Embarassing Question

[Stochastic]

I know I among friends here, so I am forwarding on a personal issue. I have been on low dose HRT for a few months and lovin it. Breast development has been going surprisingly well. Problem is that my coming out is based on my wife's schedule which is not any time soon.  I am not as concerned about my moobs as I am about nipple hardness . Since I am not out, I can deal with band-aids or other fixes in the short term.

Does this go away over time (or become less frequent)? The response I would like to hear is that the hardness is less frequent once the soreness from development goes away, but I guess I will accept honest answers as well . - Julia

[Jessica Merriman]

Welcome to womanhood! Wait until you are in a cold room. I would like to tell you it will go away, but.......................

[Ltl89]

Just my experience, but wearing a bra sort of became a neccessity for me. Without one, I feel like I'm on display and it makes me feel very uncomfortable.  It's part of the process, so sadly there is only so long that you can hide them without people noticing development in the area, for those of us still not out to everybody. 

[Rachel]

I am on full dose hrt for 6 months and was 2/3 dose for 6 months. I added progesterone last month. Right now I am at a point where I get some looks and stairs.  This will be the last summer I can hide. Low dose and age as well as genetics will dictate breast size.

My nipples get very hard when cold. I am always in low dull pain with periods of pain. I have to admit looking down at the girls feels good.

Tomorrow I will be in a wetsuit and it is tough to hide, well, impossible to hide.

[Allyda]

Nope, as long as your on hrt the soreness and those two golf balls behind your nipples aren't going away I'm afraid. Mine are having their monthly growth spurt so they're sore as hell. I can't even brush my arm across them without wincing, lol! Loving every minute of it though.

You say your on low dose hrt. Are your boobs big enough to fill an A cup yet?

Ally

[Jenna Marie]

The *near-constant* nipple hardness definitely did go away after a few months, but even cis women get nipple hardness at temperature change, so that's permanent.

(The breast buds - those "hard golf balls" - will also soften and fade as breasts mature.)

[Allyda]

The *near-constant* nipple hardness definitely did go away after a few months, but even cis women get nipple hardness at temperature change, so that's permanent.

(The breast buds - those "hard golf balls" - will also soften and fade as breasts mature.)

Yea I realized too late I should have added: "until they mature" or "anytime soon," or something to that affect to my post. It takes a good while for that to happen though.

Ally

[Evelyn K]

I actually never thought about using band aids for makeshift nipple flattening. This is awesome.

I might be able to get a few workouts at the gym after all (without a binder). Thanks for that comment.

[luna nyan]

You might be on too high a dose for what you're trying to achieve.  If you're on both E and spiro, talk to your endo about reducing the spiro to slow th development rate down (if the wife is having trouble).  Some nipple development is inevitable but shouldn't be too prominent for a while yet - most the time we are more conscious of it than others.

Otherwise, the pragmatic solution is to wear dark colours, and loose clothing - dark colours reduce visible contrast in the area and reduce the apparent prominence of the nipple area.  If you need to flatten, think about a sports compression singlet if a sports bra is out of the question.

Edit: oh, the golf ball of soreness goes after a while if you keep the dose low as development will stall.  Mine settled after about a year and a bit, and got sore again when I switched to pellet.

[ZoeM]

The *near-constant* nipple hardness definitely did go away after a few months, but even cis women get nipple hardness at temperature change, so that's permanent.

(The breast buds - those "hard golf balls" - will also soften and fade as breasts mature.)

Heck, even cis men get cold-related hard nipples.
(Source: growing up pre-hormones)

Mine are unfortunately kinda wimpy so I don't really have to hide them much, but yeah...

[Hideyoshi]

I know I among friends here, so I am forwarding on a personal issue. I have been on low dose HRT for a few months and lovin it. Breast development has been going surprisingly well. Problem is that my coming out is based on my wife's schedule which is not any time soon.  I am not as concerned about my moobs as I am about nipple hardness . Since I am not out, I can deal with band-aids or other fixes in the short term.

Does this go away over time (or become less frequent)? The response I would like to hear is that the hardness is less frequent once the soreness from development goes away, but I guess I will accept honest answers as well . - Julia

I'd head to a clothes store and invest in some sports bras if I were you

My nipples have been puffy since about the 3rd month in. Haven't stopped being puffy or stopped growing since. They've never been 'hard,' but my definiton of hard might be different?

[LittleEmily24]

Just my experience, but wearing a bra sort of became a neccessity for me. Without one, I feel like I'm on display and it makes me feel very uncomfortable.

Exactly this ~ even though i started wearing bras way before i had breast development, back then I would just opt out of wearing them. these days and even before i developed an actual cup size, i just felt totally uncomfortable because my nipples would just stick out like crazy, and now that I actually have boobs, its become a daily necessity, i'll even wear a bra under my pjs if i plan on going to the store or walking my dogs, its become almost as necessary as underwear. The only time i dont wear a bra now is when i actually go to sleep, or when im in a swimsuit.

I know I among friends here, so I am forwarding on a personal issue. I have been on low dose HRT for a few months and lovin it. Breast development has been going surprisingly well. Problem is that my coming out is based on my wife's schedule which is not any time soon.  I am not as concerned about my moobs as I am about nipple hardness . Since I am not out, I can deal with band-aids or other fixes in the short term.

Does this go away over time (or become less frequent)? The response I would like to hear is that the hardness is less frequent once the soreness from development goes away, but I guess I will accept honest answers as well . - Julia

So far for me, the hardness hasn't stopped and i've developed a new response: itching. my boobs are always itching now (not to the "OMG THEYRE ON FIRE" extent that i see a lot of people talking about.. at least.. not yet :S) My wife will still touch my boobs and say "wow omg they are rock hard!" I'm going to attribute that to the breast buds being small solid buds of breast tissue, that later expand and soften... but honestly, by the time they stop being hard ~ you will have noticeable boobs... and not man shaped ones either lol they wont look like moobs after a while and will start to resemble actual female breasts

[Allyda]

I'm on a full transition dose of my hrt meds because I've been full time for now a little over 5 years and am in full transition. So I don't expect those golf balls or the soreness to go away for me anytime soon. I want my booby's yesterday, lol!, but I know it takes time. I'm filling an A cup nicely now, and though painful (especially when I bump into something or brush my arm across them without thinking, lol!!), as I said I'm loving every minute of it!.

For those of you who are on low dose and/or in stealth due to personal reasons your situation regarding the soreness and the golf ball syndrome (lol!, I just made that up -golf ball syndrome, he, he, he.) may fade with time.

Best wishes!

Ally

[Stochastic]

I knew I can count on you ladies for help. Much better alternative than asking my wife questions about my female issues . Good to know it will lessen somewhat in the future. My wife says it does not look that noticable if I do not wear my tight t-shirts (which have since found the back of the closet).

One thing I can't do right now is bras. My coming out is on my terms, and I almost had one slip up before. I also do not want to change my meds. My wife has seen the dark side of my dysphoria and supports me on this. Will have to give compression singlet a look.

[Jessica Merriman]

My coming out is on my terms

That is if your "terms" let you! 

[luna nyan]

It depends on how you arrived at your current med dosages.  If you've ramped up from very low to current dose, checking dysphoria levels as you go, then there may not be much wriggle room.  I started on E, then added spiro, then tried halving my spiro, then went back to my current dose.

Funnily enough, I'd be happy to be on E and have no development - I just want my dysphoria to be gone.

[Stochastic]

That is if your "terms" let you! 

It depends on how you arrived at your current med dosages.  If you've ramped up from very low to current dose, checking dysphoria levels as you go, then there may not be much wriggle room.  I started on E, then added spiro, then tried halving my spiro, then went back to my current dose.

Funnily enough, I'd be happy to be on E and have no development - I just want my dysphoria to be gone.

You have been such a great help over the last couple months when it comes to advice. Not much reduction in meds can happen. Spiro is a very low dose and E is a low dose. I could go off spiro or reduce to a smaller amount E. Not worth it for me to risk it. I had a very bad case of dysphoria and waited too long for meds because I needed my wife to be comfortable with that next step.

I have been taking measurements routinely, and things have not changed much after the fast, initial growth in the first two months. Even the golf ball syndrone has lessened as of late. That is why I am not as worried about my breast development as much as the other related issues. If things change, I may consider adjustments after my next check up. However, I like the changes so far, and it would be difficult for me to dial back if development continues. - Julia

[Suziack]

Tamoxifen is an estrogen antagonist in the breast tissue - it will hinder breast development. Physicians put women who are either at high risk of developing breast cancer or who've had breast cancer, because estrogen affects on breast tissue is known to increase the chance of developing breast cancer.

Men who are taking prostate medication, which inhibits testosterone and increases estrogen, are more prone to developing man-boobs (gynacomastia), so they may be prescribed tamoxifen to prevent that condition, or to halt development. Anyone who wanted to arrest development of breast tissue, at least temporarily, could consider tamoxifen, while considering any known side-effects.

[muffinpants]

Erm, not sure if it's the same for cis girls, but I can say that the soreness did go away for me. They get sensitive sometimes, but mostly they are just fine. I've almost forgotten the pain they used to cause when something would randomly hit em *cringe*. But nipple hardness is very prominent in my life. I'm really sensitive to temperature and am normally hot all of the time, yet still have this issue. Like, whenever they brush up against my shirt or anything. It's the worst in the winter. and I cannot imagine going braless. I tried and it was very painful and uncomfortable. I ended up walking around with my arms crossed trying to keep my nipples from touching anything! My gf was not wearing a bra the first couple weeks at work and she ended up with some seriously chaffed nipples. She quickly changed her mind on that choice . Sports bras can really be unnoticeable, as long as nobody touches your back/shoulder . Sounds like your bandaids are doing the trick though, goodluck <3

[Allyda]

Funnily enough, I'd be happy to be on E and have no development - I just want my dysphoria to be gone.

This clearly demonstrates the difference in levels of transness and/or dysphoria, while you'd be happy to just have your dysphoria go away or remain in check, my dysphoria will never go away until I'm fully female, a whole woman. In other words, after SRS and getting something done about my voice.

Best wishes!

Ally