some concerns about t, how did you guys deal

[thereishope]

i know i'm going to talk to doctors about this stuff but i just wanted to see if any guys here had these concerns/how they dealt/etc.

i'm a pretty vain guy, tbh. i've always prided myself on my good looks, even as a female. i'm not one that hates my body, it's just not the right body for me, pretty much, i still think objectively it looks really good (for a woman). and i really love my face already. and so i have some concerns with t and wanna know how i can prepare for some of this stuff.

1.) first off, the smaller ones. acne. i've had acne for a lot of my life and it's been a real bitch. i've FINALLY gotten rid of it this year and am happy with my face for the first time ever. anything i could do to lower my chance of t bringing it back hardcore?

2.) weight gain in the middle. my body shape right now, i'm healthy and very small. i have to work hard to stay fit but i do. but a lot of times when i eat, i get a bloated stomach and actually it feels pretty feminine to me, i feel more masculine when my stomach is flat and toned. how long does the weight gain typically last? if i continue eating healthy and working out, will i probably be fine and still be fit?

3.) hair loss. runs in my family. do any of you guys take cysteine? something else?

4.) and the more serious one. i have this genetic thing where my body doesn't process folate right. i've started taking pills for it. it increases my chance of heart disease. my doctor said not to take birth control pills because it wouldn't be good for. t also increases chance of heart disease, probably more than birth control pills do. i'm kinda scared about that combo. 

thanks guys

[RaptorChops]

a quick intro about myself before I begin:  I'm 29 years old, I've been on T now for *counts on fingers* 6-7 months. I'm kind of a loner (honestly I enjoy the time to myself lol), I work a full time job, and I'm not good at meeting women (too shy, been hurt too much). I wasn't the healthiest person, I ate a lot of crap.. sat around playing video games, and doing absolutely nothing. Being active for me was going to work (it's pretty physical work, not a desk job). I've gained a lot more weight on T. I started at 150lbs now i'm 170 (I'm not a big guy either, 5'6-5'7.. twigs for arms) I'm still in the process of really getting confident with my true identity. I mean I'm 100% happier than how I was and I'm definitely now trying to become the man I want and always dreamed of being.


Unfortunately we obviously can't decide what happens when we take T.

I had gotten some acne on my face but mainly just big nasty zits. All of the acne I had, was on my shoulders and my back, also a little on my neck.
I started using some proactive body wash.I completely cut soda,greasy fast food and anything with high fructose out of my diet. I have also been bringing my own food to work (salads with some kind of meat) and drinking water or coconut water. Anytime I crave anything sweet or salty I go straight for fruits or veggies. SO with these changes I have noticed that my acne is starting to clear up a whole.  You're going to break out no matter what, it's just like puberty all over again. I see you say you work out already and eat pretty healthy, so you should be ok.

The weight gain in my middle is also an issue for me. I have also started working out more (abs,boxing,push ups, weights). My stomach has been kind of bloated looking even before starting my T shots. My doctor recommended for me to start cutting down on red meats.. (I never really ate that much of them in the first place.. maybe twice a week?) But again you say you're pretty healthy and you stay active so you should be good. I'm not sure how long the weight gain lasts though (I was actually more excited about the weight gain since I've always been skinny), I know it takes about 5 years until you've pretty much hit your peak on T. So maybe around that time frame or so?

I don't have hair loss in my family. So I'm not gonna be very helpful on that subject. BUT for hair "gain".. I can say I've gained a lot more facial hair and it's a bit darker on my upper lip and my chin. Still have peach fuzz on my cheeks and stuff. I'm also starting to get darker hairs on my chest, stomach, and upper thighs. My best friend who is also transitioning (he's been on T about 2 months more than I) has really long dark hairs now on his nipples and chest. His arm pit hair is also pretty ridiculous. Mine is pretty light and sad looking lol. His facial hair though is not as dark as mine is though. He has told me hair loss does run in his family so he just ended up shaving his head and said "oh well."

There is always going to be risks no matter what. Also you're going to become infertile at some point from the T anyways. Don't be scared dude! This is about becoming the man you were born to be. This is about being happy and living the rest of your life the way you were meant to! Just continue to see your doctor on a normal basis and keep getting your heart thing checked out. Continue being active and healthy, you'll be fine!!

[Kreuzfidel]

1.) first off, the smaller ones. acne. i've had acne for a lot of my life and it's been a real bitch. i've FINALLY gotten rid of it this year and am happy with my face for the first time ever. anything i could do to lower my chance of t bringing it back hardcore?

RaptorChops gave some good advice for prophylactic things you can do to keep your skin healthy.  It's hit and miss with acne - some guys get it, some don't.

You're going to break out no matter what, it's just like puberty all over again.

Not true.  Not everyone breaks out. 

2.) weight gain in the middle. my body shape right now, i'm healthy and very small. i have to work hard to stay fit but i do. but a lot of times when i eat, i get a bloated stomach and actually it feels pretty feminine to me, i feel more masculine when my stomach is flat and toned. how long does the weight gain typically last? if i continue eating healthy and working out, will i probably be fine and still be fit?

There's no guarantee that what you're doing now to stay fit and keep your shape will work when you're on T.  It affects every single person differently.  Keep your body fat percentage down and you should be okay, but it's no promise.

3.) hair loss. runs in my family. do any of you guys take cysteine? something else?

This is genetic.  There are treatments out there for it, but everything comes at a cost - some treatments have undesirable side effects.  It depends on if you want to be bald or deal with side effects of hair loss treatment.  Or, you may have NO hair loss.  Yet to be determined.

4.) and the more serious one. i have this genetic thing where my body doesn't process folate right. i've started taking pills for it. it increases my chance of heart disease. my doctor said not to take birth control pills because it wouldn't be good for. t also increases chance of heart disease, probably more than birth control pills do. i'm kinda scared about that combo. 

I don't know anything about the intricacies of your health condition, so how T may or may not affect that is going to be up to your doctor to determine.  Yes, heart disease is a risk.  Your diet will play a role in this. 

[Felix]

I think that no matter how much research you do or what you want, you kind of have to be ready for whatever happens if you decide to go on testosterone. It's hard to wrangle whatall comes at you.

I've seen lots of guys go on T and not get acne. I think I started having acne before my first puberty and I definitely still have it now. The main change with T for me was that it migrated to my shoulders and chest. Nobody around me sees that so it was pretty incidental for me. I also had a bit of increase in acne when I started needing to shave more regularly, but it's tiny stuff that doesn't crust or scar.

I definitely got a belly when I started hormones. But I started at 29, and it coincided with an ankle surgery that effectively ended my hobbies of hiking and shooting hoops and rollerskating. So my getting tubby was at least partly due to a change in exercise habits from dynamic whole-body fun to more repetitive weight lifting and situps and stuff. I've been mostly-vegan since I was a teenager, so my shape isn't from eating cheeseburgers all day. Hormones seem to hit everybody differently.

The main thing I was warned about by my clinic was hair loss. I feel like if hair loss is scarier than it would be for a normal man then maybe you should be careful about what you really want with transition. I would love to be a pretty boy with washboard abs and gorgeous hair and smooth skin, but I am not aiming to get anything better out of malehood than I would have gotten if I were cisgender. Knowing my family, I can reasonably expect to be a small nerdy guy with bad skin and oily hair, and if I get that much I'll be satisfied. I can work out and get strong, which is cool. I don't find hair-loss treatments appealing personally. You have to balance for yourself how to approach male-pattern baldness if it happens.

Men die younger than women. If you transition hormonally you will approach a male set of medical risks and statistics. Your doctor should monitor that for you, and if she doesn't you should remind her to do so. As was said, diet matters, and also smoking matters and stress matters. Using testosterone can be a nice reminder to try to be as healthy as is doable.