The Start of it all

[stephanie]

Today will be a date long remembered.  I had my first session with my doctor, and I walked out of the office with two months worth of estrogen tablets and a prescription for spiro.  I'm told to go ahead and start the estrogen, but to wait until my bloodwork is tested to get the prescription, just in case there's an unforeseen issue, although she had no doubts that everything would be fine.  I've also been asked to see a dermatologist because during the checkup, she noticed a few moles that looked kinda worrisome.  The last thing I need is to start HRT and find out I have skin cancer.

I was nervous going in, but she made me feel very comfortable.  She's funny and warm and really made me feel much better about the visit.

Many other people in my support group know this doctor, and I was planning on seeing her anyway, so it was great when my therapist recommended her before I could even mention it.  Sounds like she's well-known and very reliable in the TG community.

Now I just have to remember to take the pills!   

[Dennis]

Congratulations Stephanie on your extra birthday!

Dennis

[stephanie_craxford]

That is such good news stephanie.  It's good that you are going to wait to you get the test results back as well.  It's always better to be safe that sorry.  I hope everything goes well for you.

Steph

[Kimberly]

Given that I am somewhat scatterbrained at times (nothing new) I keep when I take my medications in a little notebook, that way any doubt is alleviated

Congratulations Stephanie, I hope everything goes as you would like

[Terri-Gene]

 

I imagine I will be so excited that I won't forget.

Oh, don't worry, you'll forget.  A thing that means everything to you and yes, you'll remember on the way to work that you didn't take your dose or it will go through your head, did I or didn't I.  I always keep a small bottle with a small supply in it for just in case, as I have often walked out the door without dosing.

Terri

[stephanie]

Thanks everyone!

My doctor advised me to keep a log of when I take the pills and if I experience any side effects, so I'm going to use that as a daily record to keep track of my dosages.  It is also nice because it has a space at the bottom of every page that I'm using to remember appointments, which I have a lot of in the next few days.

This is exciting but at the same time I'm nervous at the idea of starting them now, since I always dreamed of starting them "soon."  I never realized that "soon" would eventually become "today" at some point.  And my parents, who are supportive, still keep asking me questions about whether this is what I really want to do and all that, and I told them that I would just be getting my blood tested today; I wouldn't be walking out the door with drugs in hand.  Surprise!

[AmyNYC]

I also keep a small supply with me at all times, especially because, not having a day-job, I can never count on being any certain place at any certain time.

Most cell phones have alarms on them, which you can set to go off daily.  I have mine set to go off on both doses, every day.  Most of the time I know it's time to take my medicine, and am expecting the alarm.  But every once in a while it goes off and I think, "Oh yea!  Medicine, duh."  And every once in a while, about every three weeks or so at work, I go to my phone for something and see that the alarm has been going off for an hour.  Whoops.  Then I take it.

Amy

[stephanie]

My god, these things work quickly.  At first I was convinced that I was just imagining it, but today, after only three days of taking an estrogen supplement (no T-blocker yet) my breasts do in fact look different.   Sure, I've had "man boobs" for the last several years since I started gaining weight, but this is something else.  They're a tad more rounded, the areola is a different shape, and when I took my walk tonight, they got extremely sensitive, to the point where if I touched them even just a little, they began stinging slightly.  It wasn't even that cold.  They're fine now, having been home and warm for the past hour.

Is this normal, or should I call my GP?

[stephanie_craxford]

I'm told to go ahead and start the estrogen, but to wait until my bloodwork is tested to get the prescription

...after only three days of taking an estrogen supplement (no T-blocker yet) my breasts do in fact look different.

I'm a little confused with your two posts stephanie.  In your first post you were told to wait for blood test results before picking up your sript for estrogen, now you are taking an estrogen supplement.  Why would you take a supplement if you have been prescribed with estrogen?

Am I reading this wrong?

Steph

[Dennis]

She was given the estrogen and told to wait on the Spiro until the blood tests came back.

Dennis

[Terri-Gene]

heheheheh.  Slow down a little stephanie.  it is normal to be expecting change at any new sunrise, but it doesn't happen from zero to 3 days.  It may be months before true physical effects take place, hang in there be patient and it will just kind of sneak up on you in it's own good time.

It is quite normal to start having strange feelings both mental and physical after beginning hormones.  Any sensation which isn't a normal part of your normal feelings makes you think something is happening.  It isn't unusual to think things are happening when actually nothing will for some time.

I can remember the area around my nipples beginning to feel greasy a bit when I woke up in the morning about two weeks or so after beginning estrogen.  I was quite certain that it was the estrogen starting to have some effect.  It was a couple of months at least though before I could truely see a slight bulging of my breast area and could really feel the small lumps under the nipple area.  I forget what those lumps are called, but they become obvious to you as the breasts begin to start growth.  I mentioned it to a more knowledable friend and she told me about keeping my feet on the ground and not getting to anxious as it would happen when it happend and I would just have to wait, but a couple of weeks was a little soon so I held on and eventually it did start and seemed to move so slowly I thought I was never going to really grow enough size to notice.  It took a year before I was getting a little to much for an A cup.

You will have to begin the spiro before the estrogen can take full effect also.  Your spiro dosage may have to be experimented with depending on your T levels at the time you start medication.  It most generally will take about a month to get a significant drop and a couple or more months for it to reach maximum effect.  

T levels tend to negate the estrogen level effects so it has to be eliminated or drastically reduced before the estrogen can actually do it's job.  on your next blood test or ask your doctor about the Testosterone level of your last blood test.  by the tests they use the average male will be around 350 or more in normal mode.  for maximum estrogen effect most doctors would want that level to come down to around 50 or less.  For many it will in time come down to less then 20 which means not significantly measurable.  

On my own personal scale I was rated at over 800 on T in the beginning, (why was I such a mean little devil) twice the level of a normal male, I had born with hormonial prolems and I guess the high figure was a physical attempt at compensation as I didn't properly use the T in my body.   I achieved a level of 30 + after the first month and by the third month was reading less then 20 on what I took from talking to other supervised T's to be a normal Spiro dosage.  I have to blood test every month at least to monitor liver problems and so got to watch things very closely in blood detail.  

It'll take time and I know you want it to come on like a hurricane but now is the time you simply have to go into wait and see mode and hope for the best you can get.

It'll likely be a few more weeks or so at least before you get real effects, but I hope the best for you, just hang in there.  Talk to some of the others who are on HRT for a while and get thier reactions on how long it took for them to actually get visable growth.  Everyone is different but there are some consistancies in development time.

If you want maximum effect or possibly any effect get that spiro started as without it you are basically wasting your estrogen.  You are given both drugs for a reason.  To make it work.

Terri

[Sheila]

Stephanie, I know the first week I started estrogen I could swear that I was growing breast. I felt they were touchy and the whole nine yards. At about a month out I finally figured it out. I wasn't growing anything yet, but was really in a state of euphoria and my mind was telling me something else. I settled down and things did happen. It does take time and for some it comes pretty fast and others its really slow. We use to call them late bloomers. Wait until you have to go off the estrogen, cause of some medical condition and they want you off for about a month or if you go and get your SRS. You will know that you are addicted to estrogen. I had some hot flashes and very irritable. I was almost ready to call the surgery off. Not really, but felt like it. So take care hon and don't forget to take your medicine.
Sheila

[stephanie]

Okay, well, whatever I had seen (if I truly had seen it or not) has gone away.  But I know I was not imagining the heightened sensitivity, although that has not repeated itself either.  Perhaps there was just some sort of kick-start that has since balanced out inside me.  Now I'm just on that path, waiting for the three-month mark to do an "official" comparison

[stephanie_craxford]

Okay, well, whatever I had seen (if I truly had seen it or not) has gone away.  But I know I was not imagining the heightened sensitivity, although that has not repeated itself either.  Perhaps there was just some sort of kick-start that has since balanced out inside me.  Now I'm just on that path, waiting for the three-month mark to do an "official" comparison

Hello stephanie,

I can understand your euphoria, I think it would be safe to say that we have all experienced it.  I would just like to add that there are no milestones to gauge anything by either.  .Why would you be worried about the "three-month mark" to do official comparisons?  Breast size or breast development has absolutely nothing to do with being a woman.  Published results are based on averages, so everyone is going to develop differently.  Don't get wrapped up over breast development.  What will you do if you don't develop in 3, 6, or 12 months, would that make you less of a woman?

Steph

[AmyNYC]

When I started HRT, I also imagined a few things in my chest.  It wasn't for a couple of months, after the novelty had worn off and I had stopped looking for signs that I noticed something that was real.  I had a pain in my chest, and as I had carried a heavy box in my arms a day or two before, I thought I had strained myself.  It took me a day before it clicked what it might be.  Needless to say I was ecstatic!  Sure enough, shortly after that the area under the nipples got really hard.  (I was told that was normal, and that it would soften up after a while.  It did.)  And it wasn't too long after that that I couldn't go with just a T-shirt anymore.  I had to have a sports bra of some sort unless I had several layers on (it was summer).

Stephanie, if your development is like mine, you won't notice any extra sensitivity by just standing still.  Touching them will hurt, such as lying on your stomach in bed.  When it starts, you can't mistake it.  It's not necessarily painful, but it's definitely uncomfortable.

Congrats on starting HRT!

Amy

[Terri-Gene]

Perhaps there was just some sort of kick-start that has since balanced out inside me.

Your catching on to the idea stephanie.  In most all that start it is safe to say they want to see results in as little time as possible and that they are significantly excited about finally makeing this steop in thier life.

There is a uphoria associated with starting hormones and nothing unusual is missed or ignored and despite all advice there is a definate want and need to believe you might just be one of the lucky ones and this enhances all you mental and physical perceptions.  I can admit to being a step above cloud 9 myself at the start.  Fortunately I had a friend who understood it all and never backed away from all my questions, expectations and phone calls and always pulled me back to the ground with factual information and advice.  I even called her one morning when I threw up after taking my medication later in the morning before talking to my doctor about it.  I was most likely just a reaction to not having had anything to eat yet.  Hang in there, in a month or more likely two, perhaps three you will be noticing things that are undeniable.  you just have to wait, but don't for petes sake hold your breath.

Terri

[Kimberly]

Yea, those undeniable things are pretty fun too.
Thank heavens it does NOT happen as fast as we would like though, both for our own ability to cope and others

[Sheila]

What really changed for me at first was my skin. It became softer and the color looked a little different. Then came the fat change. I really didn't start to grow breast for about a year and they have been really slow at growing. It wasn't untl after SRS that my breasts really took off. I'm now a B cup and they are still growing, but very slowly. I think that is really good as bras are very expensive and I would rather wear one out than have to buy another just because I grew out of it. Gosh, this reminds me of my kids when they were small. I had to buy clothes for them, not because they would wear them out, but because they would out grow them. Good thing for a Penny's charge card and if you buy 10 items you get the 11th for free or half off. LOL
Sheila

[stephanie]

Finally got the results of my blood test, and I'm cleared to start the T-blockers.  Other than a slightly elevated cholesterol level, I'm perfectly healthy.

So it's full speed ahead.

And the three-month period is when my doctor wants to do the next checkup, so I sort of made it my unofficial mile marker.

[tinkerbell]

The first thing I experienced:  pain on my breasts; my areolas became larger and my breasts began to swell; my skin got softer and less oily; my male appearance started to melt like a burning candle and months later, Tinkerbell broke out of her pupa case and was able to fly high for the first time.


tinkerbell