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New me
2 weeks ago
Who will save me from low doorposts? Well, here's some news about me for you: I'm transitioning.
This isn't something that just happened yesterday; it's been going on for a few years, and I'm going to explain the reason for my transition to you now.
I was born with an extra sex chromosome. This is also known as Klinefelter syndrome or 47XXY. And that's precisely the crux of the matter:
Women have sex chromosomes XX, men have sex chromosomes XY. And I was born with XXY.
What does that mean for me? My hips are higher (little body hair), I have developing breasts, my reproductive organs are underdeveloped, and my testosterone level in the blood is too low.
The latter is quite important in the body. Testosterone ensures, among other things, that the bones can properly absorb calcium. Without proper hormone levels, the risk of osteoporosis, or bone loss, is much higher. This means you run a higher risk of breaking a bone.
I discovered I have Klinefelter syndrome by chance. I watch a lot of videos on YouTube, and one time I came across one about Klinefelter and its characteristics. I looked at my own body and thought, "Could it be?"
I made an appointment with my GP. She then referred me to an endocrinologist (a difficult term for a hormone specialist) at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. They took blood samples. The conclusion wasn't long in coming: I did indeed have Klinefelter. In my case, the 47XXY variant. There are other variants, but I won't go into those.
The next step was that I was prescribed testosterone. I started taking pills. After a month, they gave a wonderful placebo effect. I felt great, but my testosterone levels weren't higher.
Then I went for an injection in the thickest muscle in my body... That wasn't a smart move, because it's not really an injection like the flu. Let's just leave it at that.
Finally, I got a gel. That did help. My testosterone levels went up. But... there were also side effects. And those didn't make me happy.
I became slightly aggressive. I became indifferent. And I started growing body hair. And all three of those side effects made my mood plummet.
I took the testosterone for a total of three years. After that, I went back to the doctor and explained my symptoms. I told her I didn't want to continue like this and that I felt like Frankenstein's monster. After all, I had turned into someone I had never been and absolutely didn't want to be. Another factor was that I'd never felt 100% like a man.
She told me to stop taking testosterone immediately. She then scheduled another appointment with the endocrinologist. She also told me that if the appointment with the endocrinologist wasn't immediately successful, she would prescribe female hormones for me.
The endocrinologist listened to my story and promised me that he would fully commit to my well-being. Mind you, there's normally a THREE-year waiting period for an appointment with a psychologist at the gender clinic.
My GP then prescribed female hormones. It didn't take long before my mood improved dramatically, and my body started to look different.
It took a year and a half before I got an appointment at the gender clinic. I then had a rather lengthy consultation with a female psychologist who specializes in people with Klinefelter syndrome.
The conclusion of that conversation was that the VU will take over my hormone prescriptions and that I'll be given a testosterone blocker. I'll have to take this for a year before I'm eligible for surgery.
This isn't something that just happened yesterday; it's been going on for a few years, and I'm going to explain the reason for my transition to you now.
I was born with an extra sex chromosome. This is also known as Klinefelter syndrome or 47XXY. And that's precisely the crux of the matter:
Women have sex chromosomes XX, men have sex chromosomes XY. And I was born with XXY.
What does that mean for me? My hips are higher (little body hair), I have developing breasts, my reproductive organs are underdeveloped, and my testosterone level in the blood is too low.
The latter is quite important in the body. Testosterone ensures, among other things, that the bones can properly absorb calcium. Without proper hormone levels, the risk of osteoporosis, or bone loss, is much higher. This means you run a higher risk of breaking a bone.
I discovered I have Klinefelter syndrome by chance. I watch a lot of videos on YouTube, and one time I came across one about Klinefelter and its characteristics. I looked at my own body and thought, "Could it be?"
I made an appointment with my GP. She then referred me to an endocrinologist (a difficult term for a hormone specialist) at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. They took blood samples. The conclusion wasn't long in coming: I did indeed have Klinefelter. In my case, the 47XXY variant. There are other variants, but I won't go into those.
The next step was that I was prescribed testosterone. I started taking pills. After a month, they gave a wonderful placebo effect. I felt great, but my testosterone levels weren't higher.
Then I went for an injection in the thickest muscle in my body... That wasn't a smart move, because it's not really an injection like the flu. Let's just leave it at that.
Finally, I got a gel. That did help. My testosterone levels went up. But... there were also side effects. And those didn't make me happy.
I became slightly aggressive. I became indifferent. And I started growing body hair. And all three of those side effects made my mood plummet.
I took the testosterone for a total of three years. After that, I went back to the doctor and explained my symptoms. I told her I didn't want to continue like this and that I felt like Frankenstein's monster. After all, I had turned into someone I had never been and absolutely didn't want to be. Another factor was that I'd never felt 100% like a man.
She told me to stop taking testosterone immediately. She then scheduled another appointment with the endocrinologist. She also told me that if the appointment with the endocrinologist wasn't immediately successful, she would prescribe female hormones for me.
The endocrinologist listened to my story and promised me that he would fully commit to my well-being. Mind you, there's normally a THREE-year waiting period for an appointment with a psychologist at the gender clinic.
My GP then prescribed female hormones. It didn't take long before my mood improved dramatically, and my body started to look different.
It took a year and a half before I got an appointment at the gender clinic. I then had a rather lengthy consultation with a female psychologist who specializes in people with Klinefelter syndrome.
The conclusion of that conversation was that the VU will take over my hormone prescriptions and that I'll be given a testosterone blocker. I'll have to take this for a year before I'm eligible for surgery.
Rivaclaw
~graafen
🏳️⚧️ <3
