The risks of taking T?

[Cody Jensen]

Just curious, what are the risks? Are they high?

[Robert Scott]

Depends on what you think is high?  If it means you won't commit suicide then I would say the risks are low.

http://transhealth.vch.ca/resources/library/tcpdocs/consumer/hormones-FTM.pdf

This link is what my son's doctor recommended as well as his therapist...gives you a good overview

[Cody Jensen]

I don't see how taking T would make me want to commit suicide if it's helping me pass... but thanks for the link?

[insideontheoutside]

You should talk with your doctor (or talk with several because through personal experience I've noticed that different doctors say different things) and maybe try to do some of your own research. You might come across some conflicting information as a lot of it exists on the internet. Use your doctor's guidance as kind of a starting point. I personally believe that hormones effect people differently. There may be a baseline, but everyone is going to experience a little different results. There are people where they get great results with no side effects and there are people who don't get that great of results and have side effects. There's also a mental factor that no one can tell you about - you have to make your own personal decisions on that. Some people may find they feel much better (less depressed, etc.) on T and some may find they do not. Unfortunately, you will only know that once you try it. That's the kind of thing you have to put your trust in your mind and body to know the answer to.

Anyway, hope that helps.

[Elijah3291]

I don't see how taking T would make me want to commit suicide if it's helping me pass... but thanks for the link?

he means that if you dont take T, then you could get depressed and commit suicide

[Robert Scott]

I meant if taking hormones prevents you from committing suicide or harming yourself the risks of T seem minor as they can be controlled with medication and such.

[Robert Scott]

he means that if you dont take T, then you could get depressed and commit suicide

Correct -- Thanks man!

[Cody Jensen]

Ah I see now, thanks

[Sean]

That guide is a great starting point. Well written and accurate.

Also want to second discussing it with your doctors, because only they will know and understand your family medical history and risk factor set. In fact, any responsible doctor won't prescribe you T until you've discussed the risks involved and indicated that you understand.

My personal belief is that so long as you have no other existing conditions that cause a problem with T, you will face no additional risks beyond those that your brothers have. It means that you ARE likely to die earlier, because women have a longer life span than men do, but to me, that's not a reason not to take T. I am a guy. I should have a guy's life span, and no one would tell my brothers to walk around being bummed about their risk factors. What's important is the quality of life. Having a poor quality life isn't going to make me live longer, either!

That said: there is really only one high quality, statistically meaningful scientific study suggesting this theory. Even though there is no real evidence against it, I still fear the unknown. There is so much more research that hasn't been done on Hrt for FTMs, and that uncertainty creates a risk that you have to decide how you feel about.

[insideontheoutside]

It means that you ARE likely to die earlier, because women have a longer life span than men do, but to me, that's not a reason not to take T.

The life expectancy thing is still up for debate I think. Some early studies were based off the fact that men had higher stress (and sometimes even dangerous) jobs. This article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195199,00.html seems to point to "risky and daredevil behavior" as a factor (not really that valid imo because not every guy exhibits that type of behavior). Some other studies are simply based on statistics like how many men die of certain things every year as opposed to how many women die of those same things. There's a lot of factors I think that go into it but I don't think it's a hard and fast rule that you can just expect to live less years. Also, trans bodies are of course different from bio male bodies - even with the added T, so that's a whole other spectrum of variables there that I don't think research even really exists yet on.

[Sean]

I read my science from science journals, not fox news. 

Seriously, though, the women live longer thing seems to cut across cultures and once you hold constant the variables like socioeconomics, jobs, etc. I read science journals for fun. ha-ha.

But yeah, your life expectancy has a lot more to do with other things than your biological sex, which is why looking at your closest male relatives (who typically share your socioeconomics, education, etc.) makes a lot of sense.

As for the bio female + T thing, that was exactly my point. There really isn't a lot of research at all. There is only one really legit long term study on it, but even the way Hrt was practiced 20 years ago has changed, so it may not be all that relevant and it's clearly not large sample size/long term ENOUGH to prove much of anything.

[Cody Jensen]

A bunch of great replies here. However now I am concerned about the risks of T. I do though agree that this is definitely something I should bring up with my doctor, so when I get to that point, I will.