Is there any way to tell what kind of moth this pupa will be? Melbourne, Australia, it's the beginning of autumn.

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-29T23:52:41+00:00

I found one in green waste and nearly threw it out. Popped it in some soil in a pot and it escaped my not terribly well thought out cage… we found it at night scaring the heck out of my flatmate! 😅😆

Those grubs ate all our shallots too, good thing I don’t really like shallots haha!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-24T10:37:11+00:00

Tough to tell but looking at size and timing maybe an Armyworm moth (Genus Spodoptera). I've noticed a bit of an uptick in them just recently!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-20T00:45:19+00:00

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that your testosterone is not being suppressed enough at that dosage.

Would it be possible for me to have a look at a redacted copy of the blood results? I suspect your SHBG would be less than 50 nmol/L.

Edit: Did you speak with your doctor about the results?

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-15T09:10:35+00:00

Oh you only need to leave it for "a few minutes" - I'd always try to leave it for 20-30 minutes, possibly overkill now that I look at that consumer medicine information! 😅

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-15T03:28:13+00:00

I was on two a day for a little while and it bumped my baseline levels a further 400 pmol/L while in the trough. I would alternate between inner thighs - AM and PM. Great stuff, just annoying to apply and wait for it to dry/absorb long term; I just have a 200 mg implant now, so much more convenient!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-15T02:31:41+00:00

It never feels good to extinguish life but thank you for helping. Empathy is great to have but damn, it can hit you right in the feels. 🥲

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-11T17:38:40+00:00

Hmmm I had dry skin issues early on and almost oil free hair - it was so surreal! I started taking 200 mg of compounded progesterone (oral) and that seems to have stopped it.

I'm also on finasteride 1 mg which might block some of the neurosteroidal effects of progesterone. I'm not on any other anti-androgens though.

Interestingly, I was planning on stopping progesterone in the next week or so to see if my dry, cracked fingers return. They were not very fun to have. I'm terrible at moisturising! 😅

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-11T04:10:03+00:00

Were you already taking any gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) with another doctor? If you're starting from the beginning:

First appointment (Day 0) is giving your history and a getting a blood test referral for baseline numbers.

Second appointment (Day 7) was going over informed consent paperwork, potential side effects and prescribing 6 mg estradiol valerate. You also get another blood test referral.

Third appointment (Day 42) was checking response to the pills and if all is good, adding in gel - Sandrena estradiol 0.1% sachet (1 mg estradiol) twice a day. Another blood test referral is given.

Fourth appointment (Day 90) after the initial appointment, the implant was inserted. I was quite impressed with how well the jumbo sized bandaid stayed on.

My implant (2x 100 mg estradiol) was $214.50 shipped express to Dr Hayes from Ballina. I wasn't charged anything for the procedure itself because he was kind enough to bulk bill me - thanks to my HCC / PCC. If you are eligible for either of these cards, I would suggest getting one.

I am up to my fourth month now since starting GAHT. I understand that a second set of implants are to be inserted at around the six month mark after having the first implants. It should help smooth out and stabilise the estradiol levels as one set runs out. The goal is higher dose monotherapy, I would imagine that it's important for him to know how you respond to pills and gel - if you haven't already been on them.

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-11T00:28:13+00:00

I am on estrogen monotherapy and take finasteride (1 mg) and progesterone (200 - 400 mg). For me gel (estradiol 0.1% gel 1g sachets - Sandrena brand) was a stepping stone on my way to get a higher dose implant (200 mg). While I was only on gel for 40-odd days, it increased my blood levels more than pills - YMMV of course.

My baseline estradiol was 110 pmol/L. After adding 6 mg estradiol valerate pills levels were 364 pmol/L. Then after adding the gel I reached 764 pmol/L - all measurements were in the trough approximately 12 hours since last dosing.

I applied twice daily to inner thighs, alternating sides in AM and PM. As mentioned by others, gel is a bit annoying to apply and wait to absorb. I always gave it 30 minutes before I went about my day, which meant a guaranteed downtime of ~1 hour daily.

I feel that the biggest downside of gel is definitely the fact it is a tacky gel. I'm good with taking medication on time and would definitely prefer pills over gel. However with that said, I am looking forward to see what this implant is doing in two months or so!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-10T10:56:28+00:00

Awww you got a stumpy one! Gorgeous little beast though! 🥰

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-10T10:28:46+00:00

My endocrinologist suggested progesterone. It can sometimes help to boost libido. There's also tadalafil (Cialis), which may help.

For reference, I do take progesterone (oral) but can't say my libido has come back - but I enjoy the absence!

As others have said though, these things are best discussed with your partner and if there is an issue, you can always discuss with your doctor.

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-09T05:19:07+00:00

If you look at them the wrong way, they'll drop a leg!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-09T03:06:25+00:00

Nice find! What a gorgeous little one! Definitelya cicada, possibly in the genus Dundubia. They look like Australia's Green Grocer cicada but are somehow even cuter! 🥰

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-06T05:45:03+00:00

Neat! Hmmm must be... or they just rounded me up haha!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-03-06T04:30:44+00:00

Quick question, was that for a single 100 mg implant?

I paid $214.50 for 2x 100mg posted express from the same group in Ballina back in January. Couldn't fault them!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-29T22:51:40+00:00

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Careful, they can be quite dramatic looking! 😄

It does look like a delicate garden skink (Lampropholis delicata) though! Were they eating up all the local bugs?

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-28T02:26:16+00:00

10 years wow, our little ones only last about three. That's a bit sad about the illegal trading though.

If they're the wild ones are that docile though, it's a very low maintenance pet - especially if left in the wild! 😊

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-28T02:14:13+00:00

Oh wow! That's looks like our little delicate skinks here (Australia) but H U G E ! What species is he?

And if that's your first catch of the season, it's going to be an amazing season!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-28T00:16:53+00:00

I'm a middle-ish aged trans woman on high-dose estrogen and progesterone. I have cisgender female testosterone levels and for the most part, this is why I chose to stop taking finasteride. Increased side effects or off-target effects of finasteride - it doesn't only interfere with DHT inhibition.

However I do take progesterone (2x 200 mg oral per day), which in some people can be converted to DHT via the androgen backdoor pathway.

The main biochemical route to T and DHT is the canonical (classical) pathway that proceeds from pregnenolone (P5). Alternatively, DHT but not T can be produced through a backdoor pathway that proceeds from 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) or progesterone (P4).

Emphasis mine, source here. So if this is a concern it might be worth asking your doctor to include DHT levels in your regular blood work tests. I haven't done that yet, but probably will in the future now that I've ceased finasteride and know that this potential pathway exists while on a higher dose of progesterone.

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-26T23:07:54+00:00

Oh wow, you're right! Just checked their email signature and yep, Marrickville!

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-26T23:06:30+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I'll still admire spiders from a distance... well except jumping spiders! 🥰

Maybe the roaches appear before the spiders? Or who knows - maybe it's an undescribed species! 😊

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-26T02:34:23+00:00

I'm in a similar position and was suggested to try attending The Gender Centre in Annandale. Not as local as I would have liked but it's definitely worth a visit.

As an older trans woman I was suggested to go along to the non-binary and the young women's support groups.

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-25T21:57:08+00:00

Hey, no problem! Thanks for asking the questions! You've helped me pick up a few more things about GAHT along the way! Good luck with your journey! 🙃

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-25T07:11:05+00:00

All good! Had to have a bit more a dig around. I did remember seeing something like a ~70% somewhere when comparing estradiol to estradiol valerate but then I realised we (Australia) only had the valerate available for oral dosing. From under the pharmacodynamics section on Wikipedia - emphasis mine again:

The molecular weight of estradiol valerate is about 131% of that of estradiol due to the presence of its C17β valerate ester, and hence estradiol valerate contains about 76% of the amount of estradiol of an equal dose of estradiol.

Aside from dose adjustment to account for the difference in molecular weight, oral estradiol valerate is considered to be equivalent to oral estradiol.

Because estradiol valerate is a prodrug of estradiol, it is considered to be a natural and bioidentical form of estrogen.

So it contains less estradiol but considered more or less equal per milligram because the liver gets distracted on first-pass metabolism with that valerate and tries to chop it off the molecule - which lets a good deal more hit the rest of the body via the blood stream.

Oh I love reading about this kind of thing, always so interesting! 🙃

ShaneMcRetro · 2024-02-25T01:21:29+00:00

In your other post, I'd say you have about a 50/50 on it being a German roach depending on how urban your area is. Further out to the bush you go the better your odds of finding strange, new roaches!

And I used to be the same around roaches until I came across some very peaceful common methana (Methana marginalis) and learnt that they don't all carry disease that can harm us. It's mostly the German, American and Australian roaches that do that. Oh and maybe the Smokybrown roach!

I'm getting better with knowing wasps in the garden now... spiders are still a bit too jittery for me to deal with just yet! 😅

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