FTM testosterone side effects: what TikTok gets right and wrong

What did @chasekbrg actually say?

Straightforwardly: nothing about testosterone. The transcript submitted for this video is song lyrics, not spoken commentary about TRT or FTM hormone therapy. The words "calling, calling, calling me" and "turn to the stone" are not medical claims. There is no factual content in this transcript to evaluate against clinical evidence.

The caption does frame the video as personal experience with testosterone, stating "these are some of the things I wish I was aware of before getting testosterone." But captions alone do not constitute verifiable claims without the accompanying spoken or on-screen content. Whatever @chasekbrg intended to communicate, the submitted transcript does not contain it. This fact-check cannot evaluate what was not captured.

Does the science back this up?

There is no scientific question to answer here because the transcript contains no claims. The video may have included on-screen text, overlaid information, or audio content beyond these lyrics, but none of that was captured in what was submitted. Fact-checking song lyrics against endocrinology literature is not a useful exercise.

What we can say is this: TikTok videos about FTM testosterone therapy frequently mix accurate personal experience with oversimplified or outright incorrect physiological claims. Research on transgender men receiving testosterone therapy, including work by Irwig (2017, Andrology) and Seal (2017, Best Practice and Research Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism), documents real and significant effects across mood, libido, hematocrit, and cardiovascular risk. Personal experience videos can accurately reflect these documented outcomes or can diverge significantly from population-level data. Without the actual claims, we cannot judge which category this falls into.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

We cannot answer this question based on the available transcript. The submission appears to have captured background music rather than the creator's commentary. This is not a minor data issue. It means any fact-check produced here would be fabricated, which is worse than no fact-check at all.

The caption framing is worth noting on its own merits. Saying "these are based purely off my own subjective experience" is actually responsible framing for a personal testimony video. Creators who clearly distinguish personal anecdote from general medical advice cause less harm than those who present individual outcomes as universal rules. If the spoken content matched that framing, that would be a credit to the creator. But we do not have the spoken content.

What should you actually know?

If you found this video because you are considering testosterone therapy, whether for gender-affirming care or hypogonadism, here is what the evidence actually supports. Testosterone therapy produces real, well-documented effects. The Endocrine Society's 2017 clinical practice guidelines outline expected changes across muscle mass, fat distribution, voice, libido, and menstrual suppression in transgender men. These effects vary significantly between individuals based on starting hormone levels, dose, delivery method, and genetics.

Personal experience videos on TikTok can be useful for understanding the human side of hormone therapy, things clinical trials do not always capture well. But they are not a substitute for a clinical consultation. Effects described as universal by one person may not apply to you. Side effects omitted from a 60-second video may be relevant to your specific health profile. Decisions about starting, adjusting, or stopping testosterone should happen in conversation with a licensed provider who has reviewed your labs and history, not based on a creator's highlight reel.