Hello gals and pals, I know this may seem abstract and “could never happen” and as most people around me say “collapse is a slow process so you’ll have time” but as the Seneca effect has shown - that is usually not true - collapse can and mostly likely will be much faster than we imagine.

And considering geopolitical tensions and the fact that most hormone precursors are made in China I can see the supply drying up almost entirely

I guess my question is - how are you preparing?

For me community is a massive one - learning where to get blood work done outside the system, how to diy, how to get in touch with homebrewers - but at the same time I’ve not found anyone who actually makes hormones from scratch - most still mix existing precursors into injectables.

I’ve though about storing pills and making them into stickies but I still doubt they’d last more than 5 years even if stored in ideal conditions. on further research it appears pills could retain 50% or more of their potency for 15-20 years if stored in extra vaccum sealed packaging in a cool dark place

And I know the HRT pharmaceutical business is much bigger than just trans people but AFAIK very few cis people cannot live without exogenous hormones as most produce at least some by themselves - which I dont think is the case if you’re trans and have been on HRT for years/decades (not to mention after bottom surgery) - so I can see how their production can get deprioritised in favor of much more critical things like insulin for example.

How are you dealing with all of this?

  • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    I’m not as confident as you that drugs and hormones won’t be prioritized - places like California are already stockpiling HRT, for example.

    For context, our lives are fragile and there is not much we can do about that. Most of us are poor, many of us are homeless and/or unemployed.

    Already under current conditions probably most of us struggle to ever get to the point of transitioning, let alone access to care. Many of us die before or after. It’s definitely better than it used to be, but it’s good to remember that the current conditions are still not ideal for most of us, so we don’t despair or forget that all moments are times of adversity for us and that we have to figure it out no matter what changes (for better or worse).

    So, for the privileged minority with the resources to do so, there are plenty of options:

    • stockpile years of medication so that you can ride out a temporary shortage in HRT
    • stockpile raws & buy the equipment for a home lab, so you can compound your own medication
    • get access to surgery so that your body won’t detransition without access to HRT
    • get passports and citizenship status in other countries so you can move around the world as the geopolitical situation deteriorates
    • keep up a social network so that you know where the diminishing pool of care-providers are, and ideally use social capital to get your care prioritized
    • store your stockpile in various secure places so that it cannot be easily confiscated, stolen, or otherwise lost (e.g. in a single house fire)