#tmitransitioning

[tmitransitioning]

How many mods are there? How many are amab and how many are afab? I'm just curious!! I feel like there's an overwhelming majority of afab related questions being answered and I was wondering if it's due to an unbalanced ratio of afab to amab mods.

there’s 11 mods.  I’ll post the bios here, since people can’t get them on mobile.  I can’t say who was assigned what at birth (most of us have only known each other about 3 months), but the bios should help answer the questions you have about lived experience.  Mod Aaron:  I’m Aaron, I’m an 18 y/o gay trans man living in the US. I’m taking an injectable progesterone hormone blocker until testosterone is financially available to me, hopefully by January of 2019.I’m also on an antidepressant for anxiety, and I have Sensory Processing DisorderMod Ferrum: 25, almost 26 nonbinary with a goal of comfortably identifying as a girl; been on oral E and Spiro since July 2014 and Finasteride since 2015. Also on antidepressants. Doctoral student in Metallurgy and corrosion who regularly melts iron.Mod Luna: Mod Luna is a 17 year old Agender cool-bean. They’ve gotten onto estrogen! H*ck yes! They’re also pretty anxious, but it could be worse. Luna isn’t sure what they wanna do for work yet, though becoming an actor sounds really fun!Mod Mayhem: 34yo trans male, nurse, on T (IM and SQ) for +5y. Multiply neurodivergent, chronically ill with several major medical conditions since childhood. I’m on hand for medical/science questions, but NOT specific patient advice that would be best handled by a professional who is familiar with you.Mod Moss: Mod Moss is a 22 year old non-binary queer who has been on oral spironolactone and estradiol for about 4 years. Mod Rabbit: Mod Rabbit is a 22 year old Jewish nonbinary queer who has been on and off injection testosterone for the past 4 years and has had a double mastectomy. They are an autistic multiple system of many brainweirds, in addition to several chronic illnesses. They are particularly interested in answering questions about the intersections of transition and disability, neurodivergence, and religion or spirituality, as well as talking about the construction of cisheteronormative gender roles in (mostly American, as that’s what they know the most about) culture. They like dinosaurs and fantasy novels.Mod Shelley: Mod Shelley is a 25 year old American trans woman who has been on estradiol and spironolactone for ~4 years. She has used pills, patches and injections to varying levels of effectiveness. Mod Shelley has social and generalized anxiety disorder, and clinical depression that are occasionally medicated with Lexapro. Mod Shelley is a semi-professional geologist and hopeful future graduate student.Mod Vega: Mod Vega is 25 year old, American, nonbinary, androgynous, and has been on and off testosterone cypionate in injectable and topical gel form for 3 years and stopped use in July 2017.Mod Wolf: Mod Wolf is a 20 year old genderqueer butch on low-dose IM testosterone since summer 2017. They have a hormonal intersex condition and hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, as well as a wide and colourful variety of interlacing neurodivergencies. They study narrative psychology in Canada, with a focus on how conventions of fiction shape people’s experiences with neurodivergence.Mod Zorf: Mod Zorf is a 21-year-old mtf art student. She’s on IM estradiol, formerly took spironolactone pills, and all the while has been on Prozac (until very recently). She also a radical sex-positivist, and a gender-bending weirdo. She’s up for any and all questions related to HRT, including questions about HRT’s effects on sexuality and or psychological health.Mod Caleb: Mod Caleb is 24 years old and has a complicated relationship with his gender, but for the sake of simplicity identifies as a man. He has been on T for 4 years and is 3.5 years post op for top surgery and is actively going through the process of being approved for a hysterectomy. In addition to being on antidepressants and anxiety medication, he also experiences difficulty absorbing T and has had a lot of complications with getting dosage right. He has used gel, patches, and injectable hormones.

we have an overwhelming majority of testosterone/masculine centered asks being submitted, so that’s why this blog seems to answer them more.  To balance that we’re trying to answer estrogen questions as soon as they’re asked(to put it into perspective, of the 80 asks that are still unanswered in our box, at a minimum, 70 of them are testosterone based asks- i didn’t review the 110+ in the queue, but i would guess it’s near that ratio) As when this question was last answered, we strive to answer questions from all submissions and eagerly encourage asks and submissions from nonbinary and trans women/feminine of center people.  

[tmitransitioning]

(1/2) I dunno if this is out of line; but I have had a lot of trial and error with T shots!!!! The least painful places to do your shots are in fat cells, so your butt or your stomach, you only feel a slight pinch and you’re good to go. The needle does move more though since it’s JUST fat cells around your needle and not muscle tissue. It’s very easy to hit a blood vessel in your butt though, and hard to get the right angle since... it’s your butt. Lol. My friend does their shot in their stomach

2/3) and they say it’s really easy? And almost impossible to mess up, but the T can clump up very easy in that area. I have the most experience with my thigh! You want to make sure it’s on the top of you leg (not near the inner thigh) and really pay attention to the needle as it’s going it. I found that if you feel it ‘prick’ another layer once it’s already in, you probably hit a nerve, or a vein, which you can’t inject into!!! So please make sure to pull out and re-adjust if that happens.

(3/3) Also remember!!! If injections were easy to mess up doctors would not let you do them yourself! So don’t be afraid ❤️ I hope that helps! 

Great tips anon! Remember that injections into the fat (subcutaneous-SQ- injections) use different needles than injections into the muscle (IM injections), so definitely talk to your provider if you’re planning on switching.  I switched to SQ after the first year- and studies show the blood levels stay just as steady IM to SQ at 7-10 days, so you’re getting the same dose.  Here’s the rules- Pick the right spot for the injection.  (here’s IM) (here’s SQ). change spots with every injection- at least a couple ‘fingers’ away from the last one or a whole new site.  if you use the same spot time after time, scar tissue will form, especially knowing you might be injecting there for 30, 40, 50+ years.  Be sure to use the right size of needle for your injection site/type AND body size.  (if you’re very heavy, you need a longer needle to get into the proper area).  Generally for IM you need a 23g 1″ or 1.5″ needle- or up to a 2″ for larger bodies, and for SQ you need a 25g or 27g, 5/8″ needle, or up to a 1″ for larger bodies. the gauge (Xg number) goes in opposite order, with the larger number being a smaller needle.  because testosterone is thick, the smaller the needle, the slower it is to inject, and the more force you’ll need to get it in (be sure the needle is screwed tightly into the barrel of the syringe).  Lastly- use a “draw” needle- a second separate needle (sometimes it’s a large gauge standard needle, sometimes it’s plastic or blunt tip metal) with a thick gauge to pull your dose into the syringe.  that way you don’t have to puncture anything but your body with the injection needle- so it’s not pre-blunted.  You’ll draw up your dose using the draw needle, change to the injection needle, then give your dose.  -mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

I think I might be a trans guy, but I'm not 100 percent sure. I'm worried that transitioning won't make me happy or that I won't feel authentic enough. I just don't want to put forth the effort to come out to my very religious family if I end up deciding not to transition. What can I expect to look like at the end of transition?

what happens during transition and what you end up with “after” transition is very individual.  first- transition is an individual process, not every person has the same combination of social/legal/medical (hormones)/surgical transition.  Generally people with dysphoria transition in the ways that help ease their dysphoria.  I’m not one, so i can’t speak for these people with certainty, but i understand that trans people without dysphoria base their decision on how to know WHAT to transition based on what things make them feel more or less comfortable. (other mods please weigh in).  Which transitoin steps you personally take will largely guide what your “end” looks like.  Second- assuming you decided you wanted to do everything that was available to you for transition, and had access to these things, your end might not look the same as a fellow transgender person with different genetics, or who has a different lifestyle.  It’s normal to have doubts, especially early when you’re trying to figure things out.  Look at our resources page, which outlines the typical changes each step of transition can offer you, and look at your relatives.  armed with that knowledge (how medical treatment might interact with your personal family genetics) will give you a better guess at what your future might look like.  Taking the best possible care of your body (good diet, physicial activity, avoiding smoking) will also lead to improved results from transition.  as far as coming out to your family- you have time.  generally people who don’t want to see can do a really good job at convincing themselves they don’t see anything.   I was getting Sir’ed in public about 80% of the time and had someone who knew me “before” tell me “you look exactly the same.”  I encourage you to look for a local support group (or one online) or a trans-experienced mental health professional to bounce these feelings and ideas off of.  It’s 100% okay to explore the concept and decide you’re trans, and it’s just as okay to decie you’re cis.  It’s also 100% okay to be trans, transition, and NOT tell your family if that makes you safer. -mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

I’ve heard for years that you have to inject T for it to work right, but recently I’ve heard about topical creams and patches. Do those work differently or just as well as injections? Thank you so much!

we’ve answered this a bit already (use search), but they work just as well.  there have been some conflicting studies that say they may be slower, but that’s neither been conclusively proven nor disproven.  as long as your hormone levels are what they should be, your changes will still happen.  mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

I'm agender and hoping to start T but not long term. could you talk about what effects are permanent and which ones will go away after stopping T? I'm most curious about voice pitch, facial hair, genital changes, and face shape. thanks for this blog!

face shape will change regardless, as you age- so be prepared for that, however, the redistribution of fat on your face is not considered permanent. Voice changes, facial hair changes, and genital changes are all considered permanent changes, in that what changes you see do not go back to how they were before transition, no matter how long you’re off hormones.  You may see some softening of these permanent qualities over time, however (i personally have noticed when i’ve taken a break from T i get misgendered over the phone more frequently; similarly others report facial hair growth is less full and less dark; and still others report that their erections are less firm).  mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

There was a question earlier about birth control and T and I thought it might be helpful to add that my doctor (who has been a transgender specialist for 20 years) wants me to stay on my combination pill until my T levels are up to normal. She says the pill will still work as birth control and prevent periods until I've been on T long enough for it to stop menstruation. (I'm on continuous birth control so it may be a bit different for people who aren't)

i’m reblogging this for an FYI, with the caveat that using a combined estrogen/progesterone pill during T therapy is not keeping with the standards of WPATH/evidence based best practices.  (see page 56).  This goes against the recommendation of the main worldwide trans healthcare professional organization. mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

I've heard people saying t can 'clump' after injection, but I'm not quite clear on exactly what that means?

I’m a nurse and i’m not 100% on what they’re referring to with this.  what i THINK they mean is that if you give the injection in the same place time after time, you can get scar tissue build up in that same area (which will feel like a knot, and could be mistaken for a clump).   Also for some people, you can develop knots for other reasons (sterile abscess, hematoma/ bruise at the injection site, allergic reaction), which could be mistaken for a clump of testosterone.  the testosterone is a liquid, it doesn’t, to my knowledge and training, form clumps for any reason after injection.  It can crystallize in the vial if it gets too cold, but warming it up fixes that problem and the T is good to use again. Anyone who uses the phrase “clumping” should feel free to write in with more details on how they use it if i’m misunderstanding something. Mod mayhem

[tmitransitioning]

do you have info abt t and body/facial hair growth? when i can expect it, what i can do abt it, etc. it's one of the few changes i don't really want. so if you also have info on facial and body hair removal that's not just shaving (like laser, etc, more permanent stuff), that would be really helpful!

facial and body hair growth usually starts somewhere after 6 months, highly variable on your genetics (are you and your family fuzzy people or not?- my dad has like 6 chest hair and i couldn’t grow what you could PROBABLY call a beard until 4+ years on T).  it also is pretty slow to ramp up- 4-5+ years before you’re fully fuzzy, again based on genetics (faster if you are going to be hairier).  I do notice that I started getting more hair after i had my ovaries removed, and i had to adjust my testosterone to compensate for that.  if that’s in your lifeplan, prepare accordingly.  As far as hair removal, we have the same options as cis men (and all people) for hair removal, including-laser- Kills the hair root. takes up to 8 treatments starting out (because hair grows in a cycle). works best if you have pale skin and dark hair. doesn’t work with blonde/white hair.  people with dark skin have limited options (but they are out there).  generally requires yearly touchups to maintain hairlessness-electrolysis- uses electricity to kill the cell where the hair starts (deeper than the hair root), one by one.  takes weekly treatments for a year or more depending on how much surface area you’re trying to cover. it’s painful and slow (some people say it feels like a tattoo, others say it’s worse), but it’s truly permanent without yearly follow-ups like laser. it’s best for small areas because it is individual hairs. or longer term temporary options like waxing (have to grow the hair out first, and it hurts), or hair removal creams (easier than shaving, but can cause skin reactions, patch test EVERY SINGLE TIME before use, their strong smell might not be suitable for people with breathing/migraine/chemical sensitivities)hope this helps!mod mayhem