[Intro]
Chase: Hey guys, it's me and as you can see by the title you may be a little bit confused
as to why Chase Ross, who has been on hormones
for seven years, is now going on hormone blockers.
So. I have had a lot of issues in the last year and a half
with my hormone levels.
I started testosterone almost seven years ago
and my levels have always been A-OK.
About a year and a half ago,
I went to check my levels
and my T levels-
and this is the scale that my doctor uses-
needs to be between 10 and 30.
and he prefers it to be around 19 to 21,
like right kind of in the middle?
That's where he likes it to be.
My T levels were a 4,
which is lower than cis women!
Uhm, he thought maybe
it was the Androgel that I was on
was not uh, either
my body is not absorbing it any more,
it was a bad batch,
or the lab that I went to just didn't do
my labs correctly.
So I had to re do labs
and I had to go back-I had to go on a higher
dose of Androgel
and uh-no not a higher dose, sorry
I just had to buy another box of Androgel.
And I tried that and my T levels were still very low-
I think they were at 14..getting there though.
Uhm so I have been for almost a year now,
on a higher dose of Androgel instead of one little packet
of 5 grams?
I am on 7 and a half grams.
So, like, one packet and a half.
Uhm so that, that, that's part one.
Part two is that I had a lot of issues with bleeding.
So last year, I bled I think 4 times
in 2 months.
And that is like, super traumatic,
'cos I haven't bled at all
in like, a really long time.
And that's not something I'd like to experience
because it's very uncomfortable and not fun,
and very dysphoric indu-dysphoria inducing.
So...He put me on Progesterone pills.
So I have been taking Progesterone, uhm since I think,
like, April of last year.
So you would think that after all of that,
I would be fine.
Well..Not so much.
Last month, I was bleeding,
for a week.
And it was really really really not fun
to have to deal with that because I...
I don't want that to happen!
So I decided to make an appointment with my endo,
and I was able to get a sneak appointment
within a month and a half, which is very rare
and I don't know how that happened.
Uhm, oh actually it's been 2 months
since I bled, sorry.
So I got an appointment two months later
and I just came back from that appointment
so I have been talking to a lot of people
about what I should do, because I don't want to bleed.
But I don't want a hysterectomy.
And the reason why I don't want a hysterectomy
are very personal to me
and I have made a video, called "No hysto please."
about why I don't want a hysterectomy.
So please, if you would like to watch that video,
I'll put the link in the description, but..
Don't pressure me into getting a hysterectomy.
Trans men do not need a hysterectomy
You don't need a hysterectomy.
It's always been like:
" Oh, two years after hormones."
or "five years after hormones..It's recommended that you get a hysto."
There are literally no studies, anywhere,
anywhere, that show, that trans men, after five years,
are gonna die if they don't get a hysto.
Or things are going to happen with their ovaries, or their uterus.
[sigh]
No.
There are no no no no no studies on that.
And if there are please God, like, link me
because I don't see them anywhere.
Uhm, the issue is that doctors didn't know
what was going to happen to your body
after being on hormones for that long and having those parts.
So they assume that you might get cancer.
Uhm, I mean I'm not saying that they assume
I think that was just a myth that just people started saying
and also I think there was also a lot of like
"we need to sterilise trans people."
and "we need people to not have to have those parts."
I have been going like all..society on you right now..
so I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to go into more of why I'm on hormone blockers now.
So, my doctor suggested that I-
because he knows I don't want a hysterectomy-
uhm, that I..
get on something that will completely suppress
the ovaries from producing oestrogen.
Because although my T levels are okay now,
uhm, my T levels are now at 17,
my oestrogen levels are still very high.
And because I don't want a hysterectomy,
they're still going to produce oestrogen.
And if my T levels are too high, that's also going to
convert into oestrogen, which is not good for me.
So what he suggested is that I take something
uhm, to completely suppress the production of oestrogen from my ovaries.
And I was very sceptical and scared
as to what he was talking about.
So I was like:
"Wait, do you mean Lupron?"
"Like the hormone blocker?"
He's like: "Yeah, it's Lupron."
But that's not a hormone blocker.
Whatever.
I feel like the street name, or like how everyone else
talks about it, it's a hormone blocker because
this is the medication that trans teens and
people who are like, 12 years old and transitioning go on
so that they avoid puberty.
It basically puts a pause button on puberty.
Uhm, so if you have like a little trans boy who's 12
and puberty's about to start,
the best thing to do if your parents are unsure
if hormones are right for you,
and they're scared that testosterone is you know,
probably not the-
like maybe you're going to change your mind-
literally, just put your kid on Lupron.
Because Lupron is a hormone blocker and it'll
block puberty.
[inhale.]
And it's a pause button,
which means that when you stop Lupron,
the pause button, it..you press play again,
and then the puberty that the kid was gonna have,
has puberty.
But, usually what happens
is that the kid goes on Lupron,
and after uhm, I think usually
it's around like 14 to 16 that, from the friends that I know
who have transitioned that young,
or the ones that I know now,
they're on Lupron for uhm, for, for a bit of time
and they skip puberty completely
like, they don't have their puberty,
and then they start hormones at like 14 to 16.
And then when they start testosterone,
they still stay on Lupron so that they make sure that
that puberty never kicks in, which is fantastic
because then you have the puberty that you were meant to have.
Like,
mentally.
Uhm,
and you don't have the puberty
that you were trying to avoid the most,
because that's not fun at all
'cos you don't want develop the tittie..
and all that fun stuff.
And bleed and all that stuff.
God, if only I was younger when I transitioned! God!
Uhm..
So anyways,
That's why I said:
"Why me Chase Ross, who is old, and on T for 7 years,
is now on hormone blockers."
Because it is generally, typically used,
for people who are younger.
Well..
I am about to start Lupron,
uhm, because, they are trying to suppress
the oestrogen production from my ovaries
So I am going to start that and it's a monthly shot
that I take, which are like,
"Lol, Chase, you and needles?"
I am not going to be giving myself this shot
I will be going to a nurse,
who will, uhm at the clinic, who will
give me this shot,
because it is very, very complicated
and I'm going to show you.
Because I've never seen a video
of anyone showing what a Lupron shot look like.
So I'll show you.
And I will uhm, get the shot done,
and I then will update you in a couple of months
on how I feel and stuff like that.
So this is what, the box looks like.
I'm not going to show you the other side
'cos it has all of my information on it.
But on it it says "Lupron Depot".
Uhm, and this is 3.75 milligrams.
And I think this is cool for like the people who are younger,
and whose parents might like,
be sceptical about hormone blockers.
Lupron, like literally,
you're just pressing the pause button.
Like your-this is not going to hurt your kid at all.
Uhm, so...
It has, it has like two little swabs inside
like alcohol swabs!
Those are so cute.
So this is what Lupron looks like!
[laughs]
It's terrifying!
Especially looking at that needle
which I'm really trying to avoid.
So this has a powder in it right there
and then here there's liquid.
So it's a two, like a two part uhm..
which you need to connect.
I don't really know how,
there's like instructions,
which is why I ain't fucking with this.
Uhm..
So yeah, so you, you-
these two will be mixed together
'cos you're not going to inject powder into you..
And then after it just injects into you.
[laughs]
Not excited!
For this!
I am very nervous.
Honestly, I really don't like injections
which is the reason why I am on Androgel!
But if a nurse is doing it to me,
and I am not looking,
and she does it in my arm,
uhm, because it needs to be in the muscle,
it's like intramuscular.
Uhm...
Then I'm fine.
I think that some people do it in the butt.
I don't know I feel like maybe the arm would be better
I..I have no idea.
By the time this video's out
I will have already got this shot
because I think I'm going to go get it today or tomorrow
at the pharmacy.
Uh, sorry, the clinic.
Uhm, now, I-I-
I know that this is very intimidating,
and scary, but honestly,
if you are a little tran
[sigh]
little baby tran,
and you are, uhm, seeing this
and you're like "This is what I need."
I can only imagine, if I was younger right now,
and watching a video of someone who is older
and showing what Lupron looks like
and showing what a hormone block-
this is what you can get...
I would be so happy
and I would be able to show my parents this video and be like:
"Look, it just pauses your hormones."
I will make a more in depth video by the way
about hormone blockers and Lupron
and what it does to you if you're younger.
But right now I'm more relating it to me
because I'm about to put this in my body and I'm terrified.
And I'm terrified because it's a needle,
not because of the thing,
I'm really excited that this is going to suppress the oestrogen,
uh, from my ovaries, and see if that actually helps
because if I still bleed, after this suppresses the oestrogen,
uh, from my ovaries, and the production of oestrogen..
uhm, then I have a real problem
and I'm going to have to probably get a hysterectomy.
I don't think it's going to get to that.
I think that I'm fine, I think that this is-
I think that my body is just like, my ovaries, are just like..
They're good.
They're kicking in.
They ain't going down.
Maybe I'm just like one of those people that's like:
[sighs] "My ovaries were just meant to go!"
Uh, [laughs] to keep, like to go, like to keep working,
even though I've been on testosterone for seven years now.
Anyways,
One funny thing though, is that,
when I'm got my prescription for testosterone the first time,
on June 16th 2010, I, uhm,
went to the clinic to get the nurse to do it for me,
because I didn't know how to do subcutaneous injections-
I didn't even know what that was-
and she said that they can't give it to me because I need
a prescription because testosterone is a controlled substance
and I was like "What?"
so I had to run back to the pharmacy,
get them to copy my prescription,
run back, and do it.
This time, I'm avoiding that completely.
So I asked the pharmacy right away to give me
a copy of my prescription, just in case.
I have no idea if Lupron is a controlled substance.
But I feel like it probably is?
Because why would you make any of this easy on any of us?!
So at least I have my prescription here that I can show them,
uhm, I am kind of nervous though,
because it is a very complicated like,
intricate,
needle, syringe type of thing.
And I'm scared that they're going to like, fuck it up.
[laughs]
I just really..
I wish that I could go to a, like a, a trans nurse.
Like a nurse who deals with trans patients,
and has done Lupron shots.
And I asked online for some people who could give me,
like, people that I could go to,
and so I'm going to try and figure that out today.
But, anyways.
I-That's it.
I am-
Chase Ross.
Me.
26 year old.
7 years on T.
Is now going on a puberty blocker, basically.
I'm going on hormone blocker to see if it
will stop me from bleeding.
And, regulate my testosterone levels a little bit more,
and figure all of that fun stuff out.
If you have any questions at all about how this feels,
uhm,
and anything, ask me questions about hormone blockers,
or puberty blockers, whatever people are calling it,
I think it's-I don't remember the actual name of it.
It's not hormone blocker, it's like the street name..
Whatever.
Lupron.
If you have any questions at all about Lupron,
or, uhm, any of that-
I will be making a video specifically
addressing Lupron for teenagers,
or people who are about to hit puberty,
and it's more going to talk about to
parents about it, and why it's a good idea
to put your child on Lupron if you are unsure
of their trans status,
but still want to support them.
Because at least this way you're completely,
completely, helping them in avoiding a puberty
that they do not want because there are certain things
that are kind of irreversible,
like growing the tittie.
You gotta have surgery to remove those.
So it would be great if you didn't have to-anyways.
I'm just rambling on, I'm going to stop right now.
Let me know what you think,
I will let you know how I feel in the next couple of months,
and let you know if I still have issues with bleeding,
Thanks for watching.
Sorry if I was rambling on,
I don't really know what to talk about any more.
I love you so much, have a great day, bye.
[Outro.]