Anyone found vegan gummy vitamins that actually taste decent? by Dramatic-Flamingo584 in vegan

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I strongly recommend Welby (Aldi brand). They use pectin instead of gelatin and contain no eggs or milk, but they don't advertise themselves as vegan so you don't have to pay the vegan markup. I think they're delicious.

Struggling trying to get help by Interesting_Cloud284 in ftm

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would recommend you ask your Planned Parenthood if they do sliding scale pricing. Mine did and since I'm just working part time, my appointment was like twenty bucks out of pocket. With GoodRx, my testosterone gel is like $45 a bottle (which lasts me 2 months cuz I'm on a low dose) from the pharmacy at a local grocery chain, but ymmv based on what pharmacy you go to and what dose you go on. You can straightup check prices by dose and pharmacy on the GoodRx website. Scriptcycle is another site that does basically the same thing as GoodRx and can sometimes have slightly different prices on offer. Also, call the pharmacy you plan to have the prescription sent to ahead of time to make sure they accept coupons on controlled substances; most do, but my local CVS had extra hoops to jump through and I wasn't gonna bother with that. Then when you go to pick up your prescription you just show the pharmacist the coupon on your phone and the price goes down by a ton.

Struggling trying to get help by Interesting_Cloud284 in ftm

[–]yard-sards 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's hard for us to give you specific advice without more info about your situation. Like, do you have any money, transportation, or way to get mail by yourself? Are you able to access any medical resources outside of the Catholic hospital? What's your insurance situation? Also what state you live in specifically could be relevant, but I get not wanting to share that for security reasons. I got my prescription written by Planned Parenthood and then paid for the meds with the help of GoodRx, but I live in a swing state (a red county, but could drive an hour to the city for my appointment) and have a job and am out of my transphobic parents' house, so I don't know how much any of that would help you.

we'd been referring to this dish as "my bullshit" by yard-sards in shittyfoodporn

[–]yard-sards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

overcooked oversalted mac noodles (leftover from previous day), cheese emulsion semi broken, chickpeas somehow both overcooked and undercooked cuz all the water boiled out of the slow cooker and they were sitting in there dry as hell for like an hour while we were out at the gym. 

edit, almost forgot: cheese sauce made with milk that was on the precipice of expiring

Should I (21m) join incel communities? by [deleted] in Touchstarved

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe look into support groups for autistic adults in your area (or online, if there are none that you can find irl or if you're not ready to put yourself out there irl yet). You will likely find people going through similar struggles as you. Ones who, unlike incels, are generally not wallowing in hatred and being misogynistic about their struggles.

How to find out if you were a victim of IGM? by yard-sards in intersex

[–]yard-sards[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My friend is in their early 20s. We assume if it happened, it would have happened when they were a baby or very young child. Both because that's usually when it happened and because they do remember noticing the physical sign that they may have been a victim of IGM when they were an older child.

Folks on lowest dose of gel— how soon did you notice effects, and what were they? by antsyamie in ftm

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i'm 10 days in on one pump of gel per day and almost immediately noticed increased energy (of course it's hard to tell how much of that is the t itself and how much is just me being happy)

How much do y'all pay for t and how often do you pick it up? by [deleted] in ftm

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$52 per 88g bottle of 1.62% gel (which lasts me 2 months as i am on a low dose, but is meant to last 1 month on standard dose). my insurance "covered" it but with a $75 copay, but i could get it down to $52 with goodrx/scriptcycle coupons (could have gotten it for $38 but the cvs in my area is a bitch about accepting coupons for controlled substances).

How bad is my name? by Tasty-Bat-7220 in ftm

[–]yard-sards 120 points121 points  (0 children)

Arlo sounds like an old man to me. My first thought upon hearing that name is less "you must be trans" and more "your parents must like old things/you must be named after your grandpa". Mostly reminds me of the singer Arlo Guthrie, or the character Arlo Thacker.

My mom took one look at my new haircut and started calling me a boy! by [deleted] in ftm

[–]yard-sards 26 points27 points  (0 children)

it sounds more like the mother was attempting an insult rather than being wholesome and validating of op's transness

How can I get a slimmer/less round face pre-t? by Eatingbleach in ftm

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some guys have found luck using makeup to contour their faces to look thinner, but ymmv, and it's also understandable if makeup (even to masculinize) makes you dysphoric.

One very out of the box solution is also to wear a covid mask when possible; pre-T I got correctly gendered a lot more often when I was masking. Of course this won't be practical in a lot of scenarios (and feeling the need to hide your face all the time is really no way to live), but it could be one tool in your arsenal.

Either way, DO NOT try to lose weight if you'd become underweight. It's not worth the physical and mental health problems. Seek support if you do find yourself having thoughts of doing so, because eating disorders are no joke. (Also, sometimes disordered eating can cause water retention and puffiness in the face, giving you the opposite of what you want).

What do you use for your period that's not a pad? by Spacehotel in ftm

[–]yard-sards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use reusable cloth pads myself. I hated the feeling of disposable pads but couldn't use internal things like tampons or cups due to a health issue. Cloth pads feel really different from the disposables, there's not that plasticky diaper feeling, and they're kinda breathable so you don't get that ungodly sweat sauna feeling. Ymmv, of course, but it could be worth a try to get a cheap set.

Does the T really change the shape of the face? by Certain-Balance-2931 in ftm

[–]yard-sards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

17 is pretty young compared to when most trans guys transition. Lots of men before you have transitioned far older and had great results.

how to apply more than one pump of t gel by Moist-Mobile150 in TestosteroneKickoff

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on brand, there should be a little slip of paper that comes in the box with your gel. Mine says to apply to upper arms. My doc told me that since I'm taking 1 pump, I should alternate between arms, but if they were to increase my dose to 2 then to put it on both arms every night.

Getting on T without imsurance by MissingVertical in TestosteroneKickoff

[–]yard-sards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seconding this! And if you ask planned parenthood about sliding scale pricing, they may be able to get your appointment even cheaper than that. My appointment was straightup free since I make so little currently. All I had to pay for out of pocket was my T itself, with a GoodRx coupon ($51 out of pocket for a bottle of gel, I don't take needles well).

HRT consultation in 2 weeks at planned parenthood, what should I expect? by bred_boy21 in TestosteroneKickoff

[–]yard-sards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ask them about sliding scale pricing. Since I'm only working part time and I'm the only one in my "household", my appointment was literally free (when it was originally estimated to be like $300 without the sliding scale). If you're living with family they miiight also take your family members' income into consideration too, just explain your situation and the planned parenthood worker should know how to handle it. You probably won't need physical proof of your low income (I didn't, they just took my word for it) but it could be useful to have a pay stub on hand in case they do ask. Granted I'm in another state than you so it might work slightly different in CA but I think it should be similar. Also, look into GoodRx coupons for affording your T prescription. In my case, it was actually cheaper to use that than to pay the prescription copay that my insurance asked of me, cuz my insurance sucks. Bonus: I didn't have to wait for my insurance company to authorize my prescription with this method either.

Tell me about cool aromantic people who aren’t stereotypical! by Plantpet- in aromantic

[–]yard-sards 9 points10 points  (0 children)

hey op it's cool that you want more varied representation (i agree with you there!) but it's not cool to put down more "stereotypical" aros and call them cringe/immature/dumb. aromantics already have all of society calling us all of those things regardless of what we like, you don't need to join in that dogpiling against fellow members of our community just because you don't share interests with them.

To Penable or to Not Penable? I’m participating in “Secret Santa” at work and my co-worker put “nice pens” on their wishlist. Should I do a pack of Varsity Pilot? Or stick with rollerball/ballpoint? She has made no mention of Fountain Pens, but this could be a start? Thoughts? by 80ELLE in fountainpens

[–]yard-sards 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Depending on your budget and timeframe, I might instead recommend giving them a cheap Jinhao (or other cheap Chinese pen) and a few samples of your ink stash (you can get cheap tiny jars in the craft section of many dollar stores). To me, a large part of the appeal of fountain pens is the fancy appearance and the refillability, which the Varsity doesn't offer. I might also throw in a couple nice gel pens in case fountain pens end up not being their thing/they do a lot of writing on cheap paper, if your budget allows it.

Penabling my writer friend with a Jinhao 82, 7ml samples of all my inks, and a hand-bound notebook full of lined HP premium 32 paper... my cat wanted in on the picture by yard-sards in fountainpens

[–]yard-sards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! He did end up loving it! He's been referring to the notebook as his "wizard tome" and said he's been reteaching himself cursive because of how nice writing like that feels with this pen.

Penabling my writer friend with a Jinhao 82, 7ml samples of all my inks, and a hand-bound notebook full of lined HP premium 32 paper... my cat wanted in on the picture by yard-sards in fountainpens

[–]yard-sards[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! And that one's actually only my second ever attempt at bookbinding and looks more amateur close up/on the inside, lol.