Quote from: Urgent help on November 04, 2017, 02:07:32 PM
Thats really fascinating. I don't want to clutter this thread as it is about something else, but as a cis (as far as I know lol) I would want to ask what feels bad/good. Is it the intrinsic panic I felt after the shot, except you felt it all the time before you got HRT for the first time?
I'd appreciate suggestions on good education material on this. I know the facts and the medical aspects to some extent but I would love to just read or hear about how it actually feels to be transgender. I think a lot of people have so many opinions, without really knowing anything about the topic they are talking about (as with most people and most topics
)
-The energy thing...is something I would love if it happened, I'd go crazy in the gym for 6 weeks !!
This is a difficult feeling to describe that varies wildly from person to person. That said, I'll share my own experience.
My parents both agreed that they noticed something amiss with me starting at age three (my memories start around 5) but they weren't sure what to make of it. For reference, I grew up in the late 80's/early 90's in a small town in rural West Virginia where 'trans' wasn't on
anyone's radar. I just recall having this very positive awareness of being a boy long before I had any real idea what the differences between genders were (physically and socially).
When anyone would tell me otherwise, I'd wonder what was wrong with them and shrug it off. At that time, I had very healthy and normal relationships with other guys my age and we'd engage in all the usual stupidly dangerous stunts boys typically do. It was peaceful then and being told I was 'just a girl' by family members was really more of an annoyance than a grievance. To put it shortly, I had a
very strong sense of self. I just kept hanging around for puberty to happen so I could 'show' everyone.
Then it happened.
It was the darkest most miserable time of my life. At an age where girls are usually very excited to start developing breasts and figures, I found myself diving into huge oversized hoodies to hide any hints of softness or curves.
I felt unequivocally betrayed by my body and spiraled into suicidal depression. My relationships with males suffered and I actively avoided female relationships because it was impossible to relate with them. Every new change my body went through in the wrong direction was the mental equivalent of being drawn and quartered. Those things I
knew, that 'self' of which I was so sure, became non-existent. I began to entertain this ideology that I was a parasite--able to physically move my host, but unable to mentally or emotionally engage--and most of my days were spent feeling invisible.
To say everything bothered me would be an understatement: Mirrors, waking up, taking showers, 'gendered' events, dating, sex, looking at my hands, hearing my voice, feeling my hairless face, my height, my breasts, going out in public, making friends, meeting new people, getting dressed, etc., were all gargantuan tasks that required every ounce of my mental fortitude to endure.
These feelings continued well into my young adulthood until age 28 when living even another few months seemed too much to face. After undergoing top surgery and HRT, I feel... just normal. Those initial few months of excitement have worn off, but in the best possible way as I now just
feel like any other guy. The 'sirs' and male affectations (bro, man, dude, etc.) I receive every day now no longer thrill me so much as they just feel right.
The difference between what I was and who I am now is night and day. That sense of self has returned and nothing shakes me anymore. Not spending every waking moment hating myself and feeling overwhelming anxiety regarding my perceived gender has freed up a huge amount of energy to focus on hobbies, friends and my relationship.
To put it simply, I am present in my skin and happy to be that way.
Sometimes feeling right isn't about this long-term, pervasive, excitable euphoria so much as it's about not feeling
wrong.