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Hi, and welcome to another episode of the trans 101 series today
I'm going to be talking to you about the dangers of Hormone Replacement Therapy
This is a very important topic to talk about in the trans 101 because a lot of parents friends family members, acquaintances all of the above
Even trans people are scared and don't know
what are the dangers of taking testosterone, what are the dangers of taking estrogen
So in this video I'll give you some information and clear some of the
misconceptions and myths that you might have I'm going to start with testosterone
So i have made a video in the past about the changes of testosterone and hormone replacement therapy
and what happens if you'd like information on that
I will link you to the video in the description below and but right now
I'm really just going to focus on
Maybe the more negative aspects of Hormone replacement therapy
So some of the more negative associations with the changes in testosterone are mood changes a lot of people aren't able to cry
And a lot of people are more angry and need a place to release that anger
There is hair loss
There's acne in there's weight gain one aspect that I wasn't aware of is that if you have migraines before hormones going on
Testosterone may increase your migraines the reason why is because migraines are usually more
Frequent when you have your menstrual cycle because the estrogen levels go up and go down
So because you're going to be on testosterone when you are taking your dose of testosterone
Your testosterone levels go high and then go low and then they go high and then they go low, so because every dose you're kind of
You're kind of going high but then it drops and goes high and then it drops so because of that
hormonal fluctuation migraines may be more common if you've already had migraines in the past, but
testosterone does not cause migraines for people who have never had migraines in the past
And please remember that what I'm saying is USUALLY what happens
not every single trans person who is on testosterone will experience these, but I'm just giving you kind of a broad
Understanding and information about what usually happens
so when a person takes Hormone Replacement Therapy like testosterone
They are now at a higher risk of any cardiac issues and the reason for that all right is because you have a higher testosterone level in your body
So your risk of any heart or risk of cardiac issues
is now the same level as cis men
and by that I mean heart attacks and stroke
which is one of the reasons why when you go to your appointments
your doctor usually tells you to stay away from red meat, and stay away from cholesterol
You're trying to lower those down, but they say that to cis men as well
so because your testosterone levels are now higher you are now at a higher risk of any cardiac issues, but
usually you have to look at the men in your family
So your father, your your [in a lower voice] i was gonna say nephews [end of low voice], your uncles and your
Grandparents if they- gr, grandpa if they have ever had any cardiac issues, then you're at a higher risk
But if you have no cardiac issues in your family, then the risk is minimal
But still a good idea to stay away from a lot of red meat from smoking and from Cholesterol
Once somebody is on testosterone your red blood cell count really increases which is a great thing
Because you're able to have more energy you can run up the mountain and be less tired than you were a month ago
which is fantastic
But there is some negative association with that in that your blood becomes thicker
and this is very rare
But it can happen because your blood is thicker you can have a condition where your blood clots
Which is dangerous obviously, but this is very rare
I have never heard of this happening, but it's just logical to think oh your blood is getting thicker
That is usually associated with blood clots like I said once again. I don't to freak anyone out
This is a very rare thing you can actually check that at the doctor to make sure that your blood isn't too thick but usually
From what I have heard if your blood count your red blood cell height is too high your blood is too thick the way to
fix that is to donate blood.
The next aspect atrophy
So when we talk about the vaginal canal and we're talking about the reproductive organ and all that area down there
Estrogen really helps to
plump up and to make everything like nice and good down there in terms of moisture and in terms of
density
So when somebody goes on testosterone is basically like you're going through menopause
So everything kind of dries up down there, and it's not completely dry, It's not like [sucking noises] like crazy dry now
There's still some moisture down there
You can still get wet but you just get wet a little less the reason why I'm talking about this
its because atrophy happens which means that the lining of the walls get thinner
and it becomes more delicate and more sensitive
and it's not sensitive in a good way [joking seductive voice] oooh that's good it's so sensitive, it;s good [end of joking voice]
No, it's sensitive in a bad way where there is a higher increase in
the area bleeding because of the friction
and this causes a lot of irritation when somebody is having sex
which is one of the reasons where if you are on testosterone and you do get penetrated
It is a very good idea to use lube and I would say use a lot of Lube
Just because lube is great
and you should just use it all the time and you should also use protection and the reason I'm saying that is because
Scenario: you are getting penetrated, all right, and it's great and you're having fun
but you didn't use that much lube so the walls because they're not as moist as they should be they're kind of breaking down
like the density not too much
They're very sensitive so they kind of break down and lesions can can happen and bleeding can occur
this is dangerous and why?
Because when you're having sex and there's blood and there is semen and things can happen what happens. There is a higher risk for
STI and HIV transmission, so I don't want to like make a joke and like talk about this lightly
This is very serious
There are a lot a issues with atrophy that many people don't know about
but it does cause some bleeding in some trans men and other
Non-binary folks who have been on testosterone have complained that
they bleed after sex after being penetrated and it's uncomfortable
and it's not fun
Well using Lube and using protection is a great way to reduce the risk of transmission of STIs and or HIV
and is also a very good way to
kind of not reverse the effects, but
kind of go away from-I don't know the word I'm looking for
not bleed basically
As somebody who has experience with this
I can say that it does work doesn't work every time. I have bled in the past when there was lube no idea why
I think it also is associated with if you're having harder sex, then the wall can break down a little easier
And it's not that it is super super painful it's just dry
It's like a dry pain. Yeah. I'm sure you can imagine in your head
It's not very hard to
picture in your head what that would feel like
So the last aspect that I wanna talk about in regards to testosterone, before I move on to estrogen is cancer.
Now there is a very large myth in this community and outside that
Going on testosterone will cause you cancer you will develop cancer and more specifically
ovarian cancer or cancer in the uterus or anywhere in that area
it was recommended in the past from doctors even to get a hysterectomy
Which is the removal of the uterus well,
It's actually a total hysterectomy with oophorectomy so the removal of the uterus the fallopian tubes the cervix and the ovaries
Removing all of that within two to five years of starting testosterone
Just in case just so that you don't develop cancer
well
they have done studies on this and they have realized that that's not the case
testosterone does not actually cause cancer
BUT! I will say that if you are on testosterone you do have a higher risk
of not detecting cancer if you don't get checked
So that's the only thing is not because you're trans, because you're on testosterone you're gonna get cancer
You're at a higher risk no, but I will say that if you don't get Pap test
And you don't get pelvic exam
and you still have all of those organs down there
You-you should get a hysterectomy or get checked
because there are some things that you might miss
you might miss pre-cancer cells
that may develop into cancer cells that you need to remove
But this could also happen to non trans women as well, but also if you are on testosterone and you do get a pap test
Some doctors might miss pre cancer cells because they don't know what to look for especially if you're putting in the
diagram that you're male or female and they don't know which hormones to look at
because testosterone can give you a reading
lIke an abnormal reading in your pap test
So those are just the things that you have to be careful for and make sure that your doctor is aware of these things that
Testosterone can give you a
abnormal reading and that you as yourself, you should be aware if you do not want a hysterectomy
then you should get a pap test and a pelvic exam every two years or
If you don't want to get a pap test or a pelvic exam, then you should get a hysterectomy
Because honestly, not that i'm saying it's dangerous but
you're not checking yourself you have the same risks that cis women would have
and one more thing!
Sorry even if you have had top surgery
it is a good idea to still check for lumps, because not all top surgeries remove all of the breast tissue
they masculinize your chest right, so you need to keep some tissue in order to still have
Pecs Pec muscles and like an area that looks like a pec instead of it more being concave so checking out for lump is also a good idea
Alright now! let's move to hormone replacement therapy we're talking about estrogen
Everything that I'm going to talk to you about in regards to the risks are
Basically the same risks as if a cis woman was taking birth control
So if you look at the pamphlet they talk about how if you smoke, you have an increased chance of developing blood clots
same thing here
and these clots are usually associated with pulmonary embolisms, heart attacks and strokes
with estrogen you feel more emotions
I don't know if that's the negative side effect or not
But I'm just just letting you know that that's the thing that happens same thing as a testosterone if you had migraines before
starting estrogen now that you are on estrogen because of the fluctuation of estrogen in your body
Your migraines may get worse or you may get more of them but estrogen does not cause migraines in people who don't have migraines
So a lot of trans women, who take estrogen also take another medication called
spironolactone
to supress t
this medication is actually also used to lower blood pressure but
But it's somehow also suppresses testosterone which then decreases the erectile function
But this is a medication that is used at the same time as estrogen to suppress the testosterone because testosterone is very
[makes claw like movements with his hand] Very agressive
very strong in the body so sometimes you're taking estrogen isn't enough to suppress all that testosterone so taking this extra medication will help to
supress it even more
So some doctors are hesitant to give trans women or trans feminine individuals looking for estrogen
their prescription if
They have a history of cancer or blood clots with that
WIth that you would just need to do more tests with the doctor and talk about the possibility and
if you smoke, you have to stop smoking a lot of doctors actually require you to stop smoking in order for you to go on testosterone and or estrogen
lot of erectile function can happen that could be a good thing for some people that can
be a bad thing for others
interestingly enough
I did not know this and I don't think that this is a negative effect
but it is important to know, ten years after you started estrogen, so if you've been on estrogen
It is a good idea to think about getting mamograms
because you're on estrogen for so long that you have developed breast tissue
and if you think about it
Not only cis women get breast cancer right cis men also get breast cancer
cis men also get breast cancer
So not that I'm saying that trans women and men are all
I'm just saying everyone can get breast cancer
So it is a good idea after you've been on estrogen for a long time
but
if you started estrogen when you were in your teens, and now you're like 26
you don't have to start thinking about it now
I'm more talking about if you were in like your 30s when you started estrogen and now you're in your 40s
It is a good idea to start thinking about mammograms
Maybe start talking to your doctor about that
alright, that's all that I can think of for now
alright so
I wanted to give you the dangers and what the negative effects of hormones
can give to a person who is in hormone replacement therapy
Hopefully I answered some of your questions
and debunked some of your myths, especially the cancer myth related to uhm, testosterone
that is a very big myth which I actually look more into when I talk about hysterectomies
which I will link in the description below
If you have any questions please let me know, I look forward to reading you commentary below
and I hope you have a great day
I'll see you later, bye!
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