Idk if placebo is whats happening and i hesitate to say its a solid guess, because trans people are told its all in our heads literally every day.

not really a solid guess, i moreso was saying im not even sure how you would even design a study for this to rule it out if there's no obvious smoking gun like fluctuating hormone levels throughout the month

The causes of cycles are imo multifold and hormones comprise one aspect of it. I have no study to back it up. But we understand so little about the human body and how its various systems function together, that to me it would seem likely that theres multiple things at play.

this wouldnt surprise me either, especially since i think biology is far too dominated by "bourgeoisie" thinking (not to say im a lysenkoist, but like i definitely think there's been a huge overemphasis on stuff like genes because it allows the bourgeoisie to subtly push eugenics etc.). all this to say i think our understanding about complex systems like this will take a very long time to fully understand even in the case it is connected to fluctuating horomones

not intending to say it's "fake" or whatever sorry; i think if this were mental it would be more subtle than even a placebo, the treatment for this wouldnt be "get over it you faker" but just the same management of the symptoms as a "real" cycle even if this were the case.

Regarding your edit, that study would be useless. The participants would, assuming you could actually control for cis men and not closeted trans people, be terribly skewed by the resultant dysphoria imo.

it would make the study probably too unethical, but it seems to me if even these cis men who are experiencing dysphoria started experiencing these symptoms it would rule out the placebo like effect in this particular case, but even if they didnt doesnt necessarily mean it's placebo in the case of trans women.

Im also generally against studying trans people in general at this point. Study after study is, even when neutral or in favor of gender affirming care, used to deny us healthcare and deny us who we are. I dont trust the medical and research institutions. I care far more what my community experiences than whether or not its "real" or "valid" according to some study.

totally understandable! again, not saying it would be "faking" or that these trans women would be choosing to have these symptoms, if it's "just in their heads" the treatment isnt to shame or therapy or whatever, just treat the symptoms and give support just like for a "real" cycle.

i think a general distrust of these institutions is fine, safe and healthy even, but like for instance i think it's probably ok to trust research coming from somewhere like cuba, biggest issue is that they dont have the resources to fund large studies about this kind of thing.

i wasnt asking for a study like, to validate this video or whatever, i like this ytber and have 0 reason to believe she's making it up especially since ive heard about it before, i just like reading about wacky cool things about the human body like this