tankaunt:

blackthorn-and-iron:

8deadsuns:

euryale-dreams:

joyeuse-noelle:

naidje:

8deadsuns:

1. Progesterone: not for everyone, but for many people it may increase sex drive and WILL make your boobs bigger. Also effects mood in ways that many find positive (but some find negative). Most doctors won’t prescribe this to you unless you ask. Most trans girls I know swear by it.

2. Injectible estrogen: is more effective than pill or patch form. Get on it if you can bear needles bc you will see more effects more quickly.

3. Estradiol Cypionate: There is currently a shortage of injectible estradiol valerate. There is no shortage of estradiol cypionate. Functionally they do the same shit.

4. Bicalutamide: This is an anti-androgen that has almost none of the side-effects of spironolactone or finasteride. The girls I know who are on it are evangelical about it.

@euryale-dreams

Are there HRT medications that don’t increase blood clot risk? I’m already at risk because of my blood pressure, and my doctor won’t prescribe HRT that increases clot risk while I’m on the medication - and I may never not be on the medication.

Absolutely.

The concerns surrounding venous thromboembolic events as a side-effect of hormone replacement therapy can mostly be traced back to one particular study known as the Women’s Health Initiative. This study was an enormous undertaking which, unfortunately, demonstrated significant adverse effects of the hormone therapies studied. As a result of this the use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal cis women was dramatically reduced as the medical community began to question whether or not the therapy caused more harm than good.

Naturally, trans women have been suffering from this fall-out ever since.

What physicians seem to fail to recognize is that the study examined a very specific hormone regimen which was, arguably, outmoded at the time the study was conducted: It examined the use of conjugated equine estrogen (Premarin) with or without the use of medroxyprogesterone acetate. Neither of these drugs is regularly used for the treatment of transgender women.

The estrogen most commonly used to treat transgender women nowadays is 17β-estradiol either in pill form or in the form of a sticky patch that you apply to your skin. Esters of estrogen (e.g. estradiol valerate) are also sometimes used either in a pill form or as an intramuscular injection.

Transdermal estradiol patches are the gold standard when it comes to treating women who are at high risk of a venous thromboembolic event. It simply does not increase the risk of developing a venous thromboembolism. The only thing you should keep in mind is that patches are not always well tolerated because of the lifestyle changes required to keep them from falling off and the fact that they tend to irritate the skin.

Fortunately, oral 17β-estradiol appears to be safe, regardless of the increased risk. At least one large study has shown that the use of oral estradiol in trans women is not associated with venous thromboembolic events. An individual woman’s risk would need to be substantial in order to contraindicate the use of oral estradiol.

For those who have significant risk of venous thromboembolism because they have had a previous thromboembolic event, because they are paralyzed, or because of some other factor it is good to know the relative risk between oral and transdermal estrogen. The latest research indicates that the use of transdermal estrogen lowers your risk of a thromboembolism to 80% of what your risk would be using oral estrogens.

It’s difficult to find hard numbers regarding the relative risk of venous thromboembolic events with regards to hypertension. The best I could find after an hour or so of searching was this study regarding VTE in lung cancer patients. Hypertension increased the risk by a factor of 1.8.

However, to put that into perspective being of African descent increases your relative risk for deep vein thrombosis by a factor of 1.3 when compared to Europeans. Europeans are, themselves, at increased risk when compared to Asians and Pacific Islanders by a considerable margin: a four-fold increase.

I should point out that being ‘male’ is also a risk factor for developing a thromboembolism and hormones are likely to be a contributing factor. Also, menopause is another serious risk factor. Given this information it is likely that the use of transdermal estradiol will lower your risk of thromboembolic events significantly.

As far as the anti-androgen is concerned: The primary use for spironolactone for cisgender people is as an antihypertensive.

Even if the risk of thromboembolism was truly significant with modern hormone replacement therapy it wouldn’t justify what your doctor is doing to you. The fact is that mortality in the transgender community from suicide–caused in part due to the lack of access to hormone therapy–is substantial. The quality of life lost when a trans woman is denied hormone therapy is substantial. The fact that your doctor does not appear to be taking this into consideration when they weigh the risk of thromboembolism against not receiving necessary medical care is deeply concerning.

I strongly recommend that you seek a doctor who is more sensitive to your medical needs as a transgender woman.

Edit: Fixed a minor, but embarrassing, error.

oh wow this is so helpful & good info

Everyone who cares about transfem people please reblog this

this was really fucking helpful

(via valeriapaladin)

justsomeantifas:

4:54 vs. 5:14. The mere threat of action mobilized a response in 20 minutes.

Strikes work. Withholding your labor works. Threatening working class mobilization works.

Let’s get going.

(via butch-hyena)

justsomeantifas:

[July 28] BREAKING: Bolivia’s COB workers’ federation announces a 72-hour deadline to retract decision to postpone elections. A general strike and road blockades begin Monday in all nine departments if the deadline isn’t met. COB labour leader Juan Carlos Huarachi:

[Aug 2] Road blockades have begun at strategic points around the country, as announced by organized labour last week, as a tactic to exert pressure on authorities to hold elections following yet another delay/rescheduling of the post-coup election.

Midnight march by people in K'ara K'ara, Cochabamba rejecting the postponement of the general election. Sign says ‘Indigenous revolutionary youth.’

District 8 of the city of El Alto, which is what was referred to as the ‘tranca de Senkata’ during the November coup resistance, is now the site of a blockade as workers around Bolivia join the call of the COB to demand September 6 elections. Photos: Vladimir Pacheco

8am - Roads have been barricaded all around Bolivia since midnight with citizens demanding the restoration of democracy through fair elections. Here’s the town of San Isidro, near Villa Tunari in the Trópico.

Local union members are coming together to lay stones to help block the highway connecting Cochabamba to Santa Cruz. Blockades demanding elections are being erected by communities across Bolivia and won’t be easily lifted. #BloqueosBolivia

This resident says the Jeanine Añez regime has failed to respect the Constitution since taking power through the coup and have violated the rights of Bolivians while seeking to privatize Bolivia’s natural resources and education, at the expense of children.

The majority of Bolivia’s highways have been blocked by social movements demanding the restoration of democracy.

Bolivian police repress residents upholding a road blockade on the highway connecting Oruro and Potosi as the majority of major roads are now the sites of pro-democracy demonstrations demanding elections. #BloqueosBolivia

Bolivia’s Indigenous movements of the Tupac Katari Federation, from the provinces surrounding La Paz, have mobilized against the coup government and blocked the highways leading to the city.

[Aug 3] Plaza Abaroa, La Paz: Youth begin a hunger strike “in defense of democracy” outside of the @TSEBolivia demanding respect for the law which says that elections must be held on September 6th

[Aug 4] UPDATE: These young activists were arrested by Bolivian regime security forces during the night. Their whereabouts is unknown

[Aug 4]Hunger strikers were arrested and have been released, others were dispersed at midnight. Today they resume their strike in defense of democracy at the same spot, in front of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE).

Lauca Ñ, Trópico de Cochabamba: Day two of Bolivia’s national strike and road blockades. Unions demand respect for their right to elect a government in clean elections. #BloqueosBolivia

Bolivia’s defacto Interior Minister @ArturoMurilloS says in press conference that the regime will attack pro-democracy roadblock protests if they’re not lifted in the coming hours. #BloqueosBolivia

Far-right terror/shock group Unión Juvenil Cruceñista (UJC) of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee announces plans to attack the working class protests which are demanding elections. The racist group had a hand in the coup and operates with the backing of the Jeanine Añez regime.

Bolivians have paralyzed the majority of the country’s highways, both east and west, as part of the general strike against the coup regime. Shortly, Beni (green) Chuquisaca (yellow) Tarija (purple), will be joining the protests.

Pro-democracy protesters in Sipesipe, Bolivia, temporarily clear their roadblock to allow oxygen tanks through. Transport of all non-medical vehicles remains paralyzed by the country’s general strike against the coup government.

(via celery-stan)