Periods and Transitioning

Today, 31st March 2022 is Transgender Day of Visibility. It is an international event dedicated to recognising the resilience and accomplishments of the transgender community. At Organyc, we want to learn more about trans people and raise awareness about the struggles that they face.

Ronan-Lukas, who is transgender FTM (female-to-male) has worked with us to discuss menstrual cycle changes that trans people go through while transitioning.

Most transgender / non-binary people assigned female at birth (AFAB) have to deal with periods, just like AFAB women do. Starting hormone replacement therapy (HRT) changes our cycles and for the most part, these changes aren’t talked about enough.

How does transitioning affect periods?

Simply put, HRT for AFAB transgender people involves taking testosterone to gain physical and hormonal masculine traits. While emphasis goes on deeper voices and increased body-hair, most of us gloss over how it impacts our periods. Due to this, a lot of people start their HRT journey expecting that their period will simply stop.

Most of the time, it doesn’t. Usually, our periods increase.

Body types, individual flows, pre-existing hormones and testosterone dosages all impact how long periods increase for. Sometimes it’s one extra-long period with severe cramping, and then it never happens again, except for rare spotting - Organyc’s light flow liners would be more than enough protection in these cases. For others, periods last longer and get heavier (I’m talking about bleeding heavily enough to soak through a night-time pad in an afternoon - Organyc’s extra heavy-flow night-time pads with their protective wings to helps secure them and protect against leakage, would be a good natural, organic and eco-friendly swap to make for daily protection) for a few months, before decreasing and vanishing.

HRT increases periods initially because testosterone plays a key role in the menstrual cycle, alongside oestrogen and progesterone. Naturally, it’s produced in small amounts which peak mid-cycle, before dropping again. Taking HRT throws this rhythm on its head, so a few impractical changes are to be expected until hormone levels settle again. After this, the periods decrease and eventually stop*. Depending on the person, this can take one period, or multiple. Organyc’s super maternity pads aren’t just for new parents, and are great for heavier flows during this stage of transitioning - their elasticated sides mean they contour to your body, so you have less risk of leakage, even during one of the heaviest periods of your life.

Education is vital. Whether it’s increased bleeding, cramps severe enough to make us cry, vomit or have us bed-bound for the duration of the period, we don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about how our HRT journey is us inducing menopause, regardless of our age, or about how we have to deal with menopausal symptoms and male puberty at the same time as juggling adult life, while being expected to be hyped about our voices finally dropping. We don’t talk about the fact we bled through a pad, our favourite boxers and jeans, because then we’d sound ungrateful for getting on HRT at all.

This attitude has to change.

Being honest with people, if it’s safe, is an important step to take. Chances are, we won’t be feeling as on top of the world as everyone expected, so having a supportive circle of friends or family can be priceless.

Will this last forever?

No.

For most AFAB transgender people, cycles only last for a few months after beginning HRT. 

Though the cycle may restart if/when we stop HRT. It might not be immediate, and it might take a few months to find its rhythm again, but it will likely become regular if we stop HRT for an extended amount of time. 

For some of us, periods are unbearable - emotionally and physically, as they’re a reminder of how our bodies don’t align with our identity. For others, they’re an inconvenience. How we react to them is personal and individual. But how we treat them as a whole needs to change, especially when it comes to talking about how finally getting to medically transition can make us more aware of them than ever.

*Even when periods stop, they might not vanish 100%, so taking a progesterone-based birth-control can help control the cycle, without impacting HRT like an oestrogen-based BC would.