Clear up all doubts about “taking hormones” through the experience of “Ramsameekhae”

Hormone use can be done by all genders, but for the LGBTQIAN+ group, it is a bit more. Rasameekae Fakaeo-lon, a talented actress and volleyball player who recently won the crown of Miss Chiang Mai 2024, has revealed her experience of hormone use on the “Rise & Shine: Good Health Starts with Us” program, saying that there are times when we use hormones and we ourselves want to be soft. But when we learn more, we realize that our physical conditions are not the same. Therefore, when taking hormones, we must consult a doctor.

Using hormones on your own is very dangerous because when you go to buy medicine yourself, they don't ask you if you have any chronic diseases. No matter what medicine it is, they don't consult a doctor. It always has an effect. I recommend that people who are going to take hormones consult a doctor. It's better to do it well.

By Dr. Nida Sereechanthrik, an endocrinologist and metabolism specialist at the be YOURSELF service clinic at Bangkok Hospital, who has come out to explain more about taking hormones, such as why you shouldn’t take hormones yourself and how those who want to change gender should prepare.

Get to know “sex hormones”

First of all, you need to know that sex hormones are divided into the male hormone “testosterone” and the female hormone “estrogen”, both of which are steroid hormones.

In our bodies, we have both of these hormones, but the levels may vary depending on our gender. The differences are:

• The female hormone group will cause the body to develop from a girl to a young woman, with breasts, menstruation, a slim figure, or smoother skin.
• The male hormone group will cause the body to develop from a boy to a young man, with a deeper voice, a mustache, and a beard.

What is taking hormones?

Taking hormones is changing the body to have the desired gender by introducing sex hormones that do not match our gender into the body, which is often desired by transgender people because after taking hormones It will help change a man into a more feminine man, such as having larger breasts, wider hips, starting to have a waist, and smoother skin, while the beard will start to reduce.

In the same way, it is possible to turn a woman into a man, start to grow a mustache, a beard, have large muscles, and menstruation will gradually decrease and disappear.

What age can you take hormones?

In fact, those who want to take hormones must be 18 years old or older to be able to do so. However, those who are younger must first receive permission from their parents.

“You can take hormones yourself” The number one misunderstanding of gender transition

There are many misunderstandings about the types of drugs used to take hormones because hormones used for gender transition come in many forms, including oral, topical, and patch forms, which are suitable for each person in different forms. Therefore, those interested in taking hormones should consult a specialist doctor.

Another second misunderstanding is about hormone levels. If hormone levels are not checked at all, if they are allowed to exceed the level, it will affect your health. Therefore, after taking hormones, you should have regular health checks, such as blood pressure, blood fat, liver, or kidney values, because male and female hormones have different effects.

It is not recommended to take hormones yourself because many hormones are not suitable for taking to change genders. Some of them increase health risks by 20 times more than the general population. Therefore, it is not recommended to buy medicine to take yourself.

Preparation before taking hormones

Things to prepare before taking hormones are:

1. Check sex hormones in the blood You should check first to see how much your male and female hormone levels are.
2. Check your health first to see if you have any contraindications to hormone use, such as a risk of clogged blood vessels, heart disease, or breast cancer. Women who will take hormones must also check if they are pregnant.

Behavior after taking hormones

Behavior after taking hormones is no different from other people, which is to eat healthier, reduce sweet and fatty foods, and choose foods that contain good fats for the body, such as fish, grains, olive oil, and rice bran oil. You should also exercise regularly and take calcium and vitamin D to build bone mass.

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