FTM testosterone therapy: what TikTok gets right and wrong

What did @gregue_ actually say?

Honestly, the audio in this video is mostly song lyrics and ambient sound, not a direct medical or health claim. The one phrase that stands out is "coming to my body with the shot," which appears to reference starting testosterone injections as part of a female-to-male gender transition. The rest of the transcript is largely unintelligible or lyrical. So this isn't a claims-heavy video. It's a personal documentation post, which matters for how we evaluate it.

The creator frames their journey around time: "time is the best thing to rely on." That's not a medical recommendation. It reads as personal reflection on the slow, incremental changes that come with gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT). There's nothing here prescribing a dose, naming a product, or making a therapeutic promise. That's actually worth noting.

Does the science back up the experience of physical change on testosterone?

Yes, substantially. The documented timeline of masculinizing changes on testosterone therapy is well-established. A landmark review by Hembree et al. (2017, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism) outlines expected changes: voice deepening typically begins within 3-6 months, clitoral growth within 1-3 months, increased body and facial hair over 6-24 months, and fat redistribution over 3-6 months. These timelines vary considerably between individuals.

The creator's implicit message, that patience is necessary, is actually clinically sound. Many people starting testosterone expect rapid results and are disappointed. The Endocrine Society guidelines explicitly note that some changes, like full beard development, can take years. Rushing the process or increasing doses unsupervised to speed results carries real risks, including erythrocytosis, dyslipidemia, and hepatic strain. Time really is a significant factor here.

What did they get wrong, or right?

There's not much to fact-check in the traditional sense because explicit medical claims are largely absent. What the creator gets right, even implicitly, is the framing of GAHT as a gradual, time-dependent process rather than a quick fix. That aligns with clinical reality.

What's missing, and this is worth noting for anyone watching, is any mention of the monitoring required during testosterone therapy. Regular hematocrit checks, lipid panels, and liver function tests aren't optional extras. Research by Getahun et al. (2018, Annals of Internal Medicine) found that transgender men on testosterone had significantly elevated cardiovascular risk markers over time. A video celebrating the journey is fine. But the audience, many of whom may be considering or starting testosterone, deserves to know that the shot comes with lab work, not just liberation.

What should you actually know about starting testosterone for FTM transition?

If you're considering testosterone as part of a gender-affirming transition, a few things matter that no TikTok video, including this one, will tell you:

• Testosterone for gender affirmation is typically prescribed as testosterone cypionate or enanthate via intramuscular or subcutaneous injection. These are controlled substances and require a prescription from a licensed provider.
• Baseline labs before starting should include hematocrit, lipid panel, liver function tests, and hormone levels. This is not bureaucratic box-ticking. It's baseline data you'll need later.
• The Endocrine Society (Hembree et al., 2017) recommends monitoring every 3 months in the first year, then annually once stable.
• Mental health outcomes with gender-affirming care are broadly positive. A systematic review by Murad et al. (2010, Clinical Endocrinology) found significant improvements in psychological wellbeing following hormone therapy, though the evidence base has limitations in study design.
• Source your testosterone through a licensed telehealth or in-person provider. Unregulated sources carry risks of contamination, inaccurate dosing, and legal exposure.

Is this video harmful, helpful, or just personal?

It's personal. That's not a criticism. Visibility of FTM transition journeys, especially from creators in Kenya where LGBTQ+ rights are legally precarious, carries real social weight. This video isn't trying to be a medical tutorial. It's documentation of a lived experience, and there's value in that.

The risk is audience interpretation. At 45,000 views, some viewers are likely pre-transition individuals looking for information. Personal journey content and medical guidance are different things, and the gap between them is where people make risky decisions. That's not @gregue_'s responsibility to fix, but it's worth naming.