Has Anyone Else Experienced A Change Of Eye Color?

[Guest Erika]

My eyes used to be dark brown before HRT.

Now when I look in the mirror or even ask someone else the color of my eyes, they say they look green. To me they still look a little bit brownish but more green than brown. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced a change of color to their eyes while on HRT?

[Guest Jean Davis]

Well honey

I'm not on HRT yet but I have had people tell me that my eyes change color at times. I suspect that they change when my mood changes dramatically. I think that having three different colors in my iris helps, I got a dark blue outer ring, then mid point is grey for the most part and the very inner part around the pupil is brown. I'm not exactly sure how it does it but like I said my friends say that they do change colors.

LUV

Jean

[Guest Hood]

I've been noticing that my eyes, also brown, have been becoming more green colored -- a friend mentioned it too. But eye color can also change naturally. Though I'd suggest seeing an eye doctor, as rapid color change that is lasting can be a sign of some eye diseases.

[Guest AshleyRF]

My eyes have randomly changed colors from day to day all my life. Usually depending on what I wear or what mood I'm in. It has to do with blood flow or something like that. Granted they don't change drastically but the change in them is noticeable. I generally have bluegreen eyes, but often they are more hazel or even more of a green. Rarely, but occasionally they become more blue.

They eye shape however does change with HRT.

[Guest sarah f]

I am the same as Ashley. My eyes were blue as a child, turned hazle, then more green, now back to blue. Erika, I think it might just be that they are changing color on their own. It would not hurt to get them checked out though to make sure nothing else is going on.

Love,

Sarah F

[Guest NatalieM]

From what I know (which is limited) hazel eyes are green/brown colour. I don't know if the balance of the 2 can shift or not though. There's also grey eyes (what I think I have). Grey eyes have no colour to them, so they take in colour from their surroundings (ie: your shirt). That's the extent of my knowledge, hope it helps a little.

Nat

[Guest JD_Divine]

from having been told my eyes are anywhere from gray slate to sky blue to almost black to goldenrod sunbursts... Mood does have a lot to do with color. Think of it this way. When you started HRT how did your mood shift? Did you suddenly have deeper happiness and a sense of excitement? If so (As I suspect is the case) that causes natural happy chemicals to be produced that effect other systems in the body. It has to manifest somehow. Even just a smile causes the brain to create chemicals that can shift things like eye color. I believe its related to dilation of blood vessels also.

~JD

[Guest foxy]

your one lucky lady.

if my eyes changed from brown to green i would be thrilled.

i'm really surprised to even find out eyes can even change color... i always thought what you were born with you were stuck with

now if only one could train ones eyes to go with what we wear

[Guest viv]

Hi hun,

I heard years ago that age changes folks eye color ,,,mostly to blue .

viv

[Guest Eth]

From what I know (which is limited) hazel eyes are green/brown colour. I don't know if the balance of the 2 can shift or not though. There's also grey eyes (what I think I have). Grey eyes have no colour to them, so they take in colour from their surroundings (ie: your shirt). That's the extent of my knowledge, hope it helps a little.

Nat

Actually grey eyes (actually they're technically 'steel') are in the 'blue' range, believe it or not. If your eyes appear grey/steel, then they DO have pigmentation. If your eyes had very little pigmentation or NO pigmentation, then they would be clear and so the blood vessels in the back would show through, thus giving you either red or violet eyes.

Our eye colors are caused by varying ratios of eumelanin produced by melanocytes in the iris. However, how they appear can largely be effected by their surroundings and even the clothes you wear. You are right that gray eyes can take in the color from your surroundings, but it's because they are very very light and so they reflect colors.

Here's a couple different eye colors and how they are caused/produced:

Black Eyes (Example)

Black eyes (that's a black iris - not a bruise) or almost black eyes are caused by a very large amount of pigmentation in the iris. The result is an eye that appears very, very dark or sometimes even completely black. Although there are some genetic mutations that result in truly black eyes, most eyes that appear black are really extremely dark brown eyes.

Brown Eyes (Example)

Brown eyes are actually the most dominant color for humans, with over half of the world population having brown eyes. At one point in time it is believed that all humans had brown eyes, but that there were some mutations that inhibited the OCA2 gene, which resulted in less pigmentation and lighter colored eyes.

Hazel Eyes (Example)

Hazel eyes tend to shift between light brown and a golden/greenish color because of the way they reflect light. The dominant color in a hazel iris can be either green or light brown. Sometimes hazel eyes can appear to be multi-colored in that they seem to be one color closer to the pupil and another color closer to the edge of the iris.

Amber Eyes (Example)

Amber eyes are always a solid color and can range from a golden-yellow color to a coppery color. Amber eyes can often be confused with hazel eyes, but the difference is that hazel eyes usually have rings, specks or flakes of other colors in them whereas amber eyes are almost completely solid.

Green Eyes (Example)

Green eyes are very rare with only 1-2% of the world population having them. In order to have green eyes, one must have a low-moderate amount of melanin. Green eyes are significantly more common in women than men. Interestingly, about 90% of the population if Iceland has either green or blue eyes. Green eyes are most common in people with Nordic, Germanic and Celtic history.

Turqoise/Teal Eyes (Example)

Turqoise and teal eyes are extremely rare compared to most other eye colors. I have this eye color. I have not been able to find a whole lot of substantial information on turqoise/teal eyes but the majority of the figures I've seen show that it occurs in about 0.2-0.5% of the human population. It occurs when people with technically blue eyes have a larger amount of melanin than normal, but still appear blue. Blue eyes and green eyes are caused by different traits (green eyes tend to be dominant to blue), and turqoise/teal eyes tend to carry the traits of blue eyes.

Blue Eyes (Example)

Blue eyes first appeared about 6,000-10,000 years ago, presumably in a single individual in the Near East or Black Sea region. Whoever this person was, they had a genetic mutation that effected the OCA2 gene and resulted in a sort of 'switch' that significantly inhibited the ability to produce brown eyes. So, when this person reproduced, their offspring became blue eyed instead of brown eyed because the 'switch' prevented them from developing brown eyes. As they reproduced, we got more and more people with blue eyes and it spread. Blue eyes are most common in people of Western and Northern Europian ancestry. However, even though the OCA2 gene is impared by the blue eye genetics switch, it is still definitely active because if it were totally shut down it would result in albinism.

Gray/Steel Eyes (Example)

"Gray" irises contain even less melanin than blue eyes. Gray eyes are technically a very light shade of blue, and are capable of reflecting a lot of different colors. Gray eyes tend to 'change' color almost all across the spectrum, but most commonly appear either gray, blue or green. However, they are not 'clear' or anything like that, and definitely have enough pigmentation to be visible rather than show straight through to the blood vessels behind the eye.

Violet Eyes (Example)

Violet eyes are caused primarily by albinism. People with more severe cases of albinism have so little pigmentation that their eyes appear almost entirely clear, which lets the blood vessels show through. However, violet eyes tend to have a little blueish pigmentation to them, thus resulting in a 'violet' color, since when the red mixes with blue it appears violet.

Red Eyes (Example)

Red eyes are caused by severe/extreme albinism, where there is pretty much NO pigmentation of the iris so the blood vessels can show through. You know how when you take a flash picture of someone they sometimes appear to have red eyes? It's because the bright flash reflects off of the back of the eyeball, resulting in the red appearance. For people with clear irises, the red back of the eyeball is clearly visible.

There are other conditions out there where people can be predominantly one color and have flakes of another. There's also conditions where people can have one eye be one color and the other eye be another.

It is entirely possible for your eye color to change while taking hormones. Although this does not always hold true, in general women tend to produce less melanin than men. So, if you are MtF and started taking estrogens, it is entirely possible that your eyes could become a shade lighter, just like if you are FtM and started taking testosterone, your eyes could become a shade darker. They won't necessarily though, and probably won't. I wouldn't find it surprising if your eyes became a little lighter or darker respectively, but I wouldn't expect them to change color - just 'shade'. But you never know. Your eyes could stay totally the same or they might change dramatically. It depends on your genetics, your body's chemistry and how you react to the hormones.