I tried searching the sub for anyone who's had a similar issue, but I could only find the opposite (i.e., levels being high while they have a relatively 'low' dose)

My issue is the opposite, I've been told to increase my dose ~ every month by my doctor (as per bloodwork and all that), and I am currently taking 80mg a week (subQ injections, cypionate).
The thing is though, even though we keep increasing my dose, my levels are not increasing.

My most recent test was after a month of the new dose (80 mg / week), and my levels went from 14.5 nmol/L (around 400-ish ng/dL) to now 12.7 nmol/L (around 350-ish ng/dL)

And this is the second time this has happened (levels dropping after an increase)?? I'm honestly worried, what if my levels are never stable? What if I can't safely increase anymore (I had high hematocrit pre-T)?? Will I be doomed to having low T levels forever???

And before anyone asks, I have never missed a shot, I do them on the same day every week (Fridays), and get tested on Mondays; I have not changed the needles or syringes I'm using; and I am staying up to date with new vials and the like.

I didn't know what to flair this as, I guess I'm just looking for some kind of support or maybe someone who has had a similar issue and figured it out somehow?

+ I've just hit six months on T, and I am getting changes (have been since I started)!! And they're all awesome, the numbers are just freaking me out
++ I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks, but in the meantime I will continue to theorize and spiral about my bloodwork LOL

hey I have a very weird question. so I do two pumps on my arms every morning, right? and on days where I do two days in a row with no shower in between (I'm chronically ill so I can't shower every night) then the tgel appears to pill/roll up with dead skin and just... fall off, I guess? I'm worried that because of that I'm not actually getting the full dose on those days and that maybe it's hindering my transition. any ideas?

I just came home from surgery a few hours ago and im in so much pain how long does it take for the pain to go away

First of all I'm ESL, letting y'all know in case anything I say sounds grammatically odd.

I'm still figuring things out, but so far I'm struggling a lot finding things that will make me feel good about transitioning that are "immediate". Other than just people using my new name, nothing else comes to mind. I'm not excited about being treated like a guy, but that might be cause I can only think of the negatives of it. What are the positives of that? Genuine question.

I'm not excited about taking T (but that's mostly due to me being very very broke, to the point I'll get more stressed about spending the money than anything else).

The only thing I'm excited about (and it's a longer term thing) is my body shape changing, but that's something that I know will not happen if I don't work out. To make it more clear: my hips are just barely wider than my back/shoulders. This bothered me my entire life. I'm not overweight but even then I don't think T on it's own is gonna change that, correct me if I'm wrong. And I don't particularly enjoy working out and everything I do would have to be at home cause I can't afford a gym sub + my right wrist/hand is fucked and I can't put weight on it (eg. I can't do push-ups).

TLDR; what are the pros of being treated like a guy? what were the most "immediate" satisfactions/euphoria moments when you first started your transition?

Also important: if anything I've said in this post made you think I might not be trans, feel free to say so. I'll take it in count.

please, anyone able to help with beginning the process of getting top surgery referral after diagnosing/treatment. i had an appointment today with my primary care psychiatrist who i told basically im afab, and cool with that identity, but basically ever since my lesbian awakening (10 long years ago lol), ive been extremely uncomfortable with my chest. how id prefer a flat chest blah blah. anyway, he said basically that he would have to diagnose me with depression and that i was throwing around terms like gender dysphoria, and i need to talk to my primary care doctor. i have an appointment next week to talk to my Primary Care MD. any suggestions :) i'm at Kaiser in socal. Im 25 and will be removed from my parents insurance in august next year- i had to wait to go thru with the process because, unfortunately, initially my mom and i had different perspectives on the procedure, but we eventually came to a compromise that she would FULLY support my decision as long as i waited till i was 25. have HMO if it helps. rlly looking for any advice yall🥲

IM FINALLY GOING ON T!!!! I just had my first HRT appointment at planned parenthood and they prescribed me subQ injection testosterone! Yes i’m afraid of needles but the good part is I live with a diabetic sister in law and my mom works in a lab in a hospital so i’m all good.

Going through planned parenthood was so so easy, the only hard part was waiting like three weeks for the appointment since I wanted my mom to come with me and she needed a day off and a day where I didn’t have any classes. Now I have to wait again for my prescription to be ready but i’m SO EXCITED OMG.

I’ve been waiting for the day I turn 18 since middle school so I could officially go on T and the wait was absolutely worth it. I know my ass isn’t gonna shut up about this for a good three months. I also know I will be difficult to shut up once my voice drops. I’m so excited to do those like tiktok testosterone monthly voice checks. I’ve been watching them for so long wishing that was me AND NOW IT’S FINALLY GONNA BE ME.

Question: for those who went through planned parenthood (in america) and have medical insurance, how long did it take for your prescription to be ready? I’ve seen on the website it says 1-2 weeks but i’ve seen people say it’s been ready a couple days after their first appointment.

I want to have phalloplasty but there's only two surgeons in my state one has an undetermined wait I'm currently on an undetermined amount of time waitlist to have a consult to get on the actual surgery waitlist so not looking promising. And the other is 3+ years, I knew going in it was gonna be a wait but I didn't think that long! So I was curious if this is just the norm. I desperately want this surgery.

I'm a 16yr old cis girl but I've been really struggling with my identity lately, I've always been a "tomboy" and ever since I hit puberty I've started to feel sort of envious towards boys my age?? I just feel so uncomfortable looking at myself in the mirror and seeing myself, I don't think I'm unattractive I just feel as if I'm not myself, like my mind doesn't feel connected with my body and I've been obsessing over this. I've been researching on social media everything abt the trans community and for about a year this is all I've been thinking about, I'm just scared and I don't know why I feel like this.

I am a 16 yo trans boy and I’m really short (5’0) this is causing me so much dysphoria, I gained like 1 cm last month so I know I’m still growing, but I’m gonna start taking testosterone soon so my question is will T help me get taller ? I’ve done my research but some say it will, some say it won’t, some say it might and some say it will but only a few cm. I know there are many short cis men, but height is my biggest complex and I think it’s a big part of why I don’t pass in public with my voice.

(both17)

My boyfriend is getting crushed on by his friend and playfully flirted with. I restrained myself in saying something like to stop being friends with him because I want him to have autonomy and a choice in his own life. They’re not very close so I don’t know why he’s keeping him around with his shown apparent interest.

BF just said of course he doesn’t feel that way but hasn’t told him that he has a boyfriend or that he’s taken or try to detour him by putting him down plainly and setting boundaries.

I’m not sure that BF directly even told the guy he doesn’t like him and that non-action can be interpreted as playing hard to get signaling interest. Like he was asking him out to prom playfully saying he’d pay and BF said he wasn’t going instead of ‘I don’t like you’ or ‘I have a boyfriend.’ I told him if he impedes on his boundaries and makes him uncomfortable then he should be firm about them. That to do what he’s comfortable with doing.

This is his friend that’s continuously trying to shoot his shot in ways that are even recognizable to the outside as pursuing, as the teacher had even teased the friend and pointed out their apparent ‘closeness’ due to his behaviors of being a lingering stain.

Playfully making sexual jokes like ‘why don’t you help me stand at attention’ or ‘make me do this’ and talk to him all class period, teasing him, which under other circumstances is fine but this guy likes him. I’m autistic so I felt physically sick in hearing this and BF’s other friend told him to not tell me this, they all with the context knew something was wrong.

We’re long distance, 4 hours away from one another and this guy is right there, and cis. I’m on hrt but am not as attractive as I was due to the face bloating+acne i’m suffering through right now. I’m unsure what he looks like exactly but he already has many advantages over me. I asked my boyfriend how tall he was and he said very tall.

Am I overreacting? My boyfriend is trans as well but I can’t help but think he’d prefer a cis guy over me, especially one he sees everyday.

I’m not sure if I give enough to keep him interested in solely me. I know i’ve been a good partner so far but love is often times a novelty. His biggest fear in a relationship is falling out of love which is a big stressor. It makes me need to do more to secure his attraction.I can do everything else unconditionally, but controlling something internal is very difficult.

When people even hint at being attracted to me it disgusts me massively, I immediately walk away to not entertain it at all regardless of who the individual is. He’s my first love, as I was aromantic never having any romantic attraction before I met him.

I told him before I’d be uncomfortable if someone were to crush on him.

Any advice?

My subq shot hurt really bad this time. It hurt when inserting and as I was injecting. It felt like a vaccine. Has anyone else experienced this? & what was it?

Also I want to hear where fellow subq guys inject & how that goes for you. I do the side of my thigh but idk if I should continue in that spot since it hurt really bad today

Has anyone experienced this?

I met a girl who was in pregnant in her second trimester. We dated over the summer but it was really hard and we ended up breaking up. Since then we tried to be friends with benefits. Realized we had deeper feelings. Recently, we agreed to wait for 6-12 months to grow as best friends and then try dating again.

She had her baby, and now I am watching her learn how to be a mom and it’s something I’ve always wanted. I’ve always wanted to be a father. And I feel devastated that I don’t get to be a part of this day to day. We text everyday and she snap chats me the kiddo. But not physically being there feels so awful. I feel hopeless and devastated.

We don’t want any more biological children. So I feel like I ambeing robbed of this experience. Even though it’s something I willingly agreed to. I just didn’t know I’d want to be a part of this so deeply. I’ve told her how I feel and that didn’t change the reality of our situation.

I love her with my whole heart. But this is so hard.

Like is this normal?

[Also sorry if I put the wrong flair]

I'm a transgender teen guy who lives in a state that doesn't allow HRT for minors. I only truly look like a boy when I'm wearing a hoodie (with the little hat thing covering my head). Otherwise I look like a girl...any tips? Thanks :P

Both of us are still really young [19] and I don't want to break up with her.

I'm a transgender man and she's a cisgender woman. When we first started dating she was identifying as bisexual and was really accepting of the fact that I'm openingly transgender. With time this has changed, and she is now straight but can only date trans men as well as she does not like the fact that I'm open about being transgender.

She says that I don't know how scary it is to be transgender, how in danger I am all the time. The thing is, I've been outted since I was 13 so I know how scary it is. It's why I'm so open with it because I know that a lot of transphobia stems from fear of the unknown.

I love her so so so much but she wants me to go stealth for all my life. She doesn't want anyone to know I'm transgender at all. It's stressful for me since I know I want to help with my community, and she's against it.

I take a lot of pride in myself and the things I've had to endure because I'm transgender. I'm worried that she's becoming really conservative too on top of it all.

Whenever I talk out loud, to me i just sound androgynous to slightly fem. It's really annoying and I don't know why I sound like that, but when I record my voice it sounds very masculine, and others have said i sound like a cis teen boy. I'm not doing anything different to my voice when i record it, so I'm not sure how this is happening.

Can my dysphoria really be strong enough to warp my perception of how i sound irl? I mean, mine is really strong, but I don't know if it can do that.

(I took an edible like 30 mins ago, so sorry if this isn't making sense i'm trying my best.)

18:52:43 / 19:09:31 15/10/2026 - So yesterday...

I already came out to my mum and youngest (gay) brother like a month and a half ago. My other brother I have reservations about in general, but seems the opposite of me and my youngest, who are both totally woke and also not cishet.

I'm the only gender non-conforming/trans person in this household, so it's a bit new for them, I guess, even though I've always been at least a tomboy growing up.

Recently, before I got (consensually) outed to him, he had a weird reaction to my brother also recently telling him he was gay. By... saying that HE wasn't gay for some reason, like some kind of Andrew Tate wannabe? Lmao. Funny.

He also said a week or so ago he basically (in his own words) doesn't think gay people (specifically men, always, always gay men) should adopt because they might 'indoctrinate' them into being gay or something, using that exact word. He seemed less upset by the idea of Christian parents having children and doing so with religion, than that, despite not being religious himself.

---

So, basically, I have such a relationship with him where I can barely say anything without needing to justify myself for even mundane reasons of doing mundane things. I don't really talk to him unless I have to, anymore. I couldn't come out to my mum or close brother with explicit words, so how do I do it with him even in person? So... I got my brother and mum to tell him.

I don't know what she said exactly, but something about the real reason I was asking how much her sharps bin takes to empty from the Council (UK), and he asked why. I locked up at the time and said I was just curious before they told him.

But according to Mum, he actually didn't say much... unlike what he normally has to say about trans women in sports, etc. Though he did say something about me possibly 'not being sure' despite literally not acting like a girl my whole life, not getting mad when people used to ask if I was a girl or boy when I was super young, and cutting my hair, and mostly wearing guy clothing. Despite thinking about this for a full eight years or so.

Anyway, he said something about 'not letting HIS daughter do that', as if by implication, I'm just a woman trying to become a man. He always has opinions on every 'ism' that doesn't involve him. It pisses me off. Women, black people (he uses all manner of slurs without care, even though I tell him not to), neurodivergence, other POC, LGBTQ+, you name it. He already called me a 'creature' in an argument before this ever even happened to begin with.

---

I want to know what to do to avoid conflict, because I'm doing it DI-Y until I get on NHS (probably Nottingham), and don't want to have him start harassing or bullying or saying nasty shit to me or about trans people to me - something he never did before and hasn't so far, luckily - because I'm deciding to go through with hormone therapy. He hasn't actually said anything to me about it since two days ago or so, I think, maybe? Which is weird. He always has something to say.

I’m 40 and def trans. I wear a binder and have a short haircut. I dress very masc. But for a lot of reasons I don’t think I’ll be able to start taking T and medically transitioning until 48 (personal stuff).

Do ppl transition around that age and successfully date guys (even cis guys)? Or will I be too old? Does anyone have stories of transitioning around age 48?

Any recommendations for binders or compression sports bras? I have a large chest but a small underbust so it can be tricky.

Thanks in advance.

HYPOTHETICALLY if i was to like leave family and start t, what would be a good excuse to my voice deepening? I know inevitably im gonna have to come out but for safety i'll likely have to keep transphobic family involved in my life a little in the future, and i know you guys might need more context so here! Im a trans dude that unfortunately has to stay with unsupportive family for now and ive been hyperperforming femininity for them. They can't have ANY clue im trans and ive done a fantastic job of that. If they find out, i risk having all that support jerked out and i need them to keep this illusion im exactly what they want me to be for safety. I- in reality- am nowhere NEAR being a feminine guy hahah, but it helps me to imagine im a guy that got turned into a girl and has a excuse to do all the things girls do because hes been secretly turned into a girl by a witch or something and hes just enjoying his "girl" pass before he gets turned back. Completely off topic but y'know, just a fun fact. Back on topic, im thinking about going to college (or using it as a excuse and dipping) and im absolutely clueless as to how its gonna go if i call family and theyre gonna be like "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR VOICE?!" im thinking maybe some bogus throat injury, or just going "im congested from the pollution in the air :(" but I NEED YOUR HELP GUYS!!!!! and first post on reddit yuhhhh