Anecdotally, a lot of my ftm friends ended up having issues after > 5 years on T. After not having periods for years several of them started bleeding a heck of a lot and needed hysterectomy.

Is this sort of thing common? Has it happened to anyone here? If so, what in the heck was going on anyway?

Edit: also, now that I think of it, members of my trans community used to say, if you go on T you need hysterectomy. Again was that just the people I was around? Or is that conventional wisdom? Or did that perspective change somewhere along the way?

I was really unhappy with my top surgery results. I had angry red and scars for a long time and eventually got revision. The surgeon I saw for revision did a really great job minimizing g scars but hadn’t done “top surgery” before. I thought this was fine because I was there for scars, but he said he found breast tissue that wasn’t removed and took it out for me to minimize chances of cancer. I’m happy about that and all but my lymph nodes were damaged and now I have to manually drain fluid or I get puffy and sore. It’s still better than the scares poking out as far as my nipples and visible af under a T-shirt. That destroyed the whole point of top surgery for me — being able to go out in a T-shirt without dysphoria.

I also had hysto (not by choice, but that’s beside the point). I had nerve damage and had to “relearn” bladder control. The months following my surgery were humiliating and made me feel dirty. I would get up to use the restroom and find a big mess or go for a walk for exercise and come home in tears because I couldn’t feel my bladder. It’s mostly better now but there’s an upper limit on how much I can hold it before I just stop feeling anything.

No one ever told me these could be complications. I didn’t have a choice with hysto but I wasn’t prepared for it. I don’t know what I would have done with top surgery.

Thanks for listening. I used to feel alone with these things but I find it unlikely I’m the only one who had complications.

Personally I’ve felt trans since I was young. Like one time in school my classmates and I were talking about what do you want to be when you grow up, and I said I wanted to be the opposite sex.

I had really bad dysphoria and it got worse as I got older. I remember being in my 20s and some days unable to leave my apartment because of it and I thought, what a huge impact this is having on my life.

So I transitioned. I got top surgery and it helped me a lot. I had so much relief from dysphoria.

I didn’t go on T and I kept getting questions about that, not just from my family and community but from my doctors, as if there was something wrong with me. After years of pressure I went on T and it was not a good experience.

I also realised that I had a lot of negative self talk, like “your hips are too big, your feet are too small, you’re not tall enough, your voice is unconvincing.” I realised this was just another version of dysphoria. Although it was less severe, it was what I was trying to get away from.

I realised that having the “transgender identity” no longer helped me since things got better since I had top surgery. Being trans basically changed from something helpful in my life to a big energy suck. I don’t have a male body and I’m never going to have one.

I feel better after detransitioning because I’m not constantly telling myself ways I’m not good enough, that are outside my control. I feel more confident. And I finally feel like it’s ok to just be myself.

That’s totally fine. I’m in the same situation. I feel that having top surgery was the right choice for me at the time. I accept that it may not have been the best possible choice but it wasn’t s bad choice. If I could do it again, I would probably to keyhole instead of bilateral (and go through with mastectomy).

Top surgery relieved a lot of dysphoria for me. There’s a lot of reasons I decided to detransition but the main thing was transitioning served it’s purpose and being male identified is no longer something that gives me energy. It’s emotionally draining to worry about my hip width or shoulder narrowness and so on.

I don’t think radical feminists (myself included) are against adults transitioning. The main thing (1/2) is being sure about surgery before jumping in (for instance, by trying other treatment options like talk therapy first). It doesn’t sound like you regret transitioning, so that’s great!

The other main thing (2/2) is that gender is a harmful concept and sex is a fundamental, physically defined trait (as you say women cannot become men and vice versa). I personally prefer this perspective, but I think it’s worthwhile to understand it’s only one is several perspectives. this page has a great summary.

I wish you all the best on your detransition journey. You don’t need to regret transitioning to detransition.

I’m not sure how I’ve “given up” — I’ve had all the changes I wanted and I’m happy with it. It’s not as if bodies magically change back after transitioning. My goal has always been to alleviate dysphoria and I’ve done my best to achieve that. That is not at all the same as “giving up and being unsatisfied with transition.”

I feel like you’ve read into my reply to your question too much.

Hi there,

I’m going to a skin care studio. I went asking for electrolysis and they recommended intense pulse light, saying it was faster and had similar outcomes. I think I’ve had 5 sessions so far (4-6 weeks apart) and it’s made a huge difference. I still have some ways to go but I’ve lost pretty much all the thick hairs. It took me a long time to decide on doing this, because my facial hair is part of my body and I feel like I got myself into this mess by wanting parts of my body removed. So far it’s been good though, but food for thought. Yes it’s been expensive.

I’m trying not to regret transitioning. I grew a lot as a person during that journey and also what good would it do to regret the whole thing? I can’t take it back so I think it’s better that I just accept it’s part of who I am. I believe my experience is more that I’ve accepted my physical body rather than wishing and wishing it were different and trying and trying to change it. That doesn’t mean I would have chosen it.

Hang in there. Speaking from personal experience it does get better. A lot better.

I’m sorry you’re going through these scary and unpleasant things.

Some questions... have you noticed a change in the ridges, and does it seem transition related to you? Another possibility besides Cutis Verticis Gyrata is from using a suction device to aid in birth. Some people get shapes like that unrelated to a medical condition.

Take it easy BB

As a detrans woman with a deep voice... I don’t give a shit.

I spent some time worrying about it and trying to adjust my voice, but I realised I’m not transitioning. I don’t have to “pass” as anything. I already am a woman and this is the voice I have.

Sometimes I get weird or surprised looks but I just keep talking. I use my voice a lot more than I did male presenting. And I’ve heard some advice that lower voices are taken more seriously.

Tl;dr your voice is yours. Don’t be afraid to use it.

Honestly this post feels entitled to me. Think about where you are. This sub is for people who, lots of times, regret transition and may even feel like they’re ruined their lives. It is support for detransitioners, not advice for your personal situation. Grow up.

Thanks for your comments. I spent some time feeling low/regretful about it, but I realize this is how it is now and there’s no sense self flagellating about it.

I don’t know where I could have received all the proper information. I thought I was informed at the time, you always hear that “surgery isn’t without risks,” and you accept that without knowing what all the risks are.

One of the problems I see with top surgery is you usually have to travel quite far for a surgeon. So you’ve already decided to go through with it once you arrive for your “initial consult” and already have surgery booked in. I don’t know if it’s still like that but I suspect so.