What Were Your Most Surprising Changes?

[Erikka]

I too am always watchful for being attacked. Although this is California, where I live we have a disportionent number of rednecks and this group makes me fearful. Im am not small or dainty or petite, I played Division I football and unless I spend a lot of time with hair or makeup, I still look somewhat like a football player in a dress. Jars of pickles routinely defeat me and the strength I used to take for granted is for the most part a thing of the past.

For trans women it is a scary world out there and for black trans women it is far worse.

Fear is a change that has come with transition. I had the male privilege of strength and now I have the trans privilege of fear. Even though fear is part of the equation, I will not go back.

Velsignelser alle

Erikka

[claire1000]

The mental changes everyone has talked about occurred for me over a year or so, I became acutely aware of my surroundings for my own safety full knowing that I had lost strength and would find it hard to defend myself call it a healthy fear but I hated that.Libido changed for the better, and my skin became much more sensitive to the touch. Fat distribution happened with my thighs and butt being the receptive areas but this came slowly until it was just as if it seemed to have happened not an overnight change but gradual. Breasts are small A cup but mom was a small b cup but happy to have some growth.What really startled me was that I recently had my annual physical and my doctor said she could not believe the change in my face, I asked her what she meant and she said my face looked so much more feminine.She then brought up the I D pictures they take every year to show me , she pointed out the fat changes to the face around the upper cheek bones had that apple effect, it had happened so slowly I had not noticed it. So for me things changed slowly but for the better and if i can get some health issues cleared up there is one permanent change I would like to make, so what I am  trying to say is be patient.

[Abi]

@claire1000 That's amazing advice. Patience and perseverance are critical to achieving any goal. Congrats on your successes. 

[Tori M]

I guess this would be considered a surprising change... for the first time in my life I am considering taking an exercise/self-defense class.  I always considered that a "bulk up" type of thing to do, but now I see it as a mental/emotional strategy thing.  The posts above prompted me to post this.  Unlike most men, women use strategies to feel safe.  Although, being a skinny runt of a guy, I've used some strategies my whole life, but as a woman I think I need to learn some new ones.  There are places I am afraid to go alone now and I don't always have a tough gal pal that wants to go along.  Remember, gals... your voice, fingernails, and thigh muscles are your best weapons.  I always keep my keys handy, too, on a stretchy cord on my wrist.  Heck, maybe I just need to bite the bullet and find a boyfriend!  Now there's a surprising change for me, lol.

[SaraAW]

Thanks to the informative folks here and my own research, the physical and even the emotional changes weren't that unexpected for me. For me, it was probably just how much better I felt, in general and about myself. A week after starting HRT, I just felt more myself than I ever have. I can't really find the right words to describe it, but that's as close as I can get. At 4 months now, the initial euphoria I also felt has worn off, but I still feel so much better. I don't know if it's just the HRT or if part of it is that I am finally taking control of my life.
 

[Mmindy]

4 hours ago, claire1000 said:

So for me things changed slowly but for the better and if i can get some health issues cleared up there is one permanent change I would like to make, so what I am  trying to say is be patient.

Claire, this was a good update. Thank you for sharing.

 

Best wishes, stay positive, and safe.

 

Mindy???

[Sophie Watson]

Was speaking to someone on Twitter a bit more about the mental changes and I have to say that is the most interesting part of HRT for me personally. 

 

Sarah said "HRT didn't really affect affect me for the first few months but when I hit the 6 month mark I found that the way I learnt and retained information changed completely. Suddenly rather than being shown how to do something and then learning through repetition I found that I was able to understand what a person was trying to get across much quicker. HRT has definitely improved my listening skills and as a result my job just got a whole lot easier as a result"