#crumlin

#OTD in 1986 – Death of singer, bassist, instrumentalist, and songwriter, Phil Lynott.

Irish rock star, bassist, singer and founder of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott dies. Lynott originally played with Skid Row, (the Irish band featuring Gary Moore, Brush Shiels, Noel Bridgeman). Lynott had significant success with Thin Lizzy. The band’s first major hit was a rock version of Whiskey in the Jar, but are probably best known for The Boys are Back in Town. He subsequently had major UK success…

Colin visited Crumlin ladies and childrens hospital in Dublin, dec 25.

No press or camera crew. What a selfless, compassionate man. It's ridiculously easy to love him.

i’m gonna try break this down as much as possible for you, anon, bc it’s a feckin mess. i hope it makes more sense when i’ve explained it!

first stop: GP. get referred to a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. 

next: at the pysch. you need a diagnosis / referral from here. it doesnt have to be an explicit “this person is diagnosed with gender dysphoria” - it can be a letter along the lines of “i’m recommending this person for hormone treatment due to gender dysphoria”

things split a bit here. Loughlinstown and Galway both cover adult endocrinology, both are public but galway also offers private. there’s a private clinic in Cork that covers young people, and you can work with the tavistock and portman folks from the UK through crumlin children’s hospital in the public system. the “adult” system used to take people over 16 but then apparently they changed to over 18 but there still seems to be some confusion about this? if you’re within a year and a half or so of the cutoff range, get referred to the adult system because of waitlists delaying you even more

adult services usually just prescribe testosterone for trans masculine folks without blockers, but on a case by case basis blockers may be deemed necessary. for trans fem people, blockers are necessary for treatment and you can be put on blockers first and have your estrogen introduced at a later point. hormones are available in pharmacies, but you’ll probably have to make sure in advance that your local pharmacy orders it for you just in case, especially if it’s the blockers.

my testosterone currenly costs me 30 euro for every shot - i pay 15 for the vial itself, and i pay a nurse 15 to do my shot for me. i’m not aware of the cost for estrogen or blockers but i’ll add it on later when i find out for ya!

the waiting lists are not pretty, most estimates saying at least 1.5 years for loughlinstown (most common one). galway has a shorter list but there’s still a list, and the private list is nearly as long as the public one up there at the moment. crumlin is more time consuming regarding the gap between visits as they like to do their own mental health segment on top of what you usually get before you’re referred there, but there’s still a waiting period

when you can start blockers is based on your stage of puberty! tanner stage 2 is “early puberty” kinda stage, and that’s when blockers become an option. crumlin and cork both operate on the idea that you must be on blockers for a year and be over 16 to move from blockers to hormones.

i hope this helps you!!! send us another message if you have more questions :D

#OTD in 1986 – Death of singer, bassist, instrumentalist, and songwriter, Phil Lynott.

Irish rock star, bassist, singer and founder of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott dies. Lynott originally played with Skid Row, (the Irish band featuring Gary Moore, Brush Shiels, Noel Bridgeman). Lynott had significant success with Thin Lizzy. The band’s first major hit was a rock version of Whiskey in the Jar, but are probably best known for The Boys are Back in Town. He subsequently had major UK success…

#OTD in 1986 – Death of singer, bassist, instrumentalist, and songwriter, Phil Lynott.

Irish rock star, bassist, singer and founder of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott dies. Lynott originally played with Skid Row, (the Irish band featuring Gary Moore, Brush Shiels, Noel Bridgeman). Lynott had significant success with Thin Lizzy. The band’s first major hit was a rock version of Whiskey in the Jar, but are probably best known for The Boys are Back in Town. He subsequently had major UK success…

Hi!

I’ve actually only recently gone to my first appointment with Tavistock in Crumlin, and I can assure you that they’re lovely lovely people! However, to tackle your questions:

1) The Waiting Process

I’m assuming you don’t know this for the sake of sureness, but to see the Tavistock guys, you need a letter of referral*. This can come from a therapist, psychologist, or someone similar to those professions. Personally, I went through CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service [part of the HSE])**. However, since CAMHS services are often understaffed, waiting lists can be quite long. I’d recommend calling them over and over until they give you an appointment, but this may not work. You can always go private, and I’m certain that you should be okay along that route (see TENI’s website for people in the private side of things). After you get your letter, it could be a while before you get an appointment. I think I was waiting for around 9 months before I got an appointment, though whether or not it takes more or less time on average, I don’t personally know.

*I’d recommend talking to someone that knows more about the process of getting there than me. I’d say email or call the people at TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), as that’s where my mam found out how to go about it.

**To access CAMHS services you need a referral from your GP.

2) What Happens After the First Appointment?

The answer is effectively this; you get another appointment. Now, don’t let this phase you too much. My mam told me that she needed to get coverage for treatment abroad, and my next appointment will actually be in the UK, around a month after my first appointment. This will almost certainly drastically reduce the time you spend waiting for hormones, as you won’t need to wait for three months at a time. However, if you can’t get coverage for treatment abroad I’m pretty sure you could just pay out of pocket should you be able,

3) Do Tavistock & Portman Prescribe Hormones?

I’m actually not quite sure. When you go onto the website for the GIDS team with Tavistock & Portman, it does say that there are endocrinologists in their team*. I’d imagine you may know what an endocrinologist does, but they’re the person that will take a blood sample from you, and prescribe a dosage of testosterone that would be right for you. However, I’m not sure if they provide this service in Ireland, or if the Endocrinology team in Crumlin do.

*(click “Physical Interventions)

4) How Many Appointments?

The psychologist I talked to at my appointment said that it could take around five appointments, sometimes more, sometimes less. She said that it depended upon how long it took for them to gather enough information and things to get a sense of who you are and such, and to ultimately make a decision on the diagnosis needed to be prescribed hormones in this country.

I hope this has been helpful to yourself and any others that need this sort of information! If you want to clarify anything, or have more questions in the future, don’t hesitate to send us another ask!