Can one be temporarily on HRT?

[Anastasia]

I do not wish to transition fully, but I would like to feminize/androginize my appearance and general body shape. I have not seen any professionals about my being trans. It seems like changes, if they occur, start to occur soon after the start of HRT. I would like to do HRT for a few months, just long enough for the changes to start becoming visible. I don't know what the actual timelines for the different changes are, so what I want may be further down the road than I realize. I would like fuller hips, softer skin, and small breasts with a mature nipple/areola. I realize that this isn't a buffet line where I pick 2 from this list and one from this list LOL! Would these changes be permanent, or would I lose any benefits as soon as I stopped HRT without completion? Are the injections self administered? weekly?monthly? I realize I need to seek professional guidance before,during, and after HRT, but I am curious about this option.

[Jessica]

I was of the same thought as you in the beginning.  I was thinking that just having my breasts start growing would be enough for me, fat distribution wasn't even on my radar.  I accomplished that goal with my breasts within the first few months, but there were other welcome and unexpected changes that occurred that confirmed that I needed to continue.
My endo told me that I could stop anytime I wanted, but that I would lose any physical effects except breast growth.
As you see I'm into my eighth month without regrets.

Jessica

[CallMeKatie]

Once you stop youll grow a beard have hairy body possibly go bald...

So I'd rather stay on them for life

[Janes Groove]

You can get breast augmentation any time you want without HRT.

[CarlyMcx]

I've never been off HRT but the times I even had accidental drops in estrogen or rises in testosterone I felt so bad that I would never consider going off hormones. Once diagnosed, the hormones gave me my first really good night's sleep since childhood.

That said, if you want to avoid extensive therapy, you can get hormones through informed consent, at least in California, where I live.  But be prepared to pay cash, because health insurance does not pay for treatment for something without a medical diagnosis.  And if you are going to treat cross gender adventures as a hobby, be advised it is one expensive hobby.  I can honestly say that trying to establish a golf handicap was cheaper.  Building a "fast and furious" tuner car was cheaper. 

And if you really are male, hormones are going to make you feel terrible, impair sexual function, and may leave you sterile.

If you go off hormones, you will most likely keep whatever breast development you have, but once you are back on your own testosterone, you will lose the soft skin and whatever fat redistribution occurs while on hormones.

I started to see breast development after only three weeks, but the softening of skin and body fat redistribution only really started after more than a year on hormones.  And my body is really only just starting to hourglass after almost two years of HRT.

If preserving male sexual function is your only concern, there is a private pay endocrinologist in Marina Del Rey, California who supposedly can do that, by cycling hormones.  He supposedly works for all the trans girls in the local porn industry.  But he does not take insurance or public benefits.  He takes cash only and he is very expensive.

You should really see a therapist first before you experiment with hormones and figure out where you really are, because the consequences of taking hormones are so far reaching.

If you aren't already, I would suggest going the full Monty with cross dressing, using pads, foundation garments, etc. to see how it feels and if this is really what you want.  I wore silicone pads in my bra for several weeks before deciding I want breast augmentation.

If you decide after a lengthy dry run that this is for you, then maybe see a gender therapist.

Oh, and discussing dosages and methods of administering HRT are forbidden by Forum rules.  Please see a professional for that.

[Dena]

Estradiol is needed to hold many of the changes in place. Breast will remain in place but may lose a little size. Skin, hair,  body and facial fat need continuous hormones if they are to be retained. I was off HRT for about 10 years and as I am post surgical, I didn't see testosterone changes but many of the changes caused by HRT were reversed. It has taken a couple of years to get much of what I lost back but I suspect there is still more to come.

[Jessica]

That said, if you want to avoid extensive therapy, you can get hormones through informed consent, at least in California, where I live.  But be prepared to pay cash, because health insurance does not pay for treatment for something without a medical diagnosis.  And if you are going to treat cross gender adventures as a hobby, be advised it is one expensive hobby.  I can honestly say that trying to establish a golf handicap was cheaper.  Building a "fast and furious" tuner car was cheaper. 

I'm in Northern California and have Kaiser.  I was able to get an appointment with a gender therapist within a week.  It was not required though, but it was, in my mind.  Next week endo, same day meds.  Kaiser would have covered it whether it was informed consent or not.

[CarlyMcx]

I'm with Kaiser Southern California.  In order to get on hormones I had to go through one session gender orientation, two session gender assessment, and my therapist read me the informed consent admonition before she wrote my hormone letter.

But maybe they are doing things different in Oakland.

Last year I was on a self employed high deductible plan through Covered California and I easily reached my deductible and out of pocket maximum ($5000 and $7500 respectively) by August.

This year for the same monthly I lucked into a zero deductible Kaiser plan through my wife's employer.  But it takes a nice bite out of her paychecks.

My point remains—for most of us, gender transition is not cheap.