trans rites of passage: first pill on HRT.

[Eva Marie]

I looked at the pill nervously for quite and while and went back and forth in my mind about whether I really wanted to take it. I finally thought "what the heck" and down it went.

[WFane]

I read all the material on each package, bottle and pamphlet before i carefully decided what time in the morning,and afternoon I wanted to take my pills. I decided on 6:30 because thats roughly breakfast and dinner for me. I think I waited a total of 30 minutes lol

[Emmaline]

I think it's gonna be a down the hatch moment for me.

Roll on monday!

[Jenny07]

Good luck for Monday Emmaline.

I will be interested to see if you get the fantastic feeling of empowerment, joy and relief it did for me.
It's hard to put in words that describe it so enjoy the emotional high I am sure you will feel.

J

[Vicky]

Got my first on a Monday too!!  July 6, 2009.  I got mine at a hospital pharmacy and hit the cafeteria for a glass of Iced Tea, and down the hatch!!  (Found out later I could have taken it sublingually which I do now).  It will be 5 years for you before you know it, much happier and, yeah happier.

[Serenation]

In Australia you get birth control for HRT, which led to me getting the talk from the Chemist about my chances of getting pregnant if I miss a pill and how to go about getting the morning after pill. I didn't have the heart to tell him I wont be getting pregnant. It was almost an out of body experience.

[Joan]

Injection for me, so I was a bit out of the loop about the exact timing

Before that first injection I got a lot of are you really sure you want to do this? stuff. I'd woken up that morning thinking do you really want to do this? and despite a certain amount of fear about taking the first step down the physical transition road, the answer was a very definite yes so no hesitation.

I have a picture we took 30 minutes after that injection and it's all over my face just how happy I was about doing it.

[apriljo]

I took it as soon as I got them. I was anxious to get the prescription, anxious to get the pills and I was not going to give any time waiting to take them.

[Allyda]

I got mine the day after Christmas 2013. I had waited sooooo long for this down the hatch they went -all three of them on December 26th, 2013. My ticker below is actually 2 days behind. Then on day three I was awash with calm and amazement, my final journey had finally began.................

Ally

[Emmaline]

Huge day!

First ever cronut!

Oh... and started HRT a few seconds before!



I feel fantastic.

[Jenny07]

Good for you Emmaline.
Feels good, no?

Did Dr H warn you about the side effects from the full moon?

J

[Ms Grace]

I feel fantastic.

Wooooo! Hope you don't have to wait too long for some action in the boob department!

[Emmaline]

Psychosomatic or not, I have to say I have not experienced things like today.  Vivid colors, depth of spacial awareness and a sort of evenness- expanding evenness.
If this is depression lifting a bit, thats great.  If its hormones firing off receptors... great.

Frankly, if life is more like this I think things are going to be okay.  Boobies or not. 

Sigh.

[Ms Grace]

No that's the stuff that goes in the Sydney water...

[Allyda]

Frankly, if life is more like this I think things are going to be okay.  Boobies or not. 

Ah Yes you'll soon notice a calmness in your mind probably around the third day -oh and booby development sure helps you know your on your way. Expect soreness, a lot of it, lol!!

Best wishes

Ally

[Emmaline]

Thanks all

[Jenny07]

Will I have to come over and tie you up and give you a tranquilizer?

Might help and I might enjoy it.

Give it a couple of days before your chest start to come alive!
Other changes take time but are so amazing.

Don't mention the mind.

[Violet Bloom]

  It was almost a year and a half I had to wait since coming out to myself before I could finish jumping through the hoops and escape the waiting lists.  I had been extremely anxious through that time because I felt physically and mentally terrible but was taking an enormous leap of faith that HRT was going to help me feel better - Hope was the only thing carrying me along.  I also had to come out to many people and commit fully to the process without being certain I'd feel better.

  When the day finally arrived that I got my first prescription (started Spiro only first) it was such a relief to know I'd made it through that 'marathon' that I was actually feeling almost completely calm and at peace with myself for the first time in many, many years.  The pill itself was almost a non-event - I headed straight for the pharmacy and then took the pill immediately in a nearby coffee shop.  Within 48 hours I was feeling extraordinarily serene about 2.5 hours after taking my daily dose.  Very quickly things smoothed out so I just felt continuously better.  It would be two more months and an increase in Spiro in between before I got clearance for Estrace.  That felt more like a right of passage, but by then it didn't have so much of a mental effect - it mainly marked the beginning of long-awaited physical changes.

  Sometimes I wonder if it is more meaningful in most respects to state my HRT start date as the beginning of E rather than the two months earlier with Spiro.  It seems most people on Susan's are referencing this because it is more common to start E first or both together.  In this way my physical progress might better align for comparison with the timelines reported by others.  I'm also still going through a slow but steady dosage ramp-up that may take another four to six months to complete.  Perhaps a more important statistic to go by would be that by 7-months Spiro and 5-months Estrace, and not yet having reached what my doctor would consider the target dosages, I could at least report that my hormone levels had entered comfortably into the normal female ranges.

  Looking back I have absolutely no regrets about going on HRT and I've felt generally better and more comfortable than I ever have my whole life.  What it represented for me was moving forward with my life after decades of wasted time stalling and falling apart.  I know that for a lot of trans-people it feels like a huge right of passage or validation of your gender.  I don't dispute the validity of those thoughts but it wasn't quite like that for me - it was pure relief and freedom from hopelessness - my one golden opportunity to live my life as freely and genuinely as I'd never dreamed I could.  And by that I mean as "Me" with no reference to gender.

[E-Brennan]

Huge day!

First ever cronut!

That's the real news here.   

If there's one thing in this world that can beat the feeling of putting that first pill in your mouth, it would be the first cronut.  Now you'll never eat a doughnut ever again without thinking, "This is disgusting compared to a cronut."

Cronuts spoiled doughnuts for me.  Which is no bad thing.  Less doughnut consumption.

Congrats on the first dose of HRT by the way.

[EllieM]

Congrats, Emmaline, and welcome to girlitude!
My first: Exited pharmacy, walked out to the car with the bag of new me. Popped a prometrium out of the blister pack and took it with some water. Stuck an estrace under my tongue. Sprayed some suprefact up my nose and just sat there for a while, smiling serenely. I returned to work, trying hard not to burst out laughing.