Becoming Tymara

[Tammy Jade]

Good evening all.

Its been a week of ups and downs which I posted about elsewhere but I finally feel like the Journey to become Tymara is at a crossroads.

Hopefully there will be many more posts in the future as I continue my journey but for now.

This week has included several of personal milestones, firstly I started electrolysis and secondary after 4 months of taking only T Blockers - I got my first E script made up.

The electrolysis is far more painful then I ever expected, even with pain killers & Emla Cream I couldn't last the full hour but it's so amazing to be able to look in the mirror and see the area that we were able to get done.

As for the E I won't be taking it for a couple of weeks yet because my family are trying to organise some before and after photos, which I actually think is a really cool idea. It's going to be a hard couple of weeks knowing it's there and not using it but it's only going to be a couple more weeks.

I also finally came out to my team at work this week and everyone was amazing, that said I think most people suspected anyway. I think I will get more of a reaction this week when the email for the other teams that I have to deal with goes out on Wednesday.

So yeah it's been a really hectic week for Me but at the same time I am so happy to no longer feel like I am trapped in a holding pattern waiting for permission to start my life.


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[Sarah.VanDistel]

Good evening all.

Its been a week of ups and downs which I posted about elsewhere but I finally feel like the Journey to become Tymara is at a crossroads.

Hopefully there will be many more posts in the future as I continue my journey but for now.

This week has included several of personal milestones, firstly I started electrolysis and secondary after 4 months of taking only T Blockers - I got my first E script made up.

The electrolysis is far more painful then I ever expected, even with pain killers & Emla Cream I couldn't last the full hour but it's so amazing to be able to look in the mirror and see the area that we were able to get done.

As for the E I won't be taking it for a couple of weeks yet because my family are trying to organise some before and after photos, which I actually think is a really cool idea. It's going to be a hard couple of weeks knowing it's there and not using it but it's only going to be a couple more weeks.

I also finally came out to my team at work this week and everyone was amazing, that said I think most people suspected anyway. I think I will get more of a reaction this week when the email for the other teams that I have to deal with goes out on Wednesday.

So yeah it's been a really hectic week for Me but at the same time I am so happy to no longer feel like I am trapped in a holding pattern waiting for permission to start my life.


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Hi Tymara!

Congrats on this big step! It's the beginning of a new life, really! Did you consider doing first 5-6 sessions laser before electrolysis? I found laser less painful and have been obtaining good results. After I'm done with laser (4 sessions to go) I plan doing electrolysis to get rid of the stubborns and the whites and grays.

Good luck on this unique journey!

Hugs, Sarah

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[Tammy Jade]

Hi Tymara!

Congrats on this big step! It's the beginning of a new life, really! Did you consider doing first 5-6 sessions laser before electrolysis? I found laser less painful and have been obtaining good results. After I'm done with laser (4 sessions to go) I plan doing electrolysis to get rid of the stubborns and the whites and grays.

Good luck on this unique journey!

Hugs, Sarah

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I did consider laser but apparently I am to blond and no laser place would do it.

So looks like it's the slow painful route for me. I got some really good tips from a few people and next session I'm getting a dental block so hopefully that should help.


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[Dan]

Good evening, Tymara!

Congrats on many major steps forward.

Onwards and upwards!

[Sarah.VanDistel]

I did consider laser but apparently I am to blond and no laser place would do it.

So looks like it's the slow painful route for me. I got some really good tips from a few people and next session I'm getting a dental block so hopefully that should help.


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Of course... silly me.  I didn't consider the possibiliy that you could have a fair hair. Oh well... No pain, no gain, as go the saying! [emoji6]

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[LizK]

.............................The electrolysis is far more painful then I ever expected, even with pain killers & Emla Cream I couldn't last the full hour but it's so amazing to be able to look in the mirror and see the area that we were able to get done...........................
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Good on you Tammy Jade, You have made some massive steps towards your goals. Electrolysis with our friend Amber is most likely going to hurt a bit more due to the HRT. If you follow her advice you will be happy. Ask her pretty much what you want when it comes to Electrolysis and she will know. When she encouraged me to keep going with Laser I felt she was not saying that for her business buy for my benefit and have followed her advice ever since. I can not in any way complain about as I am very happy with the results. Good luck for you next one

Liz

[Dena]

There is no reason not to start estrogen. It will take about a month before even the smallest changes start to appear and you shouldn't even notice anything at two weeks.

As for electrolysis, the best wait I found to deal with the pain is to concentrate on something other than the treatment. I would use difficult or impossible to solve problems but others may  find music or audio books more to their liking.

[Tammy Jade]

**Update 1**

So it's been a interesting couple of days. I caved and started taking my E looking at it all the time and not taking it eventually got to me.

It was very interesting tho, I have been on Spiro for ages and have been getting progressively more and more tired. The last 3-4 weeks have been particularly bad, to the point I had a couple of naps at work.

The thing I noticed tho is since starting the E my energy levels are back to pre Spiro levels. I don't know if it's just in my head or not but I definitely feel less tired.

I also like the idea of a audio book, I have a weakness for good audio books and I had not thought about that. I feel a bit mean because Amber (my electrolysis is so friendly and chatty) but that said I think it's a great idea. Definitely something I'll talk to her about.

Thanks for all the replies.

- Mara


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[LizK]

**Update 1**

So it's been a interesting couple of days. I caved and started taking my E looking at it all the time and not taking it eventually got to me.

It was very interesting tho, I have been on Spiro for ages and have been getting progressively more and more tired. The last 3-4 weeks have been particularly bad, to the point I had a couple of naps at work.

The thing I noticed tho is since starting the E my energy levels are back to pre Spiro levels. I don't know if it's just in my head or not but I definitely feel less tired.

I also like the idea of a audio book, I have a weakness for good audio books and I had not thought about that. I feel a bit mean because Amber (my electrolysis is so friendly and chatty) but that said I think it's a great idea. Definitely something I'll talk to her about.

Thanks for all the replies.

- Mara


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When she is doing that top lip she may not be so chatty...hopefully you won't be feeling much though, I used a book the last time we were doing my lip after a dental block...She cleared my neck on Tuesday and we pretty much chatted non stop. 

Nice that you have more energy... Look forward to hearing of your adventures with Amber...

Liz

[Tammy Jade]

** Update 2**

I finally had my second session of electrolysis, I really don't know what to say. The dental block for the top lip was totally amazing!! I took my current audio book (great suggestion Dena) phased out and apart from the last 5mins had a really good session. I am going to get the dentist to put a little more in next time because the corners of my mouth weren't 100% numb and stringed a little.

It was really funny tho, I am friends with the owner of the dental clinic (but I see one of the other dentists) and Im not out to him yet.. or so I thought.. So I boy'd up into my best boy mode and headed down and the first question out of the dentists mouth was "so would you prefer me to call you something other then "deadname" and update your gender in our records? So I'm calling that total boy mode fail.

Needless to say I'm pretty confident I'll be having a chat with my mate in coming days.

Anywho it made my day

My electrolysis did an amazing job and cleared a lot more then last session, I'll definitely need another go in a few weeks because she ran out of time to get all of them but (once I got home and had a good look) she has worked from darkest to lightest it would seem so the ones that are left are all really light blond whispy ones which are a lot easier to hide.

Lastly this afternoon is the monthly Gendasa group meeting so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.
I'm still getting to know everyone being a introvert and all but even with that I have found the support and information I have got at these meetings hugely helpful in building my confidence as Mara - after all it was at one of these meetings that I first found out about Susan's

-Mara


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[Sarah_P]

That's great! I can't wait for my first male fail.
I just had my 2nd laser session on my face, and completely forgot to take some ibuprofen before hand. It was much more painful than the 1st time, but not unbearably so. I know I'll have to have electrolysis to finish it all up though, plus other areas. Curious (and a bit concerned) how much more / less painful it will be. So far the laser hasn't done much of anything...

[Sarah.VanDistel]

That's great! I can't wait for my first male fail.
I just had my 2nd laser session on my face, and completely forgot to take some ibuprofen before hand. It was much more painful than the 1st time, but not unbearably so. I know I'll have to have electrolysis to finish it all up though, plus other areas. Curious (and a bit concerned) how much more / less painful it will be. So far the laser hasn't done much of anything...

Arghhhh... Laser can be painful, indeed! Before I started, I thought to myself: "It's just light... It CAN'T hurt that much! Right?" Wrong... [emoji22] Next time I'll take an ibuprofen and will apply some Pliaglis (lidocaine + tetracaine cream) beforehand, at least to the areas of beard still with the largest hair density (in my case, under lower jaw). I did see results after about 2-3 weeks (shedding and patchy beardless areas)...

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[AnneK]

Next time I'll take an ibuprofen

When I went for laser, I was told not to take it.  I had to take acetaminophen.

[LizK]

** Update 2**

I finally had my second session of electrolysis, I really don't know what to say. The dental block for the top lip was totally amazing!! I took my current audio book (great suggestion Dena) phased out and apart from the last 5mins had a really good session. I am going to get the dentist to put a little more in next time because the corners of my mouth weren't 100% numb and stringed a little.

It was really funny tho, I am friends with the owner of the dental clinic (but I see one of the other dentists) and Im not out to him yet.. or so I thought.. So I boy'd up into my best boy mode and headed down and the first question out of the dentists mouth was "so would you prefer me to call you something other then "deadname" and update your gender in our records? So I'm calling that total boy mode fail.

Needless to say I'm pretty confident I'll be having a chat with my mate in coming days.

Anywho it made my day

My electrolysis did an amazing job and cleared a lot more then last session, I'll definitely need another go in a few weeks because she ran out of time to get all of them but (once I got home and had a good look) she has worked from darkest to lightest it would seem so the ones that are left are all really light blond whispy ones which are a lot easier to hide.

Lastly this afternoon is the monthly Gendasa group meeting so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.
I'm still getting to know everyone being a introvert and all but even with that I have found the support and information I have got at these meetings hugely helpful in building my confidence as Mara - after all it was at one of these meetings that I first found out about Susan's

-Mara


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See you there...Will be there about 3 :30 or so I would think...depending on how my never ending battle with the eyeliner takes LOL 

[Sarah.VanDistel]

When I went for laser, I was told not to take it.  I had to take acetaminophen.

From Medscape "Laser-Assisted Hair Removal":

Laser hair removal is generally not a painless procedure. Most patients experience some discomfort during and immediately after treatment. Some patients experience no or minimal pain, especially with repeat treatments. The associated discomfort may vary considerably based on the specific area treated, laser type, individual pain tolerance, and density and thickness of hairs in an area. Typically, pain is greater in areas of dense, thick hair such as in men's beards. One can use one or a combination of modalities, including topical or local anesthetics, oral analgesics (ibuprofen, hydrocodone), anxiolytics (diazepam), and/or ice applications before performing the treatments. Ice packs and topical anesthetics creams like lidocaine (L-MX, ELA-Max), lidocaine and prilocaine (EMLA), lidocaine and prilocaine (Betacaine, Betacaine LA,), and lidocaine 7% and tetracaine 7% (Pliagalis) anesthetic mask are most commonly used in laser hair removal procedures.

Despite advice of most practicers of laser hair removal, there is no evidence whatsoever of increased risk of bruising with ibuprofen. It's a theoretical risk based on the fact that the layman often thinks that ibuprofen, being a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), shares the same magnitude of antiaggregant properties of aspirin (also a NSAID). However, against that intuition:

Compared with placebo plus aspirin, closure time was significantly reduced when ibuprofen, indomethacin, naproxen, or tiaprofenic acid was given before aspirin. In conclusion, ibuprofen, indomethacin, naproxen, and tiaprofenic acid all block the antiplatelet effect of aspirin.
• Gladin PA et al. The antiplatelet effect of six non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and their pharmacodynamic interaction with aspirin in healthy volunteers. Am J Cardiol. 2008 Apr 1;101(7):1060-3

So it seems that ibuprofen can actually protect against bruises in people taking aspirin! There are some studies showing that ibuprofen by itself does modestly inhibit platelet function for <24h, but none that I'm aware of that shows and increased risk of actual bleeding during surgery (let alone laser hair removal).

Of course, it bruising happens after taking ibuprofen, the laser technician might say "I warned you!", so if she advises against it, it would be safer to choose an alternative (e.g. acetaminophen OTC, tramadol w/prescription...).

Sarah

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[Tammy Jade]

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last post.

Firstly Elizabeth K it was great to see you the other day and finally put a face to name.

Other then that not much is happening, I feel like I'm in a bit of a holding patten.

I have started hormones but haven't really noticed much yet, yesterday was the first day of really significant itching in my breast area but other then that I haven't noticed much, that said because other medical conditions I am on the smallest dose of E imaginable.

I went into DB&M last week and applied for my official name and gender change. (Super bad timing I hope it doesn't effect my electoral enrolment)

So now I am playing the waiting game, waiting for changes & waiting for paperwork.

Luckily Iv got another week before I go back to work, officially as Tamara yay!! So its giving me a chance to work on our renovations so that hopefully I can move out of where I am by Christmas.

The only real thing of note has been, I went to Tamara's first car rally on Saturday as myself &
I wasn't sure how well I would be received as only a couple of select people in the rally community knew but I was amazed at how cool everyone was about it. So I finally bit the bullet and while it was fresh in a lot of their minds outed myself on Facebook Sunday afternoon.

I'm so glad I finally did that. The feeling of relief knowing that there is only one person left (my grandmother) that doesn't know now is amazing.

If I have learnt one thing from this experience it's that people regularly surprise you and that true friends who actually are friends and don't just claim to be will stay by you even if they share a different opinion.


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[LizK]

Hey Tammy it was great to catch and don't be a stranger...there are a few of us who have met up outside that meeting so send me a PM if you fancy coming along for a coffee or lunch...its was down south the last time. SA is a pretty trans tolerant city and I have none to very little in the way of problems...the occasional bigot but nothing of any significance.

Fantastic to hear your rally friends were so accepting, always makes me feel better when something like that happens.

The name change thing can be a bit of a hassle but once you have the certificate I have found it pretty straight forward...I don't have much left to change and there a few I just won't bother with.  good luck with that!!   

If I have learnt one thing from this experience it's that people regularly surprise you and that true friends who actually are friends and don't just claim to be will stay by you even if they share a different opinion.

If nothing else coming out soon sorts out who your friends really are....this can be a very painful experience for some.

Dental Block today for hopefully the second to last time...I have finished with the facial injections and now just have two sessions left to clear my top and bottom lip in another 4 weeks(hopefully the final one). This is about the 3-4 th time it has been cleared and there is not a huge amount there...whatever is not covered today will get covered on my final one in 4 weeks. I am not too nervous so far about today but will be once I arrive...the race is then on to get from Morphett vale to North Adelaide which will take about 40 minutes...just as well these blocks  last a couple of hours...

[Tammy Jade]

I'm so jealous how further a long you are, my last session was a interesting one because the dentist was a little cautious on how much to put in for the chin.

I felt every bloody hair and coz I was expecting the block to do it's job I hadn't taken any cream with me or pain killers. It took the edge off a little but it still hurt like hell. Amber only got about 3/4 of a square inch done in a full hour.

It really annoyed me because he offered to put in a little more but was worried he might numb my tongue to much so I told him I'd see how I went because it was pretty numb when I left.. big big mistake.


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[Tammy Jade]

It has been really nice to see the support from people who would normally fall into the Stereotypical men category from the racing community it really shocked me.

One of them went so far as to post this - which I found very touching.

One of my Australian friends just came out to the world on social media as transgender
How brave and courageous to tell the world on a public platform
Brave,courageous, confident in who she is
I can only imagine the anxious wait to see comments,will people accept or shun me
However telling everyone in this manner is probably the best,still it wouldnt be easy
With full credit to her friends they accepted  and support was complete and positive,with her mum welcoming a new daughter
I was so proud of all these people
I also think it shows our society is far more accepting of transgender people than we beleve
Love is love we are all created as equals it is only bigoted society that takes this equality away from all of us
I believe that it is only education that will teach people about transgender people. Transgender people have been with us for as long as recorded history
The american indians,hawains,incas and many more accepted trans people as part of society,for us to be as advanced as them we must as well
Cheers everyone


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[LizK]

Did your dentist inject into the back corner of your jaw? That's where the nerves are that control the feeling on the chin/bottom lip area and you have a set on each side of your face. When they hit this spot it makes you flinch(groan) and then the whole bottom lip/ chin area goes numb for an hour of two...

I have found with straight up injections into the skin are pretty much useless around that part of the face, the top lip is the same.  I have had direct injections into the lower lip and they last about 15 minutes from injecting to pain sensation again. YMMV and your dentist may use a different technique...or may not want to use that block on you but it worked on the whole of my chin area and under my bottom lip for probably an hour or more.

That was such a wonderful response from your friends...The post was particularly moving.

Today was one of those days when the injections were Ok but really just took the edge off.....