Therapy so far

[Michelle_Anne]

Just had my third therapy session this morning.   I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have such an amazing therapist.  We started talking about hormones today.  I had told her I had gained quite a bit of knowledge on HRT over the last few months.  I then told her I discovered on a Google search that my primary care doctor/practice was associated with the LGBTQ community.  I told her I hadn’t called yet to verify this.  She right away offered to call for me to ask.  I said sure. She called and discovered that all doctors in the practice handle transition patients but gave the name of one doctor that specializes in HRT.  And guess what….she is taking new patients.  My therapist said she felt like I was ready to make an initial appointment to discuss things.   I’m still not out yet to any of my family but I’m interested in knowing if there is some type of HRT plan where I could take a low dose to help with some of my anxiety and dysphoria with out producing too much of a physical change.  I’m excited, scared and nervous.  Anyways just wanted to share this with everyone.

 

Michelle 

[Heather Nicole]

2 hours ago, Michelle_Anne said:

but I’m interested in knowing if there is some type of HRT plan where I could take a low dose to help with some of my anxiety and dysphoria with out producing too much of a physical change.

 

When I first started talking with a specialist about getting on HRT and we were going over all the various options and their pro/cons, she did mention that one of the options was to microdose HRT (ie, a very low dose). I didn't go that route so I don't know much about the details or how it works, or what effects it might or might not have, but apparently low-dosing is a thing some people do.  And I do know at least one trans woman who says she's microdosing her HRT because she "doesn't care about the physical changes".

[Astrid]

4 hours ago, Michelle_Anne said:

I’m interested in knowing if there is some type of HRT plan where I could take a low dose to help with some of my anxiety and dysphoria with out producing too much of a physical change.

 

My HRT physician stated: "I don't know of any dosage level that doesn't produce at least some changes" -- and she was right.  I started at low levels, and found that it was insufficient (for me) to reduce my dysphoria.  I then graduated to higher levels, which while I would consider them to be a medium level, greatly helped the dysphoria, and I remain on those levels now (I'm at the 2 3/4 year point).  Of course, this accelerated my physical changes.  But keep in mind that for many MtF folks, things like breast growth are modest, so that your goal of not "producing too much of a physical change" may be attainable.  It's relatively easy to wear larger, baggy tops to mask them, if that's a concern.

 

Astrid