detransitioning and worrying about fertility?

[sebster]

So, I was on T for a few years-- long enough to start growing a full beard and for my voice to get deep enough that I was consistently sir'd on the phone-- before realising that I was actually a lesbian. Oops!

Anyways, I've been off T for about 10 months now and my period is back, but I'm also getting all sorts of hormonal acne and my cycle is MUCH longer than it used to be. What are the odds that I'll still be able to conceive in the future? I'm 22, if that's at all relevant.

Bonus questions: will this godawful hormonal acne along my jawline ever go away? What are the odds that laser will get rid of my dark facial hair on its own? Will my skin always look so awful? Seriously, before T I used to get mistaken for a 12 year old all the time because my skin was so lovely but now I get mistaken for my own mother.

[Elis]

Not sure of the answers for everything else but when it comes to seriously bad acne antibiotics and prescription acne cream is the way to go. I tried over the counter acne cream and different types of soap for a year but medication has helped the most. Even the redness from my acne has cleared up.

Hope that helped somewhat

[Dena]

Laser can do a fair job of hair removal and often people start with it however it's likely you have slow growing hair that might be lighter in color and it will require electrolysis to remove. It appears laser is good for bulk removal but there always seems to be some cleanup that only electrolysis can do. You might want to look at Hair Removal to see the experiences of others.

[Paige]

Anyways, I've been off T for about 10 months now and my period is back, but I'm also getting all sorts of hormonal acne and my cycle is MUCH longer than it used to be. What are the odds that I'll still be able to conceive in the future? I'm 22, if that's at all relevant.

Just wondering, have you had your hormone levels checked?   If your estrogen is low and your T is still a bit high, that might be causing the problem. 

Take care,
Paige

[sebster]

Not sure of the answers for everything else but when it comes to seriously bad acne antibiotics and prescription acne cream is the way to go. I tried over the counter acne cream and different types of soap for a year but medication has helped the most. Even the redness from my acne has cleared up.

Hope that helped somewhat

I'll probably have to make a dermatology appointment after school lets out. Thanks for sharing; I know not to waste my money on OTC stuff now.

[sebster]

Laser can do a fair job of hair removal and often people start with it however it's likely you have slow growing hair that might be lighter in color and it will require electrolysis to remove. It appears laser is good for bulk removal but there always seems to be some cleanup that only electrolysis can do. You might want to look at Hair Removal to see the experiences of others.

My hair is all THICK and BLACK. It's honestly incredible how thick some of these hairs are-- I swear some of them have to be as big around as pencil lead and they feel like cactus spines. I've had about 5 laser sessions and while I think it is thinning a bit-- I get no hair on my cheeks any more and just some patches on my neck, but on my chin and upper lip the hairs are pretty resilient. It's got to the point where it seems almost like the sort of thing that PCOS could have caused though, I think (I never let it grow long enough to really see). And thank you!

[sebster]

Just wondering, have you had your hormone levels checked?   If your estrogen is low and your T is still a bit high, that might be causing the problem. 

Take care,
Paige

I haven't and I really should. The thing is, I've had school so I haven't even had the time to see a doctor even though there were several times I was so ill I was fainting and probably should have gone to emergency. I just don't have time with my schedule, between work and school and I don't have the school's insurance plan so I can't even go to the university clinic.

I'll definitely get my levels checked at some point. Thank you!

[sebster]

Typically a FtM who transitions back to F will get a feminine face again without need for surgery. The bone doesn't change, only the fat patterns. It takes six months to a year of being off of T, and a bit of weight gain. Feminine fat patterns (such as around the face) need to be laid down with weight gain. It should give you hips too. It's basically the same as the MtF pattern when they go on estrogen, except your body is producing it's own.

Also, in case anyone has any thoughts on the what I've quoted above (from another thread)...

Is it possible that my face looks so prematurely aged/not at all feminine yet in spite of 10 months off T because rather than gain weight off T I lost about 20 lbs? I thought most of what I lost was muscle mass, but I guess some of it must have been fat too because my face was honestly fuller and perhaps even more feminine on T. Now I look like a man or a very old and haggard version of myself. Would trying to gain weight change this? I honestly don't even have time for a diet that will make me gain weight because I'm a student (I eat crappy fast food every day anyway since I don't have time to sit down for meals between work and university-- so you'd think I'd have gained weight because of that and my massive sleep debt-- isn't insomnia supposed to cause weight gain?).

[Dena]

Also, in case anyone has any thoughts on the what I've quoted above (from another thread)...

Is it possible that my face looks so prematurely aged/not at all feminine yet in spite of 10 months off T because rather than gain weight off T I lost about 20 lbs? I thought most of what I lost was muscle mass, but I guess some of it must have been fat too because my face was honestly fuller and perhaps even more feminine on T. Now I look like a man or a very old and haggard version of myself. Would trying to gain weight change this? I honestly don't even have time for a diet that will make me gain weight because I'm a student (I eat crappy fast food every day anyway since I don't have time to sit down for meals between work and university-- so you'd think I'd have gained weight because of that and my massive sleep debt-- isn't insomnia supposed to cause weight gain?).

I am post surgical and ended up off estrogen for about 10 years. What you described as your facial appearances is how i ended up as the result of being off estrogen. I would suggest that you see a doctor and see if you are producing estrogen or if T has shut down your estrogen production. I have been on estrogen a little over a year and I am seeing improvement in my appearance however it may take another year or two for my face to return to normal. In my case, my levels aren't terribly high so development is going to proceed at a somewhat slower pace.

[sebster]

I am post surgical and ended up off estrogen for about 10 years. What you described as your facial appearances is how i ended up as the result of being off estrogen. I would suggest that you see a doctor and see if you are producing estrogen or if T has shut down your estrogen production. I have been on estrogen a little over a year and I am seeing improvement in my appearance however it may take another year or two for my face to return to normal. In my case, my levels aren't terribly high so development is going to proceed at a somewhat slower pace.

Okay, I'll definitely have to have my hormones looked at, then. I thought that everything would be kosher in the estrogen department since I started getting my period again (though the gap between periods is probably twice as long as it was before T), but my skin just looks so old. It's not like I've started getting wrinkles at 22 or anything, but my cheeks are sunken, my eyes are sunken (in part due to the insomnia), and my skin texture (in part because of the facial hair and acne) just looks kind of uneven and unhealthy. Thank you so much for the advice!

[Nathanos]

What I was told by my doctor after I quit T was that if I was getting consistent cycles, then I should be fine in that department. You could always have your doctor check your hormone levels and see if they're where they're supposed to be, that's what I did. You have to think that your body had adjusted and was used to testosterone for quite a while, so give it around as long as you were on it for it to revert (also advice from my doctor, that helped calm my mind quite a bit, but also made sense). I wouldn't worry about pregnancy too much just yet unless you're already actively in a relationship and you and your partner are wanting to try to conceive. You could always have your partner carry the child. The hormonal shift that pregnancy causes is quite a trip in and of itself, honestly. I quit testosterone in January and I am now 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant, but I was not on testosterone as long as you were and I didn't really mean to become pregnant.. but I had become so used to not having to worry about using protection that I became complacent. Oops. If you still deal with any feelings of dysphoria at all, I will warn you that pregnancy can be very hard. Even though I feel mostly content with my choice to detransition, I am definitely having a hard time coming to terms with the way my body is changing, as it is now SUPER feminine. Curvacious hips, full breasts where there were previously saggy, deflated sadness sacks thanks to T, etc, so be forewarned.