6mo frustration!

[girl you look fierce]

a

[sandrauk]

I've been on HRT twice now-  1989-2003 ish and now three months in.

I gave up in 2003 because I was seeing such poor effects.

It's only since I came here to Susan's, whilst researching FFS as a desperate last measure, that I saw what results people were getting and  decided to give it another go. I have seen more results in the last 3 months than in the former fourteen years.

With hindsight I'm furious with myself for not doing anything about it when nothing was happening and for all the wasted years.

So yes, I feel you should be seeing results and if you aren't something needs looking at.

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

YMMV.  But you need to give HRT time to work.  Young girls go through puberty for years.  So should we.

[aprilrain]

Its going to take a little more time than 6 months and there is no guarantee you will see much of anything in the way of body changes. It probably took me 6 months before i really noticed any emotional changes though sexual changes came within weeks. 

[Noah]

I am 3 months in and have experienced slight breast development, softer skin, my butt grew an inch, and my acne is clearing up. I'm considering these changes normal and significant, but I don't really know how others experience it. I wish my breasts would grow faster but I know that everything happens at its own pace. Consider that everything happens at its own pace. Speak to you doctor about your satisfaction or lack there of. You can change the means by which estrogen enters your body, which may affect your results. I just switched to injections and feel they are working better...but it may be in my head. If you already pass it may be hard to see slight changes in feminine features. Dont lose faith...

[Stephe]

I noticed a change from -spiro only- for a year (Been on E for 6 months.) on my aggression but no other emotional changes. None of the "crying for no reason" I hear others mention, which I am glad! Adding E later didn't change anything. My skin changed, less body hair, mainly arms and legs.  Small 34B boobs (and growing) and maybe a bit of fat moving around. If the HRT wasn't doing anything, you wouldn't be getting boobs. BTW my "sex drive" is still intact, just no morning wood etc. I wouldn't say my genitals changed much, maybe a tad, nothing that noticeable.  I can say I'm not as strong now but I also don't do the sort of manual labor I used to so part of that is likely atrophy. My shoulders and upper arms aren't as big which is welcome, but again that could be from not doing things that use them, like splitting wood etc.

Just give it time.

[marcy319]

Not much can happen unless your T is low enough *and* your E is high enough, and you need blood work to find out. You should have had E and T levels checked from the initiation of HRT, and then maybe at the 3 month mark. Do you have insurance? Just ask your GP to order the tests, she can do that along with your next routine cholesterol or blood chemistry.

Also, the method of delivery matters. Patches didn't work at all for me, but a roughly equivalent dose via injection made a phenomenal difference.

As far as what to expect from 6 months of HRT, while everyone's different, for a rough gauge of how things can progress check out table 1A on pg 37 of the "WPATH Standards of Care V7".

http://www.wpath.org/documents/Standards%20of%20Care%20V7%20-%202011%20WPATH.pdf

[Beth Andrea]

That's part of the problem--we compare our experiences with others to see how we're doing...just use yourself as your only measure of progress.

Some behaviors are learned, also. Be aware of how you wish to present emotionally and behaviorally, and make it a point to proceed in that direction.

Hope this helps...:-)