I did start estradiol before blockers. My obgyn gave me options, which I was already fairly read up on. I elected to start Estradiol for a period of 3 months without t-blockers for the following reasons:
1) 3 months of Estra would give me the opportunity to discover what effect it would have on me emotionally. It would also give me some time to decide if this was a path I wished to walk. 90 days is rarely enough time for permanent changes to take place giving me time to make an informed choice.
2) Sometimes having cis female level of estrogen will automatically drop testosterone levels. If that were to happen to me, t-blockers might have been avoided. At a minimum, an accurate dose could be determined.
3) Lastly, (and this was a tidbit of information my obgyn shared with me I was unaware of) I was informed that if after 3 months I had cis male levels of testosterone in my system and cis female levels of estrogen at the same time, starting T-blockers would drop my t-levels allowing the estrogen to hit me like a broken dam worth of water. I would experience something very close to puberty 2.0, just from the female perspective.
That last bit sold me. Was I mildly disappointed at times in the first 90 days? yep. Have I been very happy with the decision? Yep! I have gone from less than 1 inch to 4 inches of bust in 14 weeks. Other changes in my face, thighs, butt, and feet (some more noticeable than others, as this thread shows) have also apparently accelerated.
YMMV of course. I liked having the 90 day "free" trial to decide. Getting to blast off into a whole new range of feelings and emotions and changes at the end was the best return on delayed gratification ever for me personally.
Cheers,
Ricki
(edit: Changed timeline as I realized I started t-blockers at the beginning of Feb instead of the end.) Also, my story is in my signature if you wish to know more about my journey.
