Strange... almost a week on T

[Luc]

Wishful thinking is great, but delusion....

Changes WILL come. For me, my voice began to change by about a month in, but didn't really "drop" until 2 months. Facial hair started coming in thicker at about 2 or 3 months. Skin thickened and muscles seemed thicker at about 2 months. Clitoral lengthening started early... while I didn't notice a visible difference until at least 2 months, I started feeling strange pains in that area at about a week on T.

Water retention can make your extremities swell, and in its minor forms, can make muscles seem stiffer. Change will come, guys. It's just not immediate.

SD

[JonasCarminis]

well... i totally just did a chinup.  i couldnt do that before.  maybe that water retention realy is helping me out. 

[Lachlann]

Maybe these new feats are just psychological.

Let's face it, sometimes a positive attitude and believing in something really does take you someplace.

[JonasCarminis]

maybe.  and i just remembered something.  meepmarmoset on youtube started off at the same amount as me (his was by accident though) and his voice was already changing after a week.

im not saying im an instant man or anything, but i dont think its fair to say that its impossible for someone to see changes this early.  meepmermosets voice, eryks muscles, and my not being able to sing high... you never know.

[Lachlann]

That is true. I also watch his videos and he did respond fairly quickly to voice changes, from what I could tell.
Didn't he also find out that he was given a little too much T at the time by accident?

This is still interesting. It's hard to say if you guys are responding fast or if it's just wishful thinking.

[JonasCarminis]

yes, he did find out that it was too much.  but his accidental dose was my dose on purpose.  so... same dose.

[Ender]

Let's face it, sometimes a positive attitude and believing in something really does take you someplace.

That's a very good point.  I will say that, prior to T, I worked out with vigor--however, I was getting really rather disgusted with my estrogenated body.  If I pushed the working out too much (actually, I believe it was more 'if I dropped below a certain weight threshold'), I would stop *winces at the word* menstruating.  Not that I minded that stopping, but amenorrhea is apparently a risk factor for osteoporosis later in life.  My GP's advice was: "women are supposed to have fat on their hips.  You should eat more cookies (no joking, she said that) and stop weightlifting."  Bah.  One time it stopped for 8 months and the only remedy was HRT--of the estrogen + progesterone variety.  Not happy.  I put off taking that for as long as the doc would allow.  Anyways, after that I cut back a bit on my working out, and always made sure to keep my weight above that threshold.  Now, it feels like the reins have been cut loose--if that monthly thing stops, well, who cares?  It's supposed to on T.  I can work as hard as I want without worrying about having to go to the gyno again to have more estrogen prescribed for me.

eryks muscles

Lol, I'm sorry, I just find that funny...  For reference, my muscles aren't exactly huge:



Granted, they're bigger than when I began weightlifting--back then, my upper arm was flat even when I flexed and it was all squishiness, not firm.  (BTW, sorry for concentrating only on the biceps; it just seems to be the muscle that's most commonly exhibited & associated with weightlifting... guess I'm just perpetuating that, but for illustration purposes it works.)  I guess I'll keep ya updated in a few months to see if these 'baby guns' have matured any...

[Lachlann]

yes, he did find out that it was too much.  but his accidental dose was my dose on purpose.  so... same dose.

Ahh, that could explain it too.

Let's face it, sometimes a positive attitude and believing in something really does take you someplace.

That's a very good point.  I will say that, prior to T, I worked out with vigor--however, I was getting really rather disgusted with my estrogenated body.  If I pushed the working out too much (actually, I believe it was more 'if I dropped below a certain weight threshold'), I would stop *winces at the word* menstruating.  Not that I minded that stopping, but amenorrhea is apparently a risk factor for osteoporosis later in life.  My GP's advice was: "women are supposed to have fat on their hips.  You should eat more cookies (no joking, she said that) and stop weightlifting."  Bah.  One time it stopped for 8 months and the only remedy was HRT--of the estrogen + progesterone variety.  Not happy.  I put off taking that for as long as the doc would allow.  Anyways, after that I cut back a bit on my working out, and always made sure to keep my weight above that threshold.  Now, it feels like the reins have been cut loose--if that monthly thing stops, well, who cares?  It's supposed to on T.  I can work as hard as I want without worrying about having to go to the gyno again to have more estrogen prescribed for me.

That might be your answer right there, then. It seems a bit more realistic than the other theory.

[Ms.Behavin]

Hum.. Well as Someone who "A long time ago" lifted weights and other things to over compensate,  I'm thinking that if Eryk has been lifting for years then the body / muscles are already trained/ primed and just need a bit of T to grow quicker. T does build muscle if one lifts.  Plus genetics can play a roll.  Maybe Eryk will be the next Arnold.  How cool would that be!.

As always everyone is different and most changes do take forever when one first starts on the HRT path.

Beni

[Mister]

Maybe Eryk will be the next Arnold.  How cool would that be!.

Do you think Eryk can sort out California's budget?  If so, he's got my vote.

[milliontoone]

lmao.......

[tekla]

I don't think at this point god or J.P. Morgan could sort out this state's financial mess.

[Ender]

Maybe Eryk will be the next Arnold.  How cool would that be!.

Do you think Eryk can sort out California's budget?  If so, he's got my vote.

...

*runs for the hills, far far away from California*

[Scratchy Wilson]

I didn't really notice any difference in my muscles for about a month, and I was working out 5 days a week. I think the first thing I noticed about them was that my forearms were bigger and more defined. I noticed while I was driving and I thought I was halucinating...I almost drove off the road lol. But the first results I got from T was hair on the back of my hands. I've been on T for 8 months now, and it seems like all the affects have slowed down dramatically...it kinda sucks.

[Dennis]

Yeah, you do get a stage where it feels like you're not making progress. But what you're doing is slowly aging towards your chronological age and the body fat is redistributing slowly.

I have a lovely beer gut and a bit of facial hair to thank for that.

It happens fast in the first year, but after that it happens slowly, then one day you wake up and realize there are parts of your face that you're either gonna have to shave daily or grow something (I'm lazy, grew a goatee). Someday I'll look my age, but I know now that I look at least 30-ish and I'm gaining 3-5 years on every year.

Plus the voice change goes on for a while. It might be more noticeable for me because I'm a singer, but it took until 3 years on T until it stabilized and my singing voice is still improving.

Patience, grasshoppers

Dennis

[Luc]

Uh, by the way... too much testosterone is a very BAD thing if you're trying to masculinize. Excess testosterone converts to estrogen... hence the men on steroids with shrunken testicles and man-boobs (aka gynecomastia). We wouldn't want that happening, now would we?

Anyone who takes more {than standard} is simply shooting himself in the foot... any doctor with half a brain will tell you that. That's what I started on, that's what I continued on, and I had a full beard, sideburns, whatnot, by 3 months in. Patience is a virtue.

SD


^{edit- dosage. parenthesis phrase added. Nero}

[Scratchy Wilson]

3 months?!! Dang, after 8 I'm lucky if I get peach fuzz! Maybe it's because of my age or something, but my face is a smooth as a babys butt.

[Lachlann]

3 months?!! Dang, after 8 I'm lucky if I get peach fuzz! Maybe it's because of my age or something, but my face is a smooth as a babys butt.

From what I understand, the facial hair aspects depend more on your genetics.