Initial FTM Made Easy

Initial ftm

hey y'all as many of you know I'm nearing seven years on hormone replacement therapy otherwise known as HRT where I've been taking testosterone as part of my physical transition from female to male I realize that I never went into detail about how I got on testosterone so why not now because almost seven years ago I randomly uploaded this video hi okay so it's my first video where I'm actually talking um yeah so it's January 21st it's like noon this morning I went to the endocrinologist in Boston dr. Spock we've been wearing the same shirt somehow still fit in it Wow so how did I get to that day well there are many ways to begin taking testosterone but is most important to do it under the supervision of a doctor or an endocrinologist which is a doctor who specializes in hormones sure you can definitely get hormones or steroids illegally but that is dangerous and illegal and honestly it wasn't until I began on hormone replacement therapy that I realized just how much hormones affect our physiology and our mental health so it's really important to be under supervision so in 2008 I began trying to find a way to begin on testosterone and again this is 2008 almost eight years ago so we basically want to keep in mind that things have changed since then wildly now there's gender clinics or there's just primary care physicians that can help administer testosterone there's many different ways to get to stas around nowadays so I will put some links and references below for you to check out I'm just gonna speak about how I specifically started on testosterone so back in 2008 what my research showed me was that I would need to meet with a therapist for at least three months as an in accordance with the Harry Benjamin standards of care those are sometimes followed really strictly now sometimes they're not followed at all so those were in place when I was trying to get treatment so I ended up meeting with several different therapists over the course of about a year and a half and finally the last six months of therapy I spent with one that was extremely educated on transgender issues and I'm gender identity so after meeting with her for several months and bringing my parents to therapy sessions with her we came to the conclusion that I definitely wanted to take testosterone as I figured that it would alleviate some of my dysphoria especially around my voice so that was a big concern of mine and through bringing my parents to therapy since I was only 17 at the time I was able to get my parents permission to begin on testosterone because the doctors that I knew were going to require parents permission if you're a minor once my therapist saw all of that she wrote me what is referred to as a tee letter where she basically wrote out saying that I would benefit from hormone replacement therapy thankfully she also had a referral and a recommendation to an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital in Boston doctors back so I was able to call up his office having this letter in hand and make an appointment although it took four months wait for that pointman so four months go by and now at this doctor's appointment well I guess here's how it went down he wrote out my prescription for testosterone within like two hours um and so my mom was all like whoa like I didn't know it was happening so fast and I was like whoa I didn't know this was happening so fast so she was all like yeah so I want to see like how he does this shot cuz I don't want you doing it by yourself and I was like okay yeah whatever I don't care as long as I can shoot myself up with man today I definitely want to say I don't think at all it's a normal case to do first appointment blood work talking to the doctor getting the prescription getting the vial of tea and syringes and doing the shot all in the first appointment the pharmacy hadn't had the tea or if I hadn't been so adamant and my mom had been like whoa hang on we got to put the pause on this it would have been a week or two in order for me to be able to have done my first shot I just lucked out on that day and eventually got the testosterone filled there and they had a syringe to show me and I failed horribly at it so it was kind of good we were there to do it um but so I guess around 11:00 uh I injected testosterone in my body and so today's my first day like being born I guess I'm gonna bomb a baby oh crap okay that's awesome and how I felt after my first under chronologiste appointment and just merely hours after my first injection of tea well and I feel really good I feel like there's just a huge wait that's just been lifted from my whole soul I guess and I'm ready to embrace life now as the person is supposed to be so I guess it's kind of like being born but being able to full form like full sentences and walk and talk and like do all that fun stuff so from the time that I came out as trans around 15 and a half years old to the time I began on testosterone at 17 and a half it was about two years where I knew that I wanted to take testosterone but my process was slow and seeing the gender therapist than getting the appointment for my testosterone so I'm happy that those two years passed really quickly in my high school mind and also the seven years since starting have passed extremely fast as well I just want to let you know about how I got into stas room again this is only my personal story no but I'm like really surprised that I actually still fit in this shirt oh my goodness I've gained like 20 pounds since being on t what yeah that's about it I guess I'll update soon again okay that's good