HRT and the mind.....

[LeaP]

Estradiol is known to increase certain kinds of synaptic activity.  It also affects the type of signaling in the brain. Nonetheless, basic abilities, even if affected by taking hormones, are the results of far more things than hormones alone.  I am aware of some spatial perception changes that became noticeable in the first few months of taking hormones, though they have since become my "new normal" and I have to concentrate quite hard to still perceive them.  This has not my altered my ability to mentally manipulate things like 3D objects, as you get in tests.

There have been shifts in thinking and reactions. Part of that is clearly emotional change.  The biggest change by far was in resolving many of the psychological co-morbid issues I had and focusing my central issue, which is discomfort with my body.

I always was a math disaster and still am. No change whatsoever!

[alexbb]

The whole experience for me has been like living a poem of William Blake.

What is now proved was once only imagined.

i was worried i might not be able to work (i love work) but Im pretty sure women make just as good astronauts and architects as men and outperform guys in school rather a lot.
im sure if you got a straight nonTG guy and hooked him up to HRT it would do odd things to his brain and mind, but i think since we are here some part of our brains is already in some structural sense female so..
i think itll be ok.

[judithlynn]

I believe I may have been the person who posted about my reversing skills;
I have been on low dose HRT (Oestrogen only) for a little over 2 years and HRT has defiantly changed my Mind and thinking too:

Some things that I have noticed are:
1. Driving skills have deterioated. I learnt to drive in London - Driving around Hyde Park Corner one learns aggressive driving skills. I also lived in Athens for a year a number of years ago and drove a car - again aggressive skills needed. Now after 2 years on HRT I am rather timid by comparison. The number of times I have left the hand brake on has increased dramatically - luckily I just changed cars and my new one sounds an alarm to remind me, but I am still doing it. Also I was pretty good at reversing into Parking spaces, but my skill seems to have evaporated.
2. I am constantly wanting to check my makeup in my mirror in the visor. A couple of times Male drivers have hooted at me, because I was doing my mascara or lipstick! (I would never have dreamed before of looking at my face whilst in the car!
3. I have become a lot more more social, especially with other women.
4. I have become  very emotional  as I seem to break out in tears all the time. I was listening to a favourite piece of music in the film Le Concert and I had tears streaming down my face (and ruining my eyeshadow!)
5. I used to be a dominant male in conversation with men, always interrupting and wanting to get my point in. Now this seems completely alien to me. In fact I fell rather shy at  saying much (especially when its with a bunch of men) and I feel that I need to be submissive in these conversations, only speaking when being asked to contribute. Recently I was with a male friend in London when he met up with a group of his other men friends. He introduced me as female friend of his. I was dressed really nice in a pair of new heels and a pretty dress and we met these guys in a local pub. They were talking about the stock market and football and I just had my hand on his shoulder and just kept looking up at him (fluttering my eyelashes) and felt very happy to be just demure and pretty submissive. At one stage one of the guys asked me about  whether I invested in shares. I said No (and said I leave all that stuff to Peter! and then I smiled sweetly up at Peter. He is 4" taller than me even in heels) - the chap I was with. Thats completely opposite of what I would have done before HRT.
4. I have definitely become a lot more softer in outlook and much more tolerant of other peoples feelings.
5. I believe I have become more empathetic especially with other women. The women in my life that know I am on HRT have defiantly noticed this calmness in me.
6. My interests have changed. I love shopping especially for clothes, shoes, handbags etc. I love going to the Beautician ,. All of this stuff before was completely  the opposite, since I was never an outwardly feminine boy (except when I was in my early teens! and my clothes sense was virtually non existent.
7. I also really love Girly flicks. I just watched  the Devil wears Prada at the weekend. I just devoured the film and kept looking at all the different outfits. This was never before one of my favourite films as I was previously into War Movies - which rather bore me now. Mind you the girly flicks normally have me in tears at some point
8. My reading habits have changed as I really now love a good love story in a book. Before it was Police and Spy novels.
9. I really now value being with a group of women (cis females) and feel very relaxed in their company. When I transitioned before, I had a relationship over many months with a group of women all in professional jobs where we met every fortnight for a meal and drinks and social get together (women only). The first time (my girlfriend had introduced me to the group explaining that I was undergoing a sex change and living full time), they were at just curious and asked me a lot of questions, but by the second time we met I was just accepted in the "sisterhood" and it was no holds barred in the conversation (men, Sex, fashion, make-up, more men etc). I felt very liberated
10. Mentally after being on HRT again for over 2 years I feel  very natural wearing a skirt or dress or tight skinny jeans, but if I have to dress as a male for some work meeting, I feel very uncomfortable!. In facts its funny when I go out without mascara or lipstick I feel sort of a bit naked!. Its a strange emotional thing!
Judith

[FrancisAnn]

Estrogen just makes me feel normal. My body has needed it for so long since puberty really. I never liked or wanted any other wrong hormones.

[Zoetrope]

Things have turned a corner for me. Not a bad one, but it has been unexpected.

It is a question of identity.

15-18 months ago, when I was getting approved, there was no doubt I was identifying as female. I had been for a couple of years.

I have in fact watched my gender identity become more fluid, and less decided since being on HRT. To be honest, I haven't identified as female for a while. But nor male. I basically feel in-between.

So, I got my head around that. Rolled with it really. I never feel like it wasn't appropriate for me to have transitioned, as I feel so much better in general. It has been the permission I needed to get to know myself.

Now, at 12 months, I realise that something else is going on. Not only is my gender identity fluid (which I am well aware of by now) ... but my identity in general is in flux.

I can be ... very different, in different situations. I alluded to this in another thread. I am one person with several identities. Not only that, but those identities ... have slightly different gender identities.

Now I don't think HRT is doing this, of course. But it has ... given me opportunities to see it.

I am fine. I am still adjusting to ... accepting what is going on. But I will make it work.

[chloeD33]

I'm just on testosterone blockers but can already tell you I am much more calmer, happier and able to focus on task's at hand better then before.

[amber roskamp]

My apologies if something of the sort has been posted in the past, which I'm sure it undoubtedly has.  My question is whether or not there are any changes to certain aspects of intelligence, particularly mathematics and spatial visual acuity, that comes associated with hrt.  I've read someone's anecdote in which this particular person stated that she was no longer able to park as well as she once did.  I can't quite tell whether this is just kinduva psychosomatic thingy or if it's a legitimate side effect of prolonged estrogen use.  Halp!

Their is nothing reason why estrogen would cause you to get worse at math. I don't know where u are getting this idea actually. Maybe from the "science" done way back where they used to say that men's brains are naturally better at math and that they have a better spatial skills or whatever. This has been discredited as real science, and most of the differences between men and women brainwise are from upbringing and being told what actions men are supposed to do and which ones women are supposed to do. So when a women conforms to societies gender norms she is told to focus more on language and reading and less on math. Vise versa for men. Spatial skills are usually honed through activities like video games, sports, or driving vehicles. Since most of these things are considered masculine activities, women who conform to what society says is feminine are at a disadvantage in these areas.

I have heard estrogen aids in memory though. I haven't noticed any difference.