hrt

[Susan]

hello all. well i went to my transgender doctor this morning and was very surprised. my doctor has been treating transgender people for along time . the best thing is she has started my hrt prescribtion today. she didnt need to do blood work because i already had it done a few months ago.??? she also said i am very healthy and she put me on the pill form for t blockers and estregen.i am soooooo happy now!!!!!!! thanks all Susan

[Carolyn Marie]

Great news, Susan.  That;s a big step forward.  Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

 

HUGS

 

Carolyn Marie

[Cyndee]

wonderful news Susan , it's such a good feeling to be on your way. Get ready, things are going to get interesting....

 

Hugs

 

Cyndi -

[Susan]

I know. My doctor said I should start feeling the effects in 2 or 3 weeks. Chest will start to get tender.

[MarcieMarie12]

That is how it was for me. I noticed the mental effects a lot quicker though!

[ElissaMtF]

Pill form? I hope she didn’t put you on birth control because that would be dangerous and harmful. Birth control contains an outdated form of estrogen called Ethinylestradiol and it might cause blood clots. Bio-identical Estradiol is what you will want. In patch form to start with.

Pills have a higher clotting risk.

Anne Lawrence recommends taking a baby aspirin daily, to trans girls on HRT. It reduces the risks of clotting.

 

You will also want to stop smoking if you smoked. Smoking raises the risks for blood clots a lot and it messes with the absorption of estrogen.

Smokers have less results from HRT.

Caffeine consumption must also be limited. Caffeine is bad when you are on HRT.

Don’t drink grapefruit juice if you are on oral estrogen. Grapefruit slows the break down of estrogen by the liver and it elevates Estrone, a cancer causing estrogen form.

 

Taking Estradiol pills sublingually is safer than swallowing them. Sublingually they bypass the liver. Orally they need to go through the digestive tract.

 

MtFs older than 40 usually get prescribed transdermal ( through the skin ) forms of HRT, not oral forms because their health risks are elevated.

 

Also watch your intake of phytoestrogens through food. 

Don’t eat soy.

Don’t eat broccoli either. It raises testosterone and breaks Estradiol down into Estrone.

 

If you are on Cyproterone Acetate, watch out for depressive episodes. Cyproterone Acetate is a katalysant of depressive feelings. Taking vitamin B12 daily reduces the risks of depression when on Cypro.

 

When on Spironolactone, watch your electrolytes and your potassium.

Don’t eat too much kiwis or bananas. Substitute potatoes for a bit more often rice. 

Drink plenty because Spironolactone is a diuretic ( makes you pee a lot ) and can dehydrate you if you don’t drink enough. 

 

Have patience. HRT takes at least 6 months before mention-worthy results will have occured. The first months is a warm up.

After 6 months things should start blooming.

Breast buds usually start to form after 6 weeks.

Softer skin is noticeable after 10-14 days.

Morning wood starts to fade away after a week.

Sperm becomes clearer within 3 months. 

Fat redistribution to hips and butt starts after around 6 months. The face starts noticeably changing after 8-10 months.

Body odor changes start within the first month.

Body hair starts to decrease after a year. That’s the slowest change you will notice.

Facial hair is only very mildly affected. The hair on the face will grow a tiny bit slower.

The voice is not affected, contrary to what many claim. You can only change your voice through voice training.

 

Mood swings are a possibility. Women also have higher anxiety levels than men. That’s normal. You will become more emotional very soon within weeks.

 

Your sexual orientation may change.

 

MTFs who lived as straight men before transition, may find themselves ending up as straight women post-transition.

Some become bisexual.

Some don’t experience a change and go from straight “ man “ to lesbian woman.

Very rarely someone who lived as a homosexual man pre-transition will end up as a lesbian woman post-transition. Gigi Gorgeous is an example. Gigi Loren Lazarrato has a YouTube channel and was a very feminine gay man pre-transition. Now she is a very feminine lesbian post-transition. 

 

It’s a wild ride. But a very rewarding and enjoyable one.

 

Good luck ? 

 

[VickySGV]

Be sure to follow your doctor's specific instructions in regard to your diet and do not give up your normal healthy foods without telling them that you are.  They might have to regulate your meds differently.  At the very least here in CA, your pharmacist is a reliable member of your health care team, so do ask them to carefully evaluate your entire list of medications, including OTC meds.  Your body will respond to HRT the way it would have done at age 9 - 12, and that response will be what it would have been over the 12 years after puberty started. (Parent of two cis daughters here).  There a lot of legends with some medical truth to them, but they do not override your medical care team's judgment.

[Charlize]

A new journey begins.  I' know i'll never forget my start and i'd guess you'll find the same.  I was told to fasten my seatbelt.  Looking back it was good advice.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Susan]

Thanks to you all for the comments. My doctor said I will feel the effects in 2 weeks or so. She said I should feel my chest start to be sore.

[Jani]

Great news Susan!  Your doctor is right about the timeframe.  The mental effects kind of snuck up on me.  I love it all!

 

Jani

[Marbabar]

Susan I know you’ve been looking forward to this step for a long time, and glad to hear you’re doing well so far! Remember to take care of your social and emotional needs, during this time of focus on your body. I know you’ll keep in touch!

Mar

[jae bear]

 Hey Susan, 

 That is really awesome news, I bet you’re feeling great now that you know things are rolling along !  I remember around the third or fourth month my brain got a bit more quiet I felt so much more calm and at ease with myself, it’ll be interesting if you experience this as well. I didn’t notice my skin softening until about a year, but I suppose that’s when I started shaving my legs anyway and waxing my arms, not that there was much to remove but I wasn’t really investigating the condition of my skin before that. Now I find the skin on my arms is amazingly soft and extremely sensitive to touch, it wasn’t something I was expecting but it’s interesting  none the less !

 Hugs, 

Jackie

[jae bear]

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

Don’t eat soy

Oh, I didn’t know this one, since I recently started eating vegan I’ve been having tofu scramble every morning  and loving it, I certainly hope I don’t have to stop as I really love this morning breakfast routine with my cup of coffee 

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

Caffeine consumption must also be limited. Caffeine is bad when you are on HRT.

 Uh oh...  I did it again, I suppose I’ll be drinking postum from now on! And now what do I do with all my soy creamer?

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

Don’t eat too much kiwis

 Dang it I’m doing this all wrong ! I was having kiwis for breakfast when they were in season because they’re supposed to be good for anti-blood clot risk but I didn’t look into anything that would affect HRT...

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

Body odor changes start within the first month

Yes, yes it does

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

Your sexual orientation may change.

 I worried about this initially, and my therapist told me to keep an open mind, and while results may vary I do realize my level of attraction to men in general has changed, this is not something I admit easily, but I find myself more often jealous of women first and attracted to them second, I’m not quite used to this but after 17 months of HRT the best I can do is keep an open mind and be honest with myself and others,  so I guess I’m bi...

On 7/13/2018 at 2:41 PM, ElissaMtF said:

It’s a wild ride. But a very rewarding and enjoyable one.

Oh my goodness I could not say this better myself, find your seatbelt honey you’re going to need it!

 Hugs, 

Jackie

[ChickenLittle]

Hey Jackie-- the stuff about not eating soy is totally a myth, don't worry about it. If phytoestrogens posed a risk you better believe I wouldn't be eating soy every day like I do. My partner is a pharmacist and he says that med companies investigated the use of phytoestrogens as hormone replacement and found that it just didn't work. I would definitely check with your doctor to see if they think you should cut out any foods, as there is a lot of misinformation online. 

[jae bear]

 Oh my gosh thank you ChickenLittle, I was only half worried about that post because I realize there’s so much misinformation out there, and it look like all the information was cut and pasted from some other place online. It must be nice to have a pharmacist for a partner, I have always enjoyed my partner being a nurse, I bet there’s a lot of similarities there!  I’ve been having so much fun going vegan I can’t imagine worrying about these things and unless there was a serious problem, I’ll probably mention my dietary changes to my doctor the next time I see her. However I did mention going vegan to both my doctor and endocrinologist and both of them thought it was a great idea !

 Hugs, 

Jackie

[Susan]

Hello all. Here is my 2 mouth update. I have been getting sick and throwing up the last 3 week's or so. I went to the doctors and she told me that she thought it might be my migraine med that might be the cause and try not taking it and to back off on tied Spiro. I did and I was still getting sick. I went back yesterday and she told me to stop taking my t blockers cause my level was so low and she took me of estrogen pills and put me on X.X mg injection. She also is having me come in today to show of how to inject it and is not charging me which I think is really cool. I am kinda scared about doing it cause I am not a fan of shots or needles but I also know that it better for me and not hard on me like the pills. Anyways. All comments are welcome. Thanks Susan

Edited September 12, 2018 by CyndiRae
removed dosage info per T & C

[Raven1981]

4 hours ago, stbSusan said:

Hello all. Here is my 2 mouth update. I have been getting sick and throwing up the last 3 week's or so. I went to the doctors and she told me that she thought it might be my migraine med that might be the cause and try not taking it and to back off on tied Spiro. I did and I was still getting sick. I went back yesterday and she told me to stop taking my t blockers cause my level was so low and she took me of estrogen pills and put me on X.X mg injection. She also is having me come in today to show of how to inject it and is not charging me which I think is really cool. I am kinda scared about doing it cause I am not a fan of shots or needles but I also know that it better for me and not hard on me like the pills. Anyways. All comments are welcome. Thanks Susan

 

The shots are nothing.  However you have to make sure you use the right needle cause you will have 2 needles.  You will have an 18 gauge for drawing and a 25 gauge 1inch to 1.5inch for injection.  Make sure to use the 25 gauge for injection.  The 18 is a big needle and will hurt if you use that.  The 25 gauge is a small baby needle and does not hurt.  Especially when you grab as much meat as possible and then just stick it straight in and once in, you can release the meat and begin to inject after the aspiration.  Just make sure you pay close attention on the injection spot and you will want to switch sides as well cause you want to make sure that you dont hit a vein and you get the muscle and by switching sides, you wont bruise the area and get to use to one side.

[Jani]

I'm sorry you are having troubles.   You might also try transdermal; patches or gel.  The way the E is absorbed is different than with injections or pills.  

 

I hope it works out for you.

 

Jani

[Susan]

Well I had my first injection this morning. The nurse showed me exactly how to do it and next week I will go in and do it myself and she will be there to make sure I am doing it correctly. I haven't felt anything from it yet so we will see what happens next time. Thanks all Susan.

[Jani]

Seeing how you were already on E, this shouldn't result in any different feelings except hopefully you won't get sick.  We're pulling for you! 

Jani

[Susan]

Thank you all for caring! Susan

 

[Ashlee]

? hopefully the shots get everything sorted out and work better. I'm sorry to hear you're going through this.