I have a question for you guys

[Cimara]

Hi guys. I wanted to ask you about how testosterone effects your moods. My boyfriend has been on testosterone for 3 years and I would have thought his moods would have stabilized a while ago but over the past couple of months he has become quite moody. He loses his temper easily anymore. Like throwing a boiled egg across the kitchen because it was not peeling easily, screaming at a woman for taking the parking space he was waiting for and getting so mad in traffic I am afraid he is either going to have a stroke or stop the car and beat the crap out of someone. He has never been what could be called easy going, but the past month or so he has been flying off the handle much more than usual.

Do you guys get these mood swings that make you aggressive and short tempered?

[Jessica_Rose]

Wow, that sounds like me before I started estradiol!

I can't say that is normal for every guy, but that describes a lot of what I went through for the last 40 years or so. All it took for me was a few things going wrong in a short time, and suddenly dropping a fork could set me off. I patched several walls, broke a plate or two, and nearly got fired more than once because of my temper. Normally I was pretty easy going, but once things started going wrong I turned into a monster.

[Dani]

Do you guys get these mood swings that make you aggressive and short tempered?

Testosterone causes aggressive behavior and I counsel many FTM about this danger.

There is a reason why our prisons are filled with men much more than women.

[Dena]

This is something he or both of you should discuss with his therapist and endo. It's possible a reduction in dosage might be needed and your boy friend might need to learn how to control the new emotions he is feeling. Testosterone affect doesn't all biological males in the same way so it shouldn't be expected to affect FTMs in the same way either.

[Elis]

T does not cause men to become aggressive. That's just an excuse men use to allow them to carry on their violent behaviour. If a man had anger problems before starting T then he'll have them afterwards.

[Erica b]

I am pre everything Mtf. My instict is to fight anyone who makes me mad. It takes time to learn to controll urges you get from testostrone. I cant say i dont get in a fist fight every few years. Its a powerfull drug. Ive learned to never listen to my temper. When i was a teen i would fight alot more. I think it does cause agressive behavior but everyone reacts to it differently.

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[Elis]

I am pre everything Mtf. My instict is to fight anyone who makes me mad. It takes time to learn to controll urges you get from testostrone. I cant say i dont get in a fist fight every few years. Its a powerfull drug. Ive learned to never listen to my temper. When i was a teen i would fight alot more. I think it does cause agressive behavior but everyone reacts to it differently.

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I think as T gives you more energy it makes your preexisting anger issues worse but it doesn't actually cause the anger issues themselves.

[Wednesday]

T does not cause men to become aggressive. That's just an excuse men use to allow them to carry on their violent behaviour. If a man had anger problems before starting T then he'll have them afterwards.

I have to diggress here.

Before starting E,  my natural T (maybe I never had much) didn't made me aggressive but... After being more than 5 years on E when I got prescribed P on a high dose I became incredibly aggressive, utterly short tempered and really thrill seeking. I swear I barely recognised myself.

All my life I had been a really calm and docile person. Always avoiding violence, I got really disgusted and felt uncomfortable by watching it or being close to it. Even I didn't fighted back when harassed.

However, I suddenly found myself willing to jump at anybody or anything really easy. Even I ended doing duathlon training 6 days a week at an average of 20+ hours per week just for the adrenaline rush when I never liked nor practiced sports before. I became involved in risky situations despite of being conscious about the danger, just being driven by the boost, eager to get the rush.

Needless to say, I dropped P and everything went to normal again.

Maybe T doesn't trigger agressiveness in everybody, but I really think it certainly does in many. Everyones biological set up is different, and hormones definitely can change our behaviours.

[CMD042414]

Testosterone does not cause this. It probably enhances aggressiveness if it already exists. That's with his and trans men. The core of you a guy is is separate from his T levels.

[Kylo]

Do you guys get these mood swings that make you aggressive and short tempered?

Mood swings, no. Short tempered yes, aggressive no.

I was much more aggressive before T, I do have an aggressive underlying personality, can't deny that - it's been lifelong, but I manage it a lot better now. I think the tendency for estrogen to cause emotions and stress to come to the surface more easily exacerbated it previously. I have no mood swings, but it's possible that is because of the method used to take it (gel).

Get fed up people's idiocy or smack talk more easily, however I'm just more inclined to totally ignore them and let it slide off than get into an altercation, which is another way of asserting power, but a less destructive one. I can't say that will happen if people ever try to lay hands on me, but for most everyday annoyances, testosterone has enabled me to walk away from them with less issues.

  I think almost everyone can be driven nuts by traffic though, huh.

[FTMDiaries]

It's not the T in itself that does this, it's being subjected to the wrong hormones that does this! For trans women that will be testosterone, and for trans men it will be progesterone (not oestrogen, as you might presume). Having high levels the wrong hormone for our brain type causes a great deal of distress and some of this can be expressed through aggression. So trans women on T might be more aggressive, and trans guys on progesterone or oestrogen can be more aggressive.

When trans men take T, it's supposed to override the ovaries to stop them producing high levels of the wrong hormones that make us feel distressed. But if he's suddenly developed mood swings again, that suggests that he still has ovaries and that they've kicked back into action, producing high levels of oestrogen and/or progesterone again. This can happen even after several years on T. High levels of progesterone are responsible for causing PMS, which can cause mood swings & make one argumentative, anxious, highly emotional, depressed, lethargic, withdrawn, aggressive... sound familiar? PMS is a pretty notorious thing, so why not research the symptoms and see whether you think they match his pattern of behaviour?

So that's my advice to you: ask him to get his doctor to review his levels: not only testosterone, but also oestrogen, progesterone and prolactin. And ask the doctor to review the frequency with which he takes T. Gels give more stable results but his dose might be too low, or if he's taking shots it might be that he needs to increase the frequency to make sure his body doesn't get an opportunity to produce too much of the wrong hormones between doses. Perhaps he might need blockers to knock the ovaries out of action.

Or... perhaps it's nothing to do with hormones at all, and he's just getting stressed about some other aspect of his life?

Testosterone causes aggressive behavior and I counsel many FTM about this danger.

Please don't.

Historically, it's been mostly MtF patients that have attended GICs so Gender Therapists have consistently heard report after report from trans women who say they were much more aggressive on nasty ol' testosterone. So the therapists see this as a worrying trend & they worry that giving T to FtM patients will make them aggressive too.

So imagine everyone's surprise when they find that it's actually incredibly rare for an FtM patient to become more aggressive on T; in fact, most of us mellow out! And the ones who do become more aggressive had aggressive tendencies to start with. Trans guys around the world are struggling against this misapprehension: I know you probably mean well but please don't add to the problem. After all, if most trans patients were FtM then trans women would be getting warned about becoming more aggressive on oestrogen.

TL;DR: People who are aggressive aren't aggressive because of testosterone: they're aggressive because they're aggressive.

[Cimara]

I will suggest he see his Dr and have his levels checked. Yes he still has his ovaries. He hasn't had a hysterectomy yet though he really wants one. He hasn't had a "shark week" as he calls it for more than a year so I had not considered that the problem could be estrogen related. And he is having major problems with his trans phobic mother so I suppose that could be a contributing factor. I see I need to educate myself further on the effects of testosterone on transmen. I sometimes forget he is trans and has trans issues.

[November Fox]

It's not the T in itself that does this, it's being subjected to the wrong hormones that does this! For trans women that will be testosterone, and for trans men it will be progesterone (not oestrogen, as you might presume). Having high levels the wrong hormone for our brain type causes a great deal of distress and some of this can be expressed through aggression. So trans women on T might be more aggressive, and trans guys on progesterone or oestrogen can be more aggressive.

*applause*

I find that the times I feel ->-bleeped-<-tiest and most aggressive is actually when I have got high levels of progesterone going on, which sadly is frequently. When I have higher T, I feel great. More confident, more in control, and thus less aggressive.

@FTMDiaries you seem to be knowledgeable about this issue, do you mind if I send you a PM?

[FTMDiaries]

*applause*

I find that the times I feel ->-bleeped-<-tiest and most aggressive is actually when I have got high levels of progesterone going on, which sadly is frequently. When I have higher T, I feel great. More confident, more in control, and thus less aggressive.

@FTMDiaries you seem to be knowledgeable about this issue, do you mind if I send you a PM?

By all means

My Shark Week returned last year & this month is the only one it's missed since then. That week before Shark Week - when progesterone is at its highest - makes me feel like curling up in a ball & crying for no good reason. It's downright dehumanising.

[mm]

FTMDiaries, sorry to hear that sharkweek has returned, what does your dr think the reason for it coming back.  I want to get a total hysto hopefully soon after I start T if possible.

[Cimara]

Im sorry. That is awful. I thought once you were on testosterone and it stopped that it stayed stopped.  Lucas has very light spotting once in a blue moon but it would be horrible if it came back fully. Is that a common thing with transguys?

[Contravene]

I've noticed that if I'm a few days late taking my T shot then I'll experience mood swings and my anger is triggered more easily. That being said I've learned to recognize when I'm feeling that way and not act on aggressive impulses. My aggression was sometimes an issue before I started taking T so the T hasn't caused it. If anything testosterone actually made me a lot more mellow. Hormones effect everyone differently and spikes or dips in hormones can throw anyone off but I have to agree with the other guys who said that linking T to violence is just an excuse.

Also, I wouldn't be comfortable with my fiancée posting personal things about me (like about spotting or anything along those lines). It's one thing for a guy to ask questions or to vent about their own personal issues but it gets uncomfortable when it comes from an outside source, at least in my opinion. There's a section of the forum for significant others to ask questions and discuss things.

[Jennifer RachaelAnn]

I have a kanji o my chest that sums me up. It means "violent and short tempered". I have always been extremely violent, and have even served a bit of time for it. Long story for another time. The simplest stuff is what usually sets me off the worst. I have been working on it for a while, and it's getting better, but it's not there all the way. Yet.