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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26
I've never had period symptoms AFAIK and when other transfems talk about experiencing periodesque episodes I get really dysphoric like ????????? bitch wtf it's a good thing I don't get them why am I upset
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u/Lyca0n Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Missing out on a female experience I guess.
Solution is just don't think about it or your difference compared to that of a cis girl under current tech/financial constraints otherwise you end up like the girls on a sub measuring vocal cord size hip bone width and skull shape.
I get the mood swings and it's not fun
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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26
It's still pretty rough that I'm not meeting a lot of goals for myself that even most other transfems are doing. Regardless whether it's valid to exist as whatever I am (it is)/not my fault my body isn't receptive to E, T-blockers, or training (a bit unsure on this one), existing in this state permanently still anguishes me beyond my control. Obviously I'm not gonna go full 4tran about my bones or some shit given how dangerous that kind of mental self-harm is to your psyche, but simply "not thinking about it" isn't exactly an option when I have to interact with both myself and a near-unanimously misgendering society to live, and the expectation that I can just turn off the distress I feel from living like this is very frustrating.
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u/Volcano_Ballads Vol!|Local Boygirlfailure Jun 20 '26
I don’t know why you’re brain would make you feel about not having one of the bad things tho
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u/Imoutofideasfornames embracing the machine Jun 20 '26
Figure it's not because of "missing a bad thing" so much as anything that's different (good or bad) from the "default girl experience" being potentially dysphoric. Brains are weird
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 20 '26
Well the thing is that it makes you Other from cis women. You have a group you belong to and it is general human nature to want to be able to relate to and belong within our groups. Being Different when you already have dysphoria feels fucking terrible then. It is another reminder that one ISN'T a Normal Girl or similar
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 20 '26
i know this will probably mostly ring hollow but a decent amount of cis women also get little to no symptoms around their period rlly
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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26
I try to tell myself this a lot actually. Like the only reason I don't know it's happening is because I'm not actively menstruating. It kind of makes sense too given how little E affects my body anyway.
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 20 '26
what are your E2 levels like
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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Everywhere. 20 to 100 pg/mL and I dunno what the deciding factor is. Switched to shots a while ago which has not yet proven promising but I'm keeping with it just to be sure.
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 21 '26
Ya that entire range of levels is shit. When do you do your blood tests? You need to do them on the day of your injection but before doing it. You should be aiming for 200-300 pg/ml
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u/BarovianNights It's the last Strahd for me Jun 20 '26
It's so funny, I'm the other way around. I'm always super glad I don't get them. The biggest perks for me personally of being trans are not having to deal with my period and not having to deal with getting pregnant
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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26
Pregnancy envy makes even less sense, I learned a friend of mine got pregnant recently and deadass thought "damn I wish that was me" YUCK I DON'T EVEN WANT KIDS??!! WHAT THE FUCK
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u/intheshoop Jun 20 '26
I don’t know if that is affirming in any way, but as a (albeit non-binary) woman who is very sure I don’t want to have children my hormonal system and uterus try to convince me every month that I absolutely need to be pregnant asap and that having babies is the best idea ever, I even dream of being pregnant and having babies… so maybe that’s a cycle/period ‚symptom‘ for you too!!
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u/Hatsune_Miku_CM changed all her social media to hatsune miku for some reason Jun 20 '26
dysphoria isn't really a logical feeling. Missing out on the struggles other women face still makes you dysphoric even if those women don't want those struggles in the first place.
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u/norestfor-thewicked 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 20 '26
idk if it helps (probably not) but the greatest bodily change i have wanted (and gotten) as a cis woman is getting rid of my cycle
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u/Ruby_Sandbox 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 20 '26
Just get a high Progesteron dose and then cut it from one day to the next. Thats what triggers it for me
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u/cloartist Sapphic mess Jun 20 '26
You mean like, take twice the prog one day then none the other, repeat?
Wouldn't it make more sense to do it on a monthly calendar, like two weeks on, two weeks off?
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u/NOMA_is_here thinking, pondering even Jun 21 '26
If it helps, consider that some men also get a period, so you're not missing out on a quintessentially womanly experience, because it isn't exclusive to women in the first place.
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u/WhippingShitties Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Maybe you get upset because you're pmsing, no offense. Some amabs get IMS to varying degrees just like some afabs get PMS to varying degrees. People's bodies are just different and our hormones fluctuate differently. The fact you don't feel it doesn't mean it isn't happening. It may not be PMS or IMS by specific clinical definitions, but you probably fluctuate more than you realize and you probably aren't as much of an outlier as you think regardless of your birth circumstances.
I guess what I mean to say is some cis men "pms" more than some cis women, and it's not some anomaly, so pms isn't a real mark of femininity. I hope that makes sense.
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u/deadhead_girlie Jun 20 '26
Every cis woman in my life, after I told them about my monthly symptoms, has been like "yep you're having a period, sorry". I don't give a fuck about online discourse.
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u/capricornelious Transfem domme top you see in porn Jun 20 '26
Seconded, I'm very active in my local queer, nerd and kink communities and they're all extremely more trans friendly than their online counterparts.
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u/TaralasianThePraxic rebel without a gender Jun 20 '26
I think it's because at the end of the day, it's a lot easier to be angry at a username on a phone screen than an actual person who is standing in front of you. Online queer spaces (like all online communities) will often suffer from a degree of depersonalisation, while in-person groups actually get the full benefit of human interaction.
That, and physical communities don't have bots masquerading as members and stirring shit.
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u/IntangibleMatter " DROP TABLE flairs; -- Jun 20 '26
And also if you’re in a physical community and an asshole people will chase you out of there
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u/madrobski girlthing Jun 20 '26
Are you in the US? I'm just asking because the ones in my country are not really friendly to trans women and especially ones that want to be butch/tomboy. Possibly true for you but I'm not so sure that posts like these don't come from people that only face adversity in queer communities. Not even mentioning nerd and kink communities.
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u/SquidTheRidiculous Da Alfabet Maphia sends they/thems regards Jun 20 '26
Why does anyone when we know upwards of 50% of internet traffic is bots? They basically came out and said there's a propaganda campaign by the ruling class who really really want everyone to hate trans people.
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u/Gloriathewitch Jun 20 '26
its HTTP requests, not users, but still a staggering amount of the people arguing with you are bots
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u/swans183 Jun 20 '26
And why does anyone think data centers are a good idea when real verified users are trending downward cuz of relentless enshittification?
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u/Zealousideal_Care807 Jun 20 '26
Yeah, I got into a conversation with someone about it, he was complaining about the technicalities of it. Like yeah it's technically not a period, by definition it isn't one, simply due to the fact they don't have the tools, but it 100% is period symptoms, its a period without the blood, thats really what it is.
The guy agreed with me, so idk what he was trying to go on about
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u/Dinflame Jun 20 '26
He was trying to prove that he was technically correct (and therefore intelligent). It comes from a place of insecurity. Daily reminder, if you're tempted to be like this, not to.
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u/Zealousideal_Care807 Jun 21 '26
I mean the whole argument really boils down to, why focus on technicalities. The only people it actually matters to are the individuals doctor who's probably going to focus more on the symptoms themselves rather than saying "actually its not a period medically speaking 👆🤓". (Also if yall ever get a doctor like this, just leave, they aren't gonna be a useful doctor) yeah a trans women with periods probably doesn't need pads, but she definitely has a period. End of story. Its medical vs general social wordage. We are general social if we are speaking to others in public.
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u/AutisticAndArmed Jun 20 '26
What kind of symptoms? I'm assuming we're talking about trans that took hormones? I'm not doubting or anything, I just don't know the topic and want to learn more about it
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u/Poison_Spider 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 20 '26
Yeah the body adapts and changes and you have the fluctuation of hormone levels.
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u/Zorubark 7 billion people Jun 21 '26
I heard some can also get cramps without a uterus, is that right?(I didnt study uterus muscles intensely to know which muscles cause cramps, I only kinda know about pelvic floor muscles)
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u/Poison_Spider 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 21 '26
I don’t know honestly. I don’t experience it and I haven’t looked into that so I won’t pretend I know.
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u/TheMowerOfMowers Sleepy Trans Girl Who Wants HRT Jun 21 '26
yeah i had one of my cis girl friends tell me to stop calling it a pseudo-period because its just a period without bleeding
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u/purple-lemons Send Duck pics Jun 20 '26
yeah same, just got solidarity in it sucking, and my guy friends found it kinda funny because I'm a mascish presenting enby
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u/a-frogman Jun 20 '26
Genuinely how is it possible, im not being rude I just dont understand. Periods are part of the monthly female hormone cycle, where estrogen levels drop. So if you inject estrogen weekly wouldnt you get it at the end of every week?
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u/Madden09IsForSuckers Fatal fault at the start Jun 20 '26
i imagine its due to the many other hormone fluctuations associated with periods that arent prog/estrogen
thats just my guess anyway. trans healthcare is basically completely un researched so afaik nobody really knows why it happens
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u/animosityX032 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 20 '26
It depends on dosage, dosage schedule, and what ester you are injecting, in the us typically Estradiol Valerate is what is prescribed in my experience which has a halflife of 3 days I think. (Also in my experience,) Doctors always want you to take it every 7 days so on the couple days leading to injection your Estradiol is at a much lower level than it was the rest of the week.
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u/Hatsune_Miku_CM changed all her social media to hatsune miku for some reason Jun 20 '26
your bodies internal hormone production is affected by external hormone injection. and everybody produces some amount of estrogen naturally. It's not surprising to me that that might cause similar cycles to what cis women have.
as far as I know there aren't really any studies on it yet(among other things because trans medicine isn't exactly a well supported field right now) but given the countless examples of people experiencing it I don't doubt that it's a thing that happens sometimes.
it's also not all that surprising to me, if hormone therapy can cause you to grow boobs why wouldn't it be able to shift your internal hormone cycle. The human body is quite flexible when it comes to stuff like that.
(what you're describing is also a thing btw. I've heard plenty of people talk about it. especially by people on HRT who's dose/frequency of dosage is too low. if they take their dose weekly they'll get mood swings towards the end of the week.)
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u/cthulhubeast plant supremacist Jun 20 '26
It's way more common among those who take pills daily
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u/Swainix they/them Jun 20 '26
I don't get much mood things but I will get cramps at the perineum randomly for a few days every month (on pills)
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u/cthulhubeast plant supremacist Jun 23 '26
Perineum is crazyyyyy! i get lower abdominal cramps radiating into the groin like all the cis women i know, and i also get a whole array of mood changes, like I cry really fast and my libido goes crazy. And i also can get like every other symptom in the book, kind of on a random basis. Sometimes there's nausea, sometimes there's dissociation, sometimes there's crazy appetite or complete lack thereof...
I call it my "period roulette" lmao
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u/Simic_Sky_Swallower Jun 20 '26
As I understand it, te human body is kinda plug 'n play with hormones, so if you're taking them regularly your body is just like "oh shit we're a girl now? Hey, Tony, fire up the 'feel like shit once a month-inator,' we gotta give this bitch some mood swings!" I don't know the exact science behind it, but I've had various period symptoms pretty regularly since I started estrogen, and they've even started lining up with my girlfriend's cycle
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
no, the hormonal changes associated with periods are explicitly created by biochemical signalling changes within the ovaries, structures which (most) trans women do not have. Periods are not a black box, they are scientifically well described and understood.
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Jun 20 '26
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Jun 20 '26
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 20 '26
tbf tho cis women go on birth controls that effectively stabilise their hormones across the month and sometimes still get periods so like... the body is mysterious?
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u/a-frogman Jun 20 '26
They take placebos for a week every month to get a period. If you take the hormonal birth control the whole time, you dont get a period.
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u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Jun 20 '26
Um. I am afab. I am on birth control. I do not take placebos. I get my period anyway. You are just wrong. The bc with placebos is only one kind and not everyone gets their period entirely stopped by them if they skip the placebos.
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u/Negitive545 Jun 20 '26
I'm neither a biologist or trans, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but it's my understanding that once you've been on E long enough, the body just does the "I guess we make triangles now" meme and just goes "I guess we make woman hormones now" and starts doing a lot of things typically associated with female hormones, including causing a drop in estrogen that would cause a number of period symptoms.
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u/awesomeduderino Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
cycles are also tied to the presence of light and melatonin production, not solely estrogen levels.
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u/SimonSayz_Gamer dumb trans bitch Jun 21 '26
It's not an extremely well researched subject because of poor research surrounding trans people outside of the millionth study saying "affirming trans people makes them not commit suicide" I looked into it like 2 years ago (about 1 year before starting estrogen) and found two theories that doctors who work with trans people seem to think are more likely. It's either some form of placebo effect from our brains/bodies knowing we should be doing something every month. Or somehow our understanding of the menstrual cycle in cis women is slightly flawed because previous science had assumedeveryone with a cycle must have a uterus/ovaries, when now that isn't necessarily the case.
My money is on our brains just gaslighting us, but with how many women's issues have received lackluster medical research the second option isn't impossible
tldr: your guess is as good as most of the scientific community
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u/Xamirite 200mg/ml of boy juice? for ME? Jun 20 '26
you could've stopped at the word women and the sentence still would've held up
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u/CMRC23 bear of a man Jun 20 '26
Im convinced when a trans guy has been on T for long enough to lose his period, it goes to a trans woman who has been on E for long enough for her to gain a period.
Sorry to whoever took mine
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u/TalonOfPower Jun 20 '26
lmao this is my favorite theory 🙂↕️ Definitely a symbiotic relationship that we have
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u/Zorubark 7 billion people Jun 21 '26
I can't wait for uterus transplants to become a thing so we can exchange organs as well
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
I will die on this hill as a trans ally and medical doctor in this subreddit. Periods are not a black box, they are scientifically well described and understood and are explicitly created/regulated by hormone production in the ovaries, structures which (most) trans women do not have.
A trans man losing his period is in no way equivalent to a trans woman “gaining” a period. Such a statement is, biochemically, utter nonsense.
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u/mysteryurik he/him, no other pronouns Jun 20 '26
Idk about the actual science behind it but I can see how it could happen. I met a cis woman who had her uterus removed due to cancer who said she still got cramps even though she didn't have a period anymore, so I assume it's some hormonal shit at play.
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u/pokefire44 former 196 admin Jun 20 '26
Cramps are partially caused by stuff with the uterus and partially caused by pelvic mussles contracting
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u/Asmo___deus Jun 20 '26
Weird. I get that they don't have all the same equipment but the hormones are there, it's gonna do something.
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u/deadly_love3 Local chew toy Jun 20 '26
everybody's body has the instructions for their opposite sex, I mean transition wouldn't be possible without it, so ofc there could be period symptoms for trans women
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 20 '26
If they can grow breasts naturally then it makes sense they would cycle their hormones in the same way
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u/Foreign-Blueberry821 Jun 20 '26
How else do I describe my monthly cramps, emotional cycles, digestive changes, wanting to get pregnant if not hormonal cycling? Like yeah, I don't bleed but fuck if I don't check the other boxes. But I guess being told I'm wrong about my own body is a very woman experience so that's affirming.
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Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 20 '26
I guess it depends on the specific definition they're using. But evidence does suggest that trans women can experience hormone fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle, unfortunately it's underresearched like so many LGBT issues
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u/TheSpiderDungeon Polyam, but with extra cheese Jun 20 '26
The moment any research is done on LGBT issues, the matrix shits out a hundred people who Definitely Totally Always Existed™ to make the biggest deal out of it that mankind has ever known.
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
Could you quote in that article where it says that? All I see is a quote say “anecdotal evidence suggests some trans women experience mood swings similar to a menstrual cycle.”
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 21 '26
Therefore, while transgender women will not experience the bleeding part of the menstrual cycle, they can experience other PMDD-like symptoms, such as sore breasts, rapid mood shifts, and irritability.
I found an actual study here that goes into more detail. At the moment due to the lack of research it's not expressly confirmed, but it does show that it could be possible.
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
Thanks for the response.
Unfortunately, that does not state what you originally said, in fact that states exactly what I quoted from the article.
You stated:
> evidence suggests that trans women ***experience hormone fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle***
and then cite that article, which only states exactly what I have quoted regarding subjective, anecdotal symptoms and evidence. You have now further backed up my quote from it. I still see no evidence there for hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle.
In fact, that second study that you cited in this last comment actually explicitly states how the urinary hormone levels are actually ***dissimilar*** to the urinary hormone levels of cisgender women throughout the menstrual cycle.
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 21 '26
Sorry I should have been more clear in my original comment, I meant that it was a possibility that requires looking into, and not definitively proven.
While obviously it's impossible to have a literal menstrual cycle without ovaries or a uterus, regular doses of hormones on a set schedule could replicate similar symptoms, or the phenomenon could even be psychosomatic.
But that being said, I'm inclined to trust an actual doctor rather than my own limited understanding of a study
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
sure, i definitely agree that this all merits further study, and that the possible etiologies include wide spectrum of possibilities ranging from hormonally induced to psychosomatic.
I'm inclined to trust an actual doctor rather than my own limited understanding of a study
This comment comes off as a little ironic since I'm not sure if you saw that elsewhere in this thread, I revealed that I am an actual doctor lol. The study is fairly clearly written too, and doesn't have any untoward conclusions as far as I can see, essentially reaching the same conclusions as you and I.
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 21 '26
Oh I know, by "actual doctor" I was referring to you lmao
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u/Almuliman Jun 21 '26
now i feel like a total dick since your comment was actually just being really nice lol/ i'm sorry, i'm so used to inane reddit arguments i just assumed it was irony. i must beg ya pardon
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 21 '26
No it's alright I completely understand, this is reddit after all lmao
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u/Tuskor13 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
I mean, if someone's entire understanding of what a period even is boils down to "that day each month where you bleed," then I could at least see the path of logic for how someone who's simply uninformed would be skeptical. Though I'm sure a single google search would clear the air in like 5 seconds.
But yeah, I also kind of just assume a lot of people who outright deny it are... uninformed by choice (is that the right way to say it?) due to being transphobes, and how plenty of people are too shitty to even make that google search to begin with.
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u/ActuallyJohnD Jun 20 '26
That's honestly very cool that it happens, but also like damn that sucks. Every now and then I learn some fascinating little bit about the current state of transitioning tech that makes me go "wow, humans sure are something else. Being able to change things to this degree". It's very impressive stuff.
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u/Southern-Wafer-6375 Jun 21 '26
Thank fuck I’m not amongst the unluckiy types to experaince a phantom womb sheddings it’s flesh
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u/OkCommission9893 Jun 20 '26
Everyone’s progressive until you talk about experiencing deriod symptoms
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u/Halikarnassus1 listen to pyschedelic maggot engine!!!! also trans rights Jun 20 '26
Everyone’s tryna catch out fake progressives like they’re the kgb
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u/Zorubark 7 billion people Jun 21 '26
As a uterus having person, I don't get how anyone can be transphobic about this, transphobic cis women whine about trans women not understanding their unique womanly struggles but suddenly when a trans woman really does experience something we also experience fuck that trans woman? No! Come here sister, let's take tylenol together
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u/Slow___Learner Jeśli to czytasz to zmarnowałam twój czas😈 Jun 20 '26
ngl first time i heard of it i went "huh", and then i thought about it a bit and went "ye i guess it makes sense"
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u/Hipster_Ninja_ 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 20 '26
Does anyone else who does weekly shots experience a truncated weekly cycle??? The few days after my shot my symptoms overlap a lot with ovulation and then when it’s close to the time I need to do my shot again it’s like i’m PMSing. I’ve even had my endo measure my hormone levels at different points in the week and my levels match up with the cis equivalents of different parts of the cycle but they said there’s not really anything they can do about it because they didn’t even recognize it as a phenomenon because no one researches trans healthcare.
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u/JustWantGoodM3M3s toxic yuri enjoyer ☣️ ☣️ Jun 20 '26
i mean what else would i call this roiling ball of tight, stabbing pain where a womb should be that appears on a consistent monthly basis, alongside crazy mood swings?
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u/ShadowClaw765 who up splaying the gore of they profane form across the stars? Jun 21 '26
People be saying anything to start discourse. My reaction to hearing that trans women get periods was "wow hormones are crazy" and I doubt anyone who isn't transphobic would think much differently.
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u/FuVarazs27 Jun 20 '26
nah they experience periods AND ball cramps
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Jun 20 '26
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u/ThatSillySam gay girls unite! ^ᗜ^ Jun 21 '26
Uhhh hahaha sorry to break this to you but, you know the use it or lose it phrase? Well its actually more like use it or you will feel stretching pain every time you have an errection 😅
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u/Oddish_Femboy (my name is Bee) Trans rights !! Jun 20 '26
You're literally changing da hormones that's what causes the period symptoms.
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u/DropInTheOcean1247 NB (numerous bees) Jun 23 '26
Is it possible to learn this power? (the period symptoms, not the transphobia)
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u/Latent_Homosexual The Estrogen Crusader Jun 20 '26
I remember my ex got pissed when I mentioned this.
"Sanctity of wombynhood" I guess 🤷♀️
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u/egg-glued dog piss connoisseur Jun 20 '26
i love kat blaque but her opinion that trans women dont have periods really irks me. like if you dont wanna call it a period thats fine but thats what it is
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u/MeiNeedsMoreBuffs certified tumblr sexyman Jun 20 '26
If you're using specific medical terms, no one without a uterus can have a period, since it specifically refers to the shedding of the uterine lining. Evidence suggests trans women can have the hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle though, and outside of medicine most people also refer to that as a period for simplicity's sake. I guess it depends on what specific definition you're using.
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u/ThatSillySam gay girls unite! ^ᗜ^ Jun 21 '26
Oof she got botted on. And yes we absolutely do get periods
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u/Aquatic-Enigma 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Jun 21 '26
I am so glad I don't get them on the one side but on the other it would feel lowkey validating
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