Filetternavn

joined 1 year ago
[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I highly recommend LeoLines! They make the extra hardware disappear, and they're also super comfy. Worth the price, IMO. I have no problem wearing leggings, other than the fact that I don't have an ass lol

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

My professional training for subcutaneous injection when I started them over 4 years ago was done through a phone call. It's not rocket science, it's genuinely hard to fuck them up. You aren't finding a vein, as it isn't an intravenous injection, you aren't even at risk of hitting a vein (like with intramuscular). You're just injecting into the fat layer. The injection leaves a depot of medication in the fat that is absorbed by fat cells very slowly, usually over the course of multiple weeks in oil-based suspensions.

I have never once messed up a subcutaneous injection, and I've done them while blackout drunk before. It is significantly riskier to use an EpiPen on someone, and those are commonplace (and I'm not talking about the effects of epinephrine, I'm talking purely about the safety of injection). I cannot get it across just how incredibly hard it is to fuck up a subcutaneous injection. OP is not at any risk here; you're manufacturing fear in a place that should be celebrating OP. Please stop; it does nothing to help anyone.

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Lack of gender affirming care for gender dysphoria has been shown to lead to significantly increased risk of suicide. If you're unaware, suicide is deadly, so yes, it is life threatening. Over 40% of transgender adults in the US have attempted suicide in their life. Transitioning, and specifically implementing gender affirming care like hormone replacement therapy, has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of suicide. So yes, HRT is a life saving treatment.

As someone with chronic health issues that I've been hospitalized for multiple times that would also certainly qualify as "life threatening", I am in no way "insulted" by gender dysphoria being called life threatening. In fact, now that I am properly medicated for my health issues, I'd say gender dysphoria is the second most deadly thing in my life. It's only usurped by Borderline Personality Disorder (which cannot be treated with medication), which has a completed suicide rate of 10%, and up to 85% of people with BPD are estimated to attempt at some point in their life.

Please stop attempting to minimize and illegitimize our problems. The only thing "insulting" happening in these comments is your fear mongering and blatant dismissal of trans issues.

EDIT: This released a few minutes after I commented, and I found it to be incredibly topical to this comment: Hormone replacement therapy lowers suicidality by nearly 70% among transgender youth

Yeah, I started on 4mg Estradiol Cypionate as monotherapy, and I'm down to 2mg and it still may be too much. It's definitely different for everyone

No, I just have a natural tendency to be incredibly verbose and specific, and this is a process I've been doing for years now, so I'm hyperaware of how to do it

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I've been self-administering medications subcutaneously for over 4 years, with a prescription. It's genuinely really hard to fuck up a subcutaneous injection,and watching a single video on how to do it (or reading a nurse's guide lime I did) is more than enough to understand it. Subcutaneous injection is an injection into the fat layer, so it does not involve hitting a vein or muscle. The most common points of administration are the abdomen and the thighs. Here are the steps, for reference:

  • Wash hands thoroughly
  • Gather all materials including an alcohol swap, the vial of medication, a sharps container, and a syringe (you can use a separate needle for drawing and injecting, but the insulin syringes OP has come with a needle attached, so you have to use the same one for both)
  • Use alcohol swab to clean the seal of the vial and the injection site
  • Uncap the needle and plunger, then pull the plunger to fill the syringe with air up to the volume of the dosage you will be administering (this is to offset the volume lost in the vial by drawing the medication)
  • Hold the needle like a pencil in your hand, with the face of the bevel pointing upwards (so you can see the interior of the shaft)
  • Hold the vial upright, and when the alcohol on the vial has fully evaporated, insert the tip of the needle into the core of the vial starting at a 45° angle with the tip of the bevel entering first, then smoothly turning as inserting to reach a 90° angle
  • Once the needle is fully inserted, expel the air into the vial
  • With one hand on the vial and one on the syringe, invert the vial so that it is upside down (so the needle is immersed in the fluid)
  • Slowly draw medication past the dosage required
  • Flick the syringe to loosen any bubbles so they float upwards towards the needle
  • Expel the air bubble(s) at the top of the syringe so that there is no air left in the syringe (you may have to draw more medication and expel air multiple times with a thick fluid), then push the plunger until you've reached your desired dosage
  • Remove the needle from the vial in a single motion; you are now ready to inject
  • Grasp the needle like a pencil again, with the bevel facing upwards
  • Pinch the area of the skin where you will be injecting, holding between 1-2 inches of skin
  • In a single swift motion, insert the needle at a 45° angle into the skin, again with the tip of the bevel entering first (or if you aren't as lean, you can use a 90° angle)
  • Release the pinch from your skin
  • Slowly inject the medication, and keep the syringe in until 4 seconds after the plunger bottoms out to prevent medication from leaking out upon extraction
  • In a straight motion, remove the needle from the skin, and immediately dispose in a sharps container
  • Clean up your supplies and you're done!

I know that's a lot of steps, but I promise the process is really simple and intuitive after you've done it once. I went into an extreme amount of detail.

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

U won't break the needle by inserting it into yourself, skin and fat are far too flexible to provide ample force to snap it! Take it from a girlie who has been on E since January (and has taken medications subcutaneously for over 4 years), it's a lot less painful with a single, quick motion!

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

I mean, people inject insulin daily, so how is this any different? Spoiler alert: it's not. These are insulin syringes they're using, and based on the needle length, they're definitely doing it subcutaneously, just like insulin. Diabetics can't pay for a nurse to inject them every day, nor should they. Subcutaneous injections are incredibly easy to administer; you just inject the medication into the fat layer (not a vein).

Breaking news: China is not a safe place for queer folks! In other news, the sky is blue; more at 11.

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't speak for everyone, but for me, once the novelty wore off, my ADHD procrastinate forever response kicked in like it does for anything monotonous. It's not that I avoid doing it or don't wanna do it, it's moreso just my executive function being fucked to the point where I keep saying "eh, I'll do it in a bit". Granted, I've been on HRT for almost 10 months now, so it's really not smth I think abt all that much anymore. It's just kinda a part of normal life at this point

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

My Estradiol is going to be a different viscosity than yours given that it's homebrew and 40mg/ml, but I don't really have trouble drawing mine; just takes a little patience

 

For context, see my initial post here.

I've made a plan with my therapist, and I'll be admitting myself. I've also been advised that given some recent behaviors and events, it's in my best interest to be evaluated for bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder (yay ;-;). Whatever happens, I'm mentally prepared to step through the doors and allow myself to seek treatment. Maybe all I need is a change in medication, or a place where I feel safe enough to process my emotions and work through them. Regardless, I understand what to expect, and I'm confident that it's what I need right now. I can't get by just letting things happen as they are currently, because I'm only continuing to get worse without proper treatment. I'll likely make a new post when I'm discharged about my experience. See y'all on the other side.

 

If any trans women here have been admitted to a psychiatric ward, I'm looking for advice/experiences. My main concerns are the following:

  • Losing access to DIY HRT
  • Inability to shave, or is I can shave, having to be watched while doing it
  • Being strip searched
  • Transphobia from other patients and staff
  • Food

Context - I live in a blue part of Washington State, fairly progressive, and I'm working with my therapist to get a personal recommendation for a facility (she mostly treats LGBTQ+ patients, so I'll be asking specifically about that).

I currently take Estradiol Cypionate by injection, once per week as monotherapy. I've used a tool to estimate my E levels, and I've determined I could likely go 14 days before things get bad (below 100pg/mL), but obviously that would not be an ideal experience for me hormonally. I just tested my levels last week and my E came back significantly higher than I expected (could maybe go longer than 14 days), and my T levels were incredibly low (16ng/dL). So much so that I was planning to reduce my dosage this week, though I think I'll wait to reduce until after my stay in case it lasts longer than I expect. I am almost 100% not going to be able to get them to administer my DIY hormones to me, but if anyone else has had this experience, please comment. I think I've rationalized it enough that I wouldn't be devastated if I were denied access (or more accurately, when I am), assuming my stay isn't longer than 2 weeks. I'm worried that they'll see them and throw them away instead of just locking then up, which would be a big problem because shipping would take about 2 weeks and I don't even have the money for it right now.

However, I am quite concerned about shaving. Since I'll be a voluntary admission, I've heard there's sometimes leniency for supervised face shaving, but I'm also worried about being able to shave my body. Granted, I'll be wearing clothes that cover up all my skin, but the feeling of being unshaven is incredibly dysphoric for me. I could live with it, except for genital hair. I unfortunately have extremely sensitive skin, and I'm pre-op, so if I don't shave for a few days, I will get intense chaffing and irritation, which is the most dysphoric thing I have ever felt in my life. I would be in genuinely severe mental distress having to live like that. But even if I were granted some exception to let me shave there...I'd have to be supervised. And I'm having a really hard time trying to mentally prepare myself for someone watching me shave naked. Especially because I don't know if I'll be allowed to ask that it be a woman that supervises. I've been told it varies wildly from place to place for strip searches, and I assume it would be the same case here.

And then...there's being strip searched. Again, no idea if I can decide if a man or a woman watches me strip and reveal every square inch of myself, which is horrifying. I would feel mildly less mortified if my genitals matched my gender identity, but...I'm not there yet.

The fear of experiencing persistent transphobia while I'm there is also incredibly present for me, especially given that I'm nowhere close to passing. This will be my first time publicly presenting femininely but I think it's what's best for my mental health because it's exhausting having to hide myself in person when I have been open online for almost a year now, and on HRT for 5 months as of today. The only thing holding me back has been living with transphobic parents with a long history of abuse. There are two angles to the transphobia fear. The first is that there may be other patients admitted who are transphobic, and in severely deteriorated mental states, and the second is that staff could be transphobic, and they hold an immense power over me as a patient. Both are terrifying to me, and I don't know how I would deal with it.

And perhaps something more inconsequential is food. I have a milk allergy, so I'd need that to be accommodated, and I'm also autistic so I have a lot of food triggers. I'm worried about not being able to eat enough, to be honest.

None of these things are going to prevent me from admitting myself, I know I need help right now, and I need serious intervention to be able to recover and to keep myself safe...from myself. I'm not going to get into the details because that isn't what this post is about, I've just been having some anxieties about what it's going to be like, and the chances of me leaving the hospital severely traumatized.

If any of you have been through it, what has it been like for you? Any advice?

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