I've been seeing my gender therapist for a while now since august, and this last appointment she asked if i wanted my letter to go get started on T
I declined.
I had this whole mindset that id start t in june when im out of school, living at home. Then the date moved to may. And i thought that was close enough.
But lately, now that im not questioning myself anymore, i have been way more critical to myself. Lately all i want is to pass, i try to lower my voice i hate every soft inch of my skin and every curve drives me nuts.
I feel like i cant not think about gender and its just getting worse. I feel like everyday im not on t the more my body is becoming female and im not liking this at all.
Before i felt like i could put off t for as long as i wanted to, the eagerness to change wasnt there for me like i saw some trans men jumping for joy and wanting it asap.
I get it now, nothing is going to change on me until i do something. I can get a letter now, i can march right into an endo and go get my bloodwork and get on t.
Im not really moved out of my home, and i know i was preparing my parents to get ready for may. But i really want to start sooner. Like march or feb or even this month.
I just want to move on with my life and be comfortable in my own skin.
Suppose i should ask a few questions
What sort of legal things should i get ready beforehand with my new name?
What has your experience on t been like? Changes mental and physical.
Once you see an endo how long did it take you to get your perscription?
Is the reason you're wanting to wait until you're out of school because you're wanting to avoid coming out at school, and such? Or you're giving your parents time to adjust to the idea?
Once you start, if you're doing injections, you probably won't have anything too noticeable (to other people) happen for at least a couple months. So if you're just wanting to avoid disclosing at school, you could probably start a couple months before the year ends.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PM
What sort of legal things should i get ready beforehand with my new name?
I can't offer advice about legal stuff, since I haven't made any legal changes yet myself. I did call the DMV though and ask how I could go about getting my name and gender changed on my license, for when I'm ready to do that. It varies by state, and they can direct you to the right papers to fill out and tell you how to do it.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PMWhat has your experience on t been like? Changes mental and physical.
After almost a year on cream, I had more dark hair on my face, thighs, stomach, and chest. My weight stayed the same, but I lost an inch from my hips and butt, and my muscles were a little more defined in my arms. I don't work out. After I switched to injections, the first thing I noticed was that my urine smelled really strong the day of and a couple days after my shot. I got more hair growth on my face, and I'm starting to get a few sideburn hairs. The hair on my stomach is still creeping up my chest. My voice started sounding as if I was sick after about 2 months (on injections). I'm at 5 months now, and it's slowly getting lower. The monthly red death had been going on for 2 months when I got my first shot, and it continued for another 3 weeks before stopping. The longest I can remember going without it is 3 months, so I think I'm in the clear! I still don't pass 100%, but I do pass the majority of the time, or at least confuse people.
I don't know that I really have mental changes to speak of, except that before I had really, really bad anxiety, to where I'd shake and cry if I had to go in public alone or engage strangers in social settings (like for school or going to the store). I think that with my increasing ability to pass I've just felt more comfortable with being out in public, so I guess my confidence level has gone up. It's also been easier for me to accept difficulties that life has thrown at me. They seem less... acute, and more of an "Ok, this sucks but it's not the end of the world and it will pass." So my mental changes have been that I'm more at ease, and more confident that I can get through tough things.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PMOnce you see an endo how long did it take you to get your perscription?
With my first doctor I had an initial appointment, then I had to get bloodwork done, then I had a second appointment to go over the bloodwork and talk about starting T. If my memory is right, then she wrote me a prescription and I waited for it to come in the mail. The whole thing from first appointment to getting my prescription probably took about 2 months. If you add fighting with insurance and getting the right papers from the right people, it was probably longer. It may be important to mention that the actual first doctor I saw was a total bust, and I wasted a bunch of my time trying to get my insurance to cover me seeing him, only to find out that he doesn't actually do HRT. So all together it really took me 6 months of trying to get on T before I actually did.
With my second doctor I had the first appointment, and she told me she had never started anyone on HRT, only continued it. Luckily, she was willing to try, and so I waited while she went to a conference with a specialist, then had my second appointment where we talked about what we would be doing. I brought copies of my bloodwork, so this helped speed things along. At my third appointment she gave me my first shot. So again, it took about 2 months from initial meeting to getting T, plus time getting things in order for me to make the first appointment.
Long story short, be prepared for things to not go as planned, or move as quickly as you may hope. I thought I'd be farther along now than I am when I made the decision to start actively pursuing T, almost 2 years ago. I don't mean this in a negative way, just as a word of advice that patience is important when going into this stuff. Good luck! It takes time, but you'll get there.
I'll have to look into getting things underway, if that sort of delay is common..
Thanks, the response was helpful.
Some people get a lot of changes in the first few months, others get very little...I do think that if anyone directly confronted you about your appearance you could say "yeah, I've been doing voice exercises" or something. IF you had to lie, which I don't know if you do.
I don't know about the name issue either as it seems easier in Canada from what I have heard. But I can tell you what I noticed on T...slight voice drop, changes in periods, and more body hair (specifically all over my belly lol) were the first ones that showed up. Emotionally, eh, I didn't really feel much tbh. I actually thought the emotional changes (like it being harder to cry and whatnot) were a rather gradual process. I did feel relieved to start T though, like, phew, now I never have to worry about getting the letter, setting up the endo appt, etc again - just refill a prescription and get the injection biweekly.
My endo gave me T right away. As far as he was concerned, it wasn't his job to diagnose me since he already had a letter saying I had GD. He also requested the first bloodwork panel at the 3rd month because he felt there was no way to predict what dosage and whatnot was right until I was actually on it.
Thanks
Im not afraid of people confronting me about anything. For one i dont really care, i got great friends that are honestly excited for me and are curious about my changes, and for two im in university, majoring in music. Not to exaggerate but the music school is majority gay. Not sayin everyones gay just most and the accepting factor is all kinds of high, im also not the only trans person three other guys live in my dorm building. So lying, eh i might just tell em im just a guy no sense being dodgy.
Im just hoping whoever i go to accepts my insurance, i got bcbs and its covered my therapy but i dont know if they'll help with T.
Quote from: BeefxCake on January 08, 2014, 05:01:02 AM
Im just hoping whoever i go to accepts my insurance, i got bcbs and its covered my therapy but i dont know if they'll help with T.
I have it too. Mine is covered though I had a short battle about it. It isn't dependent on the insurance company, it is dependent on the individual policy. I wish people would figure that out.
Im on my ma's insurance from her work. Ill have to ask her the specifics. I know as long as. I am a student at university im covered but eventually ill have to find my own.