Hormone Replacement Therapy Questions from Teen.

[Guest PureDelight]

Hello Everyone!, I recently discovered this website(and I love it) I read a few articles about hormone replacement therapy and I'm still a bit confused. I'm 16 about to turn 17 this January MtF transgender and as you can tell by my age I'm going through male puberty and it kills me to see my body develop into my worst nightmare(facial hair,body hair, voice deepening). I want to start hormone therapy to feminize my body but I really want to take into perspective all the side affects.

I read that it changes my interests? Changes how I think? and even maybe my sexual orientation?

Also my sex drive? I honestly don't know how it will change my thoughts but It doesn't sound all that believable or motivating from what I have read... Same with sex drive and orientation. I want to want to have sex when I'm in a serious relationship, I don't want to be boring or make my boyfriend feel like I'm not interested in him because i have no sex drive... Also I still want to be interested in men I don't want to be all of a sudden interested in women...

I'm also worried about blood clots and all those health risks?

Will it do me more harm then benefit me?

Next, I am 190 pounds 5'7 tall, I want to loose weight now because I heard fat distribution is only for the new fat intake, but the problem is I don't want to gain muscle to loose weight... I was thinking of starting a diet and exercising after I start hormones to not gain any muscle. Maybe i'm wrong for doing that? That's why I am hear I desperately need advice and correct information from people who know about all this.

I'd very much appreciate any information you can tell me! Thanks !

[Guest Melissa~]

Hold on now, HT won't "do" anything not physical. I don't think it's ever been linked to a mental change that's documentable, just that it correlates and coordinates thought that is already there. Like a person that's intoxicated with alcohol, nothing they do drunk is put there by the booze, it was always there, alcohol just changes judgement and inhibitions.

Seek professional advice.

[Guest Melissa~]

Silly me, welcome to the forum, just noticed the post count!

[Guest Calicea]

Well I'll start with the bad news. I don't think there is anyone that knows about all "this." I do understand your pain though. You want some accurate concrete information and by god you want it now darn it. Sadly I'm going to have to say what I was told a lot when I was searching just like you are now. Your mileage will vary so what one person experiences probably won't be what you experience. With that out of the way =) I'll try and answer some of your questions from what I experience ( I need a better word I've used this one 3 times) Now I'm 18 been on hormones for close a year now and I'm overweight(Very sadly work in progress though) Now I'll go through your questions/concerns in order and hope I can help =)

Change in interests:

Not really. I'm answering this based of the assumption you meant what activities, etc. interest you since you mention later sexual orientation. I still have all the same interests. I love to play video games with my friends. I also enjoy cooking. I still listen to the same music and watch the same things on TV. The only change here was that I now feel less ashamed about my desire to cook and bake and do it more often, but I think that was a side effect of coming out rather than hormones.

Changes in thinking:

Once again this is my experience, but I don't feel the hormones changed how I think the slightest bit. My thoughts/thought process change dramatically after I came out though. No more guilt and shame and trying to bind up who I really was in a corner in my head so I could be "normal." Normal doesn't exist sister. Now it's just letting the femme fatale out. My thoughts are much more free and I no longer find myself trying to censor what I think or feel bad about it. It's natural. Once again though I don't feel it's a side effect of hormones, but merely coming out of the closet.

Sex drive:

Well let me start with sex drive. It will go down. Especially being in male puberty. It's not bad though. I felt quite a relief when mine went away. It will however have absolutely no effect on a relationship. I lost all my sex drive(at least in comparison to being a teenage boy) but I still have plenty of desire to have sex with my boyfriend. Remember women think with the heart men think with the private part. It really comes down to primal instinct because men could just go around "spreading the seed" but woman had to me much more scrupulous because it was a heavier burden on them. I will state though I had an awkward phase where I still wanted to pleasure my self, but my stuff was in a state it was near impossible. So you may want to wean yourself off it that's something you do. Remember though no shame it doesn't make you any less of a women if you do. Just a warning I thought I'd share because it got kind of frustrating.

Sexual Orientation:

This one could be considered a change depending on how you look at it. My body no longer reacts to women as much and reacts more to men, but what the body does didn't really line up with what my heart wanted. Not long after coming out even long before hormones I found myself wanting a husband. Someone I could take care and watch him conquer the world for me. So that one it depends on how you think of it.

Health Risks:

There is almost no health risks to be worried about if you listen to your doctor. However this should be a major reason not to self medicate.

I wish you the best and hope I could help.

Luvz,

Cali