Starting HRT

[Clara84]

Good news!

My endocrinologist call me this morning and I got my prescription. Blood test were good but I must lose some weight because I have some high Cholesterol and fat in the liver.

She said I must begin with low dose and increase in the future. Next appointment in August.

I searched some info and found that Estradot 25 is a VERY LOW dose. Can I expect some changes with such a low dosage ? 

[MarcieMarie12]

HRT results vary greatly from person to person so it is hard to say. 

 

[Jani]

Don't be concerned.  My doctor gave me choices of dosage when he wrote my first scripts.  I opted for the lowest dose as I wanted to see how my body would react to it.   I was able to see noticeable mental and physical changes after several months of it in my system.  I'm on patches also.   Don't fret, you'll be fine.  As the changes take effect and your lab work shows movement in the right direction you can always go up to the next level.  The level of the anti-androgen you've been prescribed will also affect how the estrogen works.  I have steadily increased my doses and I'm happy.

Congratulations!

Jani

[Clara84]

72 hours after. I already feel some changes. It's amazing !

-The texture of my skin is not like everyday. It's like "smoother". I just washed my hands 5 times in a row because I though I had something on them which causes that difference. But they feel really different. Then I checked other parts of my body and I can feel the change too.

-I do feel sometimes sexualy arroused but without any erection. When I felt arroused I am always thinking "oh -crap- I will have an erection and I just don't want it". But since yesterday that "problem" is no more present. 

-When I shave this morning I noticed my beard hadn't growed like the other days. Hair were I would say 30% shorter.

I just can't believe it that changes happens so fast. 

[Khoriilya]

I am so happy for you !!  I see a doctor on Tuesday to see about getting a prescription to HRT.

[Clara84]

That's nice. Good luck for your visit to the doctor.

[Clara84]

2 weeks on HRT. And some changes.

My mood is now more sensitive, I cry for little things.

I am more tired, I have to sleep 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

I am always hungry (like before) but I can't eat much at once. I don't finish the plates.

I notice my face is looking different, I don't know where exactly but I see that something is different. Some people confirmed me that.

I have much more confidence.

I am shrinking. Lost 4kg/8lbs in 2 weeks. 

And the most amazing thing : I lost a shoe size. I  used to wear EUR43, sometimes 44. When I bought my shoes 1 month ago, size 43, they felt very tight. Since yesterday I can't walk with anymore. They are too big. I bought another pair EUR42 and it's OK.  

 

[Jani]

I became very emotional when I started.  The good news (at least for me) is I calmed down and I am probably no worse than my wife now.  

Jani

[Guest Vicky]

This is my Day 4, and what I experience is similar to you, Clara. I don't have much appetite in the mornings, and ate way more moderately in the past few days. I am not sure that this will continue be like that, but actually I really hope so, because my eating habits are (were?) bad, usually eat way more than what I need. I also noticed that I am more relaxed, and balanced now, but this may just be the "quiet after storm", as I was totally stressed out a few days ago because of gender dysphoria. Don't worry too much about the Estrogen patch dosage for now, as your doctor is expected to adjust your levels. I started on low dosage too, and I am happy for it because it allows my body to prepare and adjust for the maintenance dosage.

[Clara84]

Hrt does a lot of changes. As my doctor explained one of these is that we now need to eat like a female. Female body needs less calories per day than male. She also told me that for some people the appetite remains like before treatment but if we eat as much as before we will gain weight. I also feel like being less stressed and that's fine. I wish you a nice trip on your hrt 

[MarcieMarie12]

Yes there is that, loosing weight is hard!!! I am trying to loose some weight before my surgery, I am about halfways there but stopped. I was also advised by other trans women I should also increase my exercise while on HRT, as E reduces your muscle mass, so you need to keep what muscle is left.

[Clara84]

3,5 weeks now.

My strength has been reduced to near zero. I must use my two arms to lift a 6-pack of 1,5 liter drink and it's not easy. Before HRT I could lift 2 packs in each hand without trouble. I tried to lift a printer which is heavy (29kg). I tried but... no way, I just can't move that machine anymore. I've heard that HRT reduces strengh about 25%, but I feel like I lost 90%. My wife who's 140cm tall can lift more than me now. I am not complaining at all but I am surprised of that effect.

My skin is now very smooth everywhere. Unfortunately I can only feel that during 12 hours after shaving, after that the hairs come back...

Since 2 days, I feel some pain in the breast zone. But only on the left side, is that normal ?

[StephanieVikingGirl]

Hi Clara,

Yep, strength loss can be dramatic and very noticeable, perfectly normal.  Muscle size will diminish in time as well.  Soft skin and reduced body hair are nice effects as well.

Some pain or sensitivity of the breasts and nipples comes with breast growth.  It can alternate which breast is in the lead so to speak.  Nothing to worry about.

Congrats on nearing your first month on HRT, so exciting!  

hugs,

Stephanie

[Clara84]

Thank you Stephanie. I won't worry. And yes it's very exciting to feel all these little changes. 

Actually still no decreasing of body hair :'( 

 

[VickySGV]

27 minutes ago, Clara84 said:

Actually still no decreasing of body hair :'( 

Changing hair is going to take a while but it will be bit by bit,  Hair grows in several cycles, one of which is when the hair has matured, it falls out and the follicle goes dormant for several months. Since you recently started HRT, when the dormant follicles come back to life, they will grow the hair under the rule of estrogen, hairs that have just started growing since you started the E will get some benefit, but the hairs that are growing beyond that time, and what are called the mature hairs will not be affected.  It took my hair three years to fully change, and then everything from top to toes came in much finer, all but my chin hairs, but a tiny bit there too.

[Clara84]

On 13/06/2017 at 0:21 AM, VickySGV said:

Changing hair is going to take a while but it will be bit by bit,  Hair grows in several cycles, one of which is when the hair has matured, it falls out and the follicle goes dormant for several months. Since you recently started HRT, when the dormant follicles come back to life, they will grow the hair under the rule of estrogen, hairs that have just started growing since you started the E will get some benefit, but the hairs that are growing beyond that time, and what are called the mature hairs will not be affected.  It took my hair three years to fully change, and then everything from top to toes came in much finer, all but my chin hairs, but a tiny bit there too.

Understood ! I must be more patient but naturally I am not 

[Charlize]

All this does seem to take tooooo long but it's worth waiting for.  Perhaps the best thing for me is the relative peace that has defended into my life.  That being said i do wish my facial hair would simply disappear.  Much of the other growth has stopped or thinned but those hairs are determined to be difficult.  Thinner and fewer, yes but still there.  At my age i may just keep living with it but i do find my facial obnoxious and annoying at best.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Clara84]

20 hours ago, Charlize said:

All this does seem to take tooooo long but it's worth waiting for.  Perhaps the best thing for me is the relative peace that has defended into my life.  That being said i do wish my facial hair would simply disappear.  Much of the other growth has stopped or thinned but those hairs are determined to be difficult.  Thinner and fewer, yes but still there.  At my age i may just keep living with it but i do find my facial obnoxious and annoying at best.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

I can already feel the "peace" you're speaking of and it's wonderful, but I still have some depressed moments when I am thinking about all these things that must be corrected / improved. Body hair makes me mad. I know it will take years.

But those bad moments are nothing compared to the deep sadness I was before transitioning.

[MarcieMarie12]

For me, I describe as going from a low intensity headache that won't go away to one that a sharp intense migraine that last a few minutes at most.

[Clara84]

5,5 weeks ! 

Breast hurts. And it's not a light sensation. It really hurts A LOT and continuously since this morning. :-) :-)  pain isn't located behind the nipples but on the exterior side.

I need a practice advice.

I used to put socks in my bra to enhance the visual effect, now the socks are pushing and it hurts very much.

Can this affect the development and avoid them to grow well? 

Apart from socks, what can I use which is softer to accomplish the same visual effect?

[Guest Laura Beth]

Yo enhance the visual effect you could always try using breast enhancers that are made of silicon. They were designed for women to enhance what they naturally have. I used a set for a couple of  years until they started to leak and I haven't bothered to replace them. I use now mostly lightly padded bras and if I want a bit more cleavage I wear a bra with more enhancement. Again these are designed for women to enhance their looks.  Like you I have been on HRT for just under two months and when younger I used the sock idea to enhance my looks but while I was still in the closet. I found that using the socks did start to hurt after a while and I also found that they were too uncomfortable when it was hot outside. That is one of the reasons that I stopped using them.

Just my two cents on the subject.

[Clara84]

1 hour ago, Laura Beth said:

Yo enhance the visual effect you could always try using breast enhancers that are made of silicon. They were designed for women to enhance what they naturally have. I used a set for a couple of  years until they started to leak and I haven't bothered to replace them. I use now mostly lightly padded bras and if I want a bit more cleavage I wear a bra with more enhancement. Again these are designed for women to enhance their looks.  Like you I have been on HRT for just under two months and when younger I used the sock idea to enhance my looks but while I was still in the closet. I found that using the socks did start to hurt after a while and I also found that they were too uncomfortable when it was hot outside. That is one of the reasons that I stopped using them.

Just my two cents on the subject.

Thank you, I am thinking about buying silicon ones. I hope such habits won't affect the natural development.

I started with only a padded bra but it isn't enough. As I am plus size, having too little breasts don't look natural. I tried to find ultra push ups sized 42AA or 42A, it seems that it doesn't exist, nowhere. I've found 40B but it's a bit tight. 42B exists in China but it's not push up. I used to wear 42B or pushup 40B with a pair of socks each side. B is a minimal cup size matching my large body. I have a natural AA cup due to my weight. It seems there are no cis-woman wearing 42A.

[Cindy Truheart]

The socks or anything else you use shouldn't affect breast growth at all. I'm still pretending to be male for my job and I've been using a chest binder to hide my development. Right after I started HRT I began losing a lot of weight, I stopped looking at the scale around 200 pounds and I'm pretty sure I went above that. Not a big deal to most people but I'm only 5'6" so it was a lot of weight for me. But what happened was that I kept a bit of that fat in my breasts even though I lost weight so I had to hide things because I wasn't ready to come out just then! But they continued to grow and now I'm a 42B. You can find bras in that size although I'm doing my best to hold off buying more than a few as I'm hopeful I will continue to develop!

Love and Light!

[Clara84]

28 minutes ago, Cindy Truheart said:

The socks or anything else you use shouldn't affect breast growth at all. I'm still pretending to be male for my job and I've been using a chest binder to hide my development. Right after I started HRT I began losing a lot of weight, I stopped looking at the scale around 200 pounds and I'm pretty sure I went above that. Not a big deal to most people but I'm only 5'6" so it was a lot of weight for me. But what happened was that I kept a bit of that fat in my breasts even though I lost weight so I had to hide things because I wasn't ready to come out just then! But they continued to grow and now I'm a 42B. You can find bras in that size although I'm doing my best to hold off buying more than a few as I'm hopeful I will continue to develop!

Love and Light!

:-) Cindy, This makes me smile because we do have a lot of similarly. I am exactly 5'6" too. Bra size 42. Started at 240lbs and I do lose about 1 pound each day (I am now 199lbs) I hope to continue losing weight and having nice breast development.

Love 

Clara

[bobbisue]

Before I bought silicone forms I used nylon stockings stuffed with fiber pillow stuffing I sometimes use them whewn it is too hot still they are cheap comfortable and you can make them any size you need

 

  bobbisue