I was diagnosed 4+ years ago. I am 23 and have been putting off hormone therapy for a while with the help of Yaz. It bought be 3 years between my last surgery and the way I felt during my last period.
My doctor is a wonderful Endo Specialist and it took me a while to get to him, so I know I have picked the right one to trust with continuing my care. He has now told me that due to my recent symptoms, I should definitely consider one of the two options. I do not want to go back into surgery, but I also am scared of the hormones.
The side effects are so horrendous that I don't even think there's a 'lesser evil' of the two. I thought maybe you guys would help, not by deciding for me (obviously) but telling me about your experiences with one or the other so that my final decision will be based on a real experiences (other than reading and research). Please tell me your stories. Much love and respect.
TL;DR Tell me your experience with both drugs, do I want progesterone or the other fake menopause hormone?
Yesterday Destiny discussed, albeit only briefly, DIY HRT and trans healthcare with two trans women. I think it is important in this context to look at common claims in regards to trans healthcare:
-
Necessity of care due to suicidality in trans youth
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Drug safety in regards to bone density, cardiovascular disease and cancer risk
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access to trans care and appropriate training of doctors
Finally i want to explore what the twitter user Bobposting (also known as Chloe) is actually doing when they "get minors on HRT".
One claim that is frequently made in regards to the necessity of trans healthcare access in prebuscence or early puberty is the high suicide rate among transgender youth. From the stats i can find, it seems this is well-documented and is a common thread along articles concerning trans youth. This article [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0886260520915554] gives a rate of 82 % in regards to lifetime suicidal ideation for trans individuals at large and a rate of 40 % of suicide attempts for trans people in general. By comparison trans youth has an attempt rate of 65 % and an ideation rate of 86 %. Clearly this is a massive issue, that needs to be addressed at an early age already, since a suicide attempt rate of 65 % is extraordinarily high. It's not surprising then, that there is a broad push to allow kids that have gender dysphoria to access puberty blockers as quickly as possible.
The high court in the UK however, has recently ruled that informed consent towards puberty blockers for minors under the age of 16 might not be possible. To evaluate the safety of puberty blockers in the age group of 12-15 the NHS Gender Identity Development Service enlisted the Tavistock institute to conduct a study in regards to the effects of Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRHA). The study was conducted with 44 individuals, that were highly selected for severe and persistent gender dysphoria. During the study the patients either experienced exclusively positive changes or a mix of positive and negative change. Adverse effects were as expected (bone mineral density being in keeping with growth suppression), only one of the 44 patients did not go on to take cross-sexual hormones. The study concluded that the treatment was overall positive, no changes in psychological function were detected, however larger and longer-term studies were necessary to fully quantify benefits and harms. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7853497/
Looking a
... keep reading on reddit β‘" Yes, Adderall does indeed shrink the penis and has been well documented. Specifically. Adderall causes a break down of elastin and a shortening of the ligament that the base of the penis is attached. The combined effects shortened the penis in both its flacid and erect states. In addtion, there is evidence that signaling cascades may be initiated in the smooth muscle cells of the penis via a nitric oxide pathway that induces apoptosis or cell death in the penile tissue, thus physically reducing the actuall mass of the penis itself. The effects can be permanent as well. Incidentally, nicotine appears to illicit the same effects, especially on elastin. "
"Adderall can also decrease penis size based on hormonal levels.
Adderall, or amphetamine, works by increasing the release of norepinephrine from cells that produce it. Dopamine is required to form norepinephrine as it is a precursor in its synthesis. As Adderall increases the release of norepinephrine, more dopamine must be converted into NE to replace the supply. This causes a decrease in dopamine. Dopamine normally inhibits prolactin and prolactin normally inhibits gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). When dopamine decreases, this causes a DISinhibition of prolactin. The increase in prolactin dramatically inhibits GnRH levels. GnRH normally produces LH and FSH, which increase testosterone and spermatogenesis respectively.
In summary...
increased NE release-->depletes DA levels-->DISinhibiting prolactin-->inhibiting GnRH--> decreasing LH and FSH--> and decreasing testosterone levels"
Very intresting. And i could not agree more, noticed this myself with harder stims and now i understand why
Hello, if I sent you this link it's likely because I can't be bothered debating you about my existance right now, or maybe somebody else sent you because they are defending us trans people or they can't be bothered debating their own existance, regardless, here are many, many resources proving science is on transgender peoples side:
Citations on the congenital, neurological basis of gender identity, which typically corresponds with the rest of one's anatomy but not always:
- An overview from New Scientist
- An overview from MedScape
- Sexual differentiation of the human brain: relevance for gender identity, transsexualism & sexual orientation - D. F. Swaab, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research
- Sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality - Zhou JN, 1995
- White matter microstructure in female to male transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A diffusion tensor imaging study
- Prenatal testosterone & gender-related behaviour - Melissa Hines, Department of Psychology, City University, London
- Prenatal & postnatal hormone effects on the human brain and cognition - Bonnie Auyeung, Michael V. Lombardo, & Simon Baron-Cohen, University of Cambridge
- A spreadsheet links to many articles about gender and the brain
- Here are more
Citations on the transition's dramatic reduction of suicide risk while improving mental health, social functionality, and quality of life, with trans people able to transition young and spared abuse and discrimination having mental health and suicide risk on par with the general public:
- Bauer, et al., 2015: Transition vastly reduces risks of suicide attempts, and the farther along in transition s
Hey,
This might be a somewhat unusual post for this group and I hope I do not get hated on for this, but I just want to post about my experience getting and being shredded and its impact on mental health.
I am a formerly "fitness-obsessed" male. I kept quite a low body fat for a long time (picture below) -like 4-5 years (which is certainly an unhealthy and stupid thing to do).
I have become less physically able over time and getting through the day was often a chore. I had to use stimulants just to function. I was always tired and cold. I developed hormonal problems. But I did not care much, as being lean has become sort of an "addiction" and something I identified with. Furthermore, people commented on my looks and girls were far more into me.
I looked the way I wanted to, but it came at a price I did not consider before. I lost most of my former emotionality (I have always been quite an emotional person). Now, I felt nothing (e.g. no butterflies when interacting with girls). Well, for a long time my baseline has been quite anhedonic (low emotions), perhaps without really realizing.
For me, the only thing that would increase emotions were various pharmacological agents (caffeine, ephedrine, modafinil)...or food. In fact, I used to get very euphoric when anticipating food or eating food up to bordering on food addiction.
From the literature, I can gather that anhedonia and/or emotional blunting and even emotional apathy is extremely common in anorexia nervosa (and other eating disorders) -in fact, almost everyone gets it. Well, I guess when it comes to starvation survival (i.e. food) is a "winner takes all" and it does make sense that one's hedonic/opioidergic response to food and food-related cues is vastly exaggerated whereas the hedonic response to all else is very low.
(Side note: However, this does not just apply to people with a pathologically low level of body fat and/or BMI (i.e. anorectics), but also to normal-weight individuals and even to overweight individuals who have been (yo-yo)-dieting for a long time as brain-wise similar neuromodulation and neuroendocrine mechanisms are at play. Certainly, it does apply to super lean (aka. "shredded") individuals -unless they are genetic freaks.)
For me, gaining a little bit of body fat brought back my emotionality big time (and I would say to normal levels). However, to be honest, I miss how people reacted to me (esp. girls). Furthermore, I like most how my face looks like at low body fat (chis
... keep reading on reddit β‘Iβve seen quite a few posts now of folk saying they experience extremely difficult times between ovulation and period - (TW) suicidal ideation, extreme fatigue, brain fog, extreme mood swings, depression/anxiety, etc - and, to make matters worse, their ADHD medication stops working or barely works.
Some people mentioned having success on certain hormonal pills (I canβt take them as I have aura migraines), some take anti-depressants (Iβm unable to orgasm on most so gave up), etc.
One thing I havenβt seen folk recommend and itβs the only thing that worked for me (and was recommended by one of the best specialists in the field) is the following:
-
Decapeptyl injections (monthly initially, then moved to a higher dosage but every 3 months) - PMDD is not a hormonal imbalance, itβs a sensitivity to the natural fluctuations of our own hormones. This gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue works on your pituitary gland, stopping your hormone production at the source. Once you stop taking them, your hormones go back to normal in a few months. I stopped them once and it took around 4 months for my period to come back.
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HRT (to stop me from having any menopause symptoms + protect my bones, etc):
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Daily Evorel 50 patches which replace the oestrogen that is normally released by the ovaries.
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Progesterone 10mg for a few days every 3 months - If you still have a womb, taking an oestrogen hormone regularly may cause the lining of your womb to build up and get thicker. This means it is necessary to add a progestogen hormone to the oestrogen. This helps shed the lining of the womb and stop any problems happening.
-
I did this for years and it quite literally saved my life, my relationships, and my career.
Happy to answer any questions. Have a gentle day. β€οΈ
Steve Grand OBE is a British computer scientist perhaps best known for building a one eyed robot orangutan baby called Lucy to see if it could become sentient.. However, in 1996, he released a videogame called "Creatures".
Creatures is set in an arcadian world called Albia, which was created by a race of long dead ancient aliens ("The Shee"). Left over from these aliens are a species known as Cyberlifogenis cutis, or "Norns". These creatures were basically engineered to be Court Jesters/monkey butlers to the ancient aliens, and look kind of like a mix between a Mogwai and Dobby the House Elf.. You play as a disembodied hand, and your job is to bring the Norns back to life from an archive of hibernating eggs.
That's the lore, anyway. The actual gameplay is fairly complex. Norns were touted as not AI but as "Alife". According to Steve Grand, the difference between AI and Alife is a survival instinct. The example he brought up was throwing a Labrador Retreiver and IBM's chess playing computer Deep Blue into a duck pond, and seeing which one fared better.
Anyway these Norns were not exactly programmed. Instead they were based on a rudimentary genome, brain and biochemical system. Norns had requirements to stay alive - for example, a healthy level of glycogen. They had associated drives like "hunger" or "need for entertainment", and if these drives got too low, it could cause issues. These in turn were associated with chemicals - which were complex; Norns would preferentially go for honey - high in "saccharine" but low in "starch", so honey would lower the hunger drive without increasing their glycogen levels (and so a Norn could feel full while starving to death). Female Norns had an entire menstrual cycle involving oestrogen, progesterone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone.
It was your job as a disembodied hand to hatch Norns from eggs and then raise them properly. Initially you can only tickle or slap them, which causes increased "reward" or "punishment" chemicals, and so results in them "learning" behaviour. You can punish them for playing with dangerous items, and reward them for doing good things, and then emergent behaviour develops.
When Norns first hatch, they only speak a baby language called "Bibble". If you spend upwards of 20 minutes (I'm not kidding) on each Norn you hatch, showing them
... keep reading on reddit β‘Apologies for any typos, any feedback on where gaps need to be filled in would be much appreciated.
Related Series:
Are psychiatric drugs driving dementia rates?
Efficacy and safety of psychiatric drugs
#Fertility and Birth Rates have been falling or stagnant since the 1970's
A βNewβ Normal? An Updated Look at Fertility Trends Across the Globe
>Basically, countries with birth rates above 1.6 or 1.7 children per woman experienced fertility declines. Countries with birth rates below that saw more stability or even increases. What we appear to be seeing is a global convergence around fertility rates of 1.6 or 1.7 children. >This is not just a rich-world phenomenon. Birth rates in Mexico are around 1.9 to 2 kids per woman, so below the rate needed to sustain Mexicoβs current population levels. Brazilβs birth rate is even lower, at 1.75, similar to Colombiaβs at 1.77. Costa Rica is even lower, at 1.66. El Salvador, Argentina, and Venezuela are all just barely βbreaking evenβ demographically. Other countries like Guatemala are higher but falling fast. >Across the Pacific, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India are all around 2 or 2.2 kids per woman, while Malaysia has fallen to about 1.8. Thailand is even lower, at 1.5 kids per woman. Even Muslim countries like Turkey (2), Iran (1.8), and Tunisia (2.1) have near-replacement fertility, with speedy declines still ongoing.
NCHS - Births and General Fertility Rates: United States
I don't know how to save a filter, but you can dimension by year, measure by crude birth rate.
Births: Provisional Data for 2020(PDF)
>The provisional number of births for the United States in 2020 was 3,605,201, down 4% from the number in 2019 (3,747,540) (Tables 1β3 and Figure 1). This is the sixth consecutive year that the number of births has declined after an increase in 2014, down an average of 2% per year, and the lowest number of births since 1979.
#Fertility rates are below replacement rate
[Replacement level fertility and future population growth](https://pubmed.ncbi.
... keep reading on reddit β‘I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Do your worst!
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies π
It really does, I swear!
Continuation of mTORC1 p2: Mast cells.... p2 --> LINK
In summary, the results presented here are the first to reveal the function of MMP3 in the BBB and suggest that it has an essential role in the brain microvasculature that differs from its function in other vessels. We have shown that MMP3 increases BBB permeability by upregulating the ERK signaling pathway, which subsequently reduces TJ and AJ protein abundance in BMVECs. Oxidative stress often leads to impairment of BBB. Since the BBB is the primary regulator of exchange between the peripheral blood and the brain, our observations likely have important implications for treating neuroinflammatory conditions and other CNS disorders involving the endothelial MMP3 pathway.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2021/6655122/
4.1. Mast Cells: Guardians of Homeostasis in the Brain
Although they are often described in the context of pathology and disease, mast cells are likely important regulators of homeostasis, since mast cell mediators can have both beneficial and harmful effects depending on the context in which they are deployed. This may also be the case in the brain. For example, activated mast cells rapidly release a series of immunomodulatory molecules, such as histamine and TNF-Ξ±. In organotypic slice cultures and primary rat astrocyte-neuron co-cultures, exogenously added histamine was shown to protect hippocampal neurons against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity [63]. Neuroprotection was mediated by increased expression of astrocytic glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1), probably due to reduction in extracellular glutamate levels. Mast cell-derived proteases and proteoglycans also might provide neuroprotection [64]. In a mouse model of ischemic injury, TNF-Ξ± was shown to promote the survival of hippocampal and striatal neurons, probably acting via its receptor (tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2)) [65]. The protective or detrimental effects of TNF-Ξ± might depend on the concentration and duration of release as well as receptor binding (TNFR1 vs TNFR2) [66]. Intracerebral mast cell secrete proteases, vasoactive molecules such as nitric oxide, lipid mediators, histamine, gonadotropin-releasing hormone and TNF-Ξ± which can increase BBB permeability by breaking down the tight junctions between brain endothelial cells [67]. Thus in pathological situations,
... keep reading on reddit β‘From what I understand, HCG preserves fertility by mimicking LH to stimulate the Leydig Cells in the testicles to produce more intra-testicular testosterone which promotes spermatogenesis.
What I don't understand is how this is possible with shut-down FSH on TRT.
From Wiki:
"FSH stimulates primary spermatocytes to undergo the first division of meiosis, to form secondary spermatocytes.
FSH enhances the production of androgen-binding protein by the Sertoli cells of the testes by binding to FSH receptors on their basolateral membranes,[15] and is critical for the initiation of spermatogenesis."
Is anyone aware how it is possible to maintain fertility without this crucial function of FSH?
Buenosdillas
Theyβre on standbi
Pilot on me!!
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
Edit: Updated with ADHD & autism prevalence in specific countries, sorted by anti-depressant use. May update this with birth rates and see if I can find data on general anticholinergic use.
Apologies for any typos, any feedback on where gaps need to be filled in would be much appreciated.
Related Series:
Are psychiatric drugs driving dementia rates?
Efficacy and safety of psychiatric drugs
#Fertility and Birth Rates have been falling or stagnant since the 1970's
A βNewβ Normal? An Updated Look at Fertility Trends Across the Globe
>Basically, countries with birth rates above 1.6 or 1.7 children per woman experienced fertility declines. Countries with birth rates below that saw more stability or even increases. What we appear to be seeing is a global convergence around fertility rates of 1.6 or 1.7 children. >This is not just a rich-world phenomenon. Birth rates in Mexico are around 1.9 to 2 kids per woman, so below the rate needed to sustain Mexicoβs current population levels. Brazilβs birth rate is even lower, at 1.75, similar to Colombiaβs at 1.77. Costa Rica is even lower, at 1.66. El Salvador, Argentina, and Venezuela are all just barely βbreaking evenβ demographically. Other countries like Guatemala are higher but falling fast. >Across the Pacific, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India are all around 2 or 2.2 kids per woman, while Malaysia has fallen to about 1.8. Thailand is even lower, at 1.5 kids per woman. Even Muslim countries like Turkey (2), Iran (1.8), and Tunisia (2.1) have near-replacement fertility, with speedy declines still ongoing.
NCHS - Births and General Fertility Rates: United States
I don't know how to save a filter, but you can dimension by year, measure by crude birth rate.
Births: Provisional Data for 2020(PDF)
>The provisional number of births for the United States in 2020 was 3,605,201, down 4% from the number in 2019 (3,747,540) (Tables 1β3 and Figure 1). This is the sixth consecutive year that the number of births has declined after an increase in 2014, down an
... keep reading on reddit β‘
