Hello underachievers!
So, quickly before I get into the video,
I gotta do the usual!
I've got to promote my tour.
I am touring America and one date in Canada,
I'm going to Toronto.
This April, in a few months.
It's gonna be really fun,
tickets are not expensive...
It'll be fun time!
We got VIP stuff,
so you can meet me and ask me really weird questions
if you want to do that...
We can get pictures together...
But yeah, I'll be playing some shows
with Bears in trees and Action/Adventure,
and it's gonna be the most fun ever.
I've never been so excited for a tour.
I've never been this ready for tour!
So yeah, grab some tickets below if you want to come.
Bring your mum, bring your dad,
buy yourself a ticket and make friends there,
who knows?
So, I've actually been on testosterone for almost five years.
I started in May 2018 and...
Some of you may be really confused.
You're like, "Noah, why are you starting hormone blockers
"if you've been on testosterone for so long?
"How does that make sense?"
If you're not confused,
you may just not know that much about trans health care,
but usually people start hormone blockers
before they go on estrogen or testosterone,
and I did it the other way around.
It's also usually children that start hormone blockers,
that's the whole thing, you know, about...
People calling them "puberty blockers",
is because they have been given safely to children for ages.
It's been used to treat precocious puberty for a long time,
pretty much kids that start puberty too early.
They just put on these blockers until they're ready to have puberty.
But yeah, it's also been used to treat trans kids
who want to delay their puberty,
because they don't want to have all, you know...
The pubescent changes.
So why am I starting hormone blockers?
Well, I guess we will find that in this video.
You guys had a lot of questions, apparently.
So, I've not been on blockers for very long.
I started them on the 21st of November,
and while I'm filming it,
it is currently the 10th of January,
so it's not even been two months yet.
The hormone blockers that I'm currently on
is called Zoladex.
It may often be known as goselerin.
I don't know how to say that.
And if you haven't figured it out by now,
the hormone blocker I'm on does not block testosterone,
it doesn't block every hormone in my body.
It just blocks estrogen, which is good.
To explain a teeny tiny bit about how the hormone blockers I'm on work,
here's a little section of a website explaining it.
"So, goserelin--" I'm just gonna say Zoladex.
"Is a type of hormone therapy called luteinizing hormone blocker.
"This means it stops the release of luteinizing hormone
"from the pituitary gland.
"Hormones are natural substances made by glands in our bodies".
Feel like we know that bit.
"Blocking luteinizing hormones stops the ovaries from making estrogen.
"So you only have this treatment if you haven't had your menopause.
"After menopause the ovaries don't produce estrogen,
"so that type of drug won't work".
So pretty much it just blocks estrogen.
And I was given the option to have Zoladex every month
or to have Zoladex every three months.
I started out on the monthly Zoladex,
and I'm still on the monthly Zoladex,
because I didn't have time to change it in time,
but pretty much I started out on the monthly Zoladex,
because I didn't want to be on a medication
that I didn't know how it would affect me for three months.
I would rather go on it for a month,
and if it didn't work out, I could just stop,
but so far it's been fine.
And the way that you start Zoladex is by injection.
I went up to my Pharmacy to go pick up my injection,
my medication and I didn't open it
until I got to my GP...
And I did not realize how big the needle was,
and I'm not saying this to put people off the needle,
but I've never been injected with such a big needle.
There's like a hole in it, and I didn't really know this up until,
so probably an embarrassingly late time.
Zoladex is an implant,
so they inject you with a big needle in your belly,
in your belly fat,
and they, you know, they put it in and it clicks,
and then they, you know, inject it
and what they're injecting is an implant.
It's kind of like, the size of a grain of rice.
So you guys obviously had a lot of questions,
so I'm just going to get to answering them.
So, this was the most common question:
"Why did you start blockers?"
To put it short,
I was still having periods
and I didn't want to have periods anymore.
Usually, when you start testosterone,
the majority of the time after a few months
you won't have periods anymore,
because the testosterone in your body is just like:
"No, we don't need periods".
For some reason, my body didn't do that.
Maybe I just had high estrogen levels.
Through the years,
my testosterone levels have been up and down,
and up and down and up and down,
and they've been pretty stable for the last year or two.
I switched from going to injections,
upping my dose and downing my dose.
And, you know, my levels should be fine,
but my periods still kept coming,
and I have always had really terrible periods.
Like, horrible periods.
Periods that I would not wish on anybody.
When I was younger,
I started a medication called mefenamic acid,
which if you have really bad period pains and period cramps,
ask your doctor to look at mefenamic acid,
because it honestly is a lifesaver,
it made my period so much more manageable.
But yeah, when I was younger, my periods were so bad
that I would throw up and pass out on my periods.
I'd have such bad pain that I would not be able
to spend the first day of my period doing anything.
Like, I literally used to have to go to my school health center
and just lie down for a day.
And they knew that, when they saw me,
they're like, "yeah, you're good...
"Just chill out for a bit".
And they've always been kind of heavy,
and, you know what?
Like almost five years on testosterone, I'm like...
"I don't want to be putting up with this anymore.
"I don't have to think about that every month".
And it was also the case that like,
not only my periods were heavy and painful,
but I would also get like, really hormonal, obviously.
I'd get like really depressed, really anxious, really moody,
and I just didn't want to deal with that anymore,
so the last time I went to my gender clinic appointment,
they were like, "are you still having periods?"
And I'm like, "yeah, can we stop that?"
So, you know, they gave me blockers.
I also tried contraceptive, called the Depo-Provera shot,
which made my periods worse.
I bled for like, months at a time,
so I guess this was my last try at blocking my periods.
Another question is:
"Any issues with the hot flashes?
"When I was just on blockers I had like 30 a day".
So, obviously there's a difference between
being on testosterone and being on blockers,
and just being on blockers.
Pretty much people will get hot flashes when they start hormone blockers,
because their estrogen level is just decreasing.
Like, that estrogen level is running out
and they don't have a dominant hormone in their bodies,
so to get used to that, you know, your body just goes a bit wild.
I was experiencing hot flashes every single day
before I started hormone blockers.
I would wake up in the morning, put my testosterone on.
and a little bit after that I would just get a hot flash,
and something that I've noticed, which is weird,
is that every morning now I put on my testosterone
and I don't get a hot flash:
I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist...
I do not know that much.
I know enough, but I kind of feel like,
internally, the way that I was experiencing this,
I felt like my estrogen and my testosterone were always like,
at each other's necks!
Like, they're always fighting for dominance.
Again, not sure if that's like, scientifically true,
but just in my experience of how it felt like,
I would put on my testosterone and then I'd get a hot flash,
and then I'd end up getting periods...
And they'd be so intense, and I get hot flashes,
I'd be like sweaty and greasy...
And obviously that's what happens sometimes
to some people in their periods,
but it was like, up and down and up and down and up and down.
And it was honestly exhausting.
And I didn't realize really how exhausting it was
until I started hormone blockers.
So I've not had hot flashes,
but, you know, it's a different experience
being on blockers with a dominant hormone as well.
I, also--
You know I didn't have to make this video,
but I could not really find many videos about people
that have been on testosterone and then start hormone blockers,
and it kind of stressed me out,
so I thought I should just make this video.
Even if it's not interesting to many people,
I'm sure some people will be going through what I went through,
or are going through what I'm going through right now.
Somebody asked:
"Are your testosterone levels higher than before hormone blockers?"
I don't know!
Because I've not had a blood test yet.
I've got a blood test next week,
so I will I will come back to this video and let you guys know,
but also, may not be very easy to measure.
When I got prescribed the hormone blockers,
I was also told to up my testosterone dose,
even though my testosterone dose was like,
within the levels, it was on the lower side,
so they asked me to up my dose,
even though last time I upped my dose it was too high.
I don't know!
There's, you know...
Me and hormones not had the greatest time sometimes,
but I'll let you know when I get a blood test.
I assume they'll be higher,
obviously, because I'm up my dose,
but I feel like they would be higher without upping my dose anyway,
because the estrogen has gone down--
I don't know!
"Any weird effects you didn't know about?"
Yes,
and this was something that I had kind of heard about
from like, two people's videos about starting blockers
after being on testosterone.
At the gym, I beat my personal record of like,
every single exercise I do at the gym.
Like, three times in one week.
Like, I started hormone blockers and I instantly had more energy.
I feel like I could exercise more,
I didn't fatigue as easily...
And I was working with my personal trainer
and I wasn't really doing anything differently diet wise,
I wasn't sleeping more,
I wasn't eating healthier.
But the amount of work that I was doing at the gym,
compared to before, it felt so much easier,
and I was doing so much better.
Like, I upped my weights on deadlifts,
on squats,
on bench press,
on overhead press...
Like, everything, like, pull-ups.
And I kind of was expecting that.
I don't know how it works in terms of estrogen,
making you more fatigued,
but I feel like, because there was obviously an imbalance with my hormones,
just a lot going on,
that maybe that was tiring me out.
But yeah, that was a weird thing that I kind of half expected.
I was kind of hoping for it to happen.
And I don't think it's a placebo effect,
because every single time I go to the gym, I'm like:
"Oh, it's fine, I'm gonna do really well".
But yeah, that was a weird thing that happened.
"How common is it to need estrogen blockers while on T?"
Not very common.
If you try and google it,
there's not very many things that come up.
You try and go on YouTube and find videos,
there's not many videos that come up.
Again, I don't know why my body is funky like this.
I don't know why I still have periods.
I've tried all different kinds of medications to stop them
and my womb just wants to keep going, I guess.
It's kicking and screaming.
Somebody asked:
"Does it feel a lot easier on yourself to be on blockers now
"instead of keeping up with T?"
I think a lot of people got this impression that,
when I said I was starting hormone blockers,
that I was stopping testosterone.
I'm not doing that, I'm still on testosterone.
So no, it's--
I guess twice as much work, because I need to do both now.
Somebody asked:
"Can you use hormone blockers instead of HRT?"
See... Well.
You should not be on hormone blockers only for a prolonged period of time.
I feel like the usual amount of time that you're only on hormone blockers
is for a year or two,
because if you're just on blockers on their own,
you could have issues with bone density,
which is not good.
But, you know, the majority of the cases,
the majority of the time,
the majority of the studies that I've seen,
taking just hormone blockers on its own for one to two years,
like a lot of trans kids do, is absolutely fine.
You just have to make sure you're exercising
and keep track of your bone density.
To answer your question, like,
if you're thinking of going on just hormone blockers for the rest of your life...
No.
You need somewhat of a dominant hormone.
What was the first significant difference I noticed?
Well, here's the thing.
So, when I started hormone blockers,
it also coincided with me getting a really bad flu,
and at first I thought that the flu was from the hormone blockers,
because some of the side effects of the blocker that I'm on
is like, extreme exhaustion,
body aches, nausea, that kind of illness stuff.
I had all of that and it literally started
the day after I started hormone blockers,
and I was freaking out, I was like, "oh, God,
"am I gonna have to have this every single month?
"Or every three months?"
The last time I had a shot, a few weeks ago,
I have not had any side effects apart from my tummy hurting.
But yeah, first significant difference,
I guess I would say "no hot flashes".
I don't know how common that is.
I don't know if everybody that's going through
the same thing as me has experienced that,
but, for me,
first significant difference I noticed was just feeling
kind of better and less emotional,
and less like, up and down.
I've only been on a short amount of time,
so I'm sure I'll do an update.
But like, I can't really think of any side effects.
Any negative side effects, at least.
Somebody asked:
"Is it worth going on hormone blockers
"if you have already been through puberty?"
And this depends on the person.
I mean like, for me, obviously absolutely worth it,
because I feel better already and I want to stop my periods.
If you're asking in the case of like,
say you're a 20 year old who's been through puberty already,
is it worth going on puberty blockers?
It depends on who you are.
I mean, if I was 20 and I hadn't gone a testosterone yet,
and I wanted to go on testosterone
and I wanted to start my periods,
I mean, yeah, it'll be worth it then.
It's not gonna reverse your puberty,
so if that's where you're expecting then like,
no, it isn't worth it.
But like, it depends on the person.
"Did you experience any of the 'T rage'?"
No, absolutely not.
I feel like I have less rage now,
because I don't need to worry about periods,
and I don't have, you know, PMS,
and I don't get as emotional as I did,
because I had a lot of estrogen.
No, didn't experience any of that.
"How come you didn't go on blockers when you started T?
Just because usually it's not necessary.
It was expected that I would start testosterone,
and my periods were stopped,
but they didn't, so now I'm on blockers.
"Have your period stopped completely?
"Do you still get any cramps, headaches, etc.?"
So, this one.
Have my period stopped completely?
No.
And I feel like that may be because my last blockers shot was 10 days late,
because I was in Scotland for Christmas.
It wasn't great!
I didn't have any side effects when my hormone blockers wore off,
but I feel like that would have an impact on it.
Something that I didn't realize would happen is that,
when you start hormone blockers, about three weeks in,
is when the estrogen finally really starts leaving your body,
and you may have a period when it comes to that.
I kind of had a period.
It was like a period, except I didn't have any of the cramps.
I didn't have any of like, the emotional stuff.
I didn't have any like PMS.
It was mostly just like, blood leaving,
and it wasn't as heavy as a period.
So I ended up having kind of a period,
but it wasn't really a period, I wouldn't really count it.
Either way, it's better than having a normal period.
And yeah, that was the last question.
I hope that was helpful.
If you have any questions below,
do let me know I would try and answer them.
But yeah, have a good day or don't.
See you later losers.
Goodbye!