(Part 2) Top products from r/FTMMen

This has been a pretty major concern of mine too. First off, if you start to lose more hair in the shower, don't necessarily start freaking out right away. At about 3-4 months on T, I started to shed a lot of hair, and I was convinced that meant I was losing my hair. Except I wasn't. It was just temporary increased shedding. At 7 months it's back to normal and my hair isn't thinner at all. I can't really tell if my hairline has changed though tbh. It kind of looks the same to me, but since I have longer hair, it might just be harder to tell.

Do you have a hair stylist? One you've been going to for a while, that knows your hair? What helped a lot for me was my hair stylist telling me that she noticed no difference in my hair. I think it's a good idea to have a history with a good stylist so you have a second pair of eyes to tell you whether or not there is actual cause for concern.

In my panic research, I read that Finasteride/Minoxidil is your best bet in halting hair loss, but you can also use DHT blocking shampoo. And apparently peppermint oil helps. There's also dermarolling. I'd do your own research on all of this though.

If you have fine hair like I do (fine...just a lot of it), I've tried two shampoos that have helped my hair overall feel thicker. If you have a higher budget, Reline Biotin Thickening Shampoo worked really well. It's just that it's pretty expensive (along with the conditioner) for the amount you get, though with medium length hair it lasted me almost 3 months (and that was with the shampoo bottle breaking in transit...). If you have short hair I'm sure it will last even longer. It might also be cheaper for you if you live the US; it cost me over $70 CAD when all was said and done including shipping.

I'm now using Andalou Naturals Argan Shampoo which is also pretty nice, and much, much cheaper. I haven't been using it as long as I used the other stuff though, so I can't say whether or not it's as good. But so far, so good.

Good luck man! I know it's stressful. Just try not to freak out quite so much at only 3 months. Easier said than done though, I know.

I'm looking to pick up Hung Jury and the Lou Sullivan book. Non-transition related, I just picked up a copy of Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology and I'm super excited to read it.

I recently read Skylar Kergil's autobiography, Before I Had the Words, which was decent enough but kind of repetitive for another trans guy... I get the idea that he's trying to explain what it's like more for cis people, but in any case, it was relatable.

Currently I'm also making my way through the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer, it's fantastic! I highly recommend to anyone who likes Enlightenment era philosophy/history and/or sci-fi/fantasy. That's a lot of slashes, but trust me, it's good.

If it's muscle-based pain (like a cramp), then yes, magnesium may help. I take it daily for spasticity/chronic pain, and a big dose when I get a migraine.

Many people find magnesium calming (hence products like Natural Calm) and can help make you sleepier at bedtime. It's also helpful for treating constipation, as it relaxes the muscles of your digestive tract (along with all your other ones).

I've taken this one for about a year.

I'm not a big believer in most supplements, but magnesium has good evidence of effectiveness, relatively low cost, and few (if any) unwanted side effects. If you want to try it, you'll know within a day or two if it's helping. Heck, if nothing else, it may help ease the tension of living in pain.

So you do endorse Zucker's position?


The guy who never missed an opportunity to speak to anti-LGBT organizations and news outlets, or to tout himself as the world’s top expert in transgender children. He denied practicing reparative therapy, despite a 2003 report in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry which called his techniques “something disturbingly close to reparative therapy for homosexuals.”



https://www.queerty.com/dr-kenneth-zuckers-war-on-transgenders-20090206#ixzz2f9pCTnso



Twenty years ago, though, Zucker was also pushing hard for reparative therapy of potentially gay children who were too effeminate, in order to prevent them from growing up to be gay. In 1990, Zucker wrote:



>Two short term goals have been discussed in the literature: the reduction or elimination of social ostracism and conflict, and the alleviation of underlying or associated psychopathology. Longer term goals have focused on the prevention of transsexualism and/or homosexuality.



He felt that this was for the best, because, “a homosexual lifestyle in a basically unaccepting culture simply creates unnecessary social difficulties.” In other words, force children to change, rather than working to change a homophobic culture. Along the way, Dr. Zucker became the darling of hate groups and their media outlets, such as Focus on the Family, NARTH, CourageC, Alliance Defending Freedom, Life Site News, American Family Association, Liberty Counsel, Family Research Council, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX).



https://www.amazon.com/Identity-Disorder-Psychosexual-Problems-Adolescents/dp/0898622662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379958990&sr=8-1&keywords=Zucker+Bradley




http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-challenges/gender-confusion-in-children



http://www.narth.com/2010/04/treatment-of-gender-disturbed-children-clinical-issues/



http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/05/08/two-families-two-approaches-to-gender-preferences/




http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF15F45.pdf



http://americansfortruth.com/2006/12/05/letting-your-son-wear-a-dress-nyt-helps-mainstream-gender-confusion-in-children/



http://www.pfox.org/transgender-gender-identity/





In effect, because of his position, Dr. Kenneth Zucker was the last “respectable” patron of reparative therapy. He took the model for “fixing” gay kids, slapped a new label on it, and sold it as a way to fix gender non-conforming children. When the transgender activists tried to bring attention to these abuses, Dr. Zucker attempted to silence them with threats of lawsuits.


http://bilerico.lgbtqnation.com/2015/01/meet_the_last_respectable_reparative_therapist.php


http://bilerico.lgbtqnation.com/2009/02/surrender_dorothy_the_clarke_wags_a_broo.php


That is, until December 2015, when an independent investigation led to Dr. Zucker’s firing and his clinic being closed. The investigation results were highly damning, finding:


http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/about_camh/newsroom/news_releases_media_advisories_and_backgrounders/current_year/Documents/GIC-Review-26Nov2015.pdf


http://alicedreger.com/gendermad


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/camh-gender-identity-1.3366424



• The methods being used were 30 years out of date



• The clinic assumed that all gender variant children need to be clinically “fixed” (i.e. they used coercive behavior modification on queer kids to make them act straight)



• Children were pressured into being photographed without clothing



• The clinic emphasized tests, treatment, methods with no scientific basis in evidence based medicine



• CAMH staff asked pre-pubescent children questions that were highly sexual in nature



• Former patients, parents, and therapists of former patients described the treatment as “disturbing” and “harmful”



• CAMH hid affirming community and medical resources from patients



• Dr. Zucker regarded being cisgender, heterosexual, and gender conforming as the “best” outcome



• Dr. Zucker and his team could not conclusively demonstrate that what they were doing was not reparative therapy



In a 2014 German study, 13 experts in treatment for gender identity were asked if CAMH’s methods were ethical. 11 said no. The two who said yes were Dr. Zucker and another CAMH staffer.



But, the most outrageous piece of information coming out of CAMH was Dr. Zucker’s claims that gender dysphoria desisted in 80 percent of cases. However, when investigators reviewed the files of children admitted to CAHM, 42 percent of them never met the clinical criteria for juvenile gender dysphoria in the first place.



In short, half of the kids Dr. Zucker claimed to “cure” were never transgender in the first place. He built his reputation convincing homophobic and transphobic parents that he could fix their kids. When someone actually got around to listening to the transgender community and pulled back the curtain, they found that the 80 percent desistance narrative was a fabrication of an attention seeking, creepy, reparative therapy promoting, snake-oil salesman.

I got it on Amazon. I have sensitive skin. This one is only 1% glycolic. I would still apply a little to a small area on the inside of your arm first to test it. If that goes well test it on a small area of your face.

https://www.amazon.com/Andalou-Naturals-Glycolic-Exfoliates-Brighter/dp/B00854KDYQ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Glycolic+mask&qid=1558123031&s=gateway&sr=8-3

It says to leave it on for 10-20 minutes. The first time I used it I only left it on for a few. It burned a bit and some reviews said that was normal but others didn't so I think that my vary person to person based on sensitivity and if your skin is dry. I worked my way up to 10 minutes.

Then I apply a lot of moisturizer for a few hours. I use a soap free facial cleanser to remove the moisturizer and apply an oil. Leaving moisturizer on can weigh down the hairs and make them ingrown.

They are indeed nipple pumps. I just bought the standard one that I linked in my original comment. I've never measured myself but with two years of bottom growth, I can still pump with it. As far as a wider one impacting suction, I think it's just going to depend on your anatomy, so idk.

Also check out this Amazon page and see if it's the same product you were thinking about. If I scroll to the bottom one of the top reviews is by an ftm

https://www.amazon.com/Size-Matters-Clitoris-Enhancement-Kit/dp/B002I9YMQ4

I use a Van Der Hagen razor.

My recruitment package got dropped once Mattis released his statement on trans service members. If you are willing to stop T for 3 years, have zero gender-confirming surgeries and serve as a female, you'd be able to enlist. Here's the official requirements from the Pentagon with the qualifiers below.

"Transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria are disqualified from military service, except under the following limited circumstances: ( 1) if they have been stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex prior to accession; (2) Service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria after entering into service may be retained if they do not require a change of gender and remain deployable within applicable retention standards; and (3) cunently serving Service members who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria since the previous administration's policy took effect and prior to the effective date of this new policy, may continue to serve in their preferred gender and receive medically necessary treatment for gender dysphoria.

Transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from military service.

Transgender persons without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria, who are otherwise qualified for service, may serve, like all other Service members, in their biological sex."

haha, i'm sure there's a cultural component to this 😁 But if you're curious what the hell we do with these things....

I do tech work, and even just at the office or around the house i use my EDC (a Swiss Huntsman) a lot...

• Opening boxes, bags, envelopes, clam shell packaging
  
• cutting fabric or loose threads (on clothes, or cutting sheets to make a handy rag or pouch)
  
• eating lunch! -- cutting into apples, baked potatoes, bread slices, stubborn bags of chips, etc.
  
• stripping insulation off wires
  
• cutting zip ties
  
• prying open stubborn cases
  
• cutting lengths of string or rope
  
• poke an extra hole in cloth, plastic or thin metal
  
• digging around in tough or rocky soil to excavate a weird rock, interesting plant, or some old item someone dropped
  
• My knife is a multitool and i easily use the scissors and phillips screwdriver as much as the knife! Common non-knife activities include: Cutting up paper, unscrewing computer cases, opening cans.
  
  Beyond that, some of us are outdoors -- either in the woods or backyard -- a decent amount. Outside i also have a second EDC (a Benchmade Griptillian) that fits a little better in the hand and locks. In addition to all the knife uses listed above i might also...
  
  
• cut up roots or vegetables
  
• prying up staples from wood
  
• stir hot liquids (or whittle a branch to stir hot liquids)
  
• cut a stem or branch cleanly (sometimes picking can rip or tear a plant in a way that can make it more difficult for it to heal from the injury)
  
• trimming off loose hanging branches around the yard (otherwise plants can get injured if the loose branches get tugged on)
  
• clean fish, cutt and trim fishing line
  
  I personally use knives for a few other things outdoors too -- clearing away beeswax and propolis, stripping bark from branches, etc. -- but they're not as common. But at the same time a lot of people outdoors have other specialty uses they'll also use their EDC for, depending on their particular hobbies.

I switched from clearasil to acne.org products and started using witch hazel on my face.

I sometimes get skin peels if my acne is really bad. I've struggled with really severe acne my whole life though, it's not just a hormones/puberty thing for me. I even went on medication at one point, but it gave me severe sunburns.