Is the reason you're wanting to wait until you're out of school because you're wanting to avoid coming out at school, and such? Or you're giving your parents time to adjust to the idea?
Once you start, if you're doing injections, you probably won't have anything too noticeable (to other people) happen for at least a couple months. So if you're just wanting to avoid disclosing at school, you could probably start a couple months before the year ends.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PM
What sort of legal things should i get ready beforehand with my new name?
I can't offer advice about legal stuff, since I haven't made any legal changes yet myself. I did call the DMV though and ask how I could go about getting my name and gender changed on my license, for when I'm ready to do that. It varies by state, and they can direct you to the right papers to fill out and tell you how to do it.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PMWhat has your experience on t been like? Changes mental and physical.
After almost a year on cream, I had more dark hair on my face, thighs, stomach, and chest. My weight stayed the same, but I lost an inch from my hips and butt, and my muscles were a little more defined in my arms. I don't work out. After I switched to injections, the first thing I noticed was that my urine smelled really strong the day of and a couple days after my shot. I got more hair growth on my face, and I'm starting to get a few sideburn hairs. The hair on my stomach is still creeping up my chest. My voice started sounding as if I was sick after about 2 months (on injections). I'm at 5 months now, and it's slowly getting lower. The monthly red death had been going on for 2 months when I got my first shot, and it continued for another 3 weeks before stopping. The longest I can remember going without it is 3 months, so I think I'm in the clear! I still don't pass 100%, but I do pass the majority of the time, or at least confuse people.
I don't know that I really have mental changes to speak of, except that before I had really, really bad anxiety, to where I'd shake and cry if I had to go in public alone or engage strangers in social settings (like for school or going to the store). I think that with my increasing ability to pass I've just felt more comfortable with being out in public, so I guess my confidence level has gone up. It's also been easier for me to accept difficulties that life has thrown at me. They seem less... acute, and more of an "Ok, this sucks but it's not the end of the world and it will pass." So my mental changes have been that I'm more at ease, and more confident that I can get through tough things.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PMOnce you see an endo how long did it take you to get your perscription?
With my first doctor I had an initial appointment, then I had to get bloodwork done, then I had a second appointment to go over the bloodwork and talk about starting T. If my memory is right, then she wrote me a prescription and I waited for it to come in the mail. The whole thing from first appointment to getting my prescription probably took about 2 months. If you add fighting with insurance and getting the right papers from the right people, it was probably longer. It may be important to mention that the actual first doctor I saw was a total bust, and I wasted a bunch of my time trying to get my insurance to cover me seeing him, only to find out that he doesn't actually do HRT. So all together it really took me 6 months of trying to get on T before I actually did.
With my second doctor I had the first appointment, and she told me she had never started anyone on HRT, only continued it. Luckily, she was willing to try, and so I waited while she went to a conference with a specialist, then had my second appointment where we talked about what we would be doing. I brought copies of my bloodwork, so this helped speed things along. At my third appointment she gave me my first shot. So again, it took about 2 months from initial meeting to getting T, plus time getting things in order for me to make the first appointment.
Long story short, be prepared for things to not go as planned, or move as quickly as you may hope. I thought I'd be farther along now than I am when I made the decision to start actively pursuing T, almost 2 years ago. I don't mean this in a negative way, just as a word of advice that patience is important when going into this stuff. Good luck! It takes time, but you'll get there.
