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Sunday, May 15, 2011

the downsides - about genital health

This post is not sexy or fun so definitely skip it if that's what you're looking for today.  It about the health of my genitalia, again, definitely skip this if that's not what you feel like hearing at this moment in time, i don't even want to hear it right now so i definitely understand.  

I generally have alot of fun in the gay boy hook up world.  That is without a doubt.  

However periodically as a result of all my play (sometimes more often than others) there are negative impacts to my health. 

As a trans person, i do not like engaging with the health care industry, so when there are periods that i am at the health clinic weekly if not more, well its enough to say these are unhappy periods, particularly as i am often there due to some type of problem with my genitalia.  Hope this isn't too much for folks but usually its related to something different with my vaginal discharge, general irritation or just feeling "not right" down there. 

I'm sure given the nature of this blog folks are thinking STDs.  Which is what i always think as well, and feel very stressed out and anxious about, but so far (fingers crossed, knock on wood) that has not been the problem.   

I would say half the time the doctors have no idea what is wrong with me, test me for everything under the sun and eventually it just goes away (my best friend and i talk about how so little is known about the long term effects of testosterone on us and if some of it could be related), the other half its something like a yeast infection or urinary tract infection.
  
Clearly this experience around genital health is specific to me, my body, and my health, my best friend who plays as often as i do does not share in this experience he rarely has to go to the doctor.  i hate him for it. 

So recently i had this period where i was having a shit load of vaginal discharge, like copious amounts.  It was very uncomfortable to say the least.  this had happened to me before and when it happened before i got tested for everything under the sun and everything was negative.  after some online research i said to my doctor could it be the lube i'm using - she looked surprised and said why yes, most certainly, in my head i thought really, we could have solved this a long fucking time ago. anyways so i switched lubes and was fine.  

so this time around i knew it wasn't the lube as i hadn't made any changes. They tested me for every std, for bacterial infections, yeast, everything.  Everything was negative.    I would say for about 3 weeks i went to the health clinic weekly at least. Then one day it just stopped.  Really.  What the fuck.  

I know this could have nothing to do with fucking but i feel like its likely related as i didn't use to have these problems when i was less sexually active.   though i also know i am much more aware of the health of my genitalia due to all my play.  

Furthermore in regards to my genitals, when I’m highly sexually active as I am now, whether its with one person in a committed relationship or multiple folks, I tend to get urinary tract infections. This really sucks.

I’ve been on testosterone for a long time so my doctor has said that may make me susceptible to them, along with the fact that I’m pretty sexually active and how I like to get fucked (i prefer pussy fucking). I’ve surfed the net and read about other Trans Guys with similar experiences.

I had this particularly bad experience when I could not get into see my regular doctor so I had to go to a 24 hour clinic that my doctor recommended. I was feeling very sick and just needed the meds so I went. The wait wasn’t that long thankfully, a nurse took me to a room and then gave me a cup to pee into, it all seemed like things were going well, then the doctor came in. older white guy, glasses, he asked why I was there. I said I’m pretty sure I have a uti, that I just had one three months ago, and I get them often. To which he said why are you getting UTI’s so frequently, they are pretty rare in males. I said, well I am transgender, female to male. 

He looked at my blankly and said so you used to have a penis? I was like what the fuck! But I just said, I’m female to male, I was born female, but I’ve been on testosterone for a long time so I pass as a guy, but I have a vagina. In my head I was thinking what the fuck, this is not Adam4Adam or ManHunt. 

I got the sense that either he didn’t believe me or he still didn’t get it. Cuz then he said well do you have any leakage? Which I could be wrong but seems more like a question about a dick. I said no. Then he said are you sure you don’t want me to take a look? I said firmly no. I got the sense he really just wanted to see what I had in my pants. I was feeling really sick, I know I should have made a complaint or something, but I really just needed the meds. Finally the nurse came back with the test and said it was a uti so he wrote me a prescription and I got the hell out of there.

After numerous trips to the Doctor for UTIs, there was a period where it felt like i was going every 2-3 months,  I now have a routine and try to worry about it less. I always pee after sex and try to shower when possible, I take d-mannox and cranberry pills daily, I periodically insert a small amount of estrogen into my vagina (it doesn’t affect hormone levels but helps with thinning vaginal walls) and while I’m not happy about it after a particularly long or rough session I take a mild antibiotic after sex, I don’t like to be dependant on antibiotics but if I get a uti I’ll be on a heavy dose which is worse for my body.  This has all worked so far.  

so all this seems like alot of drama and stress just to get fucked.  sometimes i wonder what the hell i'm doing.  but its a balance for me.  as a queer trans guy of color getting fucked and playing is about getting off and having fun but its also about loving and feeling empowered in my body.  i just try to balance these positive health benefits with the negative ones. 



10 comments:

  1. i like this. honesty and education

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  2. I think it's still a hard choice not to totally transition. It seems like it's still expected or you're not a 'real' or 'legit' trans person. It makes me feel good to see a trans person making the decisions that work for them in that regard. I feel for you about that doctor. What a creep. Why people think trans = permission to look at my genitals continues to baffle me.

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  3. Thank you for the honesty in this post. What estrogen cream do you use to help with the thinning of the vaginal walls? Do you need a prescription for it?

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  4. Just wanted to say that it might not be safe taking an antibiotic after sex at all unless it's an entire prescribed course. The reason being, you might be lessening the bacterial load, but you're not eliminating it and very likely setting up the survivors to become resistant to future courses of antibiotics. If you develop antibiotic-resistant UTI, it'll likely take nothing short of a nuclear bomb to clear it up. :-/ Good luck.

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  5. hey all, thanks for all the comments on this post. wasn't sure how folks would receive it.

    some quick responses

    re: estrogen - i use this suppository type thing that my doctor prescribed, its a little estrogen pill, but its expensive. ask your doctor about it. but a nurse who is into holistic health stuff told me there is also something called 'wild yam' that is a natural alternative. i've been meaning to try it as the stuff my doc prescribes is too expensive.

    re: antibiotics. thanks, yeah, i really don't like to do it and feel unsure about it, the doc who prescribed it though is someone i really trust who is also into holistic medicine, though i really try to minimize my use of antibiotics as it just doesn't seem like a good thing....

    thanks all!

    TQ

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  6. i know it sounds a bit old-wives-y, but cranberry juice is amazing for UTIs - when i feel it starting, i down a litre and it usually clears up within the day. (obviously not so great for when it's more advanced, though.)

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  7. yes, i am a firm believer in cranberry to prevent UTIs. i do the pills regularly and when i can i'll do a shot or two of the juice before a hookup, though that's often not possible, too bad they don't sell shot sizes of the pure cranberry juice... lol i've tried downing it when i feel one coming on but it doesn't usually work as mine come on fast when i get them but i know it works for others.

    Thanks, i should've put that in the post,

    much luv,

    TQ

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  8. damn! hope you find some other way to clear up the uti issue, then.

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  9. thanks, so far, knock on wood, my current regimen is working : )

    TQ

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  10. Hi all,

    Here is an email we received in response to this post. Very informative and helpful.

    Hey,

    Really appreciate your post about genital health stuff...i wanted to post a comment, but don't have an account to login with, so thought i'd email instead - i've been dealing with similar issues for ages and it's been getting me pretty down.

    My symptoms are similar to what you describe ...copious discharge, either sparked by or made worse after getting fucked hard. Also had heaps of different tests, negative for everything under the sun..

    Docs also thought my low estrogen levels (i've been on T for 6 years) were causing atrophic vaginitis. I've also since been taking a local estrogen pessary to restore and maintain the tissues. However, the symptoms came back with vengeance last october and have been recurring ever since.

    After further investigation this time around, my doc did a broader culture test and found (group a) strep pyogenes (the cause of bacterial tonsilitis; also commonly lives on the skin but rarely lives in the vagina, and even less commonly turns pathogenic there). It's unclear how it got there (possibly caused by systemic infection after tonsilitis). They prescribed a shitload of different types of antibiotics (it was resistant to clindamycin and erythromycin), but finally, my last test cleared me after a long course of broad spectrum amoxicillin.

    The volume of discharge has decreased since clearing up the strep, but disappointingly, things are still not back to normal (although, on paper all looks good in terms of the balance of flora and pH down there). Now following up with more tests and increasing the dose of estrogen in the interim as the doc is back to thinking it's still atrophic vaginitis - and that my T levels require a greater dosage of estrogen than originally prescribed. Fingers crossed they're right.

    Anyways, i'm not sure if sharing my experience helps any - i really share your pain, dude. I hope you're feeling better and that you find a sustainable way to prevent/manage it - please keep us posted via your blog.

    Anonymous

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