Holy shit. All I want is some estrogen cream. I have signs of atrophy, and things are starting to feel uncomfortable.

I'm officially in the market for a new PCP. She is marked as a "trans friendly" doctor, but she refuses to prescribe me estradiol because she "doesn't do hormone medication" and "doesn't want to do anything that could interfere with hormone treatment." I've also asked her twice about changing my bloodwork monitors to male ranges for better accuracy, and she just answers "I don't do any hormonal medicine." Then her nurse called me, interviewed me about the same questions, then messaged me back with the same answers. So I'm out.

Planned Parenthood- idk if it's the doctor that I'm seeing or the institution itself, but I asked her for estrogen gel first, and she said thst she wasn't allowed to prescribe it. Then I asked again and she said I'd have to go to the Center to apply it. What?

I found an endocrinologist who specializes in gender affirming care, they said I had ti fax my bloodwormrk. I call after I get it done to ask about the steps again. The receptionist all but freaks out, puts me on hold and says yeah, you can send a fax, but you won't be seen until April, and the doctor can decide to pass you off to someone else if she wants.

I know of one person who has been vouched for by the community as a trans-friendly gyno. I saw him once, and he is the only doctor in my adult life who has ever attributed a concern of mine to my weight. I'll probably make an appointment with him anyway. I've neen asking for help with atrophy for half a year now, and it's getting worse. I'd call it medical neglect, but bigots would argue I'm doing this to myself. I don't want to stop T, but I need to find someone soon.

Kind of an anxious-post - looking for realistic advice, shared experiences, and reassurance. I traveled to the UK once on my old passport, over 10 years ago; I've always wanted to do more international travel, but pretty much held off until I had all my documents because I hated the idea of having to worry about plane tickets and hotel bookings with the wrong name.

I was lucky to get everything in order before the new administration, so I have a passport and Real ID with my name and M gender markers, but the political situation in the US has made me pretty nervous/paranoid about having to show my passport at a federal checkpoint. I pass very reliably, I'm not especially worried about getting clocked as trans visually, but I'm concerned that there will be some record of my name change somewhere in the process, like immigration will see that I've previously traveled under a different name and I wouldn't be allowed to leave (or come back in). Is this realistic at all or am I worrying over something that's not even possible? Any shared experiences, especially if you've traveled abroad in the past year or two, are very welcome.

Hey bros,

Currently in the very early stages of affirming my gender.

So far, I've applied to legally change my name and gender. I'm just waiting on receiving the documents in the mail.

I need to update my police check at work, and am conscious the check will probably need to be under my updated name.

I am not sure whether to come out at work yet, because I haven't started T. I'm finding it hard to be referred to and recognised as a woman, but I feel a bit silly coming out as a man when I look and sound the way I do.

Any guidance around this would be appreciated.

In case it's relevant, I'm 36 and live in Australia.

hi y'all! The trans event series TRANS•FORM is putting on a free, all-ages orchestral concert at ONE Archives (the largest queer archive in the world, near Expo Park)!

free rsvps are here :)

plus, there’s going to be 14+ queer & trans instrumentalists, singers, drag performances & films, special access to the new exhibition at ONE, a reception in the garden and free queer books! come hang and listen with us <3

Can you develop dysphoria or are we born with it and just never realized it?

I think I never felt dysphoria until I started lurking in trans Reddit. That’s one of the things that make me wonder if this is real or am I just obsessing over this.

Quick review of my life for context:

I think I was always at least GNC, not in my expression but in my own interests and ways of thinking, in my play I was always attracted male character etc.

I was always attracted to men/people with penises (or so I thought).

By 26ish yo I started to fantasize about having a penis and being a man, but it was confined to my daydreaming and self pleasure.

At 31 I dated a bi man and it unlocked something in me, the deeper need to not be the female in the relationship.

Two years later I stumbled into trans Reddit and discovering I could transition unlocked a lot of anxiety and doubts. I’m at the point where I don’t think I could even have sex or get romantically involved with someone before transition, while that was never a problem before 33yo.

TransPride YOUniting Health & Wellness Virtual Conference: Oct 15-17

There are some sessions specifically for older and aging populations, as well a wide variety of health-related topics, including sessions on lower surgery, and more.

The first opening keynote is about

US health insurance and advocacy for trans health coverage!

I am not affiliated with this conference, simply sharing the resource.

--

• Opens Thu, Oct 15 at 7:30/8 am EST
• Ends Sat, Oct 17 at 5:30 pm EST

• Fully virtual; open to all but USA-based

• Free registration for trans individuals and the parents and caregivers of trans individuals

• Can use pseudonym to register and attend anonymously if you so choose

• All keynote and speaker sessions streamed live

• Only select sessions will be recorded to be available for a limited time for later viewing

➡️ ➡️ Register HERE ⬅️ ⬅️

👀 See schedule 👀

CW: periods

Just did my first shot on Monday after years of delays and backing out! But I’ve had a headache on and off for the couple days after.

It probably didn’t help that I did the shot like the day before my period started, and I’m prone to headaches with hormonal fluctuations. But I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this during the early stages? If you were prone to hormonal headache before you started T, what were the early doses like?

I’m on 50mg (.25mL of 200mg/mL) of cypionate every 2 weeks for the first four doses, and then have a follow up with my endocrinologist with blood work in between shots. I know this is a more spread out regimen than I’ve seen other people on, as the weekly shots seem more common. I have some other health considerations, so I’m not mad about taking it slow. I have IIH with stenosis (well managed with Diamox and lifestyle), PMOS, hEDS.

Other than the headache I have felt really good. My sleep is already better, so is my energy. I’m hoping it’s just an initial reaction to the T in combination with my own messed up E dominant system, and that it evens out as I go.

33yrs old trans masc - I am 6 months on T. I have a decent amount of bottom growth for the time I've been on, but it's still "buried" unlike other t guys I've seen whose bottom growth stands out front and center, which I'm assuming happens with time.

Has anyone found a toy or garment that helps compress/keep the outer part pulled back to expose the bottom growth for easier stimulation during sex?

TIA!

I’m looking for a laryngologist or voice specialist in NJ who offers testosterone injections directly into the vocal folds to lower speaking pitch. Does anyone know of a clinic that performs this procedure?

Today I had my first time binding with TT and it was... A mess, lol, it's definitely going to take me some time to figure out how to work this with my body. I'm dealing with more width than depth so the guides I watched before just left me with a little chest-paunch sticking out the side. Got three pieces of tape on each one, just a mess of a bumpy road underneath. Left came out better than the right, but neither is great.

But I'll tell you what, even with this disasterpiece I'm really happy. It beats a sports bra, it beats au natural, it beats the binder I currently have (which doesn't fit well, I'm trying to lose weight to fit into it better). I am comfortable, I can breathe, nothing's pinching. I've got a bottle of canola in the bathroom if it gets to be a problem, but it's been about 15 minutes and I'm still pretty damn comfortable.

This is what I believe is called, 'moving in the right direction'.

Also if anyone has any tips on how to tape a chest that's DD/DDD with some width, holler at me.

EDIT: Man, alright. I took the tape off because I wanted to practice the oil soak. That stuff is serious.

Lots of redness. It's not a rash, it doesn't itch or burn, but those strips did NOT want to come off even after being doused. I put on some aloe to soothe the red, and once that dries I'm going to put on a layer of Advanced Clinicals collagen.

I noticed that there was some skin puckering, which I think means sagging. I'm sure this was from a flawed application, but it's really, really hard to get everything where you need it to be when it's so much. I think what I'm going to have to do is lift first. And then compress as much as possible. My chest does not want to be pulled around with traditional binding technique. I'm also going to look to get some GB tape whenever I have money. I think if something gentler went on the skin first with the heftier TT over that, there could be some success. Trial and error.

Very happy with their nipple covers, though.

Btw, if you guys haven't been invited to the Advanced Clinicals party, this is your ticket in the door. Their collagen body lotion is one of the gold standards for geriatric bypass surgery skin quality. They have other options, too, but I haven't tried them so I can't speak to them.

I make body lotions and soaps, so I always try to push my products and I do actively use them. Very proud of what I come up with... But on the hush-hush, I use the AC collagen lotion for my whole body once every other day for skin integrity. I've found very few things that can even come close to what that lotion's done for my elasticity.

I'm doing grad school and transition simultaneously because there's something wrong with me and I'm currently trying to work on an assignment that involves watching myself on video over and over again and I knew it would be bad but it's so bad. My voice has always been fraught for me, even before I knew I was trans or before I knew I wanted to transition. It's really high. Even after almost three months on T it's really high. I mostly try not to think about how other people see me because it's really easy for me to go crazy about it, but now I have to hear my voice over and over and I can't stop thinking about how every time I talk that's what people hear. How could I expect anyone to hear my voice and see me as anything other than a woman. I never want to speak again. I know my voice will probably get lower at some point and if not there's voice training and whatever but that doesn't do anything for me right now. I've been procrastinating on this assignment for two weeks because I knew it would really upset me and so now I have made myself a horrible mess out of timelines and dysphoria and misery and it's making me want to drop out of school.

Edit: okay everyone it's done. Thank you all for your help it was really helpful and I feel a lot less crazy and less alone. If I pull off a c+ I will be thrilled.

After 20 years of silence, I finally started transitioning this year. I transitioned in my personal life, and gradually started making changes in my professional life. I started voice training, changing wardrobe, those kinds of things. At this point, my voice has gone through the dead frog stage and has comfortably entered the territory of a young/gay male. I pass about 30% of the time and leave people guessing another 30%. My coworkers are confused but it won't last forever. Just an awkward year or so and life goes on.

Last week I filed for my name change. Today, I have my hormone consult to hopefully start T and discuss other options for medically transitioning.

I didn't sleep hardly at all last night. I always wanted to do this but never believed I would have the chance.

It is never easy to transition but being middle age presents its own challenges. And rewards. My husband of many years supports me. I have the support of the local LGBT community as well. I'm looking forward to the next 20-30 years living life on my own terms as the person I truly am inside.

Hey y’all, first post on here, I’m 30 and been on testosterone for four almost five years and overall I’m much happier, I feel comfortable with myself and my body, and my life as a whole has really improved.

That being said, recently I’ve been really struggling with my gender/sexuality. I’ve pretty much always identified as bisexual, with a romantic preference for women, and I have a wonderful girlfriend of 3 years that I love and adore, but I’ve started to feel really insecure and dysphoric in our relationship. I’ve been feeling more comfortable with the feminine aspects of myself and wanting to embrace that more, maybe even exploring gender fluidity, but because I look more masculine (passing, muscles and beard) a lot of people think I’m a gay man, especially when I act or present more feminine.

I feel like in my relationship with my partner and women in general I have felt I have to fulfill a really strict masculine role, and I’m too dysphoric to let my partner treat me more feminine because then I get anxious about being viewed as less of a man and that I’m a disappointment as a boyfriend. I know most of that is my own projection of things on myself, but it’s made me physically withdrawn from my girlfriend and I don’t know what to do about it. With men I feel comfortable acting both masculine and feminine without worrying about whether they’re still attracted to me, but I really struggle to feel that way with women and it’s very frustrating. I have a great therapist but I was really wanting the input of other gender queer people

Has anyone here ever struggled with deconstructing gender roles in their life and how that relates to physical dysphoria post transition? And especially how that relates to their romantic relationships? Any advice would be appreciated or even just knowing I’m not alone. I want to learn how to be more comfortable with myself and in my relationship

In particular, I’m curious about bottom growth, hair growth, hair loss, and voice. How much changed over the course of the first year on T? What about the second year?

Hey! Has anyone here been prescribed Winlevi for their acne? My dermatologist assured me that it shouldn’t reverse the effects of T since it’s not absorbed into the bloodstream as long as I use a pea size. If you’re on Winlevi could you let me know if it’s true? I’ve updated my doctor as well and they mentioned that there is some systemic absorption but it metabolises very quickly therefore it shouldn’t cause any demasculinisation.

3.5 years ago, I was 4 months or so into weight gain after leaving AMA from one of the highest levels of care for ED in my country. I remember thinking I looked super strong in that top photo because I had put on weight. Age 37.

Now I can’t fathom that I ever could withstand the pain of being so emaciated. Age 40.

I have no idea what age people think i am. Prior to T i was always aged 15 years younger than i was……. Now i have no clue

Just wanted to use this selfie Sunday to share how far I’ve come since last year. 😊 I’m now 2 months on T and am starting to see some effects of it on my body in terms of muscle, too. I‘m still glad I built a solid base before starting T though.

Both cis-men and cis-women are "visual creatures", however, on average, cis-women will often need a kind of emotional connection in addition to physical attraction whereas cis-men very often don't and would gladly sleep with a girl whose character they don't particularly like.
I was wondering if, in addition to culture, this may not stem from testosteron as friends of mine who transitioned from FTM told me that they're now much more likely to want to have sex without emotional bonds.