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Biologic Basis for Transsexuality, and Fibromyalgia

26 Apr

Yes, I realize that’s an odd juxtaposition. Give me a chance, and I’ll make the connection.

Thanks to a couple of relatively disparate conversations that happened to come into juxtaposition time wise, I have been thinking about some medical issues recently.

A  good while back, (June 2013) I shared (to my Google + account) an interesting news bit about the impending transition of a news helicopter reporter named Bob Tur. A friend reshared that post to a private transgender community on G+, where another friend stumbled upon it last night.

In this interview, Bob / Zoey (she asked to intersperse her names) mentioned biological bases for transsexuality, but did not elaborate. When my friend Jane saw that, she asked if there were any studies to support it. In short, yes there are, but they are very small studies in terms of persons included. One of the most interesting of these studies is

“A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality” http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v378/n6552/abs/378068a0.html

Wikipedia links to other studies as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_transsexualism

I’ve been convinced pretty much since I learned of the existence of transsexuality that it must have a biologic basis. Of course, we want to believe that, so I acknowledge confirmation bias in myself. That said, having this come up in my notifications after all this time was a trigger to another thought process I’ve been dealing with for some time.

Many of you know that I suffer from fibromyalgia, which is a generalized pain disorder, thought to be rooted in an abnormality of the nervous system. Here’s where that gets interesting with regards to me. The disorder in question is rare in men. It’s prevalence is 3.4% female, 0.5% male. Now, that’s where it gets interesting to me. Men seldom ever have fibro, women much more often.

I’m MTF transsexual, which per the study mentioned earlier, may have a basis in neurologic differences. Fibro is seven times more common in women, is believed to be neurologically based as well. Hmmm… My fibro is, in my mind, another data point indicating toward the biologic basis for transsexuality.

So, let’s discuss. 🙂

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A heart daughter wrote this today. I couldn’t be more proud.

21 Dec

On her Facebook page:

With the widespread idiocy in the last few days regarding the LGBT community at large, and specifically the Trans community, let me explain the Trans experience in the most succinct way I know: Your brain, not your body is the seat, source, and home of your identity. If you, as you are now, with all your likes, dislikes, hates, loves, preferences, tastes, and all those things that define you as you, woke up tomorrow with the opposite gender’s genitals, you would be living in the Trans experience. Now, try for just 10 seconds to imagine not only the internal, “This is wrong!” but also having the entire world tell you that you CAN’T (not shouldn’t) but CANNOT be who you are at the very core of your soul. THAT is what it means to be Transgender.

Whether you understand why a transgender person is transgender or not; whether that is a choice you would make or not; whether you are comfortable around them or not; they deserve tolerance, understanding, support, love, and to be championed. No matter who the person was “before transition” they are still, at the core of their being, the same person “after transition”. If you loved them “before” why can’t you love them “after”. A “sister” doesn’t “become a brother”, they always were one, it’s just that you couldn’t SEE that they were a brother and not a sister. Transition is nothing more than making a physical change so that others can see what’s inside. In many ways, transition is on the same level as dying one’s hair, losing weight, having plastic surgery, or any other form of body modification done to make us feel more comfortable in our own skins. Yes, Transition is an extremely difficult process. Yes, it is far more extreme than dying one’s hair, and I have yet to meet a Trans person who didn’t take their choices with every ounce of the gravity that those choices deserve. Until you have personally had to choose between living a lie, dying a truthful suicide, or going through one of the world’s most humiliating processes of change, do not presume to assume that you “know what those people are really after.” I can tell you, from deep, direct, constant contact with not just one, but many Trans people, what they are really after is love, acceptance, and their own truth of identity. None of that should threaten or frighten you. If seeing them around does either of those things to you, that is ignorance, intolerance, and unacceptable. Get over yourself.

PS: This is not directed at anyone I know personally, but rather some things happening in the society.

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Not much of interest to report

27 Aug

Well, except that I’m now living in Atlanta. My son-in-law got a new job here in Atlanta. He started in July (on my birthday coincidentally) and we all moved here. If you follow along with me at all, you know that I telecommute. My physical location has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to perform my job, as long as I have reliable internet service. I’ve informed my employer about the move. It’s a non-issue to them. So that’s that. Hello Atlanta, goodbye rural Arkansas. Continue reading →

Endings and Beginnings

20 Mar

My time in Texas has ended. That decision was in large part due to another ending. Back in mid February, an intense nine month love affair came to an end. She said she wanted to remain friends, and I did my best to do just that. It didn’t work out. So I left for “parts unknown”.
Continue reading →

Various asides

1 Mar
  • Roommate and I decided to take the day off from the gym today. We needed the break. Between residual from Monday’s slip and fall, and getting my butt kicked yesterday by the trainer, I definitely need to let the muscles have a day for just rebuilding.
  • Have to go to the pharmacies today to get my prescriptions refilled. I’m out of one, and will be out of the other two tomorrow.
  • Insomnia is still kicking my ***, but at least the depression is improving. Oh, I haven’t mention the return of my depression here, have I? Yeah, it cam back full force a few weeks ago, and I started St. John’s Wort for it last week. It’s helping a lot.

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Been away for a long time

1 Feb

I know, you thought I didn’t exist any more. I do. I just haven’t felt like blogging in quite a while. There wasn’t really anything I wanted to write about. Well that’s technically not true, but parties involved have asked me to keep the interesting stuff private.

I’m living full-time, socially, as a woman. I’ve been on hormones since July 2011, and all seems to be going well in that area. I still wear a wig since I’m prematurely bald. I’ve got a new lace front human hair wig on order from a wig store down in Houston. I expect to have it later this month. I’m really excited about that!

I moved to a northern suburb in April 2012. I could no longer afford to live alone, and it really wasn’t good for my mental health to be surrounded by all the mementos of my time with Barbara. I gave all of that stuff to my heart-daughter. She promised to just hold it for me against the day I want it back.

I now live with a couple I’ve known for many years, and who accept me unequivocally. We share living expenses, and it’s really working well for me. I still telecommute most of the time, and I’m still not out at work. That is my biggest remaining stressor in my life now.

So, that’s the update from me. I’ll try to find something to share more frequently in the future.

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HRT has begun!

28 Jul

Quoted from a private FB post:

Well, once again I have proven that I worry for nothing more often than not. Doctor appt today was perfect, and I have officially begun my HRT!

https://www.facebook.com/janetannelogan/posts/227552387285904

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Well, that was easy

13 Jun

Nissan SentraOver the weekend, I discovered that I had a small chunk missing from the sidewall of the passenger side rear tire on my Nissan Sentra SE-R. Seeing as this is a performance car, the integrity of the tires is critical. So what’s my point? Continue reading →

A good day today!

19 May

I had reason to go to the US Post Office today, to pick up a signature required package. If you’ve never had to do that, here’s a fact you may not know. Besides presenting the “We tried to deliver” notice, you also must present ID indicating you are the person to whom the item is addressed. Care to guess who the package was addressed to? Continue reading →

Of friends, family, weddings, and backboards

25 Apr

Recently, I attended the wedding (“for all time” hand-fasting actually) of a couple who were more than mere friends. Barbara and I had known them for as many years as we had known each other. We had become close enough that we thought of them as family of choice, beyond mere friendship. Attending their wedding was a really big deal for me, in more ways than one. Continue reading →

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