#diy hrt

[tgirl-gaming-thoughts]

DIYHRT.market is back as valerie.vg

[coyoteguuurl]

reminder that diy hrt is not only objectively safe, but in a deeply transphobic world, is imperative to the safety and longevity of trans people.

[sophie-frm-mars]

Bathtub estrogen

This is a harm reduction post about DIY

I've seen some people recently using the term "bathtub estrogen" as a little joke about the production of DIY estradiols. This is fine by me as a joking term, I get that people are 1) trying to evoke a DIY punkish or prohibition moonshine sort of image and 2) communicating that we are having to turn to much less carefully prepared forms of medicine than cis people can access when we use DIY. However I recently saw a trans woman with a large platform make the joke and then when asked about it sort of waffle around the topic for a bit and then shruggingly say she does think that some estrogen is made in a bathtub in a way that made it pretty clear she doesn't actually know much about the production side of DIY. She also gestured to a global south DIY producer as being the one who was doing this, which I think is just clumsily labelling people overseas as a bit dumb and less clean.

I've been researching the production of DIY HRT for a few years as I think that the overseas supplies of DIY will be the next thing to be cracked down on by the government after all legally prescribed forms of HRT for trans people are shut down. My aim in researching it is to spread the relevant information to reduce harm for DIY users without making anyone's operations obvious to malicious parties. I can't entirely rule out the possiblity that someone very dumb and reckless is producing DIY in a place that is not sufficiently sterile, and this is part of the inherent risk of DIYing. I can however say that anyone who could afford to get the ingredients to produce DIY estradiols categorically has the money to use a professional-grade lab for it.

I would like to be clear here: bathtub estrogen does not exist

The cheapest way for someone to make estradiol is the individual-use case described by Lena from Kiev, mixing a single vial typically for the person who is making it. It is time consuming and inefficient but very cheap, and so people who care less about lab-level standards will likely resort to this method. This method is also the easiest to sterilise, as it's actually surprisingly easy to create a relatively dust-free and sterile environment for an operation this small. The primary risks with this method are from people being quite lazy about cleaning, skipping terminal sterlisation (heating the vial after mixing to kill bacteria) or neglecting to use a filter and introducing some dust, which may cause a granuloma and in the worst case chronic pain in the injection site.

If someone were scaling up from that model, the most effective methods for properly mixing all involve lab equipment, and if we were talking about a quantity of estrogen big enough to fit in a bathtub, the most effective thing to get it properly mixed would still involve transferring the carrier oil, powder and preserving agents into smaller containers for mixing and then using syringes to fill vials. Ideally all of that is done inside of a lamina flow hood or at least still air box setup and if it isn't then basically what is produced at the end is dangerous garbage. I haven't encountered anyone so far who is operating at that quantity who is not using at least a still air box, but realistically anyone who can afford the ingredients for a bathtub full of estrogen can afford a brand new container of a significant size that comes pre-sterilised or new unsterilised containers and the equipment necessary to sterilise them.

Even if someone were to make estrogen in a bathtub "for the bit" they would need to buy a brand new tub (which again would be inexpensive compared to the rest of the setup

Sterilisation is an ongoing struggle for DIY producers. For example anyone who isn't using a professional chemistry lab is probably not using depyrogenated equipment, which requires much higher temperature sterilisation to achieve. However this struggle is one that DIY producers are very deeply invested in and trying to overcome, because DIY hormone producers are trying very hard not to kill the people they make hormones for and suggesting otherwise is harmful to people's overall access.

I am not immune to transfem shitposting, I love the image of us in our long stripey socks cackling away stirring a big cauldron of secret witches' brew, but I would like for people with platforms to be careful not to communicate to the world that this is what is actually happening. I just want people to be a smidge better informed about this to avoid spreading misinformation in the community. All of the major suppliers of DIY that people order from online are either supplying hormones manufactured by pharma companies or has been tested by transharmreduction dot org, a great resource to check out if you want reassurance. Their tests found no contaminants in the majority of vials tested from all sources, and you can read the full breakdown on their website.

It is worth communicating to users of DIY about the real risks involved, of which sterilisation is one, but another that is commonly overlooked is allergy. Pharmaceutical companies use ingredients that generally have the lowest chances of setting off an allergic reaction, and while nobody is allergic to estrogen, the carrier oil which makes up the majority of the actual finished product can sometimes be made from coconut, seed or nut based oils that some people have allergies to. Another important risk for people to look at is safe injection, which is why I and many other organisers are working to normalise trans-focused needle exchanges where information about HRT is available as well as phsyical resources to ensure people are taking their hormones safely.

Soon hopefully there will be more resources available to lots of us so that we can be maximally informed about what is out there, how it's being made and for those interested how to make it safely ourselves. For now the best we can do is avoid saying careless things that could scare people into hopelessness

[learn-how-to-love]

This is misinformation.

To any of my followers in the UK, DO NOT trust just any site that you find if you’re going to do DIY HRT. It is incredibly, incredibly important to do research on both the supplier and the manufacturer before purchasing anything. On reputable sites, bank transfer is typically exclusive to a minimum order requirement, if it’s available at all, of several hundred pounds. Most likely you will have to buy bitcoin, unless you have that kind of money lying around. And while yes, the UK is one of the few western countries where personal possession of T isn’t criminalized, you are assuming a level of risk regardless that DIY E doesn’t carry (mainly that, if you share with friends, you can be charged with distributing a controlled substance) Not to mention that because it’s illegal to sell these substances, what you’re getting is always going to carry the risk of being adulterated or contaminated or otherwise ineffective.

That’s why if you are going to DIY T, it’s important to research carefully and even then, there have been many cases of these labs degrading in quality or otherwise having a sudden outbreak of issues that cause them to be flagged by the bodybuilding community (eugh) as dangerous. But of course that’s only after these products have already been used by people, potentially you. So there is always risk.

How do I know all of this? Because I’ve been doing DIY HRT in this hellish country for a few months now. I won’t go into it, but it’s a personal choice I made reassured by knowing it wasn’t completely illegal and accepted the risks, especially because I had previously been on prescribed HRT. So I can tell you with confidence that the “advice” in the screenshots is absolutely fucking terrible and will get you scammed and/or ill. So far it’s been effective, but the biggest difference I can say is that it fucking HURTS. My prescribed Test C felt almost painless, whereas this stuff makes my leg sore for multiple days after. Which is also something to be aware of.

I have ALSO seen a rise in people saying “it’s actually totally safe to reuse needles!” And ABSOLUTELY NOT. Reusing needles is a sure fire way to develop a debilitating or even life threatening infection and is absolutely not worth the minimal money saved. Needles are by far the cheapest and most easily accessible component of HRT and should not be skimped on, especially since you can get them for FREE if you go to harm reduction clinics. I personally was able to buy a year and a half’s worth of syringes and needles for myself and my partner for something like 30 pounds.

Ultimately I think that if you’re not transmasculine, you have no business speaking on how “easy” it is to do DIY or condescend about how we’re “lazy” for not falling for scams and being careful. I won’t speak on the challenges of DIY E because I’m not knowledgeable enough, and unlike these folks, I’m not going to make assumptions from ignorance.

[tboy-cock]

ive seen a lot of posts from trans people saying that diy testosterone is more dangerous than diy estrogen and i do recognize that testosterone is a controlled substance, however you wont get in any trouble for just buying it im pretty sure. anyway, if youre worried about losing access to t, are wanting to stockpile, or are just fucking sick of dealing with the pharmacy, DEFINITELY DO NOT go to the website boid razaar with the first two letters switched, and definitely dont look for testosterone in bulk in your dosage (mg/ml) because going off your dosage can be harmful, and DO NOT buy like 50ml of testosterone for $200 including shipping. you HAVE to deal with the pharmacy and doctors because theyll be sad if they cant get your money and also gatekeep your access to hormones

and also if youre sick of dealing with the pharmacy for needles dont look up med bulk websites and buy 100 syringes, injection needles, and draw needles for like $50 total. its imperative that you dont do ANY of this

[scramratz]

If you hear any commotion downtown it’s cuz I took the homebrew testosterone that turns you into the hulk

[michaelmilkers]

in 2004 george w bush won the presidential election and promised in his acceptance speech to codify a federal ban on gay marriage. 30 states passed bans on gay marriage in the wake of his re-election. and then they fell. one by one by one. it has to get worse before it gets better.

queers. trans people especially. our attitude for the next decade has to be “we’re not fucking scared of you”. do you understand? this has always been at the core of who we are and what we do. we fucking move. we take up space or carve out our own with our bare hands. we take care of us.

do you know the other queers in your neighborhood? do you know who you can call at a bad time? do you know whose house you can crash at? do you know where you can go for a free meal? do you know where you can bring meals to the hungry? do you know the LGBT resources available in your area? do you know the informed consent clinics in your area?

do you know how DIY HRT works? do you know and have friends who don’t? do you know our history? have you read the works of james baldwin and leslie feinberg? are you equipped with knowledge about the forces that work against us? do you understand dialectical materialism? do you know what to say if stopped by the police? do you know what good opsec is? are your legal documents in order? do you know how to get them in order?

scream, cry, rot in your bed, do whatever you need to do to process this, then find something to do. do not fall into despair. in the face of extermination say “fuck you.”

[cdigoddess]