Helping Trans People In Ireland

Advice, resources and personal experiences from people who have been through the Irish system https://trans-support-ireland.business.site/?m=true#details

[trans-support-ireland]

5 & 1/2 weeks post op and I finally have a fully healed nipple!!

I know the other one is still a bit bleh but we’re getting there! Another 4 (ish) days of binding and then I’m free!

[trans-support-ireland]

TW: incisions

Top surgery results:

Dr Jesus Lago, Madrid.

One day post op:

I had to wear a thick layer of bandages for 7 days to prevent movement and swelling, I was released from the hospital and told to rest as much as possible for the week. No showering and no lifting my arms.

One week post op:

Finally got the bandages off (I realllyyy really recommend getting a wax before surgery so this hurts less). Got put into a post op binder to reduce swelling, I was told to wear it for 5 weeks aka stop wearing it 6 weeks post op.

Two weeks post op:

I had a hematoma 12 days post op so recovery slowed down a bit, hence why one nipple is darker. By day 14 the swelling had gone down and the hematoma was drained so I had a lot less bruising. After day 14 I was allowed to shower as long as water didn’t hit the surgery site.

Three weeks post op:

Once we hit the 2 week mark we were allowed fly home, the hematoma had no impact on check ups or the recovery process. The scabs on my nipples had hardened and darkened and I had to keep gause on them to prevent damage

Four weeks post op:

As of today, I’m officially one month post op. The scab has mostly come off one nipple and has started to come off the other. The skin underneath is still very sensitive so I’m still keeping gauze on for safety. I’m still wearing the post op binder 24/7 except for when I shower and the incisions are healing up well with minimal stretching of the scars.

Overall I couldn’t be happier with my results and with the surgeon. Any issue we had we were able to contact him and have a solution instantly. Even when my hematoma burst (7am on a Sunday of a bank holiday weekend) he had me treated and able to leave the hospital again within 3 hours.

I’ll add to this post at the 5 and 6 week mark and again at the 3/6 month mark to show the scar progress and feel free to message if you have any questions

[trans-support-ireland]

This is week 5, there’s not a huge change from last week but bits of scab have come off the incisions so they’re almost fully healed now, other than 2 sections in the middle of my chest (the sides look better/ neater).

My left nipple hasn’t changed much but a chunk of scab came off my right nipple today so at least 3/4 of the edge is exposed now (aka the graft is fully attached so now it’s just a waiting game). I was also able to remove the last stitch- it was knotted so I couldn’t just pull it out I had to cut the thread but the skin around it was fully healed so it wasn’t an issue.

One more week of wearing the post op binder and then I’m free. I have a good bit of rib pain at the moment but I messaged the surgeon and he said I can take it off for a few hours in the evenings to help ease the pain as long as I wear it like 20hrs a day I should be fine because at this point it’s just to reduce swelling

[trans-support-ireland]

TW: incisions

Top surgery results:

Dr Jesus Lago, Madrid.

One day post op:

I had to wear a thick layer of bandages for 7 days to prevent movement and swelling, I was released from the hospital and told to rest as much as possible for the week. No showering and no lifting my arms.

One week post op:

Finally got the bandages off (I realllyyy really recommend getting a wax before surgery so this hurts less). Got put into a post op binder to reduce swelling, I was told to wear it for 5 weeks aka stop wearing it 6 weeks post op.

Two weeks post op:

I had a hematoma 12 days post op so recovery slowed down a bit, hence why one nipple is darker. By day 14 the swelling had gone down and the hematoma was drained so I had a lot less bruising. After day 14 I was allowed to shower as long as water didn’t hit the surgery site.

Three weeks post op:

Once we hit the 2 week mark we were allowed fly home, the hematoma had no impact on check ups or the recovery process. The scabs on my nipples had hardened and darkened and I had to keep gause on them to prevent damage

Four weeks post op:

As of today, I’m officially one month post op. The scab has mostly come off one nipple and has started to come off the other. The skin underneath is still very sensitive so I’m still keeping gauze on for safety. I’m still wearing the post op binder 24/7 except for when I shower and the incisions are healing up well with minimal stretching of the scars.

Overall I couldn’t be happier with my results and with the surgeon. Any issue we had we were able to contact him and have a solution instantly. Even when my hematoma burst (7am on a Sunday of a bank holiday weekend) he had me treated and able to leave the hospital again within 3 hours.

I’ll add to this post at the 5 and 6 week mark and again at the 3/6 month mark to show the scar progress and feel free to message if you have any questions

[trans-support-ireland]

I know this blog is to provide support and info for trans people but I just thought I’d let ye know that I have my second Loughlinstown psych appointment on Tuesday and I’m absolutely shitting it

I know the first one was completely fine but I really feel like I’m going in to say ‘everything feels like a complete battle, I’m not happy with how slow my transition is going, my current endocrinologist seems useless and literally everything I do to try and further my transition has backfired’ 👌🏻👌🏻

[daniemblem]

some thoughts I’ve been having recently

(the post in question if anyone’s curious)

[trans-support-ireland]

💫Loughlinstown gender clinic initial consultation 💫

This session usually lasts about 3 hours and is normally done with Dr. Ian Schneider.

They ask a lot of questions and a lot of people say that many of these are invasive but Schneider is very nice and he’s just doing his core so I personally didn’t find them invasive.

To start with they ask about your birth, whether there were any abnormalities, whether you were premature or have any allergies. They also ask about family history of illness, your childhood, whether you were breastfed etc.

As the session goes on they’ll ask about your dysphoria and how it affects your mental health, they’ll also ask about your mental health history and whether you have a history of self harm etc.

I was also asked about whether I smoke or drink and how I’m doing in school.

In many ways its very similar to the process of being diagnosed with dysphoria. Going into detail on your transition so far, your sexuality, your experience with gender and how you associate with your assigned gender vs the gender you identify as.

In terms of invasive questions: they do ask about masturbation and sex, how you feel about them and how they affect your dysphoria. They also ask about how you feel about different aspects of your body (pubic hair etc) which can get a bit awkward but they don’t push for more info if you seem uncomfortable.

we also talked about whether you want to get married, any relationships you have and whether you want to have kids and if you need to freeze your eggs before starting the medical process. He also discussed the fact that adoption isn’t as easy as it used to be and the different options available here.

Finally they’ll help you figure out how you’re feeling in terms of your transition, what steps you have taken and what steps you want to take moving forward

Personally I was already over a year on T when I went for my initial consultation but this doesn’t make any difference as you still need 2 consultations before they take you on as an endocrine patient.

My DMs are open if you have any questions and I’ll make separate post about the second consultation after I go in may.

[trans-support-ireland]

I think I just got a date for top surgery!!!

I’m supposed to have a consultation on the 11th October, I thought I’d have to go abroad for it but I finally found someone that does the surgery in Ireland and she said she can do it by the end of this year

[arnim]

So in answer to my previous (Friday) question

Go ahead and wear your binder to get your COVID vaccine. It will not hinder your ability to get the shot. (If you might go into anaphylaxis maybe don’t wear it? Idk I don’t have any experience with that).

BUT

if you Do wear your binder to get your vaccine, or inthe next couple of days following, your arm will be SORE, and putting on/taking off your binder may HURT

[trans-support-ireland]

💫Counseling and support💫

Many counselors are available across Ireland but finding one that is familiar with transgender clients and the supports that they need can be tricky and many people can’t afford a private psychologist or counselor on a long term basis.

There are many free and low cost support services available.

TENI and BelongTo are very useful for finding information on what steps to take and what supports are available. BelongTo run support and youth groups for young people aged 14-23 across the country. Many of these groups are run directly through BelongTo such as: ‘Luck Out’ in Laois, ‘Chill Out’ in Waterford, ‘IndividualiTy’ in Dublin and ‘UpCork’ in Cork. A full list is available on the BelongTo website. These provide a support network of like minded people and a youth worker who will be able to help you with any issues that may arise during your transition.

Youth Health Services Cork provide free counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy and sexual health services all over Ireland for anyone aged 15-25. A list of their services can also be found on their website.

Jigsaw provide support in short bursts of 6 sessions across the country and Spun Out provide supports online as well. Pieta house will provide more urgent support and any of these services will be able to refer you to long term general counseling which can also be helpful to prevent a buildup of stress and anxiety

Finding a counselor that works for you can be difficult so don’t be afraid to try a few to see what works. Many trans people find that counselors focus too much on the fact that they are trans and not on other aspects where they need more support so often looking for general counsel rather than trans specific counsel can be beneficial.

[of-aurora]

Reblog if you're not homophobic

Every url that reblog’s will be written in a book and shown to my homophobic dad. 

[trans-support-ireland]

💫Endocrinologists💫

The most commonly used endocrinologist in Ireland is St. Columcille Hospital is Loughlinstown. They are a public hospital and provide a full support teams instead of just an endocrinologist. This included psychiatrists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and provide help with the legal side; changing your name and gender. Their wait list is currently about 3 years and you will have 2 consultations before you meet the endocrinologists. They are a public hospital so appointments come at no cost and you do not need health insurance for your appointments.

Dr. Thomas Ahern in Drogheda has both a public and private practice. His public wait list is about 10 months and his private list is about 4 months. His private practice runs exclusively on Tuesday mornings so it can be quite difficult to get to your appointment unless you have a car or can stay in Drogheda the night before your appointment. His public practice has more flexible hours

Dr. Marcia Bell in Galway University Hospital has a private clinic with a wait list of 6-9 months. As with Dr. Ahern, she specialises in trans patient care and is very familiar with the standard procedure.

Dr. Maeve Durkan in the Bons Secours Hospital in Cork also has a private clinic and currently has no wait list, she will aid you with your transition until Loughlinstowns’ Gender Clinic gives you an appointment but generally she will not act as a long term endocrinologist as she specializes in diabetic endocrinology.

Private appointments generally cost €180-250 for the initial appointment and roughly €120 after that, Usually you will have about 2 appointments a year. Other medical expenses will be covered in a separate post but this treatment has no effect on your medical card standing.

It may be worth contacting a local endocrinologist or GP to see if they are willing to aid your transition but many have not yet broken into this practice.

[exams-exams-exams]

Help Alec get Top Surgery, organized by Alec Board

Hi i'm Alec, a 17 year old trans-man whose in need of top surgery. In Ireland we no longer have a… Alec Board needs your support for Help Al

Hey I know I don’t have much of a following on here but my boyfriend is trying to save up for surgery at the moment and I was really hoping some of you could help spread his GoFundMe so he can get it done as soon as possible.

This surgery would make a massive difference to his life both physically and mentally so please donate if you can and please please share so more people can see it

@gofundmereach-blog @gofundmehelpingblog @fundraiser @fundraise-blog @fundraise-online

[trans-support-ireland]

He’s almost 1/5th of the way to his goal, as far as I know he’s really hoping to go to Dr. Lembas in Poland (one of the most common places for Irish people to go as no one in Ireland will do this surgery)

If you can support him at all please do, if not please read his story and share so as many people can support him as possible

[bandiiey]

I think the lack of trans people I know irl is making me very lonely

[transitioninireland]

Legal Name Change by Deed Poll

I got my name changed today by deed poll and there was a lot of running around, but it was a fairly simple procedure so I’ll just explain how to do it here.

First thing you need is Deed Poll Paper. The handiest place to buy this is Kings Legal Stationers on Bolton Street. 5 sheets of paper cost €1. Then go to the back of Kings and use the computer there to fill out and print three documents. The first document is the actual Deed Poll, where you’ll fill in your new name, old name and witness’ details (your witness must be 18 years old,) print this document on Deed Poll paper. The second document is an Affidavit for the witness, this also is printed on Deed Poll paper. The third document is the enrollement of your Deed Poll and this gets printed on normal paper. These three documents are all available on citizens.ie website in the Deed Poll section. The computer here costs €1 per ten minutes and it didn’t charge me extra to print.

Once you’ve got everything typed up, leave the signed and written sections blank until you get to the solicitor. You can use your own solicitor or just drop into one. There’s one beside the Four Courts called Orca Print. It cost €10 there to have the Commissioner for Oaths witness my signature, my witness’ signature and sign it herself. She was very friendly and didn’t ask details of why my name was being changed.

Once the three documents are signed and one of them gets stamped, go into the Four Courts. The times for Deed Poll are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am-12:30pm. You enter to the far left of the courts through the public entrance and the security guards there (also extremely friendly) will direct you to the Central Office. Take a seat in there and then you present someone there with your birth cert, passport, photo ID and three Deed Poll documents. They’ll look at them, take two documents and return you the third (can’t remember which it was, but doesn’t really matter.) Then they’ll direct you to the Stamp Office which is the next building over. Take the third doc up there, pay €60 to get it stamped and then return it to the Central Office. Again nobody in the Central Office asked me why I was changing my name, and she was very friendly continuously using my chosen name when talking to me.

That’s it! Give them your phone number and they’ll call you in 2-3 weeks when your paperwork is ready to be collected! In total the process cost me less than €80 and took about two hours and was a very positive experience.

[trans-support-ireland]

Hopefully someone finds this helpful, I know a lot of solicitors will provide the deed poll paper but just incase!

[trans-support-ireland]

Binders, packers and safety:

This is a slightly more basic post but I figure it’ll be helpful for younger trans people and people who have just come out

Binding is a method of compressing a trans masculine persons chest tissue to give a ‘flatter’ look to their chest. Packing is the use of a prosthetic (usually silicone) penis to give the effect of a bulge when clothed. This can also function as a stand-to-pee device (depending on the style) and some also come with a rod that allows them to be used effectively in the bedroom.

Though these can greatly reduce dysphoria for a trans masc. person, care must be taken not to bind for more than 8 hours (If it’s your first time binding you should ease yourself into it in 2 hours periods). Binding can restrict your breathing so it is important to ensure that a binder fits properly.

GC2B and Underworks are the main producers of binders, they have a very good size guide on their website and their prices range from €40-€50, TransTape is another option that restricts movement less but care must be taken to ensure that it is removed carefully otherwise you may be left with blisters across your chest.

You should never bind with bandages or tape wrapped around your chest as these will compress and are likely to result in broken ribs.

Packers are widely available online and are often advertised as ‘gag gifts’ or ‘STPs’. These simply sit into your underwear to give a more masculine look.

[trans-support-ireland]

Initial psych consultation for dysphoria diagnosis:

Once you have made an appointment with a psychologist to get a dysphoria diagnosis, you will be given a date for your first session. They will discuss the basics of when you came out, how you came out and who you came out to. Then they’ll ask how people reacted and how you felt at every stage.

Generally they will also ask about any mental/ physical conditions you may have (especially ones that may affect your relationship with your gender) and any trauma or abuse you faced before you came out. They ask this to ensure than none of these factor in to an underlying problem that may cause you to regret transitioning in later life.

They will discuss your dysphoria with you in detail, both in terms of how severe it is and what areas of your body you are the most uncomfortable with. In our experience, we were given a form listing every body part and had to rate our dysphoria for each on a scale of 1-10. This is generally done after session 1, in your own time.

In session 2&3 they will ask about what path you hope to take for your transition, whether you want to take hormones and if/what surgeries you want to help ease your dysphoria down the line. Once you have your diagnosis, your psychologist should be able to refer you to an endocrinologist; they will ask whether you want to go through the public or private healthcare system but will often refer you to both.

For many people it is worth going privately initially then transferring to public once they get an appointment with Loughlinstowns Gender Clinic, as this wait list can be up to 3 years.

[trans-support-ireland]

Getting your dysphoria diagnosis:

Generally an endocrinologist will require you to have a diagnosis from a licensed psychologist before they will treat you. This generally consists of 3 meetings about a month apart.

The most common route to get a dysphoria diagnosis is to go through St. Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin (approx. 5 mins from Heuston Station on foot). This normally costs €500 for the initial consult and €150 for session 2 & 3. Aileen Murtaugh does the majority of these appointments

CAMHS Mental health services will also provide this service for a much lower price but the waiting list may be longer. CAMHS are currently doing these sessions over the phone and may require less than 3 sessions. They are harder to get in contact with initially but their waiting list is about the same length.

Some private psychologists will also provide this diagnosis such as Dr. Bobby Burns, in East Cork.

These psychologists often require a referral from your GP. Your GP should also be able to guide you towards a psychologist in your local area if one is available, otherwise they should be able to give you a referral to one from above.

Please ensure that you confirm that the psychologist can give you this diagnosis before you’re appointment as many do not feel comfortable or do not have the qualifications to do this