gin and phonics

Indian Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), mating, family Dicroglossidae, India

In the breeding season, the males turn bright yellow.

-bottom growth varies widely. I've known guys who get barely any growth and I've known guys who end up with huge t-dicks (lucky bastards 🙄) it really just depends

-it feels weird at first, but it's not particularly painful. i would get mild pain occasionally when mine first started to grow but I've known a lot of guys who haven't had any pain whatsoever. it's really nothing worth panicking over, relax.

-it is extremely fucking sensitive when it first starts to grow. like EXTREMELY sensitive. i had to switch from boxer briefs to boxer shorts because the chafing was too annoying

-you are going to end up with a foreskin if you get any growth at all and you will have to learn to clean it. thankfully it's very easy to do.

-to put it bluntly, your junk will start to smell like balls. I've seen a lot of guys panic over this. it's normal, i promise you're fine

-atrophy is a bitch but there are things you can do to fix it. I've never tried any of them because i wasn't really big on bottoming to begin with, but I've talked to guys who have had success with it. just ask your doctor.

-while I've known a lot of people who have gotten dried out by T, i haven't really noticed any change myself so ymmv

I put it off because i wasnt using that hole anyway so yayyy who cares and now i suspect that it is the cause of some of the urinary issues I've been having (an incredibly stubborn uti and some retention) because it can effect your urethra and bladder, not just your front hole.

i was trying to figure out the atrophy and chronic pain for awhile, and wasn't able to make much progress because my doctor didn't know that much about atrophy and didn't give me any instruction beyond using the estrogen cream weekly before bed

what does chronic pain from atrophy look like? everyone is different, but for me it was chronic pelvic pain and cramping (it feels like bad menstrual cramping), especially after sex/orgasm

a few tips

you'll likely get prescribed estrogen cream with a plastic applicator to use 1-2x a week before bed — the applicator can be really uncomfortable, just using your finger or putting it on the tip of an (insertable) toy is fine, as long as you get it in there

if you're like me and really put off seeking treatment for atrophy until it was really bad — you can use it more often. my pelvic health therapist had me use it daily for two weeks when i started treatment

atrophy isn't just internal, it also affects some of the external tissues as well, making the tissues more sensitive, dry, and sometimes even painful. if this is the case for you, make sure you also use some of the e cream externally! my pelvic health therapist told me to do 1g internally, 1g externally, focusing on the areas that are more sensitive (for me that was around my urethra)

Trilobite Beetle (Platerodrilus svetae), female, family Lycidae, Sabah, Borneo