Antiandrogens vs Puberty blockers

[Iamlost]

Right, so i hear that if your too young for hrt they usually put you on puberty blockers to prevent the effects of puberty, and antiandrogens prevent testoterone from effecting yout body. The problem is costs, while antiandrogens cost from what i hear 100$/mo puberty blockers can cost up to 20000$/year. Please help, by the chance im too young for hrt i dont want this poison to effect me any longer. I sometimes feel like castrating myself to stop the effects and cant sleep till 1-3am knowing that as i do nothing irreversable effects are happening. Im 14 btw

[Dena]

Wait until you talk to the doctors. The drugs they use may  be relatively inexpensive or there may be a way to pay for them that isn't going to break the bank. As for castration, don't think about it. It's possible to bleed out if the vessels are not properly tied off and even if you survived, you are damaging tissue that would be used to construct the vagina or labia.

[Allie24]

I would be wary of puberty blockers. We don't know their long term effects. Without sex hormones your bone structure will weaken, among many other nasty health effects.

Find out how to calm yourself down. The anxiety this is causing can cause you to make some very impulsive decisions that could hurt you in the long run. I cannot emphasize that enough. The pain you feel now is not worth the possible health costs your future self may face as a result of your actions in the present.

Talk to your parents and trained medical/psychological professionals. Strangers online do not have the authority, and would be reckless to prescribe any sort of treatment to anyone, especially a minor.

[AnonyMs]

Puberty blockers are the standard medical treatment and depending on where you are they might be free. You'll need to get it prescribed. Blockers are this kind of thing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuprorelin

They are fully reversable, so that if you stop taking them puberty continues as normal.

I read a paper a while ago that said, as best as I can recall, there's some bone density loss, but its not dangerous and (better than the alternative). Long tem use when you're older is dangeous and can lead to ostepoprosis (bad).

I don't know why the difference between before 18 and after, but I suspect its either because its relatively short term before 18, or that doctors are willing to risk osteoporosis but not the social backlash from giving HRT to minors.

I've often wondered, but I don't know why the heap antiandrogens (like spiro) are not used instead for minors.

There was a post on another forum I read recently by a women who managed to castrate herself. She almost died, but someone called an ambulance and she got to hospital just in time. The guy who did it was arrested and the entire thing made the news.

[Allie24]

Also, if starting blockers in secret, your parents could notice that you are not developing at all and have you taken to the doctor to find out the cause, in which case you'll have to tell them. It's amazing the things that some parents notice about their kids.

[Dani]

Puberty blockers have one potential bad effect if you are going to have GCS in the future. If puberty is blocked so that there is no masculinization then the penis will remain small as it was pre-puberty. For penile inversion GCS, there is not enough skin to form a normal sized vagina. A skin graft will be necessary to lengthen the vagina. This skin can be taken from the colon, skin near the thigh, or even the peritoneal area inside the abdomen. This is a complicated surgery and is not as simple as penile inversion GCS.

[AnonyMs]

Puberty blockers have one potential bad effect if you are going to have GCS in the future. If puberty is blocked so that there is no masculinization then the penis will remain small as it was pre-puberty. For penile inversion GCS, there is not enough skin to form a normal sized vagina. A skin graft will be necessary to lengthen the vagina. This skin can be taken from the colon, skin near the thigh, or even the peritoneal area inside the abdomen. This is a complicated surgery and is not as simple as penile inversion GCS.

I read about a girl who did that in the UK, starting antiandrogens at 13. She went to Suporn and got a good result, but it would have been really bad having surgery in the UK.

[kelly_aus]

I've often wondered, but I don't know why the heap antiandrogens (like spiro) are not used instead for minors.

Because they are crap and shouldn't be used long term - spiro and cypro in particular. Pausing puberty is also preferable to simply blocking T, as it enables puberty to be continued, if appropriate.

There really is no need for antiandrogens in trans women, estrogen alone is sufficient to suppress T. But the "I want it now" crowd have made them a standard.

[AnonyMs]

There really is no need for antiandrogens in trans women, estrogen alone is sufficient to suppress T. But the "I want it now" crowd have made them a standard.

I think you usually need quite high levels of estrogen to suppress testesterone and most doctors do it low instead. I like high myself.

[kelly_aus]

I think you usually need quite high levels of estrogen to suppress testesterone and most doctors do it low instead. I like high myself.

Nope, the levels that most are at should be sufficient. It really doesn't require a "high" level.

Talking to some docs, the main reason they prescribe an AA is that patients demand them, these docs have given up trying to give the best care because their patients "know better." My doctor was quite happy to help me remove cypro from my hormone regimen. I'm happier, healthier and have better T and E levels than I did previously.