HRT Hormome Estrogen Effects on Legs Question

[hottiffany82]

I am about to start HRT (MTF) (Under Supervision). I was wondering what the effects of Estrogen and the anti-androgens have on the Legs. I have very large muscular well defined legs and I was curious of Estrogen also caused the legs muscles to diminish somewhat and get smaller? How long?

Thanks!

[Northern Jane]

Well I have been on HRT for 25 of the last 45 years (or thereabouts). I was a swimmer and figure skater in my teens and had/have "well developed" legs.

A couple of years ago when I got back into skating I went to a personal trainer to get an exercise program - she couldn't keep her hands off my legs  She kept ooohing and awing over my thighs and calves! Last year was the first time I wore a skating dress to practice and when my coach came in her jaw dropped and she shook her head. She said "I HOPE I have legs like that at your age!"

You probably wont loose much muscle but I will be they will be damned shapely! 

[Stealthgrrl]

I can echo what Jane says. I get compliments on my legs all the time, and even get called "Miss Legs" or just "Legs" lol. Not very PC, but I don't mind!

Stealth

[cindybc]

Hi Northern Jane, "Wow!" I didn't realize you have been full time on HRT for as long as you have! Well from what you describe, well I am a bit jealous LOL. But I guess for being nearly 20 years older then you and only 8 years full time and on HRT I guess I didn't do to bad.

The problem was that just before I started full time I was anorexic 85 lbs. Most of my muscle mass was already withered away. But now my weight is back up to 135lbs for 5'3" the weight is right proportionally.

I have the right proportion fat on my thighs calves and hips and breasts and grew my hair to lower back. So I did ok for myself, certainly no trace of who I was before, I guess I got lucky, I love who I am although I wish I would have started younger.

As to the question of how long it takes to loose muscle mass through HRT and to get the fat distribution in the right places, I wouldn't realy be able to say.

Cindy

   

[tinkerbell]

Your limbs become noodles!  Muscle mass all over your body decreases significantly.  How long?  I think it is different for everyone.  Six months for me!

tink

P.S.  You may find this link in our wiki helpful:

https://www.susans.org/wiki/Hormone_replacement_therapy_%28male-to-female%29

[hottiffany82]

What do you mean by "limbs become noodles?" Arms and legs shrink in size because of reduction of muscle mass? I see that many of us girls on HRT retain a real good amount of upper arm mass.

[umop ap!sdn]

You lose your strength. Just this past weekend I was having to carry a CRT monitor from the vehicle to my apartment - maybe a 50 foot trek - and I almost couldn't make it! I used to be able to carry those things without too much effort....

As far as legs are concerned, I was worried early on in transition that mine looked too masculine with the muscle structure I had (and I was never a muscular person) but now I think they're rather shapely.

[cindybc]

I agree with Nerdychick, your muscle mass will decrease to a degree but you will retain some shape to the upper arms through fat redistribution, but you may find some of the physical things you use to do markedly harder to carry out after several months or longer on HRT.  The length of time on HRT and how old you are is another factor as to how long the results take to begin affecting changes.  Like I find it somewhat harder to open certain containers more now then I did before. As for lifting anything heavy, my mate Wing Walker does that for me. she's bigger then I, so HRT won't affect her physical strength as noticeably as it did me. 

Cindy

[tinkerbell]

What do you mean by "limbs become noodles?" Arms and legs shrink in size because of reduction of muscle mass? I see that many of us girls on HRT retain a real good amount of upper arm mass.

I was talking about the loss of physical strength in relation to the reduction of muscle mass due to estrogen/anti-androgen therapy.  I mean, let's face it, we lose much of our former muscle mass with HRT, which minimizes or eliminates any built-in power advantage we might have because of our genetic sex.   

Yes, we do gain many of the characteristics of the opposite sex (nice legs, a rounded face, a fuller posterior, etc); however, that is mainly due to fat redistribution and not because of "male" muscle retention.  I presume that it also depends on how long someone has been on estrogen/anti-androgens and whether or not that person has had SRS or a bilateral orchiectomy.  Your best approach is to ask your endocrinologist or the doctor who is prescribing your HRT since he or she will be more qualified to provide you with medical advice.  Good luck on your future endeavors!

tink

[MeghanAndrews]

I'm 5'5", 141 and I have an average build. My left thigh was 19" before HRT. My right thigh was 20 1/2"  before HRT. I've been on HRT for a year now. I weigh about 10 pounds less than I did before. My thighs started gaining fat or mass (it isn't muscle) after about 8 months. My left thigh is now 22" and my right thigh is 21". My calves are basically the same. My butt filled out a little more, but I always kind of had a roundish, bubbly butt. My hips don't seem like they've done much of anything. That's my experience. I wear jeans and slacks so no one gets to see my legs anyway.

[Sarah Dreams]

I have no experience with estrogen, but I can tell you the effects of having very little T is quite amazing. My T level is 44 (normal starts at 280 or so) and has been naturally in the tank for years now. My legs and arms were on the feminine side to begin with, and have softened in appearance quite a lot. I once, in my twenties, was told by a GG that she wished she had legs like mine.

So if the lack of T can do this then I imagine E can do wonders.

[Nicole]

Can't remember where I heard it but ages ago someone told me that most transgendered women have that women would die for.

A lot of my friends hate me cause I have these long legs that look like they've been "shaped". I played a lot of sport, loved running when I was younger and I think that had a lot to do with it. Look at GG's who play netball or Basketball, they all have these great legs from teh running & jumping.

[trbrink]

What do you mean by "limbs become noodles?" Arms and legs shrink in size because of reduction of muscle mass? I see that many of us girls on HRT retain a real good amount of upper arm mass.

I was talking about the loss of physical strength in relation to the reduction of muscle mass due to estrogen/anti-androgen therapy.  I mean, let's face it, we lose much of our former muscle mass with HRT, which minimizes or eliminates any built-in power advantage we might have because of our genetic sex.   

Yes, we do gain many of the characteristics of the opposite sex (nice legs, a rounded face, a fuller posterior, etc); however, that is mainly due to fat redistribution and not because of "male" muscle retention.  I presume that it also depends on how long someone has been on estrogen/anti-androgens and whether or not that person has had SRS or a bilateral orchiectomy.  Your best approach is to ask your endocrinologist or the doctor who is prescribing your HRT since he or she will be more qualified to provide you with medical advice.  Good luck on your future endeavors!

tink

In one year of continuous, stable hormone levels, I completely lost most of my strength and muscle mass.  In addition, I dropped 15 pounds in weight from 165 to 150(I'm 5'11").  Evidence of the decreased strength first appeared while running, as my mile split times decreased from 7:45/mi to over 11/mi in the marathon.  As time progressed, I really started to feel weak and it was noticeable when trying to lift things I had lifted before, or trying to mow the lawn, etc. I must say that I was rather surprised by how weak I actually became.  Although I really don't mind it, because there is something sublimely satisfying about being the weak, helpless, female!!!!  

[cindybc]

Well I think I would be worried if I got so weak that I couldn't still mow lawns and shovel snow which I was quite capable of doing up till last year and I'm 62. I still go for a walk about every day, well I never kept track of the distance, I guess 5 blocks or so and I won't even slow down or breath heavy.

The difference I noticed is mostly in lifting things and twisting to open different containers like jars, even ripping open cardboard containers, such as soft drink boxes.  So I definitely lost strength in my wrists. Less strength, yes, but certainly not weak. I can still keep up at work with other of the girls half my age and less. Me being helpless? Geee I sure hope not. I'm just careful as to where I go. I don't drink or party but my mate and I do like to go out occasionally.

I have a friend who is a TS counselor and I mean, she looks the real thing ya know, and she ain't much bigger then me, well 5'5" in comparison to my 5'3". Well it happens she was about to walk under this highway underpass at night and this big guy comes out kind of in a hurry not watching where he was going and kind of shouldered her aside almost knocking her off her feet. She got ticked and just didn't think at all before acting out and just charged at him like she would have done in her prior life. Well she hit the guy in the side and he backed up a couple paces, regained his balance and stepped towards her again.

My friend just stood there nonplussed not knowing what to do next, not scared, just numb, frozen like a deer in a cars headlights so to speak. This girl came out of no where and grabbed the guy by the arm and said, "your not going to hit a girl now are you?" He looked at her then at my friend and just walked off with the other girl. My friend said to never walk into something like that without some type of follow up in mind.

Moral of the story, I beleive what Tink is saying simply is as our anatomy changes we need to change or adapt accordingly. If you have been several months on HRT, don't take chances unless you have **some type of follow up.**

Cindy

[trbrink]

Well I think I would be worried if I got so weak that I couldn't still mow lawns and shovel snow.....

It is not that I couldn't mow the lawn.....it just got very hard....of course I use a manual push mower and have a sloping backyard.....anyway, the bottom line is that I used to think it was no big deal and now I find it a fair amount of work......but I can still complete a 70.3 mile half Ironman in under 7 hours so I must still have some strength.

Less strength, yes, but certainly not weak. I can still keep up at work with other of the girls half my age and less. Me being helpless? Geee I sure hope not. I'm just careful as to where I go. I don't drink or party but my mate and I do like to go out occasionally.

........

Moral of the story, I beleive what Tink is saying simply is as our anatomy changes we need to change or adapt accordingly. If you have been several months on HRT, don't take chances unless you have **some type of follow up.**

Cindy

In summary I think there are a few points here:
1) Yes, most people experience a change in strength and for some of us it may be more noticeable.  Although physical strength has some correlation to real strength/weakness, in the end, it is how we view ourselves that ultimately presents our strength/weakness. As Tink and Cindy pointed out as our anatomy changes we need to change or adapt accordingly.

2) Being truly "helpless" is never a good thing, however allowing others (in particular men) to help, especially with items that may require a fair amount of strength, is a
privilege that we as women should have the opportunity to exercise should we choose.

3)We always need to be careful! Trans people experience a greater amount of personal crime, than any other minority class. We must do what we can to avoid situations that could lead to danger, such as getting drunk, walking in dark alleys, hanging out with a bunch of unknown people, etc.

[cindybc]

Hi  Tina, thank you for the response, I believe you will do well hon. just don't get into something you might regret or something you can't back out of. Keep mowing that lawn and do some walking.  Not necessarily to build muscle, but to keep yourself healthy and it good shape, female wise type of good shape of course. Maybe taking a self defence course might be in order as well, or travel with a friend if you need to go anywhere at night.

Pitz on the loss of muscles, never had much of those anyway. Being underweight for a good part of my life and anorexic for a time just before coming out full time. Well that pretty well took care of any remaining muscles I may have had way before I even began doing HRT. The good news is that with protein supplements and HRT I did gain weight and look healthier now then I ever have before for a good many years.

The weight gain is mostly fat redistribution, of course where it is supposed to be, except for the tummy which I do daily exercise to reduce. I''ve gone down four pounds and that is where I want to stick at as far as weight loss goes. Now I am just working on firming up the tummy area. I already had some gentlemen pay me some compliments in different places where I go. Wait till next summer when I come out all trimmed down, "wooo hooo!!" can't wait.

Actually I have often wondered what these gentlemen saw in me. One night I looked up some old photos from I had stored in my hard drive from when I had just started doing full time and compared them to the latest picks of me. I just don't look like the same person at all. With a fuller face I looked much younger then my true age or what I looked like before, 9 years ago. Not bad for an old duck like me, I turned out looking pretty good.  "Geeee!!" flashing my long eyelashes and patting myself on the back again huh. My beloved says you could dislocate a shoulder doing that.

"Ohhhh mercy!!" here we go again time to clam up.  Anyway I will say the same as my beloved says to the girls as their leaving the women's shelter where we work, "be wise and be safe." Geeee I truly didn't realy intend on going on and on like this.

Have a wonderful night hon.

Cindy

[loveluv]

after a couple of months on hrt i got fat on my thighs and what i like the most is the fat around the knee...it makes the leg look so much softer my partner says theyre kinda cone shaped ^o^

xx