- CHOSEN.

Now, if you have any kind of disability, you know it's fucking annoying go have people make you explain something over and over again, or have people go "oh, you have X? You mean, like the [awful stereotype] thing?"

So, I have realized recently that being Vague As Shit is great for making people leave you the hell alone.

I have autism and anxiety, and with that comes the symptom of selective mutism. If you don't know what that is, Firefox is free. But I had an episode where I couldn't speak today in one of my classes, and knew I would have to explain it to my partner and probably my professor.

This usually goes with me writing that I can't speak, them asking why, me saying selective mutism, and them asking me what that is. Then I have to painstakingly write out an explanation. And, obviously, I'm tired of this. So I tried something new. When he asked, I simply told him I couldn't speak, and when he asked if I physically couldn't or just didn't want to, I just opened my mouth and unleashed the terrifying, awful, broken stuttering that comes out when I try to speak while mute.

His response was "OKAY OKAY OKAY YOU CAN STOP NOW" and he did not question me for the rest of class, and even explained to the professor what was wrong when she tried to make me popcorn read.

This also works on doctors. When I tell doctors I have PCOS, POTS, or hEDS, they usually hear "oh the crazy women self diagnosis disabilities" and treat me accordingly. So, instead I drop unhinged symptoms until they leave me alone.

"Yes, my last menstrual cycle started on December 12th, 2025 and ended January 28th, 2026." "I have experienced several events where I have passed out randomly, yes." "My hip has subluxated six times in the past week."

However that's not really the case, at least not when it comes to the sort of vitiams in a multiviatim.

The main difference is that "women's" multiviatims have iron in them to help make up for presumed monthly bloodloss. And "men's" multiviatims will sometimes have antioxidants that /could/ help with prostate health.

If you don't experience a menstrual cycle that features uterine shedding and consist monthly bleeding, then you shouldn't take multiviatims that are marketed as "women's", becouse if you use them longterm you'll end up suffering from secondary iron overload which can cause liver, heart, and pancreas damage.

To my knowledge, the antioxidants in "men's" multivaitims are not harmful to people who don't have a prostate. It's also might be good to remember that trans men on Testosterone for at least a year do develop prostate tissue (it's just not in the same spot). That being said, the antioxidants in men's vitiams aren't medically proven or assessed by the FDA as being beneficial to the prostate tissue - and what studies that do exist certainly don't include transmasculine people in testing, so really it's more 🤷 🤷 🤷

Anyway, basically:

If you're postmenopausal, if you're on T and it has stopped your menstrual cycle, or if you have a condition that makes it so you don't bleed every month, or if you're a trans woman or otherwise transfem then you probably don't want to be taking multiviatims that are marketed towards women, to avoid secondary iron overload.

And if you're on T but you still have a consistent menstrual cycle, you /might/ want to take multiviatims that are marketed towards women to make up for the iron loss during uterine shedding. Though this probably is only necessary if you are a heavy bleeder or someone who bleeds more days then the average.

Now - if you're transfem and having to take multivaitims marketed as "men's" makes you dysphoric, or if you're transmasc and having to take multiviatims marketed as "women's" makes you dyphoria, of it your transneutral and hate any gendered marketing in general. There is good news.

Adult multiviatims, which are marketed as just "for adults" provide a good baseline amount of vitiams that every person needs regardless of gender, with no iron and none of the antioxidants that are sometimes added to men's vitiams.

The answer is: the uterus isn't what causes your period, it is effected by your period. What causes your period and what causes trans women's periods is the same thing: the endocrine system.

HRT changes the sex of your endocrine system. Feminizing HRT makes it a female endocrine system, giving us a 28-day hormone cycle just like cis women. At the end of that cycle, the hypothalamus floods the body with prostaglandins. Those are what cause all but one of the period symptoms, because they make muscles inflame and contract. They are what make the uterus shed its lining, they are what cause intestinal cramps, they are what cause body aches, they are what cause headaches and migraines. The only period symptom not causes by the release of prostaglandins throughout the body is depression, and that is caused by your endocrine system simply not processing as much estrogen and from simply feeling like shit.

So, the only symptoms trans women don't get every 28 days is menstrual cramps, because yes we do not menstruate since we don't have uteruses. But migraines, depression, body aches, intestinal cramps, and the infamous "period shits" don't exactly add up to us having any better of a time. Except we have to pretend that we're fine and nothing is different because no one believes that we get periods, not even cis women.

between friends has become a

cultural icon.