Transfem
A community for transfeminine people and experiences.
This is a supportive community for all transfeminine or questioning people. Anyone is welcome to participate in this community but disrupting the safety of this space for trans feminine people is unacceptable and will result in moderator action.
Debate surrounding transgender rights or acceptance will result in an immediate ban.
- Please follow the rules of the lemmy.blahaj.zone instance.
- Bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
- Gatekeeping will not be tolerated.
- Please be kind and respectful to all.
- Please tag NSFW topics.
- No NSFW image posts.
- Please provide content warnings where appropriate.
- Please do not repost bigoted content here.
This community is supportive of DIY HRT. Unsolicited medical advice or caution being given to people on DIY will result in moderator action.
Posters may express that they are looking for responses and support from groups with certain experiences (eg. trans people, trans people with supportive parents, trans parents.). Please respect those requests and be mindful that your experience may differ from others here.
To make such a request, at the start of the body of your post, not in the title, the first line should look like the this: [Requesting Engagement from _________]
Some helpful links:
- The Gender Dysphoria Bible // In depth explanation of the different types of gender dysphoria.
- Trans Voice Help // A community here on blahaj.zone for voice training.
- LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory // A directory of LGBTQ+ accepting Healthcare providers.
- Trans Resistance Network // A US-based mutual aid organization to help trans people facing state violence and legal discrimination.
- TLDEF's Trans Health Project // Advice about insurance claims for gender affirming healthcare and procedures.
- TransLifeLine's ID change Library // A comprehensive guide to changing your name on any US legal document.
- Gender Spectrum // Resources for youth, parents and family, educators, mental health professionals and faith leaders.
Support Hotlines:
- The Trevor Project // Web chat, phone call, and text message LGBTQ+ support hotline.
- TransLifeLine // A US/Canada LGBTQ+ phone support hotline service. The US line has Spanish support.
- LGBT Youthline.ca // A Canadian LGBT hotline support service with phone call and web chat support. (4pm - 9:30pm EST)
- 988lifeline // A US only Crisis hotline with phone call, text and web chat support. Dedicated staff for LGBTQIA+ youth 24/7 on phone service, 3pm to 2am EST for text and web chat.
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tbh pre-transition my main coping mechanisms were denial and dissociation, both came with a heavy cost even if they were somewhat effective (neither helped with the "biochemical dysphoria", but it definitely helped me not be bothered by a malformed body), probably not helpful for you - but the lesson I sometimes use from this is that ignorance can be bliss, just recognizing the feelings and intentionally redirecting thoughts in that moment can help, as well as avoiding mirrors and situations that highlight those feelings. Easier said than done, but it gets easier with lots of repeated and effortful practice.
Post-transition I felt breast growth could sometimes feel too slow, and finding a good padded bra (as others have recommended) that adds shape and a little size helped a lot. Eating a lot of food and gaining some extra fat also helped, but that's only once you're on HRT and your estrogen & testosterone levels are in female-typical ranges.
I guess it's good that I don't have biochemical dysphoria, at least not that I know of, my dysphoria comes mainly from my lack of breasts.
I think a padded bra or inserts would probably help me. I don't think eating more food to get fat will help me much when I'm on Estrogen cuz I work out a lot now, and I'll be doing it more then so I don't lose muscle mass as much, that's one thing I don't really want to happen when I'm on E.
I didn't know I had biochemical dysphoria until starting HRT; my mental health improved so much I realized what I experienced before as a baseline was actually clinically significant depression, anxiety, anhedonia, etc.
That said, not every trans person responds to HRT the same way (in some of the scientific literature there is mention of trans women who actually experience increased and worsening gender dysphoria on HRT despite being the "right" sex hormone).
My experience, and the experiences of lots of trans women I know IRL and online, has been that it's sorta hard to lose muscle mass significantly. It's actually something that really bothers me, my body is too muscular and male-looking.
Eating lots of food and putting on fat is necessary for growing breasts, so I highly recommend it regardless of how much you exercise - the exercising is actually great for this because it increases appetite and capacity to eat, and because exercising is a much less relevant factor for fat loss than people think. You can definitely exercise excessively and still be fat, and put on fat.
That's good to know. I guess I can still eat like that but just work out more so I stay in shape and don't lose too much muscle. Also glad to hear that muscle loss isn't immediate or complete, still not thrilled about losing any. I know that for some trans girls it's something they hate and want gone but personally I want to be a very big and muscular girl since I'm going for the butch tomboy look, and also it's nice to be strong.