Trisha's TMI Tuesday questions, AKA Sex drive on HRT

[Jaelithe]

So I have had an ongoing concern for the past several months.  After starting HRT, everything seemed to be progressing in much the way I was told to expect.  Subtle physical changes, lowered sex drive, etc.  After about 8 months, though, that latter seemed to come back with a vengence.  I'm not certain if this is just part of the '2nd puberty' phase, or something else.  For several months now, I spend large portions of every day with my body demanding attention. 

I brought this up with my doctor at my last visit, she seemed concerned that my T levels were lower than she would like, and offered to change my dosage to try to increase my libido.  I may have kind of paniced at that suggestion, but she didn't seem concerned.  Honestly, it's just rather distracting and irritating for most of my life right now.

Has anyone experienced similar effects?  Thoughts on how to cope with it?

[suzifrommd]

I had a decrease in the number of erections, but my libido never vanished. I'm a pretty sexual person, and diminishing T simply was not going to kill that.

How did I cope? I actually like my libido and loved the female orgasms I had when I answered the call. Though perhaps I'm atypical, since my body dysphoria was never as much as having a male organ than at not having a female organ, if that makes any sense. I could imagine I was female shaped, and that proved something of a turn on.

[Ms Grace]

...lowered sex drive, etc.  After about 8 months, though, that latter seemed to come back with a vengence.  I'm not certain if this is just part of the '2nd puberty' phase, or something else.  For several months now, I spend large portions of every day with my body demanding attention. 

I can't speak for myself since my libido vanished when I started anti depressants (hooray) which was before I started HRT but from what I've seen on this forum over the past year what you describe is quite common for a lot of ladies.

[Lara1969]

The sex drive depends very mich on the dosage I take. A higher dosage of Estradiol means I have more sex drive. Without Progesterone it is nearly non existend.

But I also never had such a strong body dysphoria. I always dreamed to be a woman which has sex men when playing with myself. It is still my fantasy but I am post op.

[Dee Marshall]

I think it's the amount of sex-linked hormone you have, not which one. I went through a short period of reduced, not absent, sexuality, then it bounced back. To be blunt, I needed four to six orgasms per day pre-E, now that number is down, but only because each one takes longer and is so much better! Like other's have said, I'm one of the ones who doesn't hate their male bits, just wishes I was otherwise equipped.

[Jaelithe]

That's a relief to hear. It's still frustrating in the extreme, given that I live with a partner who, for various reasons, has no interest in sexual contact of any kind for several months at a time. I'm sure things are equally obnoxious for her though.

[mfox]

I can't speak for myself since my libido vanished when I started anti depressants (hooray) which was before I started HRT but from what I've seen on this forum over the past year what you describe is quite common for a lot of ladies.

I had to be on anti-depressants too before HRT (trazodone + venlafaxine).   My libido was still active on them though, even though they're really powerful drugs.  I thought my libido was pretty invincible.  When my doctors and I realized it was the dysphoria causing my anxiety and low moods, I was able to come off of them after I started HRT.

Sadly HRT completely killed my libido, and almost overnight.  It's been gone for 4 months now and I really have to force myself to do anything.  So to me, you are really lucky if you can maintain somekind of libido on HRT especially while you are pre-op.

[Nicole]

I had a decrease in the number of erections, but my libido never vanished. I'm a pretty sexual person, and diminishing T simply was not going to kill that.

How did I cope? I actually like my libido and loved the female orgasms I had when I answered the call. Though perhaps I'm atypical, since my body dysphoria was never as much as having a male organ than at not having a female organ, if that makes any sense. I could imagine I was female shaped, and that proved something of a turn on.

Pretty much the same.
I got hard when I wanted to, but I was "horny" for a lack of a better word just as often.

[Jaelithe]

For myself, erections have been a thing of the past for well over a year now.  It's definitely a very different physical feeling, more like large parts of my body experience this warm, pulsing tingle.  For want of better descriptors it's like a physical sensation of 'The Need to be Touched", if that makes sense.  It's a wonderful feeling, there's no doubt about that.  I just kind of wish I could moderate it, not have it flare up multiple times a day when I'm generally in situations that don't allow for relief.  Apparently I make odd faces when it hits particularly strongly and I'm not expecting it...

[Ruth Ruthless]

For me, sex drive vanished when starting on Androcur.

It came back at a period when my Androcur dosage was very low and switched from Estrofem to Oestrogel, i.e. the pills had a T lowering effect in addition to the Androcur which the gel didn't have.

My T levels were always below test range until that change, then for 3 months they were up in male range and that's when my libido came back. We raised the Androcur and gel dosage and the T is back below test range and my libido vanished again.

Despite my libido vanishing, I do here and there wake up with a morning erection but it's pretty rare and it feels just like an erection without sexual arousal.

And if I concentrate and decide conciously to get aroused and masturbate I can do it and orgasm, but I barely ever do that since I'm never aroused spontaneously. Sometimes I do it conciously to enjoy the orgasm. It doesn't feel like a whole body orgasm and doesn't feel especially good. I had much better ones pre-HRT. Maybe that could change if I do SRS and experience penetration but my endo said that if I don't feel anything now due to lack of T that I shouldn't expect to feel something post-op still low on T.

I have a girlfriend and "intellectually" I know she is "hot" and just seeing her could previously make me aroused. Now there is no way that can happen and trying to get aroused in sex is more complicated and not worth the bother for me so these days I use my hands in sex and do it for love without feeling any arousal myself.

Before HRT I had what was for me a very high libido and would masturbate at least once, often twice a day. So the change was quite dramatic for me and quite tied to T levels.