Scared I might be slowly killing myself with this

[Nicolette]

Dr Brassard will not if you are on insulin.  I think you could be also turned away if just on pills if there are other issues. 

I know about Brassard. I wonder what his reasons are. What do you mean "just on pills"?

[Dreams2014]

So really what you're saying is if you're transgender and diabetic, there is no hope?

[mrs izzy]

I know about Brassard. I wonder what his reasons are. What do you mean "just on pills"?

Just on pill ie taking pill to control suger over taking Insulin shots.
In his paperwork the reason is someone that is insulin dependent need to have the surgery done in a hospital with advanced life support just in case it is needed. Dr Brassard has his own private hospital but it not set up for advanced life support. Also i bet somewhere is the fact of healing complications and he just does not want that risk?

Izzy

[mrs izzy]

So really what you're saying is if you're transgender and diabetic, there is no hope?

I would say that you might have less options with GCS.

Izz

[Dreams2014]

I would say that you might have less options with GCS.

Izz

And I wouldn't settle for a transition without surgery. I hope my tests come back negative =/

[Sarah Louise]

I have been on insulin for a long time.  My numbers are "pretty" much under control, but the damage has already been done to my body.

As I said earlier, it depends on each doctor and how bad they feel your complete physical condition is.  Type 2 diabetes does not have to rule you out, but it has to be under control.

[Kelly-087]

Ive done fair amount of research on this


and as long as you have normal kidney + liver function, there's one major risk factor in breast cancer. There's more than that, I'm sure. But for the most part I don't think that HRT affects too badly as long as we watch ourselves.

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

When HRT is done under a doctor's supervision, it is quite safe.  Many people have had it for 30 plus years with no ill effects.

As to surgery, sometime diabetes can interfere with proper healing, even when it is controlled.

[Jamie D]

I've always been a really paranoid person when it comes to my health.  I know that being trans doesn't have the greatest outlook for health, but I'm just wondering exactly how much damage I'm inflicting on my body, and how fast it can potentially come to bite me.

Before I go on, I realize this is a YMMV thing based on many factors.

I get my blood tested bimonthly, checking clotting values, liver and kidney function, among other things.  I've never gotten any news back from those tests so I'm going to assume that's fine. 

My primary question is how BAD is HRT compared to.. let's say... alcoholism?  Or cigarette addiction?  Or diabetes?  Is the outlook for a trans person's health really as bad as I hear?

No, you should be fine.  A lot of those adverse effects come from old reports about people who were not using bio-identical hormones, and instead using the cocktail of things that are found in pregnant mare urine.

[Cindy]

I started of on HRT with very high BP (on medication) High cholesterol (on medication) depression (on medication).

Now, BP is excellent (115/55) cholesterol is fine (3). No evidence of depression (medication stopped).

It was suggested that I get screened for BRACA1/2 mutations prior to HRT as breast cancer runs in the family. I told them it would make no difference to my decision, give me HRT.

Under medical supervision there should be no problems. I am under strict instruction not to smoke (I don't anyway), only drink as much alcohol as recommended for females (One standard drink a day with rest days included.)

[Stephe]

Well, you increase the risk of being murdered from 0.4% to 10% (doubtful to these statistics but whatever), so you're on average gonna lose quite many years of your life.

But anyway, if you consider not taking HRT because of a possibility of a shortened life span of 5 years, then I really don't think HRT is for you.

Wrong and wrong. I'm not sure where you live to come up with those numbers. I suspect any increased risk in being killed has more to do with life choices (i.e. becoming a sex worker or playing the stealth dating game) rather than simply being on HRT.

As far as health risks, if you are patient/stay on reasonable doses and don't try to force puberty to happen in 1 year blasting your body with hormones, the risks are minor. Especially using transdermal meds. Stay active and eating healthy will solve most issues someone would develop from HRT.

[Jennygirl]

Well maybe the lower E dose only applies with pellets. My endo told me that after orchi, srs, or a years time on 12 pellets we could drop it down to 2-3 pellets. Way lower E dose.

[Stephe]

I don't even know what to say about this... I really like how you put those 2 things as life choices.

OK choice 1, working in the sex trade. I would hope most people know this is a dangerous profession, not only from a violent crime perspective (especially if they combine it with point 2 below) but from getting AIDS or some other deadly STD. Just being in that world with all the drugs, guns etc is a risky place to be. I found a job working as a church secretary after I started living full time. Lack of planning and/or education IS a life choice. A transgendered person with job skills can fine a job outside of the sex industry. IMHO before someone starts living full time they should have some sort of employment plans in place.

As far as the "stealth dating game", this is where a LOT if not most of the violent crime against transgendered people occurs. A trans person assumes no one will care they are trans, dates/hits on some unknown to them straight guy and when he finds out, mugs or kills them out of rage. This is totally a life choice that the trans person doesn't disclose this before things go too far. It is a known risk in playing this game with strangers, which you have no idea of how they might react. Yes it's wrong this happens but pretending it doesn't or ignoring the reason why the attack happened doesn't mean this behavior is safe. Again the transgendered person has chosen to do this, no one has forced them to attempt to pull off "stealth".

If you take the two above scenarios out of the equation, the incidence of violent crimes against someone for simply taking hormones isn't going to be any higher than someone who doesn't.

[suzifrommd]

Well, you increase the risk of being murdered from 0.4% to 10% (doubtful to these statistics but whatever), so you're on average gonna lose quite many years of your life.

But anyway, if you consider not taking HRT because of a possibility of a shortened life span of 5 years, then I really don't think HRT is for you.

I figured it out on TDOR last year based on the number of transgender people reported murdered. It turned that the chance of getting murdered as a transgender person, was only about twice the chance for population at large.

[V M]

Hi friends 

This topic is not about murder and rape and prostitution and so forth, it is about a young person's health concerns regarding the effects of HRT

Please try to stay on topic

Thank you

V M

[BunnyBee]

HRT has extended my lifespan by about 4 years so far.

[A]

There are no significant risks to HRT at all unless you were already in serious trouble before taking anything. Like, if HRT is gonna harm you, probably, any medication past Tylenol would have done the same. There are doctors who assess you for HRT. If they say you'll probably be fine, you'll probably be fine. Honestly, HRT is nothing significantly different from your random medications for another random health problem.

Comparing it to alcoholism or smoking? That's literally a joke. That's like asking if atmospheric pollutants from a small town can kill you faster than street drugs in a syringue shared with shady thugs.

If HRT has any noticeable effect on your health, then it's either because you have the negative equivalent of winning the lottery, either because your doctor (unlikely to be honest - they're usually overly prudent) or you didn't follow the guidelines/safety rules properly.

As far as I know there might even be a slight life lengthening effect from HRT, because for various reasons, statistically, women outlive men slightly.

[victoria n]

 a high dose of hrt is not good long term. the  problem is  that estrogen may aggravate your gallbladder and they worry about the risk of a blood clots  especially if you smoke as many transwomen do.
a combination of E and progestin increases the risk of breast cancer and uterine cancer.
post op you can take  a lower dose of E eventually but you have to take it or else you will get hot flashes and maybe brittle bone disease.
But pre op and non op you can stop HRT if it causes you worry or a problem and have your natural male hormones  take over.

[JennX]

a high dose of hrt is not good long term. the  problem is  that estrogen may aggravate your gallbladder and they worry about the risk of a blood clots  especially if you smoke as many transwomen do.
a combination of E and progestin increases the risk of breast cancer and uterine cancer.
post op you can take  a lower dose of E eventually but you have to take it or else you will get hot flashes and maybe brittle bone disease.
But pre op and non op you can stop HRT if it causes you worry or a problem and have your natural male hormones  take over.

This post is filled with incorrect info and misinformation.

I'm postop and take the same dosage of E as I did preop... And it is an above average dose. Several other postop MTFs I personally know have done the same thing. You medicate and prescribe dosages based on your physiology and blood tests... not what is read and recommended on the net.

I have not read on long term study of MTF trans people that have shown negative effects due to long term / above average E dosages over time. I also come from a medical background. So if you know of one such study, please post a link.

After a period of time on HRT (again this varies with the person) but from 1-2 years, a male's testes will no longer produce testosterone. This is called chemical castration. Your hormone levels will not return to normal after this period.

Please check your info before posting.