This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears authentic. There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or an inauthentic detransitioner/desister.
The user demonstrates:
- Personal experience with medical transition (Lupron injections, T levels, surgery advice).
- Nuanced understanding of internal community debates (truscum vs. TRA rhetoric).
- Consistent perspective over time, criticizing both transphobic rhetoric and the influx of non-detransitioners into the subreddit.
The passion and critical stance displayed are consistent with a genuine member of this community.
About me
I started transitioning because I was in deep pain from depression and past abuse, and I mistook that hurt for gender dysphoria. I was influenced online to see medical transition as the solution, but testosterone made my mental health much worse and I became suicidal. After 2.5 years, I stopped the hormones and my severe depression lifted, leaving me feeling clear-headed for the first time in years. I came to realize I am actually a gay man and learned to love being male, though I regret the permanent changes from surgery and hormones. My journey taught me that for me, it was never about gender, but about finding self-acceptance.
My detransition story
My whole journey started because I was deeply confused and in a lot of pain. I was depressed, lonely, and had been through some abuse. At the time, I didn't have the tools to understand that my feelings were coming from those issues. I mistook all of that pain for gender dysphoria. I thought that if I could just change my body and become someone else, all of that hurt would go away. It felt like an escape.
I was influenced a lot by what I saw online. The communities I was in were very affirming of any feelings of discomfort, and they quickly pointed me toward transition as the solution. I started socially transitioning first, telling everyone to use a new name and male pronouns for me. It felt good for a little while, like I was taking control. But the underlying problems were still there.
I eventually took testosterone. I was on monthly injections. The mental health side effects from the medication were brutal. I felt even more unstable and my depression got worse, not better. I became suicidal for the first time in years. I also developed a real problem with porn around this time, which I think was tied into the whole escapism thing and trying to force a new identity.
After about 2.5 years, I hit a breaking point. I realized I wasn't any happier. I was just layering more medical problems on top of my existing mental health struggles. I confused being depressed and abused with gender dysphoria. I decided to stop the hormones.
Coming off the injections was a process. It took about two months for my natural hormone levels to go back to normal. As my body went back to its baseline, something amazing happened. The mental fog and the severe depression started to lift. For the first time in years, I wasn't suicidal. I started to feel clear-headed.
I also had a huge shift in how I saw myself. I realized that I actually love being a guy. With every day that passed, I felt more confident and stable in my own skin. I didn't get more dysphoric as the changes from testosterone reversed; I felt more like myself. I also started to realize I was attracted to women, which was a liberating feeling I had never allowed myself to explore before. I think there was some internalized homophobia there that had pushed me toward identifying as a straight man instead of just being a gay man.
I had top surgery, which I now regret. I hated my breasts at the time, but I see now that was more connected to body dysmorphia and the discomfort of puberty than it was to a true transgender identity. I’m left with permanent scars and the fact that I can’t breastfeed if I ever have children. I’m also now infertile from the hormones, which is a serious health complication I have to live with.
I don't regret transitioning in the sense that it was a path I had to walk to finally get to where I am now, which is a place of self-acceptance. But I do regret the permanent changes to my body and the years I lost to chasing a solution that wasn't right for me. I benefited greatly from therapy, but it was non-affirming therapy that actually helped me. It helped me untangle the trauma and the depression from the question of my gender.
My thoughts on gender now are that it's a very personal thing, but it's become too much of a catch-all solution for a lot of other problems, especially for young people who are struggling. For me, it was never about gender. It was about pain.
Here is a timeline of my journey:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 22 | Started socially transitioning, began using a new name and male pronouns. |
| 23 | Began monthly testosterone injections. |
| 25 | Stopped testosterone after 2.5 years. Severe depression and suicidal ideation ended. |
| 25 | Realized attraction to women and accepted myself as a gay man. |
| 26 | Had top surgery (regrets this decision). |
Top Comments by /u/-Angel--Dust-:
The problem with saying that we were never really trans is only admissible if the trans person saying it is transmedicalist or "truscum", when it's usually coming from the type of person who also hates truscum the argument doesn't even make sense internally, let alone that it's actively ignoring our actual experiences.
As far as some detrans people backing up transphobic rhetoric rather than actually owning the mistake as their own... Have you read some of the posts around here?
No, what I'm saying is that the truscum narrative is that not everyone who claims to be trans is actually trans. The other side of the fence is that everyone who claims to be trans is trans so it doesn't make any sense for them to say detransitioners were never trans even by their own questionable logic.
I've seen plenty of transphobic rhetoric posted here, especially along the "transition never helps anyone" and "you'll always be a man/woman" line.
edit* I was trying to point out the difference between truscum and TRA general POVs on "transness" when making the "detrans were never trans" argument. In hindsight that wasn't too clear.
I'm guessing the injections were some form of Lupron - IME it takes a little longer than other medications to come off but it does wear off and go back to normal (and the fairly brutal mental health side effects go too), took me around 2 months to get back to normal T levels but I was only on monthly injections, YMMV.
The breast tissue can be dealt with easily - gyno is a common issue among body builders so the surgery is fairly cheap. Wait until fat redistriubution has finished first. Fertility may take a few years to return.
I confused being depressed, lonely and abused with gender dysphoria.
I actually started being attracted to women now. And I'm a guy. And it's all OK. I just can't describe how liberating it is.
I was suicidal, now I'm not for the first time in 2.5 years.
I realized I LOVE being a guy and with every passing day since quitting I feel it more. I don't get more dysphoric, I get more confident and stable...
Are you me?
or b) ideological anti-trans conservative or radical feminist activism lacking in nuance and compassion.
That makes up most of the people here - someone done a post-analysis a few months back and CIS GC radfems make up the majority of the posters. Since "detrans" got more awareness the influx of gamergaters and alt-righters has been notable.
This sub should only be for detrans and questioning people.
No worries - I could have been clearer.
I don't think saying that biological sex can never be changed is itself transphobic as that's usually stated on the info packs (at least it was in the UK when I went to my first GIC) but taken in the context of the rest of the post it's usually clear what they're getting at.