What are the common misconceptions of hrt

[KristyWalker]

I was thinking about going on hrt sometime in the future instead of listing everything I think I know about it I am wanting to know what are the common misconceptions about it?

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[Deborah]

The biggest one for me was that you will get extraordinarily weak.  I have lost some upper body muscle (very little from the lower body) but I haven't really gotten weak at all.  That's at 13 months HRT.

The other one is that you will gain lots of weight.  That's only true if you don't control your diet and exercise.  I've lost 37 lbs so far on HRT; down to 167 lbs at 5'10.5".


Sapere Aude

[Devlyn]

It causes warts.  Seriously, why do you want misconceptions? Study the facts, that's what you need to know to make an informed decision. https://www.susans.org/wiki/Category:Hormone_replacement_therapy

Hugs, Devlyn

[KristyWalker]

(Saying this in a conversational tone of voice) because I know I have some misconceptions and don't know what I have read online is true or not and don't want to have a greater expectations of hrt than are possible and get disappointed after is my main reason for asking is if someone posts about a misconception I have it will help me manage my expectations.

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[Devlyn]

Well, you'll get plenty of misconceptions on the internet, that's for sure!    I think warts is one of them! 

Hugs, Devlyn

[KristyWalker]

But every thing you read online is true right? Lol

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[KristyWalker]

Oh thanks for the link Devlyn

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[IdontEven]

Really I think everyone gets fairly different results from HRT, and over different time periods. The way your body uses hormones is so complex, everyone's bodies are so different, and the changes are so gradual (usually), that there's a lot of room for confirmation bias, placebo effects, etc. One person's misconception is another person's truth.

I wouldn't count on any particular effect happening, just like you couldn't reliably predict how your first puberty would affect you. You can see what it does to other people, and what sort of traits run in your family, but you can't be very precise about the exact effects it will have. I think the only thing I'd be comfortable telling someone about to start HRT that they could rely on happening is that they will slowly become more like the sex that naturally produces whichever hormone they're switching to. How exactly that manifests is very much YMMV.

[Devlyn]

But every thing you read online is true right? Lol

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Exactly. That info in the Wiki is sound, though.

I don't know which misconceptions you have, and which ones I have, but I know a bit about life. Little girls take at least five years for their bodies to develop, and nature turns their estrogen supply on very slowly. The misconception in our community is that you need to see results fast or take more pills. It's long term exposure to hormones that does the trick, not the amount in your system.

Now, I already said I might be completely full of baloney, so I'm completely off the hook here! 

Hugs, Devlyn

[Rachel]

I will list some of the facts about HRT for me:

1) When I first started my sex drive went up and I ate a lot more and lost weight. At month 3 my sex drive dove and I had to exercise and watch what I eat.
2) The noise in my head stopped. I had to get use to the quiet.
3) Calm overtook my persona.
4) I smile a lot.
5) I find myself happy most of the time.
6) My body odor disappeared and I have a slight sweet odor.
7) I can smell better, especially guys.
Since age 17 I had neck and chest pains and they stopped on HRT. I have not had them for 2 years and 8 months. I think it was stress. I am very calm now and before I felt like someone was around the corner with a 2 by 4.

Hormones work slow and you must have a  doctor monitor your progress. HRT needs to be in the correct levels and T  suppressed to be effective. HRT is a medication for transsexuals that need to address their transgender condition.

I hope this helps. 

[suzifrommd]

I was thinking about going on hrt sometime in the future instead of listing everything I think I know about it I am wanting to know what are the common misconceptions about it?

1. It will change the structure of your face.

It might affect the placement of soft tissue, but your bone structure will remain.

2. It will help with your voice.

This appears to be extremely uncommon.

3. Your boob size will be similar to those of your female relatives, or maybe a bit smaller.

No one has actually studied the factors affecting boob size.

4. It will change your sexual orientation.

No evidence this is true.

5. It will decrease your sex drive.

Didn't for me.

6. It will decrease your facial hair.

Most of the time it's unaffected.

7. If you're not really MtF, you won't like it.

No study has ever been done on this.

[KristyWalker]

Number 6 was one of my misconceptions thank you

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[Dee Marshall]

I think #6 is there because some of us do see that. My beard slowed down very quickly on my lower dose. Just now on a higher dose my face, 17 hours since shaving, feels like my face did, pre-HRT, immediately after shaving. Most of the beard shadow does remain, though.

[Serenation]

That it will change the bones on a fully grown adult i.e hip rotation

[Ms Grace]

It seems to me a fairly common misconception is that it will grow boobs overnight... in fact it will take many, many months, and at the very least a couple of years before you reach anything approaching your final size.

Some people also seem to believe HRT is a panacea, that it will solve all their problems - again, not true. And it won't turn you into a genetic woman but it will feminise you. Most, if not all, of your structural/skeletal masculinisations will not be changed by HRT.

[DiamondBladee]

As for hair growth on face and body, I suspect that it's similar to what my mother told me.  "Shaving won't make it come back faster and thicker like myths say, it's just more visible.".  I haven't been on HRT, but guessing from my experiences with hair, if you notice your hair being less of a problem its probably just lightened up a little and slowed down a tad.  It doesn't make it less thick and definitely doesn't stop it.

Can someone with HRT experience verify or unjustify this?  Not a serious thought but it's a good question, as there does seem to be some controversy as to whether or not facial hair and other hair growth is affected.  The real answer here is yes and no.

    xoxoxo Winter (15)

[IdontEven]

This looks like fun, can I play?

That it will change the bones on a fully grown adult i.e hip rotation

It certainly won't affect bones that are already fused, however it seems that musculature plays a large part in how those bones sit. Anecdote /= data, I get that, but my stride length has shortened significantly for SOME reason. I've gone from a size 13 Vans to 11.5 or 11. I've had to move the drivers seat in my truck forward, after having it in the same position for 12 years. Not saying the bones themselves have changed, but the muscles and ligaments surrounding those bones sure have.

And I've had several people ask me if I've gotten taller. I'm not really sure what's up with that, I -feel- shorter, though I haven't measured. I'm going to have to do that now actually. But anyways, I've actually gained about 5 pounds, so if it's an optical illusion due to being skinnier then it's fat redistribution from belly to butt/thighs/chest, or loss of muscle mass.

My strength and endurance have dropped significantly. Muscles, like triceps, that always had definition previously now have a layer of soft fat over them. Doors in public buildings are much more resistant to being opened than they used to be (but are way more likely to be opened for me now, for some reason), as are bottles and jars, even though I've increased my strength training of my fretting hand for guitar. You know those Starbucks frappucino things, the ones that come in a glass bottle and taste like chocolate milk and coffee? They're approaching impossible for me to open. Not sure if it will ever cross that line, but wow. That rubber coating on the inside of the top just makes it ridiculous.

1) When I first started my sex drive went up and I ate a lot more and lost weight. At month 3 my sex drive dove and I had to exercise and watch what I eat.

My metabolism has stayed about the same, but I'm ALWAYS hungry. And I get cravings like a pregnant chick. Pickles, anchovies...SALT. Not necessarily estrogen related, more a factor of spiro being a diuretic I'm guessing.

I eat watermelon and other fruit flavored gum now. And sweet-tarts. Before it was always the blue minty gum, and I hadn't had sweet-tarts before a month or two ago since I was a kid going trick-or-treating.

4) I smile a lot.

Yep!

6) My body odor disappeared and I have a slight sweet odor.

Nobody's very good at knowing when they stink, but I think my smell has changed pretty significantly. If I'm not exuding the anxiety smell I don't -think- I have much of any smell anymore. Immediately prior to HRT I was acutely aware of my own smell, even within minutes of showering.

7) I can smell better, especially guys.

Good lord yes. If a guy hasn't taken a shower that morning or has been sweating that day I can tell from a range of about 10 feet. If my gf (or me) has been overly anxious I can smell it. I hand out gum to everyone I'm in close proximity to for more than 5 minutes.

My perception of colors has changed. You know that blue Ford uses, the one with all the purple in it? It is -really- pretty to me now. And I can see all the purple in it. Dove dark chocolate wrappers (noticing a theme here with the chocolate?) went from red to orangeish.

All my senses have changed really. Touch is practically electric now. Heat and cold are...um, not sure how to describe it. Stronger?

Everything is processed via emotions before anything else now, rational thought may or may not show up in response to whatever's going on, depending on how strong that emotion is.

Regarding facial hair - I have (had) a bit of all the colors in my facial hair, so I have some genes for light colored hair. It was blonde when I was a kid. The vast majority of my facial hairs have turned blonde, to the point you can't see them when I've shaved that day. The few that are left that are dark and show up in the skin when clean shaven are mostly on my upper lip, and they're going the way of the dodo. It grows a little more slowly, but not by much. If I go 2 days without shaving I'm very aware of it by the end of the second day.

Body hair has reduced significantly, which is awesome.

Sometimes my lips, which as far as I know have always been the same color, get really red to the point it looks like I've been eating a cherry popsicle or something, and it's -not- from eating red things. And they're impossible to keep from being dry.

I've been asked a few times if I'm wearing makeup because my eyelashes got so much longer.

Regarding sex drive and orientation: Libido is drastically changed from what it used to be. It's no longer...hmm, how to put it. The mood doesn't strike me just because the wind blew funny, know what I mean? It's no longer based on visual stimulus, and it takes a lot more to get revved up in that way, but I can go much, much higher than previously. It's pretty awesome all the way around really, because it's no longer bugging me while I'm trying to focus on other things, and when it's time to play it's so much better than before. Things were a bit odd the first few months as that shift was taking place. Sensitivity was increased to the point of being extremely uncomfortable and sex was unsatisfying, but I didn't care or want it. S'all good now though! 

As for orientation, I was always strictly into females. As my view of myself has changed I've become more open to other possibilities, and the longer I'm on HRT the stronger that possibility is becoming. I find myself responding to guys differently (and them to me). I get very wound up and bouncy when I'm talking to one that I like, and sometimes I realize I'm thinking about one I met earlier in the day. And that thing about being able to smell guys from a distance? Some of them I get used to their smell or something really quickly and don't mind it. Before HRT if I could smell a guy it would make me irrationally angry. If I'm around certain guys for more than a few minutes I get hot flashes, especially if it's someone that's been nice to me in some way.

Some guys look at me for a really long time. I've caught one steady staring, and some focus on me to the exclusion of others in a way that makes me pretty uncomfortable. Also, people touch me now, like on the arm or shoulder, the occasional fist-bump. I'm not presenting female yet, so I don't know if it's me giving off a different vibe or pheremones or what, but it's really freaking weird because nobody used to touch me unless we were shaking hands in a really formalized setting. The hugs are nice though

[Cindy]

One misconception I will mention.

Going on HRT will solve your problems. It won't. It may and does in many cases reduce or limit dysphoria but your problems are still the same.

Solving your life issues are a different kettle of fish.

In my case it was the ongoing help and support of a therapist that allowed me to deal with my problems. That I met her for my gender issues was one thing, but dealing with the mental baggage that I had accumulated and the PTSD issues was a separate area.

[Mariah]

One misconception I will mention.

Going on HRT will solve your problems. It won't. It may and does in many cases reduce or limit dysphoria but your problems are still the same.

Solving your life issues are a different kettle of fish.

^^^^^^ This
For me that meant working through my issues in the past and that was even realizing I hadn't mourned the loss of my dad. Hugs
Mariah

[Deborah]

It did exponentially decrease my sex drive.  It also virtually eliminated body hair except on my upper thighs and arms.  Even those are greatly reduced.  Facial hair grows maybe about 30% slower.  After shaving I can't really feel it until about 24 hours later.  The shadow still shows though although it is reduced some.  It hasn't cured all my problems or caused world peace to break out but it has greatly reduced dysphoria by itself.


Sapere Aude