Breast Sensitivity and Growth on Low Dose HRT

[OCTrisha]

Hi all,

I've been on and off low dose HRT a couple times now.  I was only on for 6-12 weeks those first two times and stopped for different reasons.  I just hit the 5-week mark on my third try now and am starting to feel some significant breast sensitivity.  This was also my experience the last time this far in.  I've also noticed some small lumps underneath. 

Is this common this early?  I wasn't expecting anything at all in this area this soon.  I really want to go with the low dose HRT route for a while (or at least have the option to).  I'm concerned that it will be noticeable too soon for the pace I want to go at. 

Thanks for any input...

--Trisha

[Jessica]

Hi Trisha, while ymmv (your mileage may vary) is in play, you may very well experience faster than expected results.  I myself, at the same point as you describe, experienced even more soon afterwards.  By my 3rd month they were noticeable.

[Northern Star Girl]

Hi all,

I've been on and off low dose HRT a couple times now.  I was only on for 6-12 weeks those first two times and stopped for different reasons.  I just hit the 5-week mark on my third try now and am starting to feel some significant breast sensitivity.  This was also my experience the last time this far in.  I've also noticed some small lumps underneath. 

Is this common this early?  I wasn't expecting anything at all in this area this soon.  I really want to go with the low dose HRT route for a while (or at least have the option to). I'm concerned that it will be noticeable too soon for the pace I want to go at. 

Thanks for any input...

--Trisha

@OCTrisha
Dear Trisha:
You are now just past the ONE MONTH point of your exciting HRT journey.   For sure, as you mentioned you have already experienced some changes particularly in your nipples and breasts...  soreness, lumps (breast buds) forming under the nipples (and in my case at the same time frame my nipples were very erect and sensitive most of the time) ....  then at 3 months into  HRT most transitioners will start seeing things happening more significantly and at a quicker rate including possibly more changes in reduced body hair growth, your own body and urine smell, changes in erections becoming less intense, libido, etc. 

You had indicated in your posting that you may be concerned if things become more noticeable too soon for the pace that you want to go at.   To fit your time schedule you may want to talk to your prescribing doctor about how soon and how that dosage alterations can give you the results that you desire.

The transition journey is indeed exciting.  As has been stated over and over here on the Forums on various posts, HRT will work uniquely in your own unique body. What you read about other transitioning members experiences with HRT most likely will not be identical to your own experiences.

The adage that you have just heard in the reply comment from our lovely member @Jessica  regarding HRT and how it may work for various individuals  is "YMMV"  meaning that Your Mileage May Vary.
Some will experience more significant changes more quickly and then some will experience less significant changes more slowly....   it is all up to your genes and how your body reacts to the HRT.

PATIENCE is required.... usually not much happens very quickly with HRT... but changes will happen.

Without a doubt this can be very "EXCITING and SCARY all at the same time."   One needs to hang on for an amazing ride.  Some of my best and most appreciated and dramatic body changes happened to me at about the 5 or 6 month point and through the start of year #2 of my HRT journey.   
Even though I was able to very successfully pass before I went full-time... when I did go full-time at the 1 1/2 year mark I had been passing 100% of the time.  Of course that is just my own personal experience, I suppose I can thank my unique body makeup and my genes for all that.
 
You will not see dramatic changes on a daily or weekly basis.  I found that by taking my photo once a month that when compared with previous monthly photos, the changes were quite noticeable and very motivating.

Thank you for sharing your story with all of us.
Wishing you well, and I will be eagerly following your postings and transition progress as you continue toward your goal.
Hugs and hugs,
Danielle

[Virginia]

Things can move quickly. My nipples increased from 3-5 mm between day 14 and 21. By day 35, breast buds had developed under both nipples.

[Dani]

Virginia,

Hormone doses are not that important. Blood levels are much more important. Genetics will pretty much determine how much you will develop. Do you remember in the 7th or 8th grade in school, when some girls left for summer vacation without much of any breast size and then returned in the fall presenting a full womanly chest? Yes, I know some of that was foam rubber,  , but much of it was also a growth spurt over just a few months.

Any increase in your nipple size, although is pleasing at times, as one sign of significant changes happening, is not going to make you any more passable than other personal characteristics. Nipples are almost always covered up, except in the shower and nude beaches! 

[Virginia]

Virginia,

Hormone doses are not that important. Blood levels are much more important. Genetics will pretty much determine how much you will develop. Do you remember in the 7th or 8th grade in school, when some girls left for summer vacation without much of any breast size and then returned in the fall presenting a full womanly chest? Yes, I know some of that was foam rubber,  , but much of it was also a growth spurt over just a few months.

Any increase in your nipple size, although is pleasing at times, as one sign of significant changes happening, is not going to make you any more passable than other personal characteristics. Nipples are almost always covered up, except in the shower and nude beaches! 

@Dani,
I didn't mention anything about hormone doses or passing in my post. The OP asked if it was common to feel some significant breast sensitivity and breast budding after 5 weeks on HRT. I shared that in my experience it was. I've been on HRT about as long as you. It took four years of therapy to figure out the peace I got from estrogen was becasue in some bizarre way, chemical castration gives my child alters peace in knowing once and for all I can never commit the sexual atrocities I experiences as a child to anyone else- the LAST thing I wanted was the 34B's I got on my 5'10" 146 pound frame.

[Chloe]

I'm concerned that it will be noticeable too soon for the pace I want to go at.

           Hakuna Matada Trisha! Sounds like @ the rate ur going you'll be older than me before it becomes a real issue. Daughter-in-law, with two grandbabies in tow, led me into the girl's soccer field bathroom yesterday and, to my surprise, the young girls that followed us were not in the least bit fazed. Point is I take grandbabies to local "Y" swimming and, despite long hair, budding almost "B" cups and high-cut board shorts, go "topless" all-the-time!

lol "As male" this is, no the "Y" hasn't changed!

[Virginia]

I'm concerned that it will be noticeable too soon for the pace I want to go at. 

Point is I take grandbabies to local "Y" swimming and, despite long hair, budding almost "B" cups and high-cut board shorts, go "topless" all-the-time!

lol "As male" this is, no the "Y" hasn't changed!

Seconding Kiera's post. Your concerns likely have more to do with the SpotLight/Transparency Effect than being any sort of giveaway if the rest of your presentation is solidly masculine. I have been on a typical transition level HRT regimen for 9 years. The only comment I get from anyone about my 34B breasts when I go without a shirt is that I have "great pecs." That said, my female alter turns alot of heads when she wears a bikini at the beach.  With as common an additive as estrogen has become, and the general tendency of people to be overweight, more and more guys have Gynecomastia and manboobs.  The only person who would likely notice, or for that matter care about, your nipples is you.