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Information and comments about the physical aspects of transition. Hair removal Voice Facial feminization Hair loss Reproduction Hormones Orchiectomy Vaginoplasty Breast implants Injected silicone Breast forms Movement Tall clothing Skin care Makeup Handwriting

Monday, October 27, 2008

Reader report: Possible option for saving on transgender hormones

 

From a reader:

it’s possible to save money on hormones [or get them free] through prescription assistance programs. they’re usually really hard to get into.

there’s no qualification process for http://www.rxoutreach.com/ and you can get 6 months of medications for a 20$ processing fee.

realize this email may come off as an ad or something at first, but it’s not. check out the site; it’s really pretty amazing. I couldn’t find any FTM hormones on their list though.

the only downside is that your doctor needs to be able to write scripts for 6 months of pills.

it’s saving me a ton of money [200$/month] and I figured it’d help a lot of other people too, but I figured you could probably let more people know about it than I could.

you don’t need to be under 18 for the programs. anyone can use them.


This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 10/27 at 03:43 PM
PhysicalPermalink

Reader report: recent feminizing procedures

 

From a reader:

ELECTROLYSIS

-I started electrolysis on my face in March 2007 and the type used on me is thermolysis. I did laser on my face for about a year before that, however, I eventually decided that the results I was getting did not appear to be long-term.

One HUGE regret I have is getting electrolysis done on my arms twice awhile ago. Even though I only had it done twice, it was enough to leave noticeable scattered red dots that never went away. Before this happened, I thought the skin on my arms looked extremely beautiful, but now in certain light it looks like my arms have acne and/or look bumpy from welts. 

Although I have very few dark hairs on my upper lip, it still looks like I have a significant shadow there because I have red marks across it that do not go away between appointments. It kind of looks like a black shadow was replaced with a red shadow. At first, I became afraid that the skin of my upper lip might be permanently scarred with those red marks, but then I read on your website that possible treatments exist for restoring the natural color of skin such as Neostrata, chemical peels and laser resurfacing. I have also noticed, in certain light angles, some bad pitting on my upper and lower lips. Pitting seems to be a problem on my jaws too. I plan to pursue your suggestions for treating those problems once I am getting electrolysis much less frequently. That is also when I will see a dermatologist for an additional opinion on how to eliminate the electrolysis marks on my face and arms.

LASER RESURFACING

-In December 2007 and January 2008, I had laser resurfacing done that is supposed to have results similar to CO2, but without the long healing time. The laser is called “Pixel” and I had it done on my face and neck by a plastic surgeon. I do not think it made my skin look free of flaws, however, I do feel it gave my skin’s color a more even and slightly tan appearance. I think the effect of the Pixel laser on me would be better described as laser skin

re-coloring instead of laser skin re-surfacing. This was unfortunate because I spent a total of $2,000 for the two treatments. I also think it would have been better to wait until electrolysis was nearly completed before attempting to resurface my face. I feel this way especially now that I see how pitted and discolored my upper lip has become from electrolysis. I think I will eventually have the traditional CO2 laser used on my face when I am, for the most part, done getting facial electrolysis. My hope would be that it takes away the discolored red skin on my lips and the pitting issues.

TEETH WHITENING

I had Zoom done on my teeth in January 2008 and I would not recommend it to others. My teeth were so painful after the procedure that I could not breath through my mouth. I was not told during my consultation that I would need to use bleach trays every 4-6 weeks to maintain the level of whiteness given by Zoom. I also found that using the bleach trays caused the severe pain to return to my teeth and I could not use them. The total cost was around $600 and it is really sad because now my teeth look about how they did before the procedure.

I had two small knicks on my lower teeth that never really caused me pain, but once I had Zoom done I felt frequent pain in those areas and I eventually needed a dentist to put caps over the knicks so the pain would go away. One other problem I have experienced is that the top of my upper and lower teeth at the front of my mouth now look almost transparent instead of being the opaque white color they were before.

What I have tried to do now is maintain the whiteness that I naturally have. I do this by avoiding habits that can stain teeth and it is actually kind of easy for me to do because I never really drink coffee, tea or cola. I was told that the Zoom procedure makes your teeth more porous, so I think that I might be more susceptible to teeth staining now if I consume what I wrote above in large quantities.

I went to a respected cosmetic dentist to learn more about veneers and although it seemed appealing, the cost was about $6,000 to get a veneer on each of my upper six teeth. My lower teeth show a bit when I talk though, so if I only got them on the upper teeth, I don’t think it would look natural.

HAIR TRANSPLANTS

-In September 2007 and April 2008, I had micro-follicular unit hair transplants. Around 1,000 hairs were transplanted at each appointment. My natural hairline never lost hair that I know of, however, it had a very strong masculine “M” shape to it. The goal of the hair transplants was to fill in my temples and give my hairline a feminine arc. I should know for sure the full effect by April 2009. If I measure from the top of my eyebrows to where the new hairline begins, the distance is between 4.5cm and 6cm depending on what part of the arc you are measuring towards. I spent a total of $9,500 for the two surgeries, but I view this as an investment in my future quality of living. I used a special cosmetic surgery loan to pay for it.


This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 10/27 at 03:40 PM
PhysicalPermalink

Reader report: My second visit to Electrology 3000

 

A reader reports on her second visit to Electrology 3000:

2nd Visit to E3K

I was a bit concerned after my first trip to E3K to start electrolysis work
on my face. My face took a while to recover, I took a week and half vacation
and the swelling was mostly gone, the bruising was completely gone. Since I
only have so much vacation though I was worried about a second visit. That
plus the fact that it took about 2 weeks for any hair growth to show, I
really didn’t have a good idea of what time to book. Realizing that my beard
growth was on the light side to begin with, and when speaking with the
ladies during my first visit (which took approximately 10 hours total time)
I scheduled just 6 hours for my second visit. I did speak with Irma about my
concern that if it ran over the allotted time, would they finish anyway and
I would pay the difference. She agreed and instead of one lady, I had an
appointment with 2 ladies again.
My trip out the first time seemed to work very well, arriving the day before
my appointment, asking the hotel shuttle for a ride to the local store to
pick up supplies for the 3 days I would be there. I bought travel sizes on
the dove bar of soap (I preferred Dove because some of the soaps actually
contain lye which I would not want to rub into my face after all the
electrolysis), toothpaste, and mouthwash. Enough orange juice, water, milk
and snacks so I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving the hotel for the
remainder of my stay. I thought that it would be good to force my jaws to
work so I bought gum to chew in the hope that it would help recovery, I have
a feeling that it was a good thing to do. Much in the same way if you were
to over do exercise or some physical activity, the next day all your muscles
are sore, I think it is good to at least be active instead of laying around
as it makes recovery much quicker.
I again ordered a large pizza and salad for dinner so I would be able to
take the salad for lunch the next day and have pizza for dinner the next 2
days. Breakfast each day was at the hotel buffet, a nice selection of eggs,
waffles, Danish, toast, cereal, whatever you feel comfortable having.
The hotel again provided a shuttle trip to E3K, I was a few minutes early
and ended up walking around the plaza until they opened.
The 2 ladies who were there to work on me were Sabrina and Star.
Star began with the injections and a few minutes later Sabrina came in and
they started. I was not as nervous this time, knowing a little more what to
expect as far as the discomfort when numbing the areas to be worked on. That
is not to say that the process did not have me taking deep breaths and
tightening every muscle in my body so hard that I was shaking while they
were doing injections.
I was very surprised when they finished up approximately 3 hours later; I
thought that it would take a while longer. I noticed after this 2nd
appointment that there was barely any oozing that night and the next day. I
suspect that it had a lot to do with the number of injections.
I spoke with Sabrina after the work was completed and she thought that
everything went well and that the next visit she would be able to schedule
only herself for half a day, if it runs over, she said she would stay to
finish. Star was nice enough to drive me back to the hotel again; I did tip
both ladies and thanked them for their work.
Today is 4 days later, there are a few bruises on a couple of the injection
sites, and the swelling on the upper lip is almost unnoticeable. There is
still a slight hint of the redness on the upper lip and chin, although that
lingered a few days longer after the first visit. I am amazed when I wash my
face in the mirror with the lack of hair on my upper lip and chin. My cheeks
are very clean and almost all of the numbness is gone, after my first visit
it took about 5 weeks for the numbness on my chin and upper lip to leave.

In trying to look far enough ahead, (checking airline flight times to DFW),
it looks like I would be able to arrive approximately noon at the airport
and take the shuttle to E3K for an appointment approximately 1:00 pm local
time. That would allow me to save on an extra night at the hotel, as I would
still like to be able to apply the ice after the work is completed and the
next day to be able to apply hot moist towels as my personal feeing is to
ice soreness right away and the next day to apply heat.

I am also trying to visualize far enough ahead so that when the appointments
drop down in time and cost I will be able to start the clearing in the other
area of importance. I think that after my 3rd visit, I will have a much
better idea of recovery time needed before I return to work. My thoughts in
starting at the end of August were using up my vacation this year for my
first few visits and then next year the recovery times would be much faster
and I would not need to schedule as much time off.  The other concern was
the money required, this is a large sum of money that I needed to save and
with the possibility of being downsized, I realized if I did not start this
year I may never have been able to afford to, I would have always had an
easy excuse that I could not afford it.

I hope you will find this information helpful while considering your own
schedule for treatments and possibly help in making it a little more
affordable.


This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 10/27 at 03:34 PM
PhysicalPermalink

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

GID Reform Blog posts “Blinded Me With Science: The Burden of Proof”

 

Kelley Winters, Ph.D. has added an important new essay on GID reform.

Abstract:
Blinded Me With Science: The Burden of Proof

The current diagnostic categories of Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic Fetishism in theDiagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and their supporting literature perpetuate a doctrine of “disordered” gender identity and expression in American psychiatry and psychology. They impose an unreasonable burden of proof upon gender variant people to demonstrate our competence,upon researchers and scholars who do not view gender diversity itself as pathological, and upon change to the status quo in the DSM. Given harsh consequences that the current diagnoses of mental illness and sexual deviance inflict on human dignity, civil justice and access to somatic medical treatment, should the burden of proof instead be guided by reduction of harm to people? In drafting the Fifth Edition of the DSM, members of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group have an opportunity to question the premise that gender identities and expression that differ from birth-sex roles are inherently disordered.

Kelley Winters, Ph.D.
GID Reform Advocates
http://www.gidreform.org
kelley@gidreform.org

http://www.gidreform.org/blog.html


This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 10/21 at 11:10 AM
PhysicalYouth IssuesPermalink

Friday, September 05, 2008

Reader experience at Electrology 3000 (E3K)

 

A reader sent this recent experience at Electrology 3000:

In summary this is what happened.

After carefully examining my growth and making an assumption based on the experience of the local electrologist who worked on my chest area and how long it took her to clean an area, taking into consideration the amount of vacation time and the cost per hour, hotel, and flight I thought I would schedule 8 hours with E3K. I spoke with Irma and she suggested 10 hours, 2 people 5 hours each. We agreed to that and I was pleasantly surprised that my initial facial clearing was accomplished in that time frame, it may have gone just a little over and I was billed but in one day I was done. Now my growth was not heavy and I did talk to another person there and he was on his second day and he was probably finished a couple of hours earlier than I.

I started taking 1 Advil or equivalent every 8 hours a few days before I left. The morning of my flight, I started taking 2 every eight hours or so per the directions on the bottle.

I arrived in DFW on Wednesday in the early afternoon. I had found through the airport website that there is a super shuttle van that will pick up and drop off people for a low $18 dollars each way. I had received information from E3K that they also had a person who would pickup and drop off people at the airport but his cost was approximately $150. He would also take you shopping if you requested it.

I had lunch at the Outback, next to the Best Western where I was staying.

That afternoon the shuttle van from the Best Western took me to a nearby Wal-Mart where I stocked up on drinks, lots of water, OJ and some chocolate milk along with cups and snacks. I left a tip with the driver to show my gratitude and it was still cheaper than a taxi or taking a walk and trying to carry all the bags back to the hotel.

I also purchased some other items that I did not bring because of the security restrictions.

That evening I planned ahead and ordered a pizza with salad, so that I could eat the pizza leftovers for dinner the next few days.

I was up early the day of my visit to eat at the Best Western breakfast buffet.

I loaded the freezer in my room with ice.

When 9:00 came around the hotel provided another free trip in their shuttle van to E3K, along with half a jug of water and the salad from the night before, I also tipped the driver, same as the night before.

I was a few minutes early and was asked to fill out the standard medical information form.

I met with Denise and she took me back to one of their rooms and she explained what to expect and how they did their work.

Star came in with a Nikon camera and proceeded to take pictures of me.

I was in the chair and the work started, there was no pain during the procedures except when they injected the lidocaine.

They stopped working on me for an hour around noon to take a lunch break.

While the ladies went out to lunch, I ate my salad and applied ice packs they provided to my face per their suggestion to help limit the swelling.

After they returned from lunch, they resumed working on me till approximately 4:30 when they had cleared the entire face and neck area.

Irma had called the hotel and the shuttle was there to take me back but they weren’t quite finished so I could have either called the hotel and they would have had the shuttle return or when I asked if one of the ladies would take me back, Star agreed and I rode back with her.

Per your suggestions I made sure to tip the ladies who worked on me all day, it was not a large amount but I think they did appreciate it.

E3K provided a set of printed instructions on what to do and what not to do so when I arrived back at my room, I applied a heavy coating of their zinc oxide and then I started applying ice to help minimize the swelling.

The way that seemed to work best for me was to wrap ice cubes in a hand towel and then make the towel damp by holding it under running water for a minute. I then put a bath towel down the front under my neck to catch the water as it melted and ran down.

I stayed up as late as I could applying ice, 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off till I couldn’t stay awake any longer. I drank as much water and juice as I could because I think that helps in the healing process.

When I woke up in the morning after a nice hot shower where I carefully cleaned the areas with a lot of warm water and gentle pressure with a wash cloth, I applied a light coating of the zinc oxide and went down to the breakfast buffet.

Through out the day I would put a hand towel in the microwave for 45 seconds or so and then wrap my face and neck with it till it cooled down. I did this every 20 minutes or so as I had with the ice.

I was startled to see some heavy bruising on my neck and realized that this is where they rested their arms during the procedure.

Well the bruises are starting to turn a little yellow on my neck and there wasn’t a large amount of swelling though it does seem as my skin feels a bit like leather in the areas where all of the work was performed. I am hopeful that the slight redness still around the upper lip and chin areas will be gone by the time I return to work next Monday. The puffiness around this area has diminished and I am hoping that it too will be cleared up. I am not sure what caused the ooze, whether it was reaction to the amount of heat applied during electrolysis or a reaction from the lidocaine but there is a small area under the chin where it has scabbed or crusted over. I suspect this will be healing within a few days also. I have noticed that the area is still warm to the touch so that indicates that healing is still proceeding. My cheeks and side burn area are almost back to feeling normal, just a little stiff, the numbest part of my face is the chin area and that feels like it is getting the feeling back, similar to when the lidocaine from a dental procedure wears off.

Well thank you for “listening”.

More info:

http://www.tsroadmap.com/physical/hair/electrology-3000.html


This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 09/05 at 12:57 PM
PhysicalPermalink

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