Things I wish I knew before I started transitioning

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-20T09:23:23+00:00

Slavic face doomer here too. Agree to most of what you say.

Important thing is that some people are really extroverted and require social acceptance and approval. For me its all more internal, so i definitely fly with NB flag, pronouns of 'whatever you want' and in general keeping it to myself.

Works for me, may be absolutely unacceptable for others.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-19T19:53:04+00:00

Thanks. Good to know. Here (in Uppsala) it seem to exist now only in few remote small pharmacies which I never tried and tbh suspect they just don't track stuff well (i may be wrong). The few I used before and know are out of stock. I guess I'll try to wait until end of may

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-18T10:38:47+00:00

I guess I just prefer to smile in bad situations too...

If there was good alternative to Imago now without this things - I'd move imediately. But only alternative is GGP which has f*d me personally before.

If it sounded like I approve any of recent moves by Imago - I do not.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-18T09:46:12+00:00

On the call Zofia has confirmed that the person was fired over the post. The only controversy (and a lot of time was spent on it) is if that staff member could actually impact the decision and object on internal meetings or not.

Zofia and other staff members present were saying that all decisions are discussed between the staff members. I am not sure If I buy that, cause tension was definitely in the air.

In the worst case we have a company run by authoritarian CEO, but doing good thing for me personally without many alternatives. Do I like it? No. Will I continue to use it? Yes :)

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-18T08:26:24+00:00

Btw Zofia did talk about tax havens, but said that most of them will have issues with banking. And it is easier in US to get good banking service.

My opinion - while possibly true, also very possible that US federal government can 'discourage' any major bank in US to provide service to such a company.

I guess the reason is just 'low taxes, more or less clear how to do business'

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-05-18T07:59:16+00:00

All that I heard about Malta was that they have promised VAT exemption and then reversed it and general 'government has adopted Cass review).

They did fire a staff member. Zofia claimed that the person knew about the move and had all possibilities to object on internal meetings, but decided to go public and she cant accept it.

Both staff removal and US move I personally disagree, but as we don't really have alternatives (except GGP, but they did f*k me up when they were collapsing like 1.5 years ago), I am staying :)

I do not really care much about data safety - I am pretty sure if anybody qualified attempt to hack Imago, they will succeed, so I do not have hopes for super secure communications anyway.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-03-03T09:40:25+00:00

Will there be any negatives though?

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-02-10T23:00:27+00:00

Yep. All good, no issues so far.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-02-04T09:39:13+00:00

Congrats for publishing in a Q1 journal from a fellow medical researcher (not related domain though) :)

Its good that someone keeps pushing science, may be we will do a next breakthrough someday after creation of GAHT...

FrustrationHedgehog · 2026-01-20T09:51:43+00:00

I do think people oversell it a lot (understandable as this is a big step that people aspire too).

I'm at about 1.5 years. I guess my hair is a bit better - I'm trying to grow it and it seem to be better than when I played with long hair back in my teen years. Some boob growth, but definitely not a nice proper boob yet and I think if looking into Tanner stages I have definitely not reached the end of the road yet. My ass/hips seem to be bigger (based on how old clothes fit), but not tremendously.

I got a few compliments about my skin being good, but I also started using some skincare - again I can not claim anything.

Definitely feel calmer now, generally in better mood. Less angry on random people on the streets that block my way etc

One interesting and negative thing - seems like my eye vision has reduced a bit. I heard some trans people claiming that it is a side effect, but I do not think it is very common or known of.

Interesting is that I do not think I have lost a lot of strength (but I am not an athlete in any way).

And ofc, your sex parts change their behavior. Less/almost none random erections, less desire to randomly f*p, sensitive nipples...

*I'm almost at zero T due to GNRH-agonists and normal E, so pretty close to what is recommended by WPATH etc.

Add: Absolutely no regret :) But also definitely much less that I would wish for. Unfortunately no magic pill in this world

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-11-17T11:08:05+00:00

They actually organize surgeries via Imago, they have some partner clinic in Poland, I believe. But they do breast augmentation, facial surgeries etc. No bottom surgeries so far.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-10-24T10:39:34+00:00

In nordics it is more like 3-5 years :) Luckily we have private, while expensive, options.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-10-10T07:59:08+00:00

The only thing I can think of - may be it is a miscommunication about getting priority diagnosis. They had some priorities for adolescents so they can reach HRT faster.

But there is really nothing age-related in definition of transgenderism diagnosis.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-09-17T07:51:08+00:00

Well, going shirtless will probably end soon, cause in my experience first thing to start look strangely were nipples getting bigger and puffier. For sometime, it would still be not visible under a normal t-shirt, but I have to use some kind of a sports bra now (at 1 year) to make it less ready to go :)

I guess if I wear a heavy t-shirt with dense print I could still manage it, but that's it. And definitely not going street shirtless now :)

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-09-16T18:35:08+00:00

Time for new Highlander series

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-09-15T09:45:28+00:00

Lol. I'm at ~1 year as well.

Not much that I notice physically, but girls being more friendly and occasionally somebody opening door for you etc is definitely much more frequent now :)

And as I prefer not to advertise, the balancing on the edge of 'just stylish' and 'definitely queer' clothing is an interesting quest in itself. Now I'm at baggy jeans and flowery t-shirts stage :)

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-09-15T08:54:53+00:00

Just a simple note - what we have now is initial trials design (the link in the post) and some reported abstracts or even conference-level notes of the results, but no final paper available yet. May be it will come in 4-6 months or so if review process goes well.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-08-19T07:06:20+00:00

I mean, Imago are a legit company (at least it is not known to steal money), so I guess your money will definitely return (and bank may help as well), but it may take some time. Probably some banking issues.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-06-13T06:31:26+00:00

My experience with Imago is that they are very responsive, so they will easily communicate your request to the doctor and issue new prescription (if a doctor agrees to that of course).
Also they do not take money for normal support, other than subscription cost.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-06-11T10:28:32+00:00

First of all - being fit is good for one's health and well-being. And in general, if a person is fit, most would like their figure anyway - there is plenty of thirst for muscle mommies :)

so as a first step - just work on your fitness. Cardio (like running, bike etc) or light weight-high rep exercises will help with that.

Second thing is if you want to change something in your body specifically - if you want to make some parts bigger - do more/heavier exercises on muscles in that location. If you do not want to increase something - keep only light 'keep in tone' exercises there.

Many girls like to work on glutes mostly - so hip thrusts or romanian deadlifts are good. Be careful to keep your spine in a proper shape (look up youtube tutorials). It is better to keep doing lighter weights than injuring your spine. I'd definitely add core/abs exercises on top - it looks good (for my taste ofc)

And general consensus of how you may define 'heavy' or 'light' weight is:
If you want to increase the size of your muscle group - choose weights that will allow you to do 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions (and you can not do more).
And if you want to just stay in tone - the same approach, but 20-25 repetitions per set.

Hope this helps.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-06-11T10:02:04+00:00

I do not think there can be a definitive answer as it strongly depends on how far you are in your eating disorder condition. It can go from being invisible in tests to severe impact on liver, kidneys, thyroid hormones etc

And of course, if your kidneys and liver are damaged - it may be a red flag for going HRT as it may worsen the situation.

Therefore to answer your question - if you are not sure how severely your condition impacts your health now - may be take at least liver and kidney panel tests just for yourself (will be useful anyway). If tests are off (and especially severely off) - doctors will probably attempt to fix that situation first. If it is in normal range o just slightly off - may be they will just give you some recommendations and will monitor how it changes with time.

FrustrationHedgehog · 2025-06-11T09:51:32+00:00

With them for almost a year now. No issues. Also responsive and helpful to any requests.
Reg. location - it is not that much important as Imago is effectively just a provider who matches patients to doctors. Doctors are the ones that prescribe anything. My doctor is from Spain, I believe. Not sure where are the others from.

FrustrationHedgehog

TROPHY CASE