First step - HRT or antidepressants?

[E-Brennan]

So...my dysphoria is causing some severe mood swings and instability, huge highs and some fairly bad lows.  Two choices:

- Start with HRT and see if that stabilizes me mentally.
- Start with antidepressants and see if that does the same thing.

What would your thoughts be?

(More specifically, did your experience of HRT include being far more consistent when it came to your mental state?  Or did antidepressants flatten you out and give you time to make a more informed decision about whether to transition or not?)

I truly can't make up my mind on where to start.  My therapist recommends leaping into the hormones.  I haven't had my first endocrinologist appointment yet, but I get the impression that being an endocrinologist, he'll see every problem as one that can be solved with hormones.

[Randi]

I'm not a great fan of either therapists or psychoactive drugs, but that may be something you need to explore.

Hormones will change your sex.  It's a simple as that.  You need an extra reserve of resources and stability to go down that path.

It's pretty easy to convince yourself that changing your sex will change everything in your life for the better.  Frequently it either increases your problems or presents you with a different set of challenges.

Changing your sex should be the last thing on your list of things to do.

Best wishes,

Randi