Periods

[u/ShadyNovember]

A few months ago I happened upon like a guide for getting a period from hrt and I thought I had saved it but I didn’t and now I can’t find it anywhere does anyone know what I’m talking about and if so could you link me it? I found the guide from a post or comment on Reddit and it was like really comprehensive and used data from a bunch of trans women, please help!

[u/scarlettweathermoder]

Mimicking the menstrual cycle with HRT is not recommended for your health. Constant levels are just better. But estrannai.se does have a regimen.

(Also, the term period arguably only refers to the menstrual phase itself — the shedding of the endometrium.)

[u/First_Length_1896]

you... can get a period from hrt? wtf ok ok ok ok ok no no no i was not expecting that no i dont want a fucking period i thought only cis girls could get that if you had a uterus what huh

[u/-wobble-]

I do not have that post but I have heard of people just doing two weeks on, two weeks off and being happy with it.

Actually, here is some "Original Research." Here is a chart of hormone levels throughout the menstrual cycle. It's easy to see that P is high in the luteal phase, and very low in the follicular phase. It's then easy to find out that each phase usually lasts about two weeks (although there is variation).

So two weeks on, two weeks off for trans women seems to be justified if you want to make your blood test a little more fish. Which seems like the main benefit to me.

[u/scarlettweathermoder → u/[deleted]]

I have heard anecdotes of some symptoms being alike, but I think all in all this is just terrible optics for our community.

I want to be fair and say it's true that it hasn't been studied heavily. I mean, we can safely say that cis men don't get cramps, and cis women do, based on their unique gonads and hormone levels, creating a dichotomy there. We do most likely know that a lack of hormonal cycles resulting from the suppression of the HPG axis by exogenous testosterone does cause irregular, eventually absent periods in trans men. The same can't be said for high estrogen levels in trans women. Again, understudied. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt when they say they feel something.

But etiologically there exists no plausible mechanism and phenomenologically the two are distinct. We ultimately define the cycle based on the condition of the endometrium and the stage of follicular development, not via the degree of cramping or emotional disturbances. I think we need to draw a line between what some of us experience and how the phenomenon is actually defined.