HRT and High Metabolism (still getting hard/morningwood/etc.)

[gum]

So well, I came across this post on livejournal, and it sounded a lot like what I'm experiencing. I was wondering if anyone here could help me out.

Alright, so I'm having issues with my Spironolactone. I've been on HRT for about 7 months now, and many of my friends who've been transitioning are reporting different effects from their Spiro than I have been. Namely, they report that they no longer achieve erection easily, no more morning wood, loss of body hair, and significantly smaller testicles. For the first few months I saw these side effects, but now I'm noticing no real loss of body hair, my testicles are of similar size of what they were, and I still achieve erections extremely easily (and it's distressing when it happens) and I still get morning wood. I've had situations before where my blood tests showed significantly higher testosterone counts than previous blood tests, and because I have an INSANELY high metabolism, my doctor thought my body is probably metabolizing the Spiro too well (and all those bitches out there who think being able to stay skinny so easily was actually a good thing, you can suck it). I've heard Androcur is like the god given sledgehammer to testosterone, though I've also heard it can cause liver damage. Though I'm not going to be on it for a significant period of time as my SRS will be later this year, so I'm doubting much damage will be done. Is anyone else on Androcur? Anyone against Androcur? If you could share your experiences, that'd be great.

Okay just a short introduction of myself. I'm 20, been self medding for almost 6 whole years. Half of you would probably tell me to go see a doc or whatever but I'm still underaged and it's still illegal for them to prescribe hormones to me. In the mean time I've tried several hormones such as Diane 35, Premarin, something, Estrofem, Unijab and Androcur.

Apart from estrofem, none of it actually had any of the effects which many transwomen would describe. I'm still able to get errections very easily, I often get morningwood, there is absolutely no loss or thinning for facial or body hair. Even when I was taking 50mg of Androcur daily it didn't seem to make any difference at all. However when I tried taking estrofem it did reduce my sex drive and retard hair growth a bit, but not by a lot.

Anyway the above seems to match what I seem to be going through. I've got an extremely high metabolism rate too. BMI of 16.1 even though I eat a lot.

I'm wondering if anyone here has gone through anything similar, and if they could advice me on what to do...

Thank you.

[Rabbit]

Half of you would probably tell me to go see a doc

Umm, nope? All of us would tell you to go see a doctor....

How is 20 under age? Have you even tried to find a doctor that would work with you?

[ClaireA]

I know where you are coming from - I self-medded for 5 years on and off starting at 16, so I can feel your pain.

You're in a not-so-great situation here. There is a good chance that the medications you are getting are not legitimate, one of the many dangerous downsides to self medication. Don't take more spiro because, if it really is spiro you are getting, you could OD, especially considering the fact that spiro dosages for TG HRT are already much higher than those taking it for other reasons.

I know this is not the answer you want to hear, but you need to go see a doctor. Putting aside the fact that self medicating is already a horrible idea, there is a good chance that either A. You're not getting what you think you're getting (a very serious situation), or B. Your levels are way messed up and only a doctor can fix that (also a serious situation).

What country are you from? You should be able to see a doctor at 20, and, even if it IS somehow illegal for them to prescribe you hormones, there shouldn't be anything wrong with them checking your levels, and most doctors would do this purely from a harm-reduction standpoint.

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but: Would you rather see a doctor, or would you rather be dead?

[Jennie]

I agree with the others, if you can not see a DR. now then I would wait until you can, I have not started HRT yet but I hope to soon, my therapist  has told of some of the bad side effects of self medicating and if you are not getting the normal effects like the others then something could be wrong, that is what DR.'s are for, they are there to help you, at least go to a free clinic and let them know what you are doing and ask for a check up.  I hope the best for you, aloha.

Jennie

[gum]

I'm from Singapore, and it's illegal to prescribe hormones to anyone here under the age of 21.

I've never taken Spiro though, and generally I've always stuck to lower doses. The meds are all legit though.

I suppose I could go see a doctor to get my levels taken...I've never did it before because it is quite expensive ($100+) and I'm a bit embarassed because I still have no clue about it. What exactly do I ask them to test for anyway? And would there really be anything conclusive from just one test result, or would I need to take multiple tests.

I agree with the others, if you can not see a DR. now then I would wait until you can, I have not started HRT yet but I hope to soon, my therapist  has told of some of the bad side effects of self medicating and if you are not getting the normal effects like the others then something could be wrong, that is what DR.'s are for, they are there to help you, at least go to a free clinic and let them know what you are doing and ask for a check up.  I hope the best for you, aloha.

Jennie

If I took your advice and waited 6 whole years before starting transition, I would have killed myself by now due to depression.

[Jennie]

If I took your advice and waited 6 whole years before starting transition, I would have killed myself by now due to depression.

Seriously if this is the case you need to seek professiona help for your own good, there are qualified online therapists that can help you and they can help you with the price if you can not afford it, I use Dr. Graham Peveller, it does not matter where in the world you live, he will help you.
We gotta stick together and I do not want to see you kill yourself from depression and I also do not want to see you get bad health problems from self medicating,  you do not have to stop in order to seek help, they can tell you things you might not know about,  I know one of the things they look at in a blood test is the liver function among other things.  I hope this helps and I wish you luck, aloha from Hawaii.

Jennie

[valyn_faer]

Simply increasing the dosage isn't necessarily going to have an immediate effect. For me, the whole process has been very, very slow. In order to tell if a particular change in dose is having the desired effect, you would need to be on it for a few months at the very least. Even then, the changes can be so slow that sometimes they're barely even noticeable. I had stopped getting morning wood prior to even starting HRT simply because of age--I'm 30. But even after being on Spiro for 8 months, and estrogen for 4 months I still can get erections. The point is, it seems to take a very long time for the effects to actually kick in.

[gum]

Simply increasing the dosage isn't necessarily going to have an immediate effect. For me, the whole process has been very, very slow. In order to tell if a particular change in dose is having the desired effect, you would need to be on it for a few months at the very least. Even then, the changes can be so slow that sometimes they're barely even noticeable. I had stopped getting morning wood prior to even starting HRT simply because of age--I'm 30. But even after being on Spiro for 8 months, and estrogen for 4 months I still can get erections. The point is, it seems to take a very long time for the effects to actually kick in.

Umm I've been on HRT for 6 years.

[Emmanuelle]

Umm I've been on HRT for 6 years.

and you're 20 in the mean time... so why not look for a doctor? You're nearing the 21 mark anyway.

The problem with self-medding is that you're likely to make drug selections based on false assumptions and a lot of heresay. It's no surprise that it becomes disappointing with a lot of wasted time and money. Just do the right thing hun.

[Jacelyn]

If I took your advice and waited 6 whole years before starting transition, I would have killed myself by now due to depression.

As someone from a muslim country with no support for TG, nor doctors willing to help, I certainly can feel your predicament.

If there is really "humanity" in this forum, there should at least be some attempt to drop the mantra of referring to doctor.

As for ills of self-medication, I tend to support an authority in HRT who in response to question of self-medication as "HRT is not rocket science".

If you really need guidance on self-medication, I would suggest you join the thousands of similar minded people in: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TsDoItYourselfHormones/

There you are free to read the guides, and raise your questions and doubts, I'm sure you will receive a lot of help there.