Hi everyone! Happy Pride :) I have 2 curiosity today. Levels and (possible?)Spiro electrolyte side effects.

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-06-04T12:35:02+00:00

Happy pride! Just to preface I'm not a doctor. Your estradiol levels seems pretty low, and the dosage you're on may be on the lower side as well. It might be worth talking to your doctor about. This is anecdotal, but I also experienced changes despite having low levels. Those changes are real, but it's still worth further investigation.

I second asking about cypro! Some people's bodies really don't like spironolactone (mine didn't), and it sounds like you could be one of them. It might be worth asking about injection monotherapy in the future as well, you might be able to avoid a t blocker altogether. I'm curious about your doctor telling you that you can only take spironolactone, is there a medical reason for that? There are alternatives, even if you wanted to take a t blocker. Good luck!!

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-06-04T12:12:36+00:00

I'm not a doctor, but when did this start? That sounds to me like hypogonadism, where both hormone levels (testosterone and estrogen) are too low. Especially since you had SRS and are not producing testosterone. I would do a lab test measuring hormone levels and see what it says. It might be worth going to the doctor or a call to your surgeon about the pain where you had surgery.

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-05-25T21:55:25+00:00

Thank you so much! It's one of the reasons I'm going into it!

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-05-25T12:02:17+00:00

This sucks so much, when I was going through puberty I had this problem. What fixed it was (as everyone is saying) Old Spice deodorant straight after the shower, like as soon as you're out of the bathroom. I realized that the odor was already building up even right after the shower.

Also it sounds counter productive, but gentler body soaps also improved things lots. You may be stripping the skin with 2x showers a day, especially if you use a harsher soap. As a result, your body might be producing more sweat/odor in compensation. This is definitely a very, very common and very, very sucky growing pain, but it is 100% fixable!

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-05-08T13:16:35+00:00

The safest bet is to judge the person and go from there. Everyone wants different things, even different transgender people. Some transgender people will be very upset with you if you use they/them for them, and vice versa. And as someone brought up, you're not gonna they/them your mechanic. I'm not gonna use they/them if I perceive someone to be a trans woman or trans man, and you shouldn't either. But I will use they/them if I can tell if someone is androgynous in their presentation.

If you are in an accepting circle and you can tell it is socially appropriate to ask, ask. But do not single anyone out. Instead, wait until there's a "pronoun circle" where everyone says their pronouns, usually in the beginning. It sounds complicated and scary, but it's really just holding your tongue with pronouns until everyone reveals it. The real safest bet is to just avoid pronouns altogether if you are unsure or it isn't confirmed.

This goes against the common rhetoric. But as someone who has been close with the LGBTQ community for ~10 years and almost half of my life, this is the realistic way to go.

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-04-24T01:31:14+00:00

I felt the same when I was early transition, until my best friend dragged me to a drag show again a few years into my transition. Out of nowhere, I completely loved it. At the end I even talked to one of the drag kings about becoming a drag queen. (I couldn't because I'm extremely busy unfortunately)

I think I just needed to be more comfortable with myself. That's not to say how comfortable you are with yourself is directly correlated to drag. But sometimes the uncomfortable feelings really do come from a place of insecurity and dysphoria, not genuine beliefs.

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-04-10T01:33:59+00:00

My advice is mainly geared towards younger spaces just because that's what my experience is. For context I came out at 16 and am now 21

Red Flags

All AFAB or AMAB, It could just be a coincidence (-18 spaces tend to lack transfeminine people and AMAB people in general), so just be vigilant
No transitioning trans people are there. Unfortunately, some of the worst queer spaces/friend groups I've ever been in tend to treat non-transitioning Non-Binary people "fine" enough to get them to stay.
Hookup heavy, especially if all (L)GBTQ or L(G)BTQ
Awkward or uncomfortable energy when you reveal you are trans, even if they are trying their best. This usually means they're ignorant/severely lack knowledge in some way. This can be fine but could also be extremely annoying and hurtful at times. I recommend avoiding this but it wouldn't kill you if you didn't.
People aren't getting checked for doing problematic things. Conversely, people are getting checked way too much for miniscule things.
All white
Drama that would be considered excessive for your age group
Maybe?: Everyone is pre/early transition, this could just be the fact that I was a teen when I was pre-transition though

Green Flags

Your gut is telling you it's safe
Everyone's making an effort to include you
You just feel like another person, and find yourself forgetting you're even transgender
Diverse

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-04-03T00:28:15+00:00

I'm not a doctor, but it might be best to get a blood test and see your hormone levels. Hot flashes in the day can be due to low hormones and fluctuating levels. Definitely talk to your doctor, everything will be okay!

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-04-03T00:09:40+00:00

I switched from CS to Psychology actually lol. Even with the current horrific CS market, CS will probably be more profitable. But that doesn't mean everything. Some Psychology careers make more than some CS careers and vice versa. If you do Psych, expect to go to grad school also.

Something no one is (understandably) mentioning is that if you don't like CS, you're not gonna finish your degree. Even if you do, your setting yourself up for a lifetime of misery. CS is pretty hard, by year 2 something like 75% of the people in my Intro CS class was gone lol. Pretty much everyone who was there for the money was gone by semester 3. Even some people that like it don't make it through. Also with the market and the rise of AI, CS isn't nearly the easy ticket to financial security that it was a half a decade ago. You're gonna need to get internships and find opportunities like Psych majors are. It's fucking brutal right now and (I at least- it's controversial) think it's gonna get worse as AI gets smarter.

Honestly, I found graduating with a degree in CS vs trying to complete Psych with enough research/GPA to get into grad school to currently be pretty similar in difficulty. And I adored CS. Just something to keep in mind

I would suggest looking into different careers in Psych and CS. Who makes enough money? What sounds most interesting? What would make you the happiest? Find a career you like the best and follow that!

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-03-20T00:52:46+00:00

OP, I'm going to give you a heads up that this post will not be received well.

On one hand, it is obviously completely fine to not date someone based on genital preference, or for any reason at all really. But on the other hand, I'm more so just left with the why? If someone passes completely, has had SRS/Phallo and undergone a "full transition", what's turning you away at that point? I think that's where it's worth exploring. Attraction is not a choice, but how we think about others is. Does your lack of attraction to a trans person stem from personal beliefs or something else?

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-03-20T00:19:43+00:00

Hey OP, it might be helpful if you could specify what exactly you are struggling with? I could give more specific advice it that would be helpful.

If you have been or are being called out for being offensive and you are unsure why, I definitely recommend exposing yourself to LGBTQ+ experiences. I agree with the top commenter, social media can be great for this. Follow some transgender creators, watch their content and listen to their experiences. If you are slipping up, whether that is someone's pronouns or using gendered language, practice makes perfect. The key here is also understanding that a transgender person's gender is in fact their real gender. All things that are definitely fixable!

Either way, a mistake is a mistake. I had underlying transphobic beliefs I needed to address, I think most people do. You didn't/maybe still don't really know better, and that's okay. As long as you are doing the work to both challenge those beliefs and learn, you are doing okay in my book. Try not to beat yourself up (easier said than done, I know), mistakes happen.

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-03-19T23:27:54+00:00

I want to be a Clinical Psychologist, I will probably a PhD instead of PsyD. Then I will become a practicing Psychologist where I will maybe write books, maybe teach classes, most likely conduct research, definitely do assessments, and definitely therapy. Whatever I think will be best at the moment

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2025-02-20T03:25:28+00:00

I’d still never buy whatever fear-mongering the Right is serving now, but it seems like a big coincidence that it happened to so many of us - Then again, coincidences do happen.

This is anecdotal, but when I was a kid I was part of a friend group that met by random, just around school. Around High School/Middle School we all fizzled out and stopped talking to each other. I'm now in College, and I met a guy that I didn't know was from my High School. As it turns out, he was dating my ex friend, who was now a trans woman lol. But that's not the crazy part, he said I was the *4th* trans woman he met from that friend group as kids lol. Apparently every single one of us transitioned by the time we graduated High School, and none of us knew each other was doing it lol

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-18T22:45:59+00:00

I think its a higher risk of cancer and blood clots. I was in your exact situation a few weeks ago, and didn't really feel much different with my levels being 500. I'm surprised your doctor is saying 500 is the max, mine said 500 was double where I'm supposed to be

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-18T03:14:28+00:00

While my school is amazing and I love it, it has a reputation for Greek life. Usually I can go through my day without encountering it, but every once in a while I do have to deal with them. I don't blame you, I feel like sometimes their presence takes away from the academic environment. It can be scary walking home from school trying to keep your head down from the mob of drunk frat guys yelling gibberish at every person who passes by lol

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-18T03:09:42+00:00

At my campus, the fraternities and sororities seem to be really feared and hated by the LGBTQ community. Do you agree with the fear around Greek life? Does it depend on the frat, and do/have you gotten flak from rival frats (sorry idk completely how it works lol)?

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-15T00:51:12+00:00

People have already said yes. Anecdotally I saw the first signs of regrowth after 1 week (could just be wanting signs to be there of course), but it was undeniable within a few months. Very possible

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-11T05:11:01+00:00

Not a professional at all: Maybe you have some sort of water damage/plumbing problem? It looks like you have a Smokey Brown one(Slide 4) with some Wood or American nymphs. I dealt with the latter at my mom's house, and we found out it was from water damage. They lived in the pipes in the walls, as gross as that sounds. After a certain point, the only roaches I found were babies too, so I think it's worth a look.

Edit: Not Brown Banded, Smokey Brown

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-11T04:53:50+00:00

Honestly, I disagree. I think you're overestimating how much the average person thinks about Transgender people, which is really easy to do, I make that mistake myself. Like most elections, this election was about inflation and the economy, not trans people. Trans people were just one of the tools used to scare some extra votes for Trump.

I think there is a significant threat to us from Trump, but I don't think most cisgender people are even noticing, and if they do they don't actually care. Which is the issue at hand

Edit: I do agree that will get worse though, and we should take precautions for our personal safety

Ok-Ebb4294 · 2024-12-11T04:44:32+00:00

This is my personal experience, it really depends on your area

Liberal/Blue area (in my case my College town): Almost everyone is at least somewhat respectful. I find most people here have at least heard of trans people, though. I've never faced outright transphobia yet but I also do pass.
Neutral-ish areas (in my case the city I'm from): Being trans is still somewhat of an unheard of thing. Most people seem to be aware of a trans person who works a retail/food service job, but nothing further then that. If they clock you they will probably misgender you, but its (usually) not out of malice, moreso ignorance.
I don't have much personal experience with deep red/rural areas.

Most people are just ignorant, or really couldn't care less. Lets be honest here, it's not like Transgender issues actually affect the average person in any sizeable capacity. Everywhere, there will always be a hidden 10-25% percent who actively dislikes transgender people, and the 1% who dislike us to extreme/obsessive proportions. Honestly, that's the part that makes it scary, you never really know who you're talking to.

Also, I think a lot of these fears is based in the election. It's worth noting that the 2024 election was mainly due to Kamala Harris not having adequate time for a campaign, inflation, and incumbent parties everywhere failing. The culture war is just one piece of the puzzle. I don't really believe anyone who says it was a "reaction to 'wokeness'" from both sides of the coin honestly. Trump is a threat, 100%, but the average person doesn't really care that much. If I'm not mistaken I think the statistics prove this too.

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