I'm curious by this, cause only now at age 27 have I really put my foot forward to see someone. I started my transition on my own, mostly due to the fact I was young and thought that it was the only way. I wanted to improve the way I felt about myself, before I would try and tell anyone how I felt. So after reading the web, and finding a way to get hormones, I started my transition a month after my 16th Birthday.
Now it did get me to come out almost 7 months later, but of course that did not go to well, and I found my request to see a transgender theripist in my area denied. So from that point on I just figured I was on my own with my transition, and had to make the best of the situation, even if getting my hormones became harder, and I had a long strecth off them right after I came out.
So here I am today, trying to get a SRS letter, 6 years full time, wondering how much eaiser it all would of been if I had seen someone sooner.
I'd like to know how you all went about your transition, and how long you have been at it to get where you are in life.
Quote from: JennaNicole on August 29, 2011, 11:35:53 AM
So here I am today, trying to get a SRS letter, 6 years full time, wondering how much eaiser it all would of been if I had seen someone sooner.
I'd like to know how you all went about your transition, and how long you have been at it to get where you are in life.
I dealt with everything prior to the ease of access via the internet...had I been a teenager today, I could tell you without a doubt that I would have been self-medicating. That being said, I also do not believe I would have the same hurdles that I ran into with shrinks that DID exist when I was 17 and 18, hurdles that if they did not exist would have allowed me to have surgery prior to turning 20.
The counselor who ultimately wrote my first letter was someone I first saw circa 1989 which was AFTER my Social Security card had been changed (things were simpler back then). Endo was found through a letter I wrote and shotgunned to a couple who had ads in the Gay and Lesbian Yellow Pages. Surgery came a few years later. Life then moved on as it should have been doing from birth...
Without the Internet I doubt I would have ever transitioned. I would have been clueless as to how to go about it. I knew no one in the LGBT community.
After realizing what the Internet can do, I began to do searches and some took me to sites that had self-medicating information. My first attempt was phyto-estrogens. All that resulted from that was a drain on my bank account and getting sick to my stomach.
Then I found online pharmacies. I got the real thing and did that for a few months. Then I got scared.
A couple years later, after getting divorced, I did the therapist-doctor route. That was before Informed Consent.
I did the doctor thing. I held out until Iwas 27 to get anything beyond mental help. They all told me I should seek transition help about three years ago.
I did the doctor/therapist route from the start. Yes there were hoops to jump through and "Rules" to follow, but it worked out well for me in the end.
Quote from: Steph on August 29, 2011, 03:00:15 PM
I did the doctor/therapist route from the start. Yes there were hoops to jump through and "Rules" to follow, but it worked out well for me in the end.
same :)
I went to a support group first, then saw an endo recommended from the support group, and then began HRT without a letter of recommendation (he used informed consent), which I don't recommend to anyone! I had been so sure about transitioning for many years before I started HRT, and I knew I needed to get started now, this year, for me and my well-being. The only therapist I had knew next to nothing about trans-issues, and it was very frustrating. So, in the support group, I was very lucky to start seeing an endocrinologist that our group facilitator sees, and voila, HRT.
If anyone has any doubt in their mind, I mean any at all, about transitioning, it is super-important to see a therapist first and do everything the normal way. I'm only now starting to see a gender-specific therapist three months into HRT. HRT has basically saved my life, and I have no regrets. This is what I am becoming. I know this is my path. That said, if I had rushed into things with lingering doubt, the consequences could have been drastic. Therapy is so important.
Quote from: mechakitty on August 29, 2011, 03:10:55 PM
I went to a support group first, then saw an endo recommended from the support group, and then began HRT without a letter of recommendation (he used informed consent), which I don't recommend to anyone! I had been so sure about transitioning for many years before I started HRT, and I knew I needed to get started now, this year, for me and my well-being. The only therapist I had knew next to nothing about trans-issues, and it was very frustrating. So, in the support group, I was very lucky to start seeing an endocrinologist that our group facilitator sees, and voila, HRT.
If anyone has any doubt in their mind, I mean any at all, about transitioning, it is super-important to see a therapist first and do everything the normal way. I'm only now starting to see a gender-specific therapist three months into HRT. HRT has basically saved my life, and I have no regrets. This is what I am becoming. I know this is my path. That said, if I had rushed into things with lingering doubt, the consequences could have been drastic. Therapy is so important.
true ! so very true :) i had doubts which well not about me being a girl but rather me fitting in and not being ridiculed and my therapist tries very hard to help and he does :)
I started on my own. By the time I got in to see my therapist my decision was made, I was out to most people, and there was nothing left to do except say, "Letters, please."
Therapy offered nothing to me. In fact, the questions my therapist asked seemed disappointingly pedestrian compared to the inner conflicts I had already addressed months before. I put off seeing the endo until after seeing the therapist, but it turns out my endo works by informed consent anyway. There's been nothing so far that I haven't been able to deal with with a combination of internet research, friends & family, and moxie.
I figured out all the dosing first and ordered the stuff online for about the first 5 months. I started seeing a therapist about 4-5 months later and I told her I was self medicating. She said she would preffer I see a doctor and then she found a local doc that felt comfortable treating a trans patient.
My doc didn't know anything about MTF HRT so I told him what I needed and he wrote scripts and did lab tests. All in all, I think I knew as much as he did (or more) with everything and the biggest benefit I got was blood tests (which I can read) paid for by my insurance and legal scripts which made hrt WAY cheaper! For most people, a doc is the way to go. I do plan on seeing an endo in houston soon that specializes in tranz hrt which I think could be a real benefit.
Quote from: Julie Marie on August 29, 2011, 12:37:20 PM
Without the Internet I doubt I would have ever transitioned. I would have been clueless as to how to go about it. I knew no one in the LGBT community.
I wonder the same thing, and think where I'd be without the internet. Getting info on transsexualism must of been very difficult for those that started before it. Thankfully the internet is around, and it makes it possible for people to pursue there transition ins whatever way is most comfortable for them.
Quote from: Steph on August 29, 2011, 03:00:15 PM
I did the doctor/therapist route from the start. Yes there were hoops to jump through and "Rules" to follow, but it worked out well for me in the end.
The one thing the kept me from seeing someone sooner, was that I thought I was going to jump through a bunch of hoops. I was surprised how quickly I got prescribed them officially....just took one consult visit and a physical...makes me think I was silly for waiting.
Quote from: mechakitty on August 29, 2011, 03:10:55 PM
I went to a support group first, then saw an endo recommended from the support group, and then began HRT without a letter of recommendation (he used informed consent), which I don't recommend to anyone! I had been so sure about transitioning for many years before I started HRT, and I knew I needed to get started now, this year, for me and my well-being. The only therapist I had knew next to nothing about trans-issues, and it was very frustrating. So, in the support group, I was very lucky to start seeing an endocrinologist that our group facilitator sees, and voila, HRT.
If anyone has any doubt in their mind, I mean any at all, about transitioning, it is super-important to see a therapist first and do everything the normal way. I'm only now starting to see a gender-specific therapist three months into HRT. HRT has basically saved my life, and I have no regrets. This is what I am becoming. I know this is my path. That said, if I had rushed into things with lingering doubt, the consequences could have been drastic. Therapy is so important.
Well said.
Quote from: LifeInNeon on August 29, 2011, 04:37:56 PM
I started on my own. By the time I got in to see my therapist my decision was made, I was out to most people, and there was nothing left to do except say, "Letters, please."
This is where I'm at now.....let's hope letters please does not take to darn long.
I will say one thing that was a negitive in seeing someone....she lowered my estradiol from 6mg to 4 ??? This was before blood tests, but I went with it, and 3 months later....my boobs were smaller :embarrassed: I so did not imagine it. Same bra as before, and I did not fill it out as much, and they were tighter. So I started taking one 2mg of my old estrofem pills with the 4mg, and lo and behold....boobs got sore again, and went back to where they were 4 months later. So good for not getting any benefits all this time later.
Btw, also curious if anyone else hates the way the spironolatone tastes? smells horrible, and takes next to crap....as much as it's helped me, that is one pill I can't wait to not have to take.
Quote from: JennaNicole on August 30, 2011, 12:18:43 AM
Btw, also curious if anyone else hates the way the spironolatone tastes? smells horrible, and takes next to crap....as much as it's helped me, that is one pill I can't wait to not have to take.
I think it may have to do with the source as well. When I was self dosing they left a bad after-taste. The ones I get with my script at Walgreens don't have any taste.
I started HRT nine months ago self-dosing. I had done herbals for years with little results. From day 1 I knew HRT was going to be a part of my life and upped to the full dose. Three months in I called a doctor. I still didn't think I was going to transition until a MTF friend pointed out that unless you are going to stop HRT you ARE transitioning....lol
Now I wait........
-M
Apart from a bit of experimental cross-dressing to see if that eased my GID, which it did, I saw my GP, got a referral to the Monash Gender Clinic and took the "official" route. The advantage is that a lot of the cost is covered by Medicare, and I was able to see an Endo as soon as my Psychiatrist and I thought I was ready to start HRT. The cost has been minimal as a result, and I have progressed at a fairly rapid rate with few problems.
Karen.
I followed your route Jenna I tried talking to a GP when I was 20 (Having previously smashed my testicles with a hammer when I was 19) They ignored me for 2 years, I eventually brought hormones myself online, I don't regret not depending on those pepole I've been in touch with GP's and GIC's but they just ignore me. It's nearly been a year and I still haven't got an appointment at the GIC.
If I'd waited for them and followed the rules I'd be dead... To hell with the lot of them.
I'm still far from a safe situation dependant on dangerous pepole for my supply of hormones.
My friends discribed the smell of my Spironolactone tablets as "Polo mints that have gone wrong." dispite how they smell They taste like the inside of a dustbin.
Doctor.
Safety first and all that.
Quote from: melissa42013 on August 30, 2011, 03:01:04 AM
I think it may have to do with the source as well. When I was self dosing they left a bad after-taste. The ones I get with my script at Walgreens don't have any taste.
I figured when I got prescribed hormones, that they would be some what better then what I have been taking.....I open the Spiro bottom....and they were almost exactly the same :laugh: Hopefully some day they make em like my old Estrogen pills I use to take...sugar coated....sadly none exist yet :P
Quote from: pebbles on August 30, 2011, 03:10:16 AM
I followed your route Jenna I tried talking to a GP when I was 20 (Having previously smashed my testicles with a hammer when I was 19) They ignored me for 2 years, I eventually brought hormones myself online, I don't regret not depending on those pepole I've been in touch with GP's and GIC's but they just ignore me. It's nearly been a year and I still haven't got an appointment at the GIC.
If I'd waited for them and followed the rules I'd be dead... To hell with the lot of them.
I'm still far from a safe situation dependant on dangerous pepole for my supply of hormones.
My friends discribed the smell of my Spironolactone tablets as "Polo mints that have gone wrong." dispite how they smell They taste like the inside of a dustbin.
Your friends described them 100% accurately....but I definitively understand how you felt about not waiting for help. It's amazing how much can change in a years time from my lowest...to the same time the next year 4 months on hormones and having a completely different state of mind....thank goodness for my estorgen made from cow pee. :angel:
In my first blog post about HRT, I described Spiro this way:
"They taste like mint. I'm not sure how I feel about that."
:laugh:
I'm actually self-medicating right now but I'll be seeing a doctor on Sept 14 so it will be my first official appointment
I'm really excited. By then, I'll be on hormones for exact 2 months. I know what a short amount of time right?
Quote from: Lexy711 on August 30, 2011, 02:30:06 PM
I'm really excited. By then, I'll be on hormones for exact 2 months. I know what a short amount of time right?
not really seeming a lot of the continuity has not yet been able to start hrt 2 months is not short you should say that proudly sweetie that's 2 months less of a male anything :)
Quote from: Miniar on August 30, 2011, 07:06:20 AM
Doctor.
Safety first and all that.
That's well and good (optimal) but if I go to a doctor with a tumor that is deforming my face and body and they want to hem and haw and act like another 3 months is no big deal then "F*** THEM"! It takes 3 days to get blood tests completed and 5 minutes to make an adjustment. Doctors like to try and tie our hands as much as they can so we are dependent on them. HRT is not rocket science and neither is most medicine. Too often, if you get very far away from what they see every day, they don't have a clue and rarely will spend hours researching your medical case.
When they don't understand stuff, they tell you it's "in your head". Truth is, most docs are not going to spend unbillable time to really research stuff. People save their own lives and the lives of their loved ones by searching the internet for countless hours in an effort to put the pieces together. If the doctors didnt act as gatekepers to the bloodwork, I should be able to get a full panel screen for $100-$150 and that wil tell me everything I need to know. Then of course, they hold the pad that gives us 'permission" to but drugs at a pharmacy.
Take the stranglehold that doctors have off of medicine and healthcare would be far more affordable becasue we'd rarely need to access "the system". Screw the gatekeepers. If I want to change MY body, I shouldn't have to PAY for their permission! Ok, rant over. Back to your normally scheduled broadcast....
ON MY OWN!
Jennifer
Umm the first time i started with a therapist/doctors help, second time around i started DIY hormones then eventually sought out a therapist and endo.
Been a long road for me, even though i'm only 28, i come out to my mum when i was about 17, she arranged private counselling for me, i attended him for a few sessions and then biggest mistake of my life i stopped because i could see how it was effecting my mum and said it was just a phase which i'm over.
So 10 years on, i've been to see my gp, since the psychiatrists and now waiting for my gender clinic appointment, but in the mean time i'm self medicating as i feel it's probably going to be a very long time till i'm seen again. I plan on going to tell my gp and then she can monitor my bloods etc.
I guess everything happens for a reason, maybe back then i wasn't ready for this and now i certainly am x
Quote from: JennaNicole on August 29, 2011, 11:35:53 AM
So after reading the web, and finding a way to get hormones, I started my transition a month after my 16th Birthday.
I want to seriously challenge your identifying transitioning with hormones. They are not the same thing.
My transition has always been done by myself on my own. My HRT has always been under the supervision of a doctor. I remember it was something like my sixth visit to my therapist that she realized I wasn't changing into female clothing in her restroom before our sessions. Her comment was, "You have effectively transitioned already." That was more than two years before I started HRT.
Jenna Nicole, your transition is your own, and your responsibility. But you should not have started HRT without a doctor's supervision. That part is what is causing you difficulties in pursuing GRS now. You will have to accept the fact that your choice in the past is going to set back your progress at this point in time.
Quote from: LifeInNeon on August 30, 2011, 10:15:38 AM
In my first blog post about HRT, I described Spiro this way:
"They taste like mint. I'm not sure how I feel about that."
:laugh:
My first thought on tasting them was, "They flavored them so men would be willing to take them." They are, after all, given to men for blood pressure.
But if one ever gets stuck in your throat and dissolves, you'll know why they have to be flavored.
Quote from: Lisbeth on September 02, 2011, 03:03:16 PM
I want to seriously challenge your identifying transitioning with hormones. They are not the same thing.
For *SOME* people, the two events DO go hand in hand, especially when someone started as young as it appears Jenna did...
QuoteJenna Nicole, your transition is your own, and your responsibility. But you should not have started HRT without a doctor's supervision. That part is what is causing you difficulties in pursuing GRS now. You will have to accept the fact that your choice in the past is going to set back your progress at this point in time.
I don't read anything in Jenna's post history that suggests the self-medding contributed to any of the difficulties. I DO read there to have been an issue with getting past a gatekeeper prior to the age of 18...which is likely as much a problem now as it was when I was under the age of 18 (I tried paying for shrinks out of my own pocket by the age of 17).
And while I have respected the ToS as it pertains to self-med directions, I find it appalling that someone would even try to preach about what someone should or should not have done. It is a decision that can be made by the individual after they weigh the pros and cons. And in this day and age, it is also not difficult to get lab work done in any number of local areas. Had the internet existed when I was a kid, I can tell you without a doubt that I would have been self-medding by the age of 16.
I couldn't agree with you more, Ann!!! There is no way in hell that had I had the internet as a kid and had this stuff all figured out that I would just sit around letting T and DHT do their work on me while I waited for the gatekeepers blessing. Untreated GID is far more deadly than DIY HRT, especially for a teen.
Quote from: Ann Onymous on September 02, 2011, 03:19:27 PM
For *SOME* people, the two events DO go hand in hand, especially when someone started as young as it appears Jenna did...
I don't read anything in Jenna's post history that suggests the self-medding contributed to any of the difficulties. I DO read there to have been an issue with getting past a gatekeeper prior to the age of 18...which is likely as much a problem now as it was when I was under the age of 18 (I tried paying for shrinks out of my own pocket by the age of 17).
And while I have respected the ToS as it pertains to self-med directions, I find it appalling that someone would even try to preach about what someone should or should not have done. It is a decision that can be made by the individual after they weigh the pros and cons. And in this day and age, it is also not difficult to get lab work done in any number of local areas. Had the internet existed when I was a kid, I can tell you without a doubt that I would have been self-medding by the age of 16.
I agree, at 16 i didn't even know that transexuals could take hormones and get sex change operations, FFS etc. My idea of what transexuals were was from the jerry springer show and that just scared me and made me feel sick to my stomach. Wasn't intill we got the internet in my house that i started to poke around looking for reason's why i felt this way. I kinda had a sheltered life growing up in a small hick town so without the internet i def wouldn't have been able to transition.
I don't like answering this type of question on Susan's until I seen the quick responses on this thread. My answer is on my own after several doctors I seen this past decade would not broach this question of using HRT on my GID and later my prostate problem. My last doctor visit was at an urologist's office. He gave me a hard sell about getting prostate surgery and his nurse was doing the same thing before he tried to schedule a biopsy! He makes a lot of money with those surgeries, he does them. I found out 1 month later in an AARP article that such tests and some of those surgeries are unnecessary and the side effects were worse than the cancer in the quality of life.
A doctor shortage and my limited income helped contribute in my self-medicating. I did see a shrink plus others in the 70's, but things back then were not good for transgender people. I do not want anybody, especially you younger ones, to do what I am doing because I am flying without instruments in a fog right now. Dosages? I knew them since the 70's, no changes since. Some of the dosages in a lot of the many transgender sites are wrong and can cause severe damage to your organs or do nothing at all. Stay away from the herbal remedies, especially for prostate. I've been through that route. Herbals just made things worse.
If you have a doctor, heed his advice. What is working for me right now may not work for you as I've seen here on Susan's. Please, be careful!
Joelene