Trans Nb - Tumblr Posts

Fortunately I've never had a reaction, but this is good to know. Passing it on.

Injectable Testosterone Note

Hey Uh FYI--- If you're on injectable testosterone and your injection site *itches* and stays swollen like a bug bite for several days after you do your shot? That can be a sign that you either have an allergy to the carrier oil in your serum, or may not be injecting properly. Either way, please talk to your care team about it! If the itching spreads to random parts of your body, then it is very likely an allergy. Testosterone serums are made with three different carrier oils depending on the type: Cottonseed, Sesame Seed, or Grapeseed oil. Cottonseed is the most common carrier oil and the one most likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

Good news is, you can switch your serum! If you're allergic to one, ask your doctor to switch you to another one! Seriously, I itched like a flea bitten beast the first few months on T and then switched my serum and the problem resolved!

Trans healthcare is Bullsh*t

Long vent post, cause I'm mad and need to release the feelings back into their natural habitat. Had less than two weeks to go before the hysterectomy I've been trying to get for almost five years, and insurance has denied my appeal. Again. Very clearly for the last time. The rejection letter deemed the surgery "Not medically necessary" and with the context of past interactions I don't think I could have heard the "Fuck off looser" more clearly if someone had told me in person. My first appointment for this surgery was in June, and I had already been waiting for years at that point. I thought had been very careful to get everything set up, and get all my letters of referral and paperwork strait before hand. Except my insurance specifically apparently had a whole extra qualification for this surgery, that does not apply to anyone else in my state, and that no one told me about because the provider I've been going through for my care has never had anyone bring up that requirement before. That being that I needed to have been seeing a therapist specifically for my gender dysphoria for at least 12 months before hand. So. Had to cancel my appointment for that. The new surgery date I got moved things for enough out that my two letters of referral for reproductive surgery, which have to be less than a year old, expired. For the third time. But that gave me a chance to try and fudge the therapist thing. I went back to the same therapists who gave me the letters last year, exactly one year after my last appointment, and they signed off that I'd been seeing them for 12 months. So we turned that in and filed an appeal. That's where it started getting really, really obvious that my insurance was bullshitting us. I currently make just barely too much money to qualify for my state's government insurance plan. (which sucks because Oregon state insurance actually covers transgender care.) But I don't have enough money to pay for my own insurance. I've been on a family plan from my parents. In fact I specifically moved back in with my parents so I would be covered by it. But I age out on my next birthday, which is January 10th. So it's become increasingly obvious over the last few months that insurance was just stalling for time until they didn't have to deal with me anymore. After I turned in the appeal with evidence that I'd been seeing a mental health provider for 12 months, along with my new letters of referral, I didn't hear back from them. Got to within a week of surgery. Contacted surgery scheduling, and they said I hadn't been approved. Contacted my rep. Apparently, they had never received any appeal letters. That was bull crap, btw, because when we re-scheduled things again, and me, my provider, and my rep all made absolutely sure to send things through the proper channels, the exact same thing happened a second time. And at that point it was late October, and the next appointment was Dec 4th. So we re-appealed. Again. My rep sent stuff up the chain directly, and made sure it got to the people who needed to see it. I was assured that I would have an answer within the week. Three weeks ago. Yesterday, I called my rep to check on things, and she read out my final rejection letter. So. Even if I had time to reschedule again before I age out in a month and a half, it's clearly just not happening on this plan. I'd already started looking for other insurance, but even if I find one I can afford that covers trans care, it will take long enough I'll have to renew all my letters again. The thing that really makes me mad about this is the wording of the rejection. "Not medically necessary." Because I've already had top surgery.

My insurance paid for the large, expensive, invasive, purely cosmetic breast surgery with high risk of complications without throwing a single wrench in things. But a minimally invasive reproductive surgery? When I have a history of painful cramping, irregular periods every 10 to 20 days, and bleeding so heavy and so often I suffer from mild blood loss if my weight dips below 175? When I am literally choosing not to loose weight so I don't constantly pass out, and have been doing so since my mid teens? When I have a family history of cervical or uterine cancer? Oh noooo. We cant have that. It's not medically necessary.

HRT INJECTION TIPS!

Just did my T injection, and I wanna share some things that I find useful! I usually do my own shots, so some of this might not apply if you have someone else do it, but hopefully some of it will help anyway. Have something to remind you about your schedule! I have my injection dates marked on my calendar. I'm super bad at remembering timing and dates, and I would miss stuff like this all the time without an actual reminder I could look at. The one I've just done was actually a day late, because I just looked and realized I was supposed to do it yesterday. I have all the stuff I need for it in one place. Med vials, needles, disinfectant, Band-Aids, sharps box, ect. Makes it easy to keep track of. If you have trouble remembering all the steps, write yourself a list! I'm familiar enough with the process that don't always need it, but I still forget to z-track sometimes. Pop a painkiller half an hour before hand. It helps. I've gotten in the habit of doing this, but I was in a rush for my last one, and just did it without the Tylenol. And there's definitely a difference! Even with a painkiller, you'll still feel it, but it dulls it down just enough to make it easier. If you're over or even close to 200lbs, make sure you're getting a longer needle. An IM injection needs to get all the way down through your body fat and into your muscle tissue. Using a needle that isn't long enough will result in more medication leaking, less effective absorption into your tissues, and a more painful injection site afterword's. I use inch and a quarter needles. One inch works, but not as well, and three quarter inch is way to short. You can ask for different lengths at the pharmacy. If you've never done this type of shot before, and/or are nervous about using a longer needle, it might be surprising to learn that you can usually only feel the first quarter inch or so after piercing the skin. Once you've gotten down through the Hypodermis, there are way fewer nerve endings, and you'll barely be able to feel the needle at all. I usually do my own injections, and I've only had to get help with it because I balked once. But I have to fight with the instinctual "NO WANT STAB SELF" feeling every single time, and there's a lot of stuff that makes it easier. I can work myself up to start fairly easily, but the hardest part is AFTER I break the top layer of skin. I almost always get the needle just far enough in that the pain registers, and THEN the self preservation reflex tries to kick in.

This is why painkillers can be so useful. They slow down the pain signal enough for me to make it slightly deeper, and by that point, I'm almost always in past the point where the sensation stops. The one time I had to get help, it was because I had just barely pierced the skin and then pulled out several times in a row, and the mental block strengthened until I couldn't make another attempt. If you can brace yourself long enough to get that first quarter inch, the rest is much easier. If you have trouble pushing down the plunger for the actual injection, try asking the pharmacy for different syringes. I've tried out several kinds, and some are definitely way easier than others. One type I was given was so hard to push down that I lost most of a dose because I pulled the whole needle out while trying to depress the plunger. I'm fortunate enough to not have any allergies that interfere with my shots. But I've heard a lot of stuff from people who do, so I'll pass it on. The injection should hurt a bit, and might be sore for a day or so afterword's, but it should NOT be excruciating. It should also not swell, turn red, itch, or burn anywhere around the injection site. If it hurts a lot or starts acting weird, you might have done it wrong, gotten an infection, or be allergic to something you're using. Some people can have allergies to the oil used as a base for the hormones, the adhesives on bandages, or the needles themselves. Most injection needles have nickel in them. If you have reactions to piercings/jewelry, the needle might be a problem for you. Fortunately, you can usually swap out whatever's causing the problem for an alternative. There are several types of oil used for the injections, so you should be able to request one that won't cause a reaction. And nickel free needles are available. Feel free to add onto this! I'd love to hear anything people think might be helpful.

Ok, had my hysterectomy two days ago. Everything went well, no complications. And I have actually stopped taking the pain meds, because this is legitimately less painful that any period cramp I've ever had. I didn't think my cramps were that bad? Hearing the way some folks talk about them, it didn't seem like what I was dealing with was all that extreme. But if three surgical incisions and two missing organs hurts less than the cramps did I was probably just not processing the pain well at the time. I do still have one ovary left, so it's possible I could get cramping from that, but they took the right side out, so if I get any pain over there it's probably the appendix instead. Ether way. I have been successfully removed from the gene pool.

do not scroll past this!!!

There is currently an open consultation about the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland, it is currently only concerned with binary trans stuff but it is asking for public opinion and this is a good place for binary and non binary trans people alike to make our voices heard, this could change everything and make things infinitely easier for the trans community in Scotland

stonewall is currently talking about this and has a page where you can find information about this and a link to the public consultation: here

please reblog even if this doesn’t fit with the theme of your blog, as an nb person myself I really want to get the word out about this, this could be the beginning to nb people being legally recognised in Scotland the public consultation closes on the 17th of March so make sure to get the word out and give the Scottish government your opinions through this consultation before then!  

edit: I just found out this public consultation is not exclusive to those living in Scotland and have changed the title of this post accordingly