anybody know the absolute latest that blockers will work for a teen?

Mtf or Ftm? I think most the damage is done for ftms by around 12 or so. Depends on each case. You may want to check with a doctor if your growth plates are done. If you have breast development, menstruation, and done most of your growing, not sure what blockers can do. If mtf, they may still help past a certain point. But check with a doctor. Make sure it's worth it for the price instead of just getting on HRT.

T-blockers will always work, regardless of age. But the sooner you start the better. I'd say after like 19-20, your not going to stop male puberty with t-blockers. But they will be effective, just not as effective as starting them during puberty.

Quote from: vivalagiselle on January 07, 2014, 09:38:03 AM
T-blockers will always work, regardless of age. But the sooner you start the better. I'd say after like 19-20, your not going to stop male puberty with t-blockers. But they will be effective, just not as effective as starting them during puberty.

Not sure if the OP is MTF or FTM, makes a big difference. E isn't blocked in quite the same way and I am not sure any (good) doctor would bother to block E in very late puberty or after puberty. Blockers *might* block menstrual periods, which is obviously a good thing, but don't even know about that. Anyway Lupron (which is given as a puberty blocker) isn't really given to adults of any gender, afaik. AFAIK, Lupron (or other puberty blockers) are only given to teens and don't specifically block E or T. (Everybody produces both.)

Puberty blockers like Lupron (if that's what you are talking about, think I've seen you in the FTM forum, though not sure) depend on the stage of puberty you are in, not so much your chronological age. So people go thru puberty at different ages.
You can actually start puberty as early as 9 or as late as 17 or so. They wait til you are actually starting puberty and usually give it a couple years (my understanding).

--Jay

yes, I'm ftm, sry for not making that clear

In FtM generally prior to menstruation. In the biggest clinic here about 9-12 for GnHR, I think they will be given later but are not as effective. In Australia we cannot put minors on HRT prior to 18 without family court consent, that costs about $30,000.

We can put minors on GnHR with parental consent. Then the client can make their own decision at 18 about HRT.

thanks for the input everybody!

I started blockers at 16 after it became legal to do so in Australia without a court order, unfortunately for me it was fairly futile as medical tests confirmed my growth plates had already fused.

Puberty blockers are like a pause button on puberty. If you look at your body now and see you are in the very early stages of puberty they will provide the most use. They won't reverse any damage but they are useful as long as your body is still changing. If you are still growing at 17 and take blockers you will continue to grow in the same pattern as a child and you can have testosterone slowly introduced into your system to maximize male bone growth. Obviously they are most useful in completely averting the wrong puberty but they can be used to minimize damage once it has started happening.

If you/your family have to pay for the shots and are not in the early stages of puberty then you have to consider the pros and cons of the medication. The shots I was on lasted for 3 months and cost about AUD 1000 a go (I'm sure you can get them slightly cheaper but the state was paying the bill and I'd given up being outwardly angry at how my medical transition was being handled at that point). If you are a bit older it may be useful to go on low dose testosterone and very slowly go onto normal dose which won't give you as good results but the cost of the blockers unfortunately makes them completely unobtainable to many people who are not covered by healthcare.