MTF detransition - HRT advice

[andiemcgrath]

ok, so i've been on HRT for 4-5 years now and have just come off (within past 2 months) decapeptyl, and i'm just wondering how best to come off E. I was on **mg of sandrena gel which i've cut down to *mg, but would i be better off just stopping totally? is tapering off of the oestrogen hindering whatever T production i'm potentially capable of? i thought tapering might be the best way of going about it to allow me get used to being percieved as male while additionally not leaving me totally hormoneless (which i assume is a bad thing)

edited for dosages

[JoanneB]

I can certainly attest to stopping E cold turkey is a bad thing. I learned that lesson a few times during my WTF am I doing periods. Stopping my AA after 5 years was a lot more insidious with its effect on my emotional health.

[Ltl89]

ok, so i've been on HRT for 4-5 years now and have just come off (within past 2 months) decapeptyl, and i'm just wondering how best to come off E. I was on **mg of sandrena gel which i've cut down to *mg, but would i be better off just stopping totally? is tapering off of the oestrogen hindering whatever T production i'm potentially capable of? i thought tapering might be the best way of going about it to allow me get used to being percieved as male while additionally not leaving me totally hormoneless (which i assume is a bad thing)

edited for dosages

Please consider tapering off.  I've never gone cold turkey off of hormones, but everyone I've talked to has made me see it's a bad idea.  Lot of emotional things you shouldn't have to feel and probably wouldn't like feeling by going off all together at once. 

[Sunya]

One year ago I was forced to stop my medications cold turkey due to fiances. It was a horrible experience, I became morbidly depress and disinterested in life. It took three months for my emotions to settle enough to start acting anything like myself again, but it wasn't just the mind that was effected: my skin rebelled; my hands, feet, and lips dried and cracked; my hair frizzed and split. Nothing helped either. Dry skin and hair is a side effect of an orchiectomy, as is the lack of a sex drive and the "eunuch calm" (I'd say numb).

It wreaked havoc on my life, I wouldn't recommend going cold turkey to anyone.

[retransition]

Coming off of HRT can cause its own problems, some of which we are only beginning to understand and this applies to non trans people as well as trans.  In my case I suspect that my abrupt changes in hormones were a contributing factor to my developing hypothyroidism a decade ago - which I will now have to deal with the rest of my life.  I would advise you to go to find if any studies have been conducted relating to the specific medications you were taking and what happened when people went off of them.  Epub is a great source for these - you can see the abstracts for reports online - if you want to read more in depth you either need to have academic credentials or do what I do , which is go to my local university library where I can use their computers to read these online (or email the pdfs to myself).   Talk with an endocrinologist who is sincere, willing to work with you and is CURIOUS.  Endos who tell you that they know everything don't.  But someone who is willing to take a holistic look at everything and monitor you through this process is really what will help you the most in this situation.  Good luck!

[HughE]

One option might be to take the fertility drug HCG while you're tapering off E. This will have the effect of reactivating your testicles and  restarting your production of T, so that way you should hopefully be able to avoid having a period where both your E and T levels are very low.