Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So yeah, at 9:00 tomorrow morning I'll be going in for my final appointment before starting T. And the clinic has a pharmacy on site, so I'm pretty sure I'll get my first shot tomorrow. As long as my bloodwork looks okay, and stufff...like for instance I have to get a pap smear. Eeep.

Anyway, here's my pre-T video. The beginning is me doing an acoustic cover of Paparazzi by Lady Gaga, both because I want to trace the changes in my voice, and...because it's a cool song and I wanted to play it. Hah..anyway, hope you guys are entertained by it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF9-Lwzs3-s# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF9-Lwzs3-s#)

Wicked awesome you're finally getting on T! Congratulations! In certain parts of your video, especially early on in it, I can see/hear that you're struggling to hit some of the lower notes in the song- it looks a little forced. When you get into it and start singing in a range that is more comfortable on your vocal chords, it shows, and you sound great. Applause for making a video to document your voice pre-T, especially with talking. Even if you aren't interested in putting one online(for obvious reasons) you may want to do an experiment with recording how HIGH you can go/how fluidly you can manipulate a higher pitch pre-T(You may have done this already, I haven't watched any of your other videos). I'd be interested in doing that personally as well, in the future, because while your voice will obviously change, and you'll probably be able to hit more deeply with increased ease, difficulty with higher ranges could also strike as well.

I've been interested lately in how our voices often differ recorded from how we hear ourselves when we talk; this has made me interested in posting a video of my own! Anyway, you have a nice singing voice. Since you're obviously taking care of it/practicing with it pre-T, you'll probably sound beautiful once your voice stabilizes on T, as well! Looking forward to future documentation, bra.

Really?

I swear, from pictures I've seen from you I thought you were already on T. You have a real masculine face.

Congrats and well. . . good luck with the pap smear.  :-\

Congrats! I'm happy for you too! I agree that you look very manly in the face. I'm jealous. Your voice is fantastic too. Can't wait to hear it deepen with T.
Do you know how much it's going to cost you?

Sidenote: T comes in pills and shots, right? Are pills not as effective, b/c more and more people seem to be using shots instead. I have a needle phobia so I'm a little worried now..

Quote from: NightKoi on November 11, 2009, 03:06:35 PM
Sidenote: T comes in pills and shots, right? Are pills not as effective, b/c more and more people seem to be using shots instead. I have a needle phobia so I'm a little worried now..

From my knowledge, methyltestosterone pills (the old kind) are cheap but destroy livers. Andriol is expensive and the amount of T in the pill is variable (liver-safe though).

Awesome, good to see you progressing. :)

Quote from: SilverFang on November 11, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
From my knowledge, methyltestosterone pills (the old kind) are cheap but destroy livers. Andriol is expensive and the amount of T in the pill is variable (liver-safe though).

Yeah, injections are just safer and easily accessible.

You can also get it in patches and cream, but they aren't as effective as injections are.

i have a needle phobia too. :/  it sucks sometimes (im a liar, it sucks all of the time) but i (try to) do it anyway.  i miss a lot of shots because i just cant do it.

Congratulations!
Myles

congrats!! get excited!! injections are the best way to go...im TERRIFIED of needles...terrified..but i've go a few people i can count on to poke me who are just as excited about my transition as me...mainly my "wife" has been doing them...you will get used to it...i get mine done on my hip/butt...dont even feel it! good luck!! im so stoked for you!!

Congrats dude!  I'm going to sub you on Youtube.  :)  Good luck!

Congratulations, and have a tip I got from another friend who does song training with non-trans folk; Sing through the voice change. Don't force your voice, just sing every once in a while, as much as you usually do, and you'll keep more of your upper register, which means you get a greater range in the end.

Congrats dude!

Lady Gaga rocks  >:-)

Jay

Oh man.... I want the most effective and safe T....which means the needles....but damn...
I'll have to be stuck while unconscious not to feel it.
Somehow I think getting stuck in the ass or hip would feel worse and be way more terrifying than my arm.
And I really hope I don't have to do it in my thigh either. Last time I got a shot there was for Hep. B (<--something along those lines). It took two doctors, three nurses, and my mom to hold me down.

I was five...
_____

Let us know how that first shot goes for you man.

The safe places to inject are in your leg/thigh or butt. Other locations aren't recommended or safe.

I had a syringe phobia too before T. Before starting T I would mentally prepare myself for it. It also helped watching guys on YouTube demonstrating their injections. When it was time for my first shot I had mentally prepared myself so much I had no problem at all. It was actually quite fascinating.

I inject in my leg/thigh so I can see what I'm doing. I've never injected in my butt. Lots of guys say it doesn't hurt injecting in the butt but I think that wouldn't be the case for me. All shots I've gotten before in my butt hurt really bad.

I think I might have an issue keeping consciousness. I'm sort of biologically screwed when it comes to the entire transition I desire. I have phobias of needles and I'm emetophobic...which is a deathly fear of vomit....I literally just pass out if I see it because I'm so fricken' freaked.....so I'm just f***ed. lol. The anesthesia for the operations leaves you nauseated and it's common for people to end up sick.   :icon_help:
And then the T by needles....

I'm pathetic, lol. But I'm still going to do it, conscious or not.

Congrats, and nice vid too. :)

I had been recording my voice on the "voice memo" thinger on my phone for awhile. Mostly I was trying to lower my voice as much as possible naturally since it's going to be a heck of awhile before I get on T.

But when I ran out of recording space, I just stopped, which means I've also stopped practicing my voice at all either. Maybe if I switch to videos (and just don't post them anywhere... lol) then I can get back to practicing again.

Anyone else lower their voice pre-T?

Quote from: NES_junkie_James on November 12, 2009, 05:19:20 PM
Congrats, and nice vid too. :)

I had been recording my voice on the "voice memo" thinger on my phone for awhile. Mostly I was trying to lower my voice as much as possible naturally since it's going to be a heck of awhile before I get on T.

But when I ran out of recording space, I just stopped, which means I've also stopped practicing my voice at all either. Maybe if I switch to videos (and just don't post them anywhere... lol) then I can get back to practicing again.

Anyone else lower their voice pre-T?

I've been using the voice memo on my phone recently, too, because I'm curious as to what my voice 'actually sounds like'(you know how the way you hear yourself talk is different from how others hear you, due to your ears and your mouth being located in the same head and all, haha). Years ago when I was living in Hawai'i I tried to manually lower my voice a LOT in order to pass. Lately, since I'm 'out' now as trans, I don't push for LOW low(my standing doesn't depend on it the same way anymore), but just a wee bit more low/monotone, because sounding like a squeaky valleygirl just doesn't facilitate being taken seriously as a man, but going TOO low will hurt your throat/vocal chords(learned that the hard way).

Even if speaking in a slightly lower/more assertive tone doesn't scream 'man' to other people, it sure as hell beats talking in a voice that screams 'annoying underage cheerleading captain', for me at least. I'm pre-T and push a little to speak in a voice that's somewhat lower/more chest-driven. Like I said, I don't think there's any need to force it really low, that just causes pain and can't be maintained... But I don't see any point in insisting on speaking really high/nasally, either. I think it's better to aim for an androgynous sound, that way even if your voice doesn't help you PASS, it won't immediately become the 'out'ing factor, either. As a pre-T transman, I feel more comfortable in daily life aiming to blur the line than forcefully cross it. It's just too much stress to row all of the way across and stay there without hormones. For me, at least.

Congrats!

I want to know how the first shot went and when you get your next one.  ;D

I'm similar to you, NightKoi...I inject into my thigh so I can see what I'm doing, but usually I feel nauseous afterward just from the sight of the needle going in. With all hopes this'll get better with time.

i cheat, sister is an RN and have her do it.

Congrats!

And I am very glad you are going to be documenting how your voice changes. I'm not a serious singer/musician, but I enjoy singing and playing my ukulele with friends, and I'm looking forward to how T will affect my singing voice.

BTW: Anyone here familliar with the band "The Cliks"? Lead singer Lucas Silviera is a transman, and he chose not to go on T to maintain the range of his singing voice.

Quote from: NightKoi on November 12, 2009, 04:24:46 PM
I think I might have an issue keeping consciousness. I'm sort of biologically screwed when it comes to the entire transition I desire. I have phobias of needles and I'm emetophobic...which is a deathly fear of vomit....I literally just pass out if I see it because I'm so fricken' freaked.....so I'm just f***ed. lol. The anesthesia for the operations leaves you nauseated and it's common for people to end up sick.   :icon_help:
And then the T by needles....

I'm pathetic, lol. But I'm still going to do it, conscious or not.

I wanted to chime in here... I'm also emetophobic.  I was diagnosed with panic disorder, specifically emetophobia, as a small child.  I've gotten over it for the most part, which is wonderful and has improved my life so much, but I still hate the idea of vomiting.  (Especially around other people - like in this case, doctors).  I'm also pretty terrified of needles, too, but lately I've gone ahead and had blood tests done.  I felt not a thing, it was so easy, and I found myself fascinated by the mechanism, rather than terrified of it.  Anesthesia sometimes bothers people, but sometimes it doesn't.  Just pack a lot of gravol/pepto-bismol or whatever floats your boat.  It won't be fun for any of us but we must get through these small trifles in order to be truly happy.

As for you, Michael, I want to congratulate you on all of this.  I can't wait until it's my time, too.  :D Keep us updated.

Quote from: AndrewMarten on November 19, 2009, 03:45:38 PM
Congrats!

And I am very glad you are going to be documenting how your voice changes. I'm not a serious singer/musician, but I enjoy singing and playing my ukulele with friends, and I'm looking forward to how T will affect my singing voice.

BTW: Anyone here familliar with the band "The Cliks"? Lead singer Lucas Silviera is a transman, and he chose not to go on T to maintain the range of his singing voice.

Yeah, dude!  I love the Cliks.  Lucas has a pretty cool singing voice, but I wonder if he plans on ever taking T later in life?

And I play the ukulele too.  ;P  That's pretty kickass.

Quote from: LucienOctopus on November 19, 2009, 10:42:57 PM
Yeah, dude!  I love the Cliks.  Lucas has a pretty cool singing voice, but I wonder if he plans on ever taking T later in life?

And I play the ukulele too.  ;P  That's pretty kickass.

I've seen a couple interviews where Lucas says that he's already transitioned as far as he wants to go.

It's always nice to meet another uke-er. It is a greatly under-appreciated and misunderstood instrument.

Quote from: V on November 19, 2009, 08:51:14 PM
I wanted to chime in here... I'm also emetophobic.  I was diagnosed with panic disorder, specifically emetophobia, as a small child.  I've gotten over it for the most part, which is wonderful and has improved my life so much, but I still hate the idea of vomiting.  (Especially around other people - like in this case, doctors).  I'm also pretty terrified of needles, too, but lately I've gone ahead and had blood tests done.  I felt not a thing, it was so easy, and I found myself fascinated by the mechanism, rather than terrified of it.  Anesthesia sometimes bothers people, but sometimes it doesn't.  Just pack a lot of gravol/pepto-bismol or whatever floats your boat.  It won't be fun for any of us but we must get through these small trifles in order to be truly happy.

As for you, Michael, I want to congratulate you on all of this.  I can't wait until it's my time, too.  :D Keep us updated.

How'd you get over it? I can't! I just pass out cold and wake up furious and nauseous all at once. It's terrible. And if I don't see it but have to hear about it from someone, like "Oh, someone was puking at the party last night?" I have a mild panic attack. Can't even see it in the movies.
I will have faith in my stomach and trust it not to fail me when that time comes. I haven't vomited since first grade. Which was a very very very long time ago and I don't remember anything except that I hated it.

I'm wondering how the T is going for the thread writer. I don't think he has written anything lately...
I only have one Cliks song...and it's because I saw their music video on LOGO.  :) I like Lucas' voice too, even if it cracks at times.