How To Deal With Periods, And Other Health Issues
We’ll get into trans healthcare in the next post, including how to get referred to a GIC, getting hormones, and different types of surgery options available.
But first, if you’re FTM, which means you’re transitioning from female to male, aka you were assigned female at birth, there are some puberty-related things you’ll already be dealing with. Same for any Non-Binary people who were assigned female at birth.
I can try to help you with that.
Binding
There are a few things you can do to make binding as safe as possible, and Gender Construction Kit also have their own advice on this particular topic.
Chest binders flatten the chest so that it appears more masculine from the outside. They shouldn’t hurt. If they do, you need to go up a size, take more breaks when wearing them, or make sure you’re not slouching when you wear them.
Painful or incorrect binding can cause long-term damage that can impact the ability to get top surgery later on.
There are half-tank binders, which only go down just below the chest, or full-tank binders that look more like tank tops.
Probably don’t wear white shirts over a binder. I learnt that the embarrassing way. They can cause stains that other people definitely notice, if it’s summer and you’re sweating a lot.
If you do wear white shirts, wear them over a white binder.
Best practices for binding:
Don’t wear them for more than 8 hours.
Take breaks or days off where possible.
Never sleep in your binder.
Choose the right size – Binders shouldn’t be too tight or too loose.
If your binder is causing pain, size up.
Fun colors can make it easier to hide a binder under normal clothes as if it’s an undershirt. Or you can just tell someone you’re wearing a binder, although they might have some questions about why and how binders work.
Never use ace bandages – They hurt, they do damage, even if not done too tightly, and can cause internal and external injuries.
KT Tape exists – But not everyone thinks that KT Tape is safe, so maybe try a normal binder first.
There are specific binders for swimming, don’t try to swim in a normal binder.
Best places to get binders:
Spectrum Outfitters (UK)
GC2B (International store) – Most people use GC2B because of how high quality they are. You can also get a binder donated to you as part of GC2Bs commitment to accessibility.
GC2B (US store)
Trans Shop UK – Sells Underworks binders from the UK
You probably shouldn’t get your binders from places like Amazon or Etsy, as they can be made out of poor material and be more likely to hurt or damage your chest.
Periods
Not fun. But thankfully, there are several ways of managing them.
Period Boxers – Modibodi have all sorts of period boxers. They’re reusable, and way more comfortable than liners or pads. However, they might leak around the sides easier, so sometimes wearing female underwear with a pad or liner, plus period boxers, keeps everything together and minimalizes the chances of leaking by quite a bit.
Towels/Pads – There are different types for different periods.
Pads and towels are heavy duty, usually quite big and long with several layers to them for maximum absorbency. Some have wings that fold around the bottom of your underwear so that they’re more secure.
You can get them online or in a shop. Online is more discreet, but going to a shop is faster.
If that’s too nerve wracking, you can also try asking someone you trust to buy them for you.
Liners – Thin, small, normally don’t have wings. Normally just for discharge, which can happen after periods, or all the time, or both. It’s different for everybody. Discharge can also be a number of colors, but if something new is happening that has never happened before, be sure to ask your GP about it.
I know, it sucks, it’s uncomfortable, but don’t put it off, it could indicate other issues that should be checked out as quickly as possible.
Tampons – They actually go up into the vagina. Yeah, it’s dysphoria inducing, but some people prefer these instead of the often-uncomfortable feeling of something big in your underwear like a pad or liner.
Reusable period products – Good if you like sustainability. Have to be washed in the washing machine a certain way, similar to period underwear.
Reusable period products also include: Aside from period underwear, reusable cotton pads, and cups.
Reusable pads should be washed before use, whereas cups should be boiled and left to cool overnight. This is because cups, like tampons, also go up inside the vagina, which means that they’re more prone to causing infections if they aren’t sanitized properly before use.
This article from wellandgood lists trans-friendly period products from the UK.
And here’s how to use pads, tampons, and menstrual cups.
The Pill
Birth control pills can be used as an effective way to stop periods before starting Testosterone or hormone replacement therapy. Or they can be used instead of hormone replacement therapy, but will only stop periods, not cause more masculine changes to the body, like hormone replacement therapy would.
Birth control pills are commonly used in cis women to stop periods and prevent pregnancy.
As a trans person who is capable of having periods, you can ask your GP to prescribe you birth control pills, otherwise known as the combined pill, to prevent this.
There are different brands of birth control pills, including:
Monophasic 21-day pills – One pill is taken once a day for 21 days. Typically, a cis woman would then stop this pill for a week, which may mean your period comes back. I was personally able to ask my GP to let me keep taking the pill and skip the break, so that my periods didn’t have to come back at all. I did this until I started hormones, at which point I stopped taking the combined pill. Microgynon is an example of Monophasic 21-day pills.
Phasic 21-day pills – (From the NHS website) – Phasic pills contain 2 or 3 sections of different coloured pills in a pack. Each section contains a different amount of hormones. One pill is taken each day for 21 days and then no pills are taken for the next 7 days. Phasic pills need to be taken in the right order. Logynon is an example of this type of pill.
Every day (ED) pills - There are 21 active pills and 7 inactive pills in a pack. The two types of pill look different. One pill is taken every day for 28 days, without a break between packets of pills. These pills have to be taken in the right order, otherwise they become less effective. Microgynon ED is an example of this type of pill.
As with any medication, there are side effects to taking the combined pill. The combined pill should also be stopped when starting Testosterone, because the Estrogen in the combined pill can get in the way of the impacts of Testosterone.
Side effects of the combined pill:
Temporary side effects - Headaches, nausea, breast tenderness and mood swings. Ask for a different pill if such side effects don’t go away after a few months.
Can cause an increase in blood pressure.
Doesn’t protect you against sexually transmitted infections.
Breakthrough bleeding and spotting can happen during the first few months of using the pill, which worried me at first, before I found out that this can, and often does, happen. You should only worry about it if the bleeding is incredibly painful or severe.
The combined pill has been linked to an increased risk of some more serious health conditions, such as blood clots or breast cancer.
Other contraceptives that stop or reduce periods:
Implants – Contraceptive implants like Nexplanon or Etonogestrel can be inserted into the arm to reduce or stop periods, and often last up to three years before they need replacing. This means that, unlike the combined pill, you don’t have to remember to take something every day. Implants might also work better with hormone replacement therapy.
However, the surgery to insert and take out the implant can be uncomfortable, and the implant may be visible when looking at the surgery site.
Injections – These must be taken every 12 weeks, but the plus side is that it takes much longer for periods to come back if you decide to stop having the injections. Side effects include weight gain, headaches, and heavy bleeding. The contraceptive injection could also impact bone density.
Hormone Blockers – Are often used at gender clinics to delay puberty to give the young person more time to figure out their gender identity.
Gender Construction Kit does a very good job of explaining the medical side of things, if you want to know even more about how to stop periods, or any other medical interventions for trans people.
Referrals For Other Health Issues
Sometimes, you might need help with issues related to the female body that your GP aren’t specialized enough to provide. In this case, you might need a referral to an NHS specialist to help you out.
This might include asking to be sent to a gynecologist. Getting referred to a gynecologist as a trans man may present certain difficulties because of the way the NHS system works. As in – the system literally won’t let your GP refer you electronically if you’re gender says male.
What do you do about that?
Well, your GP should send a paper referral to the specialist team instead. But sometimes you have to push them to do this, by specifically asking for a paper referral, as they might struggle with understanding how to make it happen.
Sometimes your doctor just doesn’t know as much as you.
-
You can find out more about trans healthcare here, including how to get referred to a GIC, and how to get access to hormones and surgeries, as well as what options you have for different types of surgical intervention.
