Types of HRT

[Courtney.lane408]

Hey everybody,

So I'm officially getting my script next Thursday to start hrt ( mtf 26 years old) and with informed consent where I live I basically get to pick what type of hrt I want to do.

With that said, is there any reason not to go straight to injections if I want to process to go as fast as possible and for the hrt to be as effective as it can? For anyone who has done both, have you noticed any difference between the two as far as your mental state / mood? Do you think it would be smart for any reason to start with the pills for a month or so before switching over?

Curious what everybody thinks I should pick as I'm leaning towards just going straight to injections but I know a lot of people on here start with the pills.

Bonus picture because I was feeling cute!

Thanks!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Devlyn]

Patches deliver the  steadiest dose, implants second, and oral and injectable have more spikes in levels. Long term exposure to estradiol is what does the magic, you won't speed it up much by raising your levels. Girls take a long time to develop. You're a girl now. 

Hugs, Devlyn

[JoanneB]

During one of my support group meetings this subject came up. There was no consensus with almost everyone having been on pill, patches, or shots, both EV & Premarin. All with varying results from nuttin to great and (sometimes) big side effects. I've done them all. Patches, between my rollie-pollie & oily/sweaty skin I got nuttin to speak of. Pills are a big PITA for me to take regularly. I've been doing mostly injections. The best bang for the buck came with adding in an AA to drop the T down into the sub-basement

As with all things hormone, YMMV

[Kendra]

I asked my endocrinologist about delivery methods, she said injections aren't super easy because those are IM (intramuscular).  I've been on patches and those worked great after Devlyn gave me a hint - the patches go on my butt, not my forehead. 

[Ava LJ]

I haven't done too much research into it, but from what I've heard from doctors and other women, it's better to have a long steady stream of low doses (i.e. estradiol tablets) than trying to put a ton of estrogen in your system as soon as possible. If you're worried about taking in too little from the hormones if you're on tablets you can always choose to take them sublingually so that your body will take in a bit more estrogen from it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Allison S]

I take pills so far theyre ok. Estradiol i take it sublingually rather than just swallowing the pill. But I did swallow the pills 1st month and my levels weren't bad. I just prefer it bypasses my liver. It's the same tablets I had in the first place- I just asked the pharmacist and they said it's fine.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Pisces228]

I take sublingual tablets and I've feminized fine.  I have friends on patches and shots and they've feminized fine too.  I think it is exposure to estradiol long term, not high levels, that produces feminization.  I've also heard that too high levels at the beginning can stunt breast growth.

[KayXo]

I've done oral, sublingual, rectal, patches and IM injections, now on gel (Estrogel). I really liked the injections a lot, relatively easy to administer but levels would fluctuate quite a lot. Rectal suppositories were also quite convenient but it wasn't absorbing as much as I'd like them to. Oral was easiest but felt awful on it, skin was so dry, I couldn't sleep, I was quite anxious. HOWEVER, it's the one route that gave me the most breast growth, by FAR but I was also on a high dose. Sublingual didn't make a difference relative to oral, for me and it was a pain in the @#$ to take it that way. Patches left red marks, very difficult to remove. No thanks. Right now, I'm on gel and no complaints so far. I believe levels are quite steady on gel.