hormones and feel ok - they will struggle to sleep, experience night sweats & hot flashes, fatigue, their bones will become brittle and be more likely to break. There are also lots of mood problems: depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, brain fog & trouble thinking are all common.

      It’s more extreme for post-op trans folks because their bodies don’t produce any suitable amount of sex hormones (whereas in cis men and women, menopause and age comes with waning levels of hormones but not an abrupt end to their production).

      A trans man I know who lived without sex hormones for over six months started to have his joints deteriorate and his knees would swell and struggle to articulate. It’s awful, and should be avoided if at all possible.