Hello! I had figured out that I was trans around the time when I first entered puberty, but decided against transitioning as Turkey wasn’t really the most progressive place on earth and it would’ve been really hard. But I just can’t take it anymore this way, and I’ve decided to transition at least when I’m independent from my family and have some level of financial security.
Though it seems that our government is trying to crack down on gender affirming care (a law draft got proposed a month ago in support for increasing the age limit for gender affirming care to 25, and prison sentences for people helping in providing DIY methods), so I want to at least stock up on meds while I still can.
So is it possible to store them (Climen and Androcur tablets) safely for years to come?
They’ll have best before dates or something like that but will usually last for much longer. They might lose a bit of potency after some amount of time. Store them in a dry and dark place at room temperature. I know vials can last for one to several years, but I don’t know as much about how long pills last.
So generally speaking things that are kept cold last longer. If you keep vials in the fridge for storage will they last longer? What about the freezer? I know these things can be complicated but I would think the fridge would at least provide some benefit. I don’t really know in what way estrogen esters “go bad” though.
Edit: I googled it and it looks like putting it in the fridge is not great because the estrogen will crystalize and thus not be available to be injected, though it can eventually dissolve again.
another reason the fridge is a terrible idea is that it’s a very moist environment, and it’s important to keep your stash dry.
Maybe some fridges. For some reason mine is dry as fuck, like if I put something in there without an air tight cover it will eventually get super dry. I think my fridge just sucks though.
Can’t comment on the specific drugs, nor is it likely you can 100% predict how long a drug will last. There are lots of factors.
However, there are a few things you can do to improve the shelf life of any pill form drug. The most immediate causes of degradation are exposure related. Get some high quality vacuum sealing bags and food grade silica packets. Take the pills out of the bottles so it’s easier to remove as much air as possible. Next, store them in a container that is as opaque as possible. That will help reduce degradation from air, water, and light.
This won’t totally stop the drugs from degrading, but it should make it take a lot longer. So the potency will be reduced, but not totally.
The issue is going to be dosage. The drugs will not degrade at an even rate no matter what you do. So some pills may be more potent than others, so you’re going to risk over-dosing if you try to compensate for potency loss by increasing dosage. This is the main reason pills have an expiration date. But IMHO it’s not much more risky than a lot of DIY HRT. Unfortunately, it’s just the necessity of anti-trans hate.
I’m no pharmacologist but my gut feeling tells me that pills should be good for at least 3-5 years if you store them properly (which means, no moisture/water, no sunlight, no high temperatures … basically how you would store noodles or rice).
I don’t have any advice other than to say whether you can stockpile or not, do everything you can to get and stay on HRT now and later. Don’t let perfectionism be the enemy of the good - you will regret not starting HRT sooner (I certainly do).
If it is aligned with your goals and what works for you, an orchiectomy is also a path forward as it will ensure your body won’t detransition if you lose access to HRT, I did everything I could to get an orchi as soon as I could.
The only issue for me is boobs. As far as I’ve read, the size of them will mostly match those of one’s close relatives, which I really can’t have if I want to boymode my way through my conservative school, and early onset puberty is also a common occurence in my lineage which may make me develop them faster.
I’ve heard that some drugs may help laten this, but I don’t have the source for that right now and I also don’t believe I can get any of them without a prescription. Binders are also an option, but I would have to wear them for like 16h per day which seems to be twice the recommended amount of time, and there is also the possibility of it not hiding them well enough for me to not get harassed.
Please tell me if you have any advice on this ❤️
As far as I know, boobs won’t match the closest relatives, they’ll usually be a size or two smaller.
I would personally use the advice from the transmasculine community: binders, hoodies, etc. can definitely be used to hide boobs. Not sure if there is a dress code or how much flexibility you have, though.
I definitely wouldn’t delay starting HRT over this issue. Personally, I had boobs and my skin had become very soft and my neighbor (who knew me as a man and I hadn’t come out to) was commenting on how young I looked when I shaved my beard, lol.
People may or may not notice. They often prefer to see what they want so it’s entirely possible to boymode still, it just takes some effort (again, the trans male community has lots of tips on how to present more masc). I knew a girl who was several years into her transition, she looked like a cis woman to me, but she hadn’t come out at her conservative workplace yet. She had to have been perceived as “soft”, etc. - she also grew her hair out, etc. … so I don’t know how anyone could see a boy, but somehow her colleagues still saw her as a man.
So, I know cases IRL where this has worked (medically transitioning while remaining in the closet).
Thank you for your answer <3
I have one more question: it seems that after starting HRT I have to do blood tests every 3 months or so to adjust my dosage. The issue is that I’m underage, and I have to attend my appointments with my mom who would presumably be notified about my transitioning. And even if the doctor turned out to be non-problematic, I would still have to explain myself and why I wanted to get those specific hormones checked out in front of her.
So are blood tests actually a must do?
Really grateful for your help. I’m going to go sleep for tonight so I won’t be able to respond right now, in case you answer really quickly :D
blood tests are pretty important, but it’s only every 3 months at the beginning - after a year or so I think it’s more like once every 6 - 12 months.
And being underage does make it difficult, it depends on how responsible & mature you are and how much you can educate yourself on whether DIY makes sense without blood tests, but that’s the alternative to getting HRT from a doctor and doing blood tests. You can always then see a doctor once you’re of age.
However, your mom may notice your transition, so don’t expect that to last forever. I would give yourself around a year of boymoding, maybe less or more depending on your genetics, etc.
but don’t count on never being out with your family unless you happen to never see them again
