Orchiectomy (castration)

[queesamor14]

I been thinking of get castration and i wounder if there benefit to it my friend told me that even if you get castration there still male hormones in our body and that there is not benefit since there chemical castation do you beleive that have any of you been had castation is it good benefit to look more female doesi t help the face

[Janet_Girl]

Many of us have had an Orchie.  And it is a good step if SRS is a ways off.  What little "T" is produced in the body is at best minimal.  Through the adrenal glands.  And tucking is so much more comfortable.

I am three weeks post-orchie and I feel great.  And if you are in the USA and your surgeon writes your letter correctly, you even get to have your gender marker changed with the SSA.

Go for it, if you feel it is best for you.



Janet

[queesamor14]

Many of us have had an Orchie.  And it is a good step if SRS is a ways off.  What little "T" is produced in the body is at best minimal.  Through the adrenal glands.  And tucking is so much more comfortable.

I am three weeks post-orchie and I feel great.  And if you are in the USA and your surgeon writes your letter correctly, you even get to have your gender marker changed with the SSA.

Go for it, if you feel it is best for you.

that left over T that is produced will is still make more malyor it very slow can i still take spiro

Janet

[Janet_Girl]

Most of us are off of Spiro as of the surgery.  The amount of "T" that may be produced is so slight it isn't worth worrying about.  It may even turn into "E" because you have "E" in your system.  Google Adrenal Glands.

Remove the "T" factories and then the "E" will have free reign over the body.



Janet

[ifonlyican14]

i want to have orchie, it will help my body, the greater feminization effect of E, stopping anti androgen will reduce the liver damage from it, more feminine feeling .

[MaggieB]

I had an orchi last January and am so pleased. I waited for ten months to stop Spiro but then my hair began to fall out so I went back on half dosage to stop that. I guess there was enough T from my adrenals to restart my hair loss. Spiro is most commonly used for womens hair loss nowadays. It used to be for reducing blood pressure many years ago but men didn't like losing their libido and growing breasts. 

Maggie

[june bug]

I had an orchi, still take estrogen, but not as much as before (am lucky that way), and no more Spiro (yay!), and am _so_ glad to have had it done, because I knew my GRS would be a while away.  It was nice to have a "next step" while waiting for money to come in for other stuff.

I still don't feel right "down there", but definitely a lot better than before, and over all I feel a lot more calm, whether that is psychological or physiological, regardless... it feels good knowing my body isn't having to fight so much T anymore.  Not to mention my prescription costs are a lot lower. 

[Silver]

Most of us are off of Spiro as of the surgery.  The amount of "T" that may be produced is so slight it isn't worth worrying about.  It may even turn into "E" because you have "E" in your system.  Google Adrenal Glands.

Remove the "T" factories and then the "E" will have free reign over the body.



Janet

You girls seem so scared of testosterone. You'll have half of female levels of testosterone (perhaps normal levels if your body decides to compensate).

95% of male androgens are produced by the testicles. 5% by the adrenals.

50% of female androgens are produced by the ovaries, and the other 50% by the adrenals.

So having no gonads at all would leave you with even less.

[rejennyrated]

You girls seem so scared of testosterone. You'll have half of female levels of testosterone (perhaps normal levels if your body decides to compensate).

95% of male androgens are produced by the testicles. 5% by the adrenals.

50% of female androgens are produced by the ovaries, and the other 50% by the adrenals.

So having no gonads at all would leave you with even less.

Actually the body does adjust after surgery - (just as well if one wants a decent sex drive) The balance is helped if like me one takes a cyclic Progesterone dose as well as Estrogen, because progesterone is a chemical precursor to T.

In any case 50% of the normal female androgen level isn't that far away from 5% of the male level. So actually in both sexes the adrenals contribute roughly the same amount. It just that in a woman that amount is a large proportion of a very small total and in a man the same amount is a tiny proportion of a HUGE output.

It's some while since I had any blood work done, and that was done because they were testing me to diagnose something else, but my hormone levels 20+ years or so post SRS were pretty well bang on female norms. Just a tiny bit lower on T - but really pretty close.

[Silver]

Actually the body does adjust after surgery - (just as well if one wants a decent sex drive) The balance is helped if like me one takes a cyclic Progesterone dose as well as Estrogen, because progesterone is a chemical precursor to T.

In any case 50% of the normal female androgen level isn't that far away from 5% of the male level. So actually in both sexes the adrenals contribute roughly the same amount. It just that in a woman that amount is a large proportion of a very small total and in a man the same amount is a tiny proportion of a HUGE output.

It's some while since I had any blood work done, and that was done because they were testing me to diagnose something else, but my hormone levels 20+ years or so post SRS were pretty well bang on female norms. Just a tiny bit lower on T - but really pretty close.

Exactly. No need to worry after gonad removal.

[Naturally Blonde]

Many of us have had an Orchie.  And it is a good step if SRS is a ways off.  What little "T" is produced in the body is at best minimal.  Through the adrenal glands.  And tucking is so much more comfortable.

I am three weeks post-orchie and I feel great.  And if you are in the USA and your surgeon writes your letter correctly, you even get to have your gender marker changed with the SSA.

Go for it, if you feel it is best for you.



Janet

Over here in the U.K it's very uncommon and I wouldn't know where to go or know if it's actually legal over here?

[Janet_Girl]

CancerHelp UK preforms Orchies, but they may only cover them for prostate cancer.

I would talk to your therapist and see if they have a option or opinion.  Otherwise you would need to come to a surgeon in the States, which given the current economy is/maybe prohibitive.


Janet

[Renate]

There are a few post-SRS/post-orchi women here with low testosterone.
If your testosterone is too low you will have low or no libido and low physical endurance.
The solution is topical testosterone.
Even natal women sometime run into this problem.

[Naturally Blonde]

CancerHelp UK preforms Orchies, but they may only cover them for prostate cancer.

I would talk to your therapist and see if they have a option or opinion.  Otherwise you would need to come to a surgeon in the States, which given the current economy is/maybe prohibitive.


Janet

Hi Janet. I don't have a therapist or an advisor on the subject. Over here in the U.K info on Orchiectomies is pretty limited. I don't think you would find someone willing to do this kind of operation over here for transsexuals.

[Janet_Girl]

There is but a handful of surgeons here in the States that do it.  My primary care physician wore a consent form for my surgeon, but he told my that my health care provider, Kaiser, would not perform nor cover my Orchie.

I don't understand why the UK won't cover Orchie, while they do cover SRS.  But health care here doesn't cover it ether.



Janet

[Naturally Blonde]

There is but a handful of surgeons here in the States that do it.  My primary care physician wore a consent form for my surgeon, but he told my that my health care provider, Kaiser, would not perform nor cover my Orchie.

I don't understand why the UK won't cover Orchie, while they do cover SRS.  But health care here doesn't cover it ether.



Janet

I think the analogy over here is it's either SRS or not at all. I think they see an Orchiectomy as a 'not quite sure' option. I'm not actually sure it's legal over here unless it was for medical purposes like a cancer.