r/Trans_Zebras

ive been wondering for a long time if any zebras have a similar boobage situation to the one im dealing with. my skin, most notably and especially on my chest, is excessively stretchy - not uncommon for the stretchy skin disorder - weirdly, though, i don't have many other skin related issues common with hEDS (the variant of EDS that most of my doctors agree i probably have) like easy bruising, or skin ripping, or irritation.

instead, the way my skin stretches, specifically on my chest, it feels like nothing is connected underneath my skin in there, if that makes sense.
everything slips and slides around. when i grab and lift my boob, i can hold it by just the skin, and any fat in between my hand slips out.

this is particularly troublesome because i am trying to use trans tape after binding became excessively painful recently. i have been relying on Beau's tutorial, since i'm shaped quite similar, but unfortunately, his chest is a lot more solid than mine! it sags about the same, but it remains a solid shape when he folds it around into his armpit! mine, i fold it, and all the mass in there bulges out somewhere else. the best results i've got with my 5" wide roll from transtape.life looks more similar to the examples of a strapless bra configuration they advertise, under the 'lift' page. not the shape i want! at least i can say my chest is smaller, but it has ended up shaped more like boobs than my moobs looked like before.

next time i'll get a 7" wide roll and see if that's any better, but i'm curious to know if any of my fellow t boy zebras have similar experiences. or if any use trans tape and could maybe help me figure out how to apply it. especially considering the slippy and slidey nature of my breast tissue. i don't want to use 56" of my roll every time i reapply :(

Ok I know that sound ridiculous, but I can't shave anymore

For context: I am 27 FtM with clEDS (suspected, as now it's diagnosed as hEDS, but anyway I do have EDS either way)

Until now, I couldn't shave with electric rasors because my skin tends to just... get stuck in it, and it hurts quite a lot, but I still was able to do most of it with an hair clipper (I think it's the right term? sry, english is not my mother tongue)

But, since a few days... this does not work anymore either, it get stuck the same way. And hurt the same way.

I than tried to pour shaving cream on it before, and it hurt a liiiittle less so I can force, but it does not shave anything?? Like, I had to try for almost half an hour to have barely half of it gone? I know it's not the rasor the problem, because it works perfectly on other people + I tried several of them, same result

Does anyone has or had a similar problem? And is there a solution? No because I don't really like having a beard tbh

I’m a former gym rat/fitness buff.

hEDS & other conditions took a big toll on my (middle aged) bod this year. I was making progress with a (very experienced) personal trainer after years of decline until hysto complications this winter set me back to zero. He recently paused me & sent me back to PT (that was after 4 months of pelvic floor PT, now back to my old ortho PT).

Somehow I met my wonderful boyfriend 9 months ago. He pursued me hard, he loves me, thinks I’m hot & respects my body. He’s also a bodybuilder who usually screws other muscle jocks. He gets much attention for his looks, which he mentions a lot. & he comments a lot on men we see around & how hot they are - they look nothing like this bearish version of me. We’re in an open relationship, which we both want, but damn I feel awful. It’s also been noticeable how guys react to me at the bars, gay beaches, on the apps. It’s like I became invisible. Now I envy my boyfriend for his desirability & social status & feel just gross. For 20 years I’ve dealt with being trans, short, a bottom in gay men’s community. But I always did fine. The shame & low self esteem & discomfort in my body rn almost feel like being a 14 year old girl again tbh.

I do want to get back to the some form of safe physical activity someday. I’m seeing a nutritionist. I’m at Drs or PT offices almost daily. But I also recognize reality - I can’t return to running, boot camp classes, & heavy lifting 4-6x week with torn hip labrums, herniated discs & so much pain. I want to embrace this version of my body in the meantime, but I’m struggling.

I already talked to my boyfriend about how his words hurt me & he gets it & wants to be more sensitive in the future.

Does anyone else out there feel like EDS prevents them from being fit enough to be valued as men? Especially as gay men? Trans men are always telling each other, “just work out if you wanna pass better, look taller, get attention…” What if I literally can’t work out without self injury?

TLDR: feeling ugly compared to muscle jock cis boyfriend, but hEDS & medical issues forced me to stop working out. Self esteem building suggestions?

FYI: I have a (queer) therapist; I’ve been through a ton of pain treatments & medical care - working with a new team of Drs now; I’m being told I’m 1 BMI point too thin for GLP1s & I can’t afford the copay anyway.

Okay so I need help… dysphoria has been kicking my ass lately and I need to get back to working out and taking slightly better care of my physique. To preface I’m a slim guy but due to my EDS centralizing most of my pain around my hips and my legs any work out that has to do with lower body I’ve (not intentionally) stayed away from, I.E: leg raises, scissor kicks, flutter kicks, v-crunches, basically anything that could cause my femur and hips to click/ slide out of place because it’s always insanely uncomfortable to the point I can’t do more than like 3 reps of whatever exercises and then I give up…. It’s very disheartening and it feels like there’s no use trying sometimes… I just wish I had a normal body that didn’t suck… I know realistically there’s probably nothing that can help but wamp i guess I just needed to vent. Any tips would be greatly appreciated if there even are any that anyone could recommend.

Okay, so im 15 and have been out for 7 years now, and my mom is against me medically transitioning. although, i have had some health issues come up from binding (like my rib is suplexed and sticking out of my skin causing chronic nerve pain) and lots of back and shoulder pain from my chest being so large (dd) and me having a relatively small frame (5'5, 140 lbs). So my mom has agreed to let me get a reduction, because i quite frankly don't think i can keep living this. obviously, with my chest being so large i naturally have some really bad dysphoria about it, but my rib has gotten much worse recently and i have barely been able to bind. i haven't gone out in public without a binder since before i hit puberty so maybe like 2019 and it's something i feel so uncomfortable doing. I cannot comprehend having to deal with my chest being this large for longer than i already have . But i am worried that if i get a reduction i wont be able to get my chest small enough, and than im also worried that the scars will be in a femmine placing as well as a lot of other things. i Do plan on getting full top surgery when i am of age, if i get a reduction now will it impede with my results in the future? and what are the results like with the radical reduction and the t anchor? i'm considering the radical reduction because its the best i can get to what i would like while still leaving my mother happy. any information helps, thanks all have a good night!

(Transmasc with mild hEDS) Just got some lab results showing that my total testosterone level is 1667(!!!) ng/dL despite me only being on 25mg testosterone gel daily. I previously had to lower my dose from 50mg gel to 25mg gel bc my level was hovering around 1000, but my docs and I had assumed that halving the dose would bring me back down into the lower end of the physiologically male range. Maybe some t gel from my arm got into the sample, so I’ll definitely be asking my doc to have the test run again, but some other markers were funky, too, and I have also found other topical medications (e.g. birth control patch) to be more effective for me than their oral counterparts.

So my theory is that maaaybe thin EDS skin allows more of the medication to penetrate through the skin?

Despite high total T, I had low-ish bioavailable T for a man my age (49.8) likely due to extremely high sex hormone binding globulin (334), but IDK what caused the high SHBG. Maybe making hormone soup in my body in an attempt to suppress my aggressive periods (I’m on Mirena IUD + birth control patch + testosterone, also fludrocortisone for POTS) was an unsuccessful experiment lol. I will be taking this to my doc and prob getting another endocrinology referral, but if anyone has any ideas, plz let me know

I'm a 20 year old trans man and am pretty sure I have hEDS. I've always been extremely flexible, as has my dad, I have every Geighton score thing except elbows and before he got arthritis my dad did too. We both have the stretchy skin, joint pain, frequent dislocations/subluxations as well. I have my top surgery consult in a few months and will hopefully be getting surgery about 6 weeks after that. My biggest worry is scarring, as I have atrophic, stripey, and extremely slow fading scars (I skinned my knees last year and the scars are still fading), but I'm worried that talking to my doctor about it would mean potentially getting my top surgery denied/delayed for minimal treatment benefit. Should I just tell my surgeon about the scarring issues and wait until after top surgery to talk to my PCP about it? I'm in the US on state insurance so cost isn't an issue.

Almost a decade after first questioning​ my identity and beginning to transition. I finally started estradiol two days ago. The clinic I am with (GHC UK) prescribes initially 1mg Sandrena gel a day. Within a day of starting, I was feeling a range of negative symptoms: lightheadedness, increased anxiety, some nausea, muscle aches, and a general feeling of low blood pressure.

I tend to be very sensitive to medication changes anyway and often react badly to starting new drugs ( I am currently taking methylphenidate for adhd but i don't think there is a reaction), and I am not sure whether this is to do with having hEDS or CFS or other related conditions. But when many people have expressed a very positive reaction to starting, I feel surprised by how negatively​​​​​ I have reacted especially on a very low dose.

I am just wondering if anyone else has reacted this way very quickly after starting and whether it is ​​​​​worth waiting it out, the idea of more harmful side effects do make me worried.​ I would be obviously heartbroken if I am not able to start hormones but maybe certain treatments don't work for some people?