On trans periods and changing sex at menopause

[MauisLeftNipple]

My friend is on a women's discussion group and has been observing the education of women by some transwomen (and sending me screenshots...).

Apparently the effect of estrogen on transwomen's bodies (mood swings, bloating, cramps) is an actual period. It is the same thing as expelling menstrual fluid from your person. You can use "period" to describe any or all of these symptoms, and even doctors do so.

There are multiple types of sex including chromosomal, gametic and hormonal. And get this, when a woman goes through menopause her gametic sex changes. Wow!

Health information such as that on NHS pages re cervical cancer is actually clearer since it removed references to sex because "people with a cervix" is the correct descriptor over women. Information on men's cancers has been subject to the exact same treatment.

Anyone who disagrees with this is following their feelings and not the science. Oh yeah and they are also a t* and want trans people to die.

And there endeth your lesson....

Got to love a bit of MANsplaining.

Narcissistic rage?

And get this, when a woman goes through menopause her gametic sex changes.

What if I don't want to change sex?

OTOH, what if I want to change gender, like trans people? If I change gender to become a transman during menopause, but my sex also changes, does that mean I become a cisman?

Wow!

Mind blowing drivel.

Yes, sometimes it's best to just encourage people to talk. It really is sunlight that makes all the difference.

No don't apologise. It's a memo to self as much as anything! Linguistic creep is so insidious

What exactly is cramping? Their prostate?? Scrotum?? YOU DON'T HAVE A UTERUS

six it's their smooth muscle apparently....

I thought it was usually attributed to constipation. Maybe from comfort eating due to PMS….

"..higher estrogen levels in men are associated with higher levels of inflammation and been linked to dementia, depression, cancer, diabetes, and the formation of blood clots which may lead to a heart attack or stroke."

They really want to get any new symptoms checked out.

Health information such as that on NHS pages re cervical cancer is actually clearer since it removed references to sex because "people with a cervix" is the correct descriptor over women. Information on men's cancers has been subject to the exact same treatment.

A quick visit to the Prostate Cancer UK website, there is no mention of "people with prostates" just "Men we are with you".

prostatecanceruk.org

Seems like no one is with us women.

It really is fascinating the lengths some men go to, to try to include themselves in "womanhood" even when it is a complete fantasy.
I've marvelled at a few videos where TWs have explained their "periods" including the hurty face and holding a hot water bottle to their make believe uterus, talking about "cravings" and "morning sickness" (yes, they must have got their education from Lifetime Movie channel), and "PMS" symptoms.
It's all delusional bollocks.

If that's not a psychological disorder I don't know what is. You cannot have symptoms from an endocrine function you do not own, nor can you have cramping in an organ that does not exist in your body.
It's simply psychosomatic, if that.

And yet there are actual women who "support" this claptrap.

There is no point in arguing with what is at best, extremely wishful thinking.

The facts and reality is that it's plain not true. And how sad the truth makes someone feel inside, is irrelevant. It is up to them to seek the help to come to terms with the truth - not to require everyone else to pretend something they would like better.

I’d love to see how they cope with ovulation cramps and nausea…..

Dear transwomen,

I got an appointment through the other day to go and have a ultrasound wand struck up my vagina to check out my ovaries and fallopian tubes and check out wether I've grown any new ovarian cysts or fibroids. Plus they need to see if there's any reason I bled for nearly a month last month, especially as I had an, fairly unsuccessful, ablation the other year, plus i hadn't had a period for 9 months until the month of bleeding. My gynaecologist is concerned there is something more sinister going on.

And lets not even discuss the many operations over the years to try to remove endometriosis sticking itself all over the sodding place. Or the stays in hospital when large ovarian charts have ruptured. Or the time they cut straight through my bowel, and didn't notice, whilst doing an investigative op to see how much damage was done to my sex organs as a result of the sexual abuse when I was a child.

The lady at the Women and children division ultrasound scan department completely understand why I wanted to change my appointment to another time, after all its not how any woman would choose to spend the morning of their 50th birthday is it.

And you think taking some hormones and eating a dodgy kebab gives you the right to say what you are going through equates to the 40 years of actual bloody fucking horrendous shit I've been through and am currently going through?

HOW DARE YOU.

I saw a documentary this morning on YouTube about Ethiopian women with birth injuries - mainly fistulas - that had led to them being abandoned by their husbands, ostracised by their families and basically dumped out of sight to die and stop embarrassing everyone.

But the thing that really got to me - these women do back breaking work from a very early age on insufficient food and end up the size of a skinny western 10- year-old. And then they are having babies in their teens, with labour that goes on for days with no help.

So I'm very much sharing your feelings about this, @Boiledbeetle

I'll be honest I'm so very very angry about this particular issue.

It isn't theirs to appropriate

I bet it is this thread. Eould anyone like to get their red marking pen out?

twitter.com/HarmoniaAtLast/status/1553080607516889091?t=sbl4lMsgGQGzI1-P8QKsaA&s=19

Transgender women and others taking feminizing HRT experience the menstrual cycle.

While this hasn't been explored heavily in research, feminizing HRT can and often does cause at least 2 steps of a typical menstrual cycle: Ovulation and Premenstrual syndrome.

Many lovely people in discussions surrounding this immediately call this a delusion, however its true.
A thread✨

To understand the hormonal cycle of someone on feminizing HRT, we have to understand the more general human hormonal cycle.

The Hypothalamus regulates most of our waking bodily functions alongside the pancreas, adrenal glands and Pineal body.

The components mentioned above all regulate basic things like sleep, hunger, metabolism, blood pressure, etc.

When I say drive here, I do mostly mean drive. This is not to say that the hypothalamus and pituitary don't secret hormones themselves, but driving is most of their job as far as the menstrual cycle is concerned.

If you're skeptical of all of this, you're likely a bit confused why I haven't mentioned the ovaries or uterus. That's because to be frank, they don't dictate or drive the cycle. They are driven by the hypothalamus and pituitary.

Everyone has a hypothalamus and pituitary. Not everyone, including cis women, have ovaries or a uterus. What's the deal then? How are people without ovaries or a uterus experiencing ovulation and PMS?

Here's where I speak from personal experience. As someone taking a combination of blockers, estrogen, and progesterone, I experience a 4 to 5 days of much higher libido followed by 5 or more days of migraines, morning nausea, irritability, mood swings, and abdominal cramps.

How is this happening?

The pituitary gland releases a surge of luteinizing hormone and estrogen. This is correlated with a brief increase in sexual desire. If you're taking estrogen and have a functioning hypothalamus, this interaction can occur.

Following ovulation, premenstrual syndrome can occur.

PMS includes headaches, bloating, cramps, joint pain, emotional fluctuation, fatigue, etc. You can name a discomfort and it's included in PMS symptoms. Seriously, look up the list.

PMS in some ways lives in theory as there simply isn't enough research into the dynamics behind PMS. What we do know, is estrogen and progesterone levels take a dive.

For people with uteruses, this means menstruation comes next.

The Hypothalamus and pituitary gland, (mostly) above all, regulate hormone levels for the body. These two drive the menstrual cycle.

I can't speak to the experience of menstruation is because.... I don't! But I do experience part of it.

If you're an expert and anything I've said here is wildly incorrect, feel free to sound off.

Other than that, congrats on getting to the end of the thread 🌈✨

That's because to be frank, they don't dictate or drive the cycle.

Apparently the ovaries and uterus have nothing to do with the menstrual cycle.....

I've read that twice and it seems as though this male is saying that they experience ovulation.

Otherwise, it's badly worded.

One truism ........ you need ovaries to ovulate. And eggs.

Fuck off.

I think I feel a twinge in my prostate.

Honest.

Has it not occurred to you @ScreamingMeMe why women take HRT to relieve hormonal symptoms? It’s because “pms” type symptoms are caused by the lack of oestrogen and progesterone, not their replacement.

Take a look at a basic diagram of the menstrual cycle hormones. You’ll see that LH produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation causes a gradual drop in oestrogen and a sharp drop in progesterone - it’s the drop in progesterone that causes prostaglandins to be released in the uterine muscle, and uterine shedding to occur (the period), which may also include side effects that you list in other organs. But you have left out the fact that it’s the DROP in oestrogen and progesterone that causes this, eg. the absence not the presence of these hormones! They only start to come back up to higher blood volumes after the period is finished, triggered by a rise in FSH after menstruation.

Adding progesterone prevents the hormone drop that causes PMS and the period (hence why you can take the progesterone-only mini pill to delay or avoid having a period). Taking the combined pill works in a similar way by creating an artificial progesterone drop which causes “withdrawal bleeding”. You can take the combined pill straight though without a break to ameliorate PMS symptoms and even out the side effects of the hormone cycle, particularly the low oestrogen/progesterone gap which produces “period” symptoms.

Artificial oestrogen might change male hormone responses and probably produces all sorts of largely placebo or psychosomatic responses. But it definitely does not mimic “period” symptoms because it’s doing the very opposite of what the female hormones that cause that do. Men do not release ova or a corpus luteum or have uteruses to shed the lining of.

Ultimately, the female menstrual cycle is controlled by the interaction of a whole host of hormones, including GnrH, FSH, LH, inhibin A, inhibin B, activin, oestrogen, and progesterone. It is triggered partly by the action of hormones released by the egg and corpus luteum on the pituitary (you have left this out of your post — the pituitary also responds to the hormones secreted by the ovaries and egg, not the other way around).

@ScreamingMeMe sorry, just read your post again and can’t tell if it’s your own opinion or just posted from the Twitter thread - sorry if it’s just a repost!

For anyone wanting a quick diagram:

Think ScreamingMeMe was just reposting the Twitter nonsense.
I'm so glad I'm not on Twitter, it would not be good for my blood pressure.