Can transition be intervened if....

[Karma86]

I'm a 23 year old transwoman currently in preoperative state but looking to become post op within the next 3-5 years. My issue is that I am depressed and often have suicidal thoughts, never acted upon them but never told my doctor nor my shrink about this out of fear. I once heard that health care professionals have the authoritarian status to simply intervene or even stop your transition based on the above reasons and this is what has scared me most of all. I've been working hard to get to the end and taking my time and I have been on hormones for nearly 2 years, I do have bad mood swings and I am overly sensitive and emotional. Question really boils down to is can a doctor really stop or even put ones transition on hiatus ?. If so what happens in the mean time ? and if anyone has been in this position how did you deal with the issue.

Thanks in advance..

[Alainaluvsu]

Has the endocrinologist been monitoring your levels? You may be clinically depressed and it might not have anything to do with your T / E levels. I'd say you really need to talk to your doctor about it regardless of whether he stops HRT. Clinical depression doesn't just go away, and feeling that way is debilitating to say the least...

[rejennyrated]

In theory a doctor can call time on a transition if they believe it is not in the patients best interest, but such a move would never be undertaken lightly. Before taking any such action a good doctor will want to discover what is causing this problem.

In order to answer that question I think the questions that both you and you doctors will need to honestly assess are these:

Did the mood swings and depression start with transition? If not have they been made worse by it?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes then maybe you might have to consider if the transition is really helping you. For some people there is a danger that they become so fixed on reaching the end of the journey that they lose sight of the fact that the journey is taking them to a place that they do not really want to go and will regret when they arrive. That is of critical importance to find out before surgery, because of course there IS no real way back.

It may also be more complex than that, The transition may be right, but the depression may be the result of other factors that have arisen since transition such as loss of job, loss of loved ones etc. In that case the solution may also be less clear cut. What can be done to improve the matters that are making you depressed?

The other less drastic possibility that you might need to examine is whether your HRT regimen is optimal for you. Some people do not take well to Progesterone, others of us NEED it to be stable. I am in the latter group, but I know many people who are in the former. It is important to listen to your body and discover the regimen which is right for you.

If on the other hand the answer to both the questions is NO, in other words you already had mood swings and they have not got noticeably worse since transition then it is clear that you are simply one of those for whom GID is just one of several conditions which need to be addressed.

In such circumstances it is unlikely that your transition would be discontinued. There are several people here who are bipolar and quite a few of them have indeed had SRS without a problem. I would hope therefore that an experienced doctor would understand that and would simply commence treatment for the supplemental problems.

What is important is that you have the courage and honesty to seek help over this issue because suicidal thoughts are not a good thing to be living with.

[Cindy]

Hi Karma,

Not with standing the other replies, depression is quite a common condition generally and apparently very common in TG. Not really surprising with the problems we face over such long periods.

A lot of depression can be treated simply and quite quickly with the serotonin enhancing drugs. This takes about 4 weeks to be chemically effective but the placebo effect can be immediate. These would be the most common and your regular Dr will prescribe them. Your therapist and shrink should be told, your shrink can prescribe them and others. Do not hide suicidal and depressive thoughts and moods.  I can not think of any reason that a therapist or a psychiatrist would intervene and yank you off HRT. They may and should talk through why you are feeling depressed, if there is a reason BTW, there is often no reason. Depression can, as you are aware, destroy your wanting life; but TG girls want to shop; so live baby live

BTW. Depression and alcohol are a really bad mix. One fuels the other. If you have one don't take the other.


Funnily I am dealing with the issue.
I've been on anti-depressants for some time and coping. As my HRT progresses I'm feeling happy. I had a major happy event a few backs. I just woke up happy. Scared the c**p out of me. Goddess what's wrong? I feel great. I have now, under medical supervision, halved my dosages  of anti-D's in 2 months. And I'm still walking on sunshine, working better, presenting better, living better, bothering friends on the phone better  . In fact life is pretty darn good.

It should be for you as well

Hugs

Cindy

[lilacwoman]

here in the Uk and possibly elsewhere any mention of feeling suicidal will cause people to think its the transitioning thats the problem when in reality it may be the inability to transition completely thats the problem.
best not to use the S word at the doctors or other medics... go so far as to say you feel fed up but don't say suicidally or you'll get a marker on your notes for the rest of your life.

[spacial]

Just to add my voice, for what it's worth, to the others.

Depression can be treated. It shouldn't be a reason to stop your transision process, unless they suspect that the process is the cause of your depression.

And, Don't mention suicide. I say this because if you were really suicidal, you wouldn't be here. Thinking about jacking it all in, feeling completely hopeless, even thinking that being dead would be better than this is not really suicide. But some junior Dr, with little experience, might get the wrong idea.

I once attended a lecture on impulsive behaviour. They talked about how we all have thoughts of jumping off buildings, hitting people for no reason, smashing something and such. Sorry, but we all think about these things occasionally. We all have really silly thoughts sometimes. But we control them.

In the mean time, you could try to sit down and think about why you feel so hopeless.