Using the contraceptive for hrt

[Cathren M2F]

hi, my name is cathren and i have just joined your website beox i have been using it as a bible almost, all the info and suck is marvelous, thankyou susan you are a true friend

so down to business, i am in uk for 3 years and i can not use the nhs to get my hormones so i have to buy it online bit my account will take a few weeks to activate and i do not want to wait any more.

please don't contradict me or tell me off, i know the risks of self medication and it is the ONLY choice i have though my local gp agreed to monitor me, without making any unethical suggestion, you now remaining nutral whilst ensuring my health.

so here is my question

i can get contraceptive pills from my fmily clinic, and i would just please like to know this.
which birt control pill COULD i take for the time being that would contain an anit-adrogen and obviously a hormone like Ethylin estradiol or something like it basically i want the best possible contraceptive to use whilst gettin effective AA treatment inside the pill as well, please, i know you can not discuss dosis but please just tell me what other people in my situation i turned 21 on the 3rd of dec few weeks ago, so... my friends adn suppporters, what would you say!!!!

[Dennis]

Actually, I hope nobody advises someone who wants to self-medicate. I do not want your stroke or liver damage to be on the heads of members of Susan's.

Why can you not use NHS? You have one of the few systems in the world that will pay for transitioning. I thought it was open to everyone in the UK.

Dennis

[Nero]

Hello Cathren and welcome.
I don't know how the system works in the UK, or what NHS is, but it's always best to go through the proper channels. I know I don't need to tell you what you already know, that self-medicating is extremely dangerous.
I don't know of any birth control pill that contains an anti-androgen. I don't believe any birth control pill would contain enough estrogen to feminize a male body in any way. Furthermore, they are made specifically to control the cycle in a genetic female's body, they may or may not be harmful to a genetic male's body. I am not trying to contradict or tell you off, but I honestly believe taking any form of birth control would be a huge waste of your time and money.
I strongly urge you to rethink self-medicating at all.

[Julie Marie]

My brother used to work for a company that manufactured birth control pills.  He told me today's birth control pills won't work for MTF transitioning.  You don't want a lecture about the health issues so I won't tell you what you already know.  But I will say taking birth control pills is a waste of money.

Julie

[Buffy]

Cathren,

Firstly the levels of hormones (Estrogen, Progesterone and Anti-androgen) in contraceptive pills are far to low to effect any kinds of feminization as they are for use with natal Females.

Secondly if you go down the route of HRT it is essential that you are medically supervised and you have your blood level measured on a regular basis to ensure you are not damaging your Liver and that other parameters are controlled.

If you live and work (or study) in the UK, you are entitled to use the NHS, I would use this, it is essential that you go through the right routes and follow the accepted practices to ensure both your health and well being are monitored.

Buffy

[Dennis]

Sorry Cathren, I may have sounded harsh there. I didn't mean to. Welcome to the forums and I do hope you change your mind about self-medicating. It really is a serious issue and you sound like you know the risks, but you are lucky to be in one of the few countries where financial barriers are not an issue and if you can make use of that route, you'll be much better off in the long run.

Dennis

[tinkerbell]

Hi Cathren,

Welcome to Susan's!  I'm so sorry but for your own good, I can't encourage you to self-medicate either.  As some members have stated here, hormones can be very dangerous to your health especially if you are not supervised by a physician.  Liver, kidney, clotting factors, and cholesterol levels have to be monitored on a regular basis when a patient is taking cross-gender hormones, so please think about this and don't do anything that can jeopardize your health or your life.

Good luck Cathren.  Take care of yourself!

tinkerbell

[LynnER]

Im just going to pipe in with everyone else here... 

First off birthcontroll dosnt have nearly enough in it to have any feminizing factors for a M2F.... Im serious... its less than a fraction of a fraction of whats necicary so dont even bother wasteing your time or money...

Secondly for HRT you need to do it the right way or you may die or worse have to stop due to health complications.......... dont risk it

[Melissa]

First of all, wecome to Susan's Catherine.

Second, for everyone's own knowledge, NHS stands for National Health System and they are notorious for long waiting times for transsexuals who transition using that.  I'm talking like a period of years before you can even begin transition, so I definitely understand.

Third, what others on here have already said about the pills is correct.

Melissa

[Stormy Weather]

Second, for everyone's own knowledge, NHS stands for National Health System and they are notorious for long waiting times for transsexuals who transition using that.  I'm talking like a period of years before you can even begin transition, so I definitely understand.

As someone with long (12 years+) experience of the NHS and the Charing Cross GIC that is most definitely not the case for everyone. I happen to know of someone who has gone from admission to HRT in a matter of weeks. Mine was a few months... they insist on documentary evidence of going full-time and presenting properly.

And also, the number of women I've spoken to on the wards and in out-patients on all of my visits over the last 18 months or so have confirmed much the same thing, namely that if you do the right thing by them, they'll try and do the right thing by you.

What they are notorious for is being unfailingly rigourous, that's all. Do things their way and treatment will go smoothly and everything will fall into place. They get bad press from people that don't play by the rules, IMO. My 12 year stint was due to my own changing circumstances rather than their foot-dragging.

The OP is not a UK national (as stated) and I suspect they may not even have an NHS number. Any legal resident of the UK is entitled to NHS treatment so I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

[Brianna]

Ditto what everyone else has said.

If you are wondering if birth control would aid in transtion, you are not remotely in possesion of sufficient knowledge to contemplate self medication.

A festive noodle to you!
Bri

[Melissa]

As someone with long (12 years+) experience of the NHS and the Charing Cross GIC that is most definitely not the case for everyone. I happen to know of someone who has gone from admission to HRT in a matter of weeks. Mine was a few months... they insist on documentary evidence of going full-time and presenting properly.

And also, the number of women I've spoken to on the wards and in out-patients on all of my visits over the last 18 months or so have confirmed much the same thing, namely that if you do the right thing by them, they'll try and do the right thing by you.

What they are notorious for is being unfailingly rigourous, that's all. Do things their way and treatment will go smoothly and everything will fall into place. They get bad press from people that don't play by the rules, IMO. My 12 year stint was due to my own changing circumstances rather than their foot-dragging.

Ok, thanks.  That's the first I've ever heard contrary to what I posted.   I'm definitely not an authority on the subject, I was just passing on what I've heard.

Melissa

[cindianna_jones]

Cathren, welcome to the forums.  I understand your frustration.  You'll find a way to make things work for yourself.  Really. 

There is a lot of help and very good advice here.  I hope you remain and participate.

Cindi

[HelenW]

Hi, Cathren!

Welcome to Susan's.  I really hope that you find an alternative to your plan of taking contraceptives.  I don't know much about them but I do know that hormones can be very dangerous when misused and that contraceptives are made to, it seems to me, reduce femininity by preventing pregnancy.  They reduce the menstrual cycle too, another reduction of femininity.

I can understand your frustration and impatience though.  Years ago I bought and took a couple of boxes of soy estrogen mixed with other herbs to help feminize myself.  All they did was nothing much.  I began to have muscle pains and thought that they may be responsible by affecting my liver so I tossed the last week's worth away.

Please do investigate if you can possibly get hormones under a doctor's care.  Assuming you're a student in the UK, how did you plan on handling amy other health concern such as illness or injury?  Maybe that's the direction you ought to move?

I'm pleased that you found us, Cathren, and I hope you come back often.

again, WELCOME ! ! 
helen

[Rachael]

Why can you not use NHS? You have one of the few systems in the world that will pay for transitioning. I thought it was open to everyone in the UK.

Dennis

Actually, the nhs sucks mostly...
I for examle, have a 6 year wait, JUST to get to see a GIC.... fun fun
im 20 now... im not waiting till im 30 to get on mones, tho my gp is working with me atm, so thank god.

[Stormy Weather]

I for examle, have a 6 year wait, JUST to get to see a GIC...

6 years? Why?

I have considerable experience with the NHS and have never heard of anyone having to wait 6 years... someone I know recently took a matter of a couple of months to go from GP to GIC. I'm on the verge of being discharged now and the longest I had to wait for anything was about 10 months to see the GIC endo for some post-op probs.

[Rachael]

well i saw my gp
then 1 month
then saw a gatekeeper phsyc, then she said i have a 6 year wait to see the GIC themselves...
im in sheffield, and being reffered to the porterbrook clinic.

[Stormy Weather]

...she said i have a 6 year wait to see the GIC themselves...
im in sheffield, and being reffered to the porterbrook clinic.

Somehow, either she's got her facts wrong or something is really messed up there. That's not reasonable at all. Also, I've never heard of gatekeeper psychs being used between GP and GIC. Is this something your GP insisted on? Personally, I'd contact the GIC directly myself and get a new GP.

[Maud]

I second contacting the GIC directly, I skipped a two year list by writing to them and explaining my situation in detail, they pulled some strings and I got a cancelation, it's very much worth fighting tooth and nail for progress even if it may seem helpless, I also got an official type referral letter that said how long i'd likely wait did you get something similar?

[Rachael]

i cant get a new gp, hes my university health service one... im stuck with him.
also, i dont know how to contact the Gic, or what to say... anyone whos got any advice, please let me know, this is breaking me