I'm really concerned about my cycle but I'm too scared to go to my doc about it. Since January I have only had 3 periods. I haven't had one for the last 3 months. I mean, that's great in terms of dysphoria being eased, but I'm worried something more serious is going on inside that I don't know about. I've been to the doctors about this before, but they couldn't find what was wrong. I don't want to go back because 1. I'm petrified and 2. I don't want my periods to be regular. I know that sounds contradictory, but whilst I don't want periods, I want to know what's going on. I don't want to search online about this because it's all 'women experience this', 'women experience that' and all the triggering stuff. I'm just wondering if anybody has any idea what it could be, or if you could give me some tips on being brave enough to go to the doctors again? Thanks in advance.

Hey Joey, Sorry youre having a rough time dude, i think if you're that worried you should see the doctors, i think if / when you do go, you should tell them how stressed about it you are, id look for a trans friendly GP if you don't have one already, maybe they could give you something to take the edge off if you do have to have a physical exam, take your head to another place, they might not have to go digging around in your closet (if you get the cut of my jib) so just try to use words that you are comfortable with, but still get your meaning across, perhaps enquire about "the pill" and just skip the sugar ones, that'll stop the nasty phase HTH

My cycle was regular as clockwork - every 28 days without fail - until I started gaining weight after having my sprogs. All of a sudden I would have two or three months between Mother Nature's little visits. If you've gained or lost a fair bit of weight over the past 12 months, it could knock the cycle completely out of whack.

Oh, and here's another biggie: being under stress for long periods (pardon the pun) can cause your prolactin levels to skyrocket... which can cause your cycle to become very irregular or even stop for a while. This happened to me earlier this year; it was so bad I thought I'd hit the menopause.

It's pretty darn triggering to go to your GP and ask for tests because your cycle isn't regular. But the GIC will request a whole slew of blood tests before prescribing T, so as long as you're fit & well and don't have any other symptoms, you could consider waiting until then to get it checked out.

Darn Diaries, beat me to the punch.

Do you have your own GP or know a doctor you trust?  A doctor who is understanding will work with you in a way to be sure you're comfortable with everything.  For example, a doctor who knows you have dysphoria isn't going to immediately see you and say "Hop up on the table and let's take a look!"

What you're experiencing is a little concerning.  I wouldn't want to even hazard a guess at what could be the issue because I neither want to potentially incorrectly assure you that nothing's wrong and I equally don't want to scare you.  It's better to see a health professional anyway; google searching symptoms can often scare folks into thinking they have the worst possible diagnosis.

I'd say a good approach would be trying to find a doctor who is understanding of your concerns and your dysphoria and can act professionally as such.  If you're not comfortable, don't feel pressured into doing or agreeing to anything you don't want to.  If you want another doctor, request another doctor.  Anything regarding this area is a sensitive subject, so doctors are actually already prepared for it being a touchy subject even before approaching the issue of the gender identity of the individual, so that may actually go in your favour with regards to how a doctor approaches his or her questions and examinations.

FTMDiaries makes a good point too, but if this happens to be something that you keep thinking about or is worrying you, sometimes it can better to just get it checked out, if only to put your mind at ease.  Our brains can be real good at triggering fear when it comes to undiagnosed ailments.

Just to put my 2cents worth. My husband is a ftm. For him it took a good year to get them under control. Then after that maybe every year to year and half he would have a attack. Not anything like his pre hrt but still enough to push him over the edge for a few weeks.

Hugs
Izzy

Quote from: Jack_M on September 26, 2013, 06:51:02 PM
What you're experiencing is a little concerning.  I wouldn't want to even hazard a guess at what could be the issue because I neither want to potentially incorrectly assure you that nothing's wrong and I equally don't want to scare you.  It's better to see a health professional anyway; google searching symptoms can often scare folks into thinking they have the worst possible diagnosis.

Like Jack said, I don't want to either scare you or make you feel too at ease, but I am going to venture out and say it could possibly be PCOS. You said in other posts that you have gained a bit of weight and now you have had only three periods since January. Some of PCOS symptoms are weight gain and irregular or no periods.

You should get a gyno exam. I know, I hate them too, but they're quick and painless. Just get it done, and tell them about your symptoms before your exam (like when you make the appointment with the receptionist) so they can make any arrangements to do an ultrasound if they think PCOS is a possibility worth checking for.

Quote from: LearnedHand on September 26, 2013, 07:15:34 PM
Like Jack said, I don't want to either scare you or make you feel too at ease, but I am going to venture out and say it could possibly be PCOS. You said in other posts that you have gained a bit of weight and now you have had only three periods since January. Some of PCOS symptoms are weight gain and irregular or no periods.

You should get a gyno exam. I know, I hate them too, but they're quick and painless. Just get it done, and tell them about your symptoms before your exam (like when you make the appointment with the receptionist) so they can make any arrangements to do an ultrasound if they think PCOS is a possibility worth checking for.

Reading up on this, I might have this. O.o

Before t I could easily go three months between each period. I have pcos and hypothyroidism.

Thank you everyone. I've been tested for PCOS and they couldn't find my ovaries so they weren't sure what to do and I haven't heard from them since. I have a trans friendly doctor. I will ask to see her when I book an appointment. I have another GP who is understanding of me so I will see either one of them. Thanks everyone.

Hey dude. I'm sorry that you've this to stress about - that sucks so much.
But I just wanted to let you know (from a person with a reasonable amount of medical knowledge), that missing periods can sometimes be such a simple thing like you've lost/gained a little bit of weight. Or even stress. Of course it could be something a little more serious like PCOS or a hormonal imbalance. But a lot of people (myself included) can go 6 months without getting a period and it is just a completely normal thing. I think it is a wise idea to go to your dr of course, but I just wanted to let you know that there are also simple reasons as to why you aren't getting them. Just don't overly stress yourself out about it.
All the best!