Ta, Crip Dyke. I was one of the lucky ones who went through menopause with nary a symptom. It's high time research happens, and bless the trans community for leading the way.
A couple of years ago my endocrinologist asked this late-middle-aged transwoman if I wanted to stop taking estrogen and go through menopause like my contemporaries. I laughed in their face
Okay forgive me from the get go because I'm pulling out my soapbox. The ENTIRE medical industry is geared toward white males always has been and always will be until women are equal, studies have proven this. I hold corporate america largely responsible for this as they control everything. Many doctors have gawd complexes and to think they will take women seriously is naive.
I was a fucking lunatic going through perimenpause that began in my late 30s. I thought I was literally losing my mind. Shit could come flying out of my mouth and I'd have to look around to see where that came from. I've taken that with me in the future because it's so damn freeing and I DESERVE to, I earned that shit.
I could never take meds to help due to family cancer history. You can't tell me if they can make Viagra (paid by insurance) they can't make SOMETHING for women suffering. Many men in the industry are sadistic rat bastards.
Thank you for talking about womens issues that are still thought of as taboo and FUCK THAT SHIT. We ALL need to be honest and share with one another to help each other because the industry is NOT going to be there when we need them.
It's astounding how much men get the research and the help (Viagra). I told my new doctor that loss of desire is what the issue is. If they could make a pill us ladies then men would not need Viagra. They'd need a bat to fight us off of them.
I still suffer from horrible hot flashes after so many years. I sleep with a towel at night. It's insane.
Cis lady here, who always felt VERY lucky to have super-regular periods, no pain, easy-breezy.
My mom always, always, always had a horrible time, a horrible time for AGES with menopause, the whole thing. I'm adopted, and this isn't much of a topic that my female friends and I talk about.
The last year or so, after a few months of "oh? Well, I guess that's over--just as easy as it ever was!" I've been seriously GOING THROUGH IT with (I believe) perimenopause. I keep telling myself it's normal for me and could be worse, but when I talked to my doctor--who I normally adore--at my last visit about what to expect or what to do she honest to goddess told me to talk to my mother. Reminded her I was adopted, but she just moved on.
So much shame and weirdness means that so much of our knowledge is just stuff passed down from kindly aunties or gleaned from half-seen, maybe overheard whispers. It's (literally) old wives' tales and stuff. I think of Prissy in Gone With The Wind noting that her mother told her to put a knife under the birthing bed to cut the pain. On top of everything else, we shouldn't have to feel angry, lost, and confused.
Thank you, Crip Dyke, because I feel less frantic somehow.
I used to work in a lab that studied sex differences in hypertension and kidney disease in animal models, so this is something I'm passionate about. I'm as aware as anyone about gaps based on sex and gender in the medical literature. I've published papers on it. But I want to point out a common misconception here that does kind of bug me:
"Even today the safety of many drugs for fetuses or pregnancies or female fertility has gone unstudied, yet the drugs are still prescribed for people who are or may become pregnant, with barely (and not always) an “ask your doctor if” warning."
So this isn't entirely untrue. Effects of lots of drugs in pregnancy haven't been studied even in animal models, we definitely need more research on fertility effects, and patients who may become pregnant should absolutely be counseled to come to the office prenatally for medication reconciliation. That being said--we CAN'T test if these drugs are safe in pregnancy in the way we would test the safety of other drugs, at least not in humans. It's not ethical. We can't give one patient cohort a placebo and one patient cohort a drug to see if it fucks up their baby when it's born. In clinical trials, patients are monitored at regular intervals and the trial is stopped if an obvious benefit or harm is noted because it's not ethical to give a patient something you know is inferior. We can't do that in pregnancy because the damage is either done or it isn't, and the entity sustaining the harm has not consented to the associated risk (assuming these pregnancies are expected to result in a birth). We know certain drugs are dangerous BECAUSE they were given to pregnant women and their subsequent pregnancies resulted in birth defects. If anything, this is a really good argument for funding prenatal care so pregnant patients can have their medications checked and adjusted based on what we know.
Also my partner started transitioning once they found out that testosterone comes in gel form and doesn't have to be injected. A funny but not funny story is that I'm on T pills right now because I started having a topical reaction to the gel, but the pills can _only_ be prescribed to someone AMAB -- my transmasc partner can't get the pills because of their assigned gender at birth; I think they haven't studied the effects on AFAB bodies yet?
I'm AMAB, but my T levels were so low that my endocrinologist explained to me that I was basically going through menopause. The anxiety, the trouble sleeping, and holy shit the hot flashes. I've been on testosterone supplements ever since.
The extra funny thing for me is that I'm trans/genderfluid, and adding a masculinizing hormone to my regiment didn't make me feel any more masculine. I'm still just as masc or fem or enby as I was before I started HRT. Maybe even more so since my brain is in a better place.
Post-menopausal wife of a transwoman. I am happy for her, but she absolutely gets better hormone care than I do. Her hormone patches are prescribed by her doctor and covered by insurance. Mine - same in-person doctor! - are prescribed by an online doctor and paid for out of my pocket. It's hard to get anyone to take us AFAB seriously before 50. After 50? Forget about it.
My BFF gets good post-menopausal care, and had good perimenopausal care, though I wonder if she hadn't had so many damn fibroids if it would have been the same. Ironically I think the fibroid growth made her doctors more attentive, so she might have ended up better off than if she'd had none.
United States. Although my situation is annoying 😂 I'm glad hormones, menopause, and sex are finally being talked about seriously. Our children will benefit from more knowledge and freedom to discuss bodies, aging, sex, and gender.
I got a chance to work a bit on LGBTQ aging issues when I was collaborating with Loree Cook-Daniels. She was doing that pretty much full time even back in the 90s. It's been hard work for a long time, but you're right that things are changing (slowly), and also right that it's the next generation that will benefit more.
I am glad cisgender menopausal women are getting better care, but this is not a feel-good story. I'm angry that the experience and testimony of older cisgender women wasn't enough.
"rapid-onset vaginal dryness has been observed as a side effect of even small doses of Ben Shapiro" Almost did a spit take!
Ta, Crip Dyke. I was one of the lucky ones who went through menopause with nary a symptom. It's high time research happens, and bless the trans community for leading the way.
A couple of years ago my endocrinologist asked this late-middle-aged transwoman if I wanted to stop taking estrogen and go through menopause like my contemporaries. I laughed in their face
Okay forgive me from the get go because I'm pulling out my soapbox. The ENTIRE medical industry is geared toward white males always has been and always will be until women are equal, studies have proven this. I hold corporate america largely responsible for this as they control everything. Many doctors have gawd complexes and to think they will take women seriously is naive.
I was a fucking lunatic going through perimenpause that began in my late 30s. I thought I was literally losing my mind. Shit could come flying out of my mouth and I'd have to look around to see where that came from. I've taken that with me in the future because it's so damn freeing and I DESERVE to, I earned that shit.
I could never take meds to help due to family cancer history. You can't tell me if they can make Viagra (paid by insurance) they can't make SOMETHING for women suffering. Many men in the industry are sadistic rat bastards.
Thank you for talking about womens issues that are still thought of as taboo and FUCK THAT SHIT. We ALL need to be honest and share with one another to help each other because the industry is NOT going to be there when we need them.
It's astounding how much men get the research and the help (Viagra). I told my new doctor that loss of desire is what the issue is. If they could make a pill us ladies then men would not need Viagra. They'd need a bat to fight us off of them.
I still suffer from horrible hot flashes after so many years. I sleep with a towel at night. It's insane.
With so many others, I have SO MUCH to learn!
Cis lady here, who always felt VERY lucky to have super-regular periods, no pain, easy-breezy.
My mom always, always, always had a horrible time, a horrible time for AGES with menopause, the whole thing. I'm adopted, and this isn't much of a topic that my female friends and I talk about.
The last year or so, after a few months of "oh? Well, I guess that's over--just as easy as it ever was!" I've been seriously GOING THROUGH IT with (I believe) perimenopause. I keep telling myself it's normal for me and could be worse, but when I talked to my doctor--who I normally adore--at my last visit about what to expect or what to do she honest to goddess told me to talk to my mother. Reminded her I was adopted, but she just moved on.
So much shame and weirdness means that so much of our knowledge is just stuff passed down from kindly aunties or gleaned from half-seen, maybe overheard whispers. It's (literally) old wives' tales and stuff. I think of Prissy in Gone With The Wind noting that her mother told her to put a knife under the birthing bed to cut the pain. On top of everything else, we shouldn't have to feel angry, lost, and confused.
Thank you, Crip Dyke, because I feel less frantic somehow.
I have so much to learn. Thank you, Wonkette, for holding my hand sometimes!
I used to work in a lab that studied sex differences in hypertension and kidney disease in animal models, so this is something I'm passionate about. I'm as aware as anyone about gaps based on sex and gender in the medical literature. I've published papers on it. But I want to point out a common misconception here that does kind of bug me:
"Even today the safety of many drugs for fetuses or pregnancies or female fertility has gone unstudied, yet the drugs are still prescribed for people who are or may become pregnant, with barely (and not always) an “ask your doctor if” warning."
So this isn't entirely untrue. Effects of lots of drugs in pregnancy haven't been studied even in animal models, we definitely need more research on fertility effects, and patients who may become pregnant should absolutely be counseled to come to the office prenatally for medication reconciliation. That being said--we CAN'T test if these drugs are safe in pregnancy in the way we would test the safety of other drugs, at least not in humans. It's not ethical. We can't give one patient cohort a placebo and one patient cohort a drug to see if it fucks up their baby when it's born. In clinical trials, patients are monitored at regular intervals and the trial is stopped if an obvious benefit or harm is noted because it's not ethical to give a patient something you know is inferior. We can't do that in pregnancy because the damage is either done or it isn't, and the entity sustaining the harm has not consented to the associated risk (assuming these pregnancies are expected to result in a birth). We know certain drugs are dangerous BECAUSE they were given to pregnant women and their subsequent pregnancies resulted in birth defects. If anything, this is a really good argument for funding prenatal care so pregnant patients can have their medications checked and adjusted based on what we know.
This is a very important point, thanks for including this.
Female Pills? Well I just happened to make an appropriate meme for this just yesterday don'tchaknow!
https://substack.com/@tehbaddr/note/c-54487405
Also my partner started transitioning once they found out that testosterone comes in gel form and doesn't have to be injected. A funny but not funny story is that I'm on T pills right now because I started having a topical reaction to the gel, but the pills can _only_ be prescribed to someone AMAB -- my transmasc partner can't get the pills because of their assigned gender at birth; I think they haven't studied the effects on AFAB bodies yet?
I'm AMAB, but my T levels were so low that my endocrinologist explained to me that I was basically going through menopause. The anxiety, the trouble sleeping, and holy shit the hot flashes. I've been on testosterone supplements ever since.
The extra funny thing for me is that I'm trans/genderfluid, and adding a masculinizing hormone to my regiment didn't make me feel any more masculine. I'm still just as masc or fem or enby as I was before I started HRT. Maybe even more so since my brain is in a better place.
I am so glad you're in a better place. And sex and gender sure are weird as fuck, right?
Post-menopausal wife of a transwoman. I am happy for her, but she absolutely gets better hormone care than I do. Her hormone patches are prescribed by her doctor and covered by insurance. Mine - same in-person doctor! - are prescribed by an online doctor and paid for out of my pocket. It's hard to get anyone to take us AFAB seriously before 50. After 50? Forget about it.
Yowch. In the United States, I take it?
My BFF gets good post-menopausal care, and had good perimenopausal care, though I wonder if she hadn't had so many damn fibroids if it would have been the same. Ironically I think the fibroid growth made her doctors more attentive, so she might have ended up better off than if she'd had none.
United States. Although my situation is annoying 😂 I'm glad hormones, menopause, and sex are finally being talked about seriously. Our children will benefit from more knowledge and freedom to discuss bodies, aging, sex, and gender.
I got a chance to work a bit on LGBTQ aging issues when I was collaborating with Loree Cook-Daniels. She was doing that pretty much full time even back in the 90s. It's been hard work for a long time, but you're right that things are changing (slowly), and also right that it's the next generation that will benefit more.
Pre-Meds and Biology students! Looking for a way to a Ph.D.? Post-docs! Need a field of inquiry with plenty of room for exploration and research?
Study menstruation and menopause!
bless you, Crip Dyke. that is all.
Would it be too clickbait[y] to thank FtM guys for giving older women better sex?
It would. And thanks, yeah?
On behalf of the team, we're happy to help!
I am glad cisgender menopausal women are getting better care, but this is not a feel-good story. I'm angry that the experience and testimony of older cisgender women wasn't enough.
Yep. I agree.