#and drew

@f1sh1sh @snoogeewoogeewoo

Season 3, episode "Frequency"

Marc has been on heat suppressants nearly since he presented. He was 16 when he went on them, it just seemed practical at the time. No potential heats, no periods, no hormone fluctuation of any kind to interfere with his career. It was a common thing. Most riders were on some kind of suppressants in one way or another. 

When he entered Moto2, he switched doctors. Switched to a doctor seemingly every Spanish rider he knew recommended to him. The doctor switched his meds. No more daily pills, just an implant in his inner arm. The dose seemed a little higher than he was taking before, but what did he know? The doctor said it would be better, so it would be better.

His first year in MotoGP his doctor upped his dose significantly. His second, even more. Same with his third. By 2015, his dose was so high his scent seemingly entirely disappeared. He smelled like nothing, maybe a hint of laundry detergent or leftover smell from wherever he had just been, but nothing underneath it. Accusations of him using scent blockers were thrown around, something that was stigmatized, seen as secretive and slightly manipulative. But scent blockers have a scent themselves. They smell sterile. Marc did not smell sterile. He did not smell. It made people uncomfortable, off-put. People avoided getting physically close with him because of it. 

(Of course, Valentino took the accusation of Marc using scent blockers and ran with it. It helped his narrative.)

In 2019, his dose was upped again. He was on the highest dose available for his specific medication. No implant came at that dose, so back on pills he went. He was told it would be fine. It was just to prevent breakthrough heats so he could continue on winning championships. His doctor assured him that many MotoGP riders had been on this dose before and they were just fine. 

With his first surgery in 2020, he was forced to go off suppressants. It interacted with a pain medication they were planning on putting him, and it was best not to risk it. Complications could arise if he stayed on. But it was temporary, he could go right back on it once the pain meds were out of his system. Coming out of surgery, he bled. A lot. It was expected, coming off of any level of suppressants typically triggered a period. Plus, the pain meds he was on numbed most of his symptoms anyway, and he could deal with a little blood. It was after his subsequent operation where things took a steep steep decline. He had a stress heat, a bad one. The worst the doctors had ever seen. So bad, they had to sedate him because his body was actively trying to kill him (yap sesh on stress heats anyone? I have complicated and complex omegaverse lore y’all just have to find the right dialogue path). His hormones were completely and utterly fucked, wreaking havoc on his body. 

The second the heat passes, he goes back on his suppressants. For every subsequent surgery, every operation, he refuses to go off them. Accepting all the risks and interactions. He didn’t want to risk it, he couldn’t risk it. From 2020-2023 he had a concerning number of stress heats. 

In mid 2024, his suppressants were pulled from the market. New research had come out showing that his meds, at the dose he was on, could cause irreparable damage to the reproductive organs, several other organs in the endocrine system, and to the liver. They weren’t considered safe anymore. His doctor suggested he keep with the meds, buy them from another country if he had to. For once, he got a second opinion. 

To say this new doctor was shocked at his medical history was an understatement. Going on heat suppressants young for a few years was something generally frowned upon, but still seen as normal. Going on high dose heat suppressants for a short time period was also looked down upon, but seen as normal or at least not uncommon. Going on heat suppressants when a first real heat had not been experienced, especially such a high dose, and staying on them for nearly a decade and a half? Fucking insane. No reasonable doctor should have approved that. Anyone with the smallest amount of medical knowledge on heat suppressants could have seen that was quite possibly the worst idea.