For what I'm sure is the billionth time: Monthly Torture... How do you deal?

[paxcow]

On the first day, I get upset and grossed out. Then I tend to mostly get over it. I rarely get cramps so I'm usually able to forget about it... thankfully.

As far as pads and tampons go, I usually use tampons. I can't really stand feeling the pad in my pants.

[Jeatyn]

Because I couldn't handle the knowledge that I was bleeding down there and constantly felt like I had wet my pants (extremely squeamish just thinking about it), I use toilet paper rather than pads. Sort of gross, but I basically just stopper it up a little bit and... Well, it doesn't go up anywhere like a tampon and doesn't just let... everything get bloody and... disgusting.  So it works for me.  I feel far more human not feeling so...

you must have a pretty light flow to be able to do that

[Vancha]

Really?  Well, I don't have any experience to compare mine to others'... If it was any worse, I would be very upset, so I can only imagine how others feel.

[Jeatyn]

Mine have always been ridiculously heavy. I've used that method once when I was round a friends house in the middle of the night and had no other option. It had soaked through the huge wad of paper and my jeans within an hour

[Vancha]

Oh, man, that's pretty terrible.  Mine never soaks through the wad itself.  I had no idea there was anything worse.  Are pads really any better?  If I had it that bad, I'd go nuts.   

[Jeatyn]

I always use the "night" pads, which are huge. I have to change them so frequently that I even have to set an alarm to wake me up in the middle of the night otherwise I wake up with it everywhere

I can't help but pray for something to go horribly wrong with my girl parts so they have to be removed

[Vancha]

I forget if you didn't already post something about this - but wouldn't going on T take care of that problem, and eventually open up opportunity for a hysterectomy?

[Vancha]

Sure isn't... Doctors can be difficult.  So can money.  That is completely understandable.  I don't know whether a short term on birth control would be worth it, but if someone's symptoms are terrible enough, it may be.

[Jeatyn]

Waiting (im)patiently for T. Waiting lists for clinics are a pain in the rear. I can't have the pill and the depo jab has messed me up enough from the 4 years I was on it. I thought hysterectomys were still difficult to get even if you're on T, doctors tend to be reluctant to remove healthy parts.

[Flameboy]

Waiting (im)patiently for T. Waiting lists for clinics are a pain in the rear. I can't have the pill and the depo jab has messed me up enough from the 4 years I was on it. I thought hysterectomys were still difficult to get even if you're on T, doctors tend to be reluctant to remove healthy parts.

I had my hysto about 15 months after starting T, with no objections from my GP or the surgeon. In the UK, the general thought is that a hysto should be performed within 5 years of starting T, and preferably within 2 years. Obviously, not every guy wants a hysto, but for those who do it generally isn't a problem.

[Nathan.]

I thought hysto was a must becuase when your on T you can get cysts and stuff in those parts

[Jeatyn]

orly? I have been misinformed it would seem. Awesome 

[Randy]

How do I deal? I don't. I fall apart. I'll call in from work, stay home from school... sit around the house and be livid and utterly hopelessly depressed at the same time.

i went on testosterone.  problem solved.

For you. At over 7 months that problem still isn't solved for me.

[GQjoey]

How do I deal? I don't. I fall apart. I'll call in from work, stay home from school... sit around the house and be livid and utterly hopelessly depressed at the same time.

For you. At over 7 months that problem still isn't solved for me.

Pretty sure it depends on dose, and just the person of course. I had irregular ones my entire life, and it took right around 7-9 months for mine to completely disappear after starting 

[Vancha]

I was hit with the monthly torture this morning.  Spent the whole night tossing and turning and knowing something was wrong.  I have a history of anxiety and it surfaces at this time of the month; I was terrified when I woke up between dreams, and even more so when I discovered that I was bleeding.  Ugh.  Panic ensues, and I decide I am going to hole up in my bedroom until I feel human.

Luckily, I can see a psychiatrist to talk about T this year, but it's probably going to be early next year before anything happens.  I finally got an exception to the rule (only over 18 can see this psychiatrist) because I expressed that a year growing more and more feminine was too much for me to bear.

Hang in there, everyone.  As hard as it is.  At least we won't have to live our whole lives with this.  I've spent more time with the monthly torture so far than I will by the time I start T, so I figure... I should be grateful.

[Mister]

How do I deal? I don't. I fall apart. I'll call in from work, stay home from school... sit around the house and be livid and utterly hopelessly depressed at the same time.

For you. At over 7 months that problem still isn't solved for me.

go to the gyno. something's amiss. unless you're on gel.

[Randy]

go to the gyno. something's amiss. unless you're on gel.

Well, I started off at half the normal dose. I've called, and my endo (who also happens to be a gyno) is bumping up my dosage. She also suspects something being wrong in that area (my family does have a history of endometriosis), but the last time I was there and she wanted to do an exam we didn't because I was bleeding at the time.

[Mister]

Half the normal dose?  for seven months?  not surprising.

If it doesn't stop soon (i.e. in the next couple weeks), you might want to ask about getting on a small dose of Depo Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) to help stop your menstrual cycle.  Straight out of the FTM healthcare bible...

Occasionally, especially in patients with lower serum testosterone levels, the addition of a progestin such as medroxyprogesterone acetate 5 to 10 mg may be required to induce complete cessation of menses.

[GamerJames]

There's an FTM healthcare bible?? You know I'm all about overdosing on info... What's this resource?

[tekla]

Straight out of the FTM healthcare bible*...


*Source: Author's imagination


There, fixed it for all of you.