So... detransition... how does it go?

[jeninindiana]

taking hormones is just one way to produce a feminine appearance it can also be achieved through surgery or makeup and feminine mannerisms are more important than facial appearance when it comes to passing as a woman really so you can go off hormones and still live as a woman . so you can get off hormones completely and still live as a woman , unless there are other reasons you are wanting to detransition other than just hormones and your health and you just would rather live as a man again . but if you do enjoy living as a woman you can still do that . if you announce to everyone that you are a transgender woman (and if you are non op which I assume that you are you really have to announce the fact) then the truth is that everyone is going to treat you as a transwoman instead of just a woman and your experience will be one of being different/marginalized in society so living as a man may just be easier than living as a transgender woman. 

[kelly_aus]

taking hormones is just one way to produce a feminine appearance it can also be achieved through surgery or makeup and feminine mannerisms are more important than facial appearance when it comes to passing as a woman really so you can go off hormones and still live as a woman . so you can get off hormones completely and still live as a woman , unless there are other reasons you are wanting to detransition other than just hormones and your health and you just would rather live as a man again . but if you do enjoy living as a woman you can still do that . if you announce to everyone that you are a transgender woman (and if you are non op which I assume that you are you really have to announce the fact) then the truth is that everyone is going to treat you as a transwoman instead of just a woman and your experience will be one of being different/marginalized in society so living as a man may just be easier than living as a transgender woman.

I live as a woman, I'm a non-op trans woman. I get treated as a woman by my friends.

[jeninindiana]

mostly friends if they are real friends will support you in everything you do and treat you as any other woman . i was referring more to the male population and dating . dating as a transwoman is more complicated than just dating as a woman and dating as a non op transwoman is infinately more complicated because there is even a bigger difference between you and a woman . but of course it depends on people in your community and how open minded and accepting people in your community are to transgendered people but its likely i think that people outside your circle of friends might treat you differently and if you are non op you really have to be honest about being trans but how society reacts to you just depends on the people within it and their views on it . the reality of living as a transgender woman could be more complicated and more difficult than some people expect and that could be why people want to detransition .

[HughE]

Transitioning hasn't made me happier, and HRT is ruining my health.... I just don't like gender so I want to eliminate it from my life as much as possible.

I'm surprised that HRT is ruining your health. It's possible that whoever is prescribing your hormones doesn't know what they're doing, and has put you on an inappropriate or harmful hormone combination. I've heard that there are still doctors handing out obsolete and potentially dangerous hormones such as premarin, Provera, or ethinylestradiol, which have been shown to be harmful and should never be part of transgender HRT. Also, some doctors keep their trans patients on antiandrogens for years, and both spiro and androcur have known health problems associated with long term use. As long as your estradiol is maintained at female-typical levels, it shouldn't usually be necessary to continue antiandrogens for more than a few months. Another commonly prescribed drug with known problems associated with it is finasteride. It's been linked to depression and "post finasteride syndrome". The same probably applies to dutasteride too, since they work in basically the same way.

So the reason you're having such a bad experience could just be that you've found yourself lumbered with a bad doctor who has put you on a lousy HRT regimen. Going on some of the things I've seen people saying on the various trans forums I subscribe to, there are plenty of clueless doctors about who are handing out sometimes quite dangerous hormone combinations.

I wouldn't recommend going on antiandrogen alone (as I think someone suggested). It's probably make you feel unwell, but more importantly can be quite damaging to your long term health. Your body needs either testosterone or estradiol to be present at male/female typical levels in order to prevent osteoporosis, and for the proper maintenance of your body.

This is all based on things I've seen other people saying, since I'm not on female HRT myself.

[Shantel]

Panda,
      Detransitioning is no big thing as long as you haven't had an Orchie or SRS. I did it for two years about seven years into my transition (don't ask me why, it's a mystery to me too) and being on HRT, but having previously had an orchiectomy left me hormone less and after two years I became sick and went back on HRT. If you haven't had any lower end surgery you'll be ok and within 30 days your brain will come back to center from the female side. I have a 23 year old former FtM friend that has done the same after being on T for two years and she's doing fine back in her birth gender role and enjoying life.