I hope that’s actually a meme/joke.
I’m fully on board with access being a right.
But even the less risky meds have contraindications that aren’t going to be understood by the average person. None of the HRT meds I’ve ever seen should be OTC for that reason. It’s the greatest risk with DIY HRT, but at least there you have a better chance of people running across the information before starting.
Since there are alternatives for most of the meds, but you’d have to know what they are and how to dose them correctly, DIY is last resort, not first line. If someone has any preexisting health concerns at all, they really need more than a pharmacy pamphlet before picking meds, and definitely more than would be on the side of a box.
Yes, people can do research on their own, and do. But once the sample group of people taking HRT and related treatments on their own gets high enough, it’s not a matter of if deaths will occur, but when. And yes, that can be the result of any of the substances used.
OTC? Not by the usual sense of the term, no. The goal is to give people the tools needed to achieve their goals while keeping them alive and healthy. It’s totally doable to have open access without upending the protections that exist in what qualifies to be OTC or not.
Yes, people can do research on their own, and do
I used to be an advocate for people doing their own research for this stuff, but then people started injecting themselves with bleach and horse de-wormer. And that was before search results got sloppified
I’m as gay as they come and think HRT should be accessible to all (as with literally all healthcare), but I agree that it shouldn’t be available OTC. Like, this is a class of medication that people desperately want to work for themselves, and there’s a great risk of confirming biases and downplaying potential side effects.
There’s also massive disinformation campaigns targeting the trans community so this is an especially difficult area to research for DIY and it makes it all the more depressing when that’s the only option available to some
The connection between politicized medical disinformation surrounding COVID-19, and potential disinformation campaigns targetting trans people is interesting. Is there something in particular you’re referencing, or is this more speculation on a potential issue?
I know my biggest barrier to care was indeed medical clearance and medication/tools restriction. Even with socialized coverage, it was about a thousand dollars and five months of my time to get started; let alone the years I spent waiting to even start the process because I knew that would be the most expensive hurdle. Hardly had to go through the same process for ibuprofen, which also carries fairly severe side effects if abused.
There’s nothing in my estradoil thats more dangerous than what I could buy from a packie.
That’s debatable. And if you want a serious rant, ask me what I think of the current classification of some OTC meds. Because there’s plenty that shouldn’t be OTC.
But I didn’t say estradiol, or testosterone, or spironolactone, or any other hormone or hrt related meds were dangerous, I said they came with risks that are too high for them to be reclassified as OTC. Said it differently, but since that part didn’t translate I figured I should rephrase.
I’m not sure what level of terminology you’re familiar with, so if something isn’t what you’ve run into before, holla at me and I’ll rephrase things.
The point is that every substance we take into our bodies has some effect on it, no matter how minor. Medications, which are just substances that have a non-minor effect that is being applied to some form of illness, disease, disorder, or just to adjust normal function to a more desirable state, have higher risks than substances like water or cheese.
Medications all (or so near all as to be irrelevant) have interactions, and contraindications.
One of the ways medications are classified is by the degree of risk. Those classifications are far from perfect (again, I have strong opinions about many, many drugs needing to be reclassified), but an OTC drug needs to meet a standard that is a much lower threshold for risk than prescription only drugs.
The threshold of risk for something like estradiol is absolutely higher than that of paracetamol, aspirin, sodium bicarbonate, even something like topical lidocaine. None of those are risk free. They don’t meet the threshold of dangerous (nor does estradiol), but the level of risk is low enough that OTC status is reasonably acceptable overall.
Estradiol, since that’s the example you chose, comes with a non trivial contraindication for people with liver disease, clotting issues, history of stroke or dvt, and some forms of cancer. There’s a list of medications hundreds long that it can negatively interact with, not all of which are obvious
And that’s just one specific medication from that class of meds. I can’t even rattle off all the known detrimental interactions for that one drug, and I’m a medical nerd/geek with decades of experience and training.
I can do that the acetaminophen, for fexofenadine, famotidine and dozens of other OTC meds because the lists are so much shorter.
And that’s why reclassification of those meds is a horrible idea. There’s other ways for trans people to have open access. And, being real, those options are better than campaigning for reclassification of HRT meds because they’ll apply to other aspects of transition and healthcare.
Every single trans person on this planet deserves to have their right to access recognized, codified, and enforced.
That is not the same thing as reclassification of a medication. It just isn’t. There’s absolutely no upside to reclassifying estradiol instead of just making sure than the people that need it can not only expect to have that need addressed, but to also ensure that they have access to the full suite of healthcare that should be just as fundamental a civil right.
I agree with the sentiment, and given the big picture of what you advocate for,
Every single trans person on this planet deserves to have their right to access recognized, codified, and enforced. within the current working system of health, you have my full agreement and support.
The reason, I think, that this post grates you a bit, is because behind it, there is a secondary ideological belief. That is, a different view around enforcement, the anarchic one.
The idea (that I as a trans person agree with) is, the state, the entity which decides legal limitations around medications, shouldn’t even be allowed to have the ability to manage HRT, because if it has the ability, it will unavoidably use it at some point down the line.
Unless you’re willing to say that drugs like nicotine shouldn’t be over the counter due to the real health risk they pose, then it isn’t the state legislators’ job, to decide via restriction, who gets access to HRT medication.
The idea around prescription drugs, is that you’re supposed to have easy access to them whenever you need them via doctor’s orders, and they are restricted for one of these three reasons: Either 1. They are useless outside their use AND rapidly irreversibly dangerous, 2. They can be made into threats for the state (see, bomb materials), or 3. Their risk is so great, that there’s value protecting people from seeking them, see, opioids and other addictive substances.
HRT isn’t addictive, and is slow acting, while being life saving for people who often are failed by the current social system. The only reason to limit HRT, in a world where Alcohol is in super markets for 2 euro per liter, is reason number 2., every 50 years that fascists come around.
This is one of those many, many cases, where, your beautiful and correct dream of safety for our world that I agree with, should maybe*(/s)* not start from restrictions to minorities.
you should require a phd to buy bleach
we give party drugs to children, not because it increases happiness for the greatest number, but because it is the right thing to do
What? No, we do not give party drugs to kids at all. Some drugs given to children may well be abused by people looking to party, but that’s an argument against drugs being reclassified as OTC
Well, maybe informed consent at any age >= adolescence, you don’t want 3 year olds taking random hormones
but otherwise, agreed
that would be under the counter. because 3 year olds are too short. do you get it?
i live somewhere where u can do this, and no issues no bullshit. the state is anti trans and so are people but thats discrimination rather than medical limitation. im constantly reminded that the west requires documents for hrt or worse. crazy
people have such a misunderstanding of what to regulate. regulate who can make drugs, certify the drugs that a pharmacy can have. but powerful people gonna regulate what someone can buy bc they want to create an underclass who are easy to prosecute for meds they need that they access outside the legality.
if someone really wants to regulate for “misuse” or whatever, make the medical industry, doctors, hospitals, free of bullshit like money, discrimination, etc. that isnt happening anytime soon, so the end goal with limiting access is just discrimination hidden behind the mask of “we dont want u to do things wrong now would we”
Show your adult ID and you can have whatever you want. Or buy it on the dark web with crypto.
