Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Been kind of worried as of late... I've been on HRT for 7.5 months (since December 22) and I had one period of breast tenderness and growth from the beginning of March to the middle of May that resulted in me getting about 3/4 of the way to an A cup.  Though seriously, if I went outside without a shirt on, nobody would think twice.

But since the middle of May, I seem to have had no growth, or next to no growth, and no more tenderness.  Literally, nothing.  That means five of my seven months on HRT have been without any development whatsoever and I'm incredibly frustrated.  The first three months I thought might have been a warm-up period, but why did development stop after such a short period of time and without any hint of return?

How many of you went through growth dormancy periods and how long did they last?  Was it anything like this?  I'm desperate to get B cups because I'm a 38 band and 38A is a near-impossibility to find at reasonable prices (and certainly not in cute styles).  But I can't help panicking when I think I'm done at less than A. :(  Some people say that you'll get the majority of your growth in the first year, some say two years, some say it takes 5+ years of steady development... I don't know what to believe!  But I'm seriously getting worried now.  Is it too early to be getting worried after 7.5 months?

When I was on hrt I got a growth spurt almost overnight.  I gained so much weight on oestrogen that any further breast growth was swallowed up with blubber.   Zoe I envy how you can be on hrt for nearly 8 months and be worried about being underweight.  Had I continued on hrt I would have been about 200+lbs by now.   I am sure that the next few months will show an improvement in your bust size.   :)

I am sorry to be negative but there is a night and day difference between naturally produced oestrogen and synthetic oestrogen.   My personal view is that hrt affects people on a very individual basis.

YMMV.

In my experience people with a higher percentage of body fat develop more breast tissue.  Skinny people don't.  :(

Hi Zoe,

I was diy (as you probably already know) for about a year and a half and had the growth spurt as you described then nothing for a while. Then they started itching and hurting alot around a year in and got to a good A cup on one side and the other a bit smaller. I am a 38A too but couldn't find a bra in that size so I got 36B's and they fit me well-or at least they did for a while.

I have gotten off my meds for I guess around 3 months so I can get close to baseline blood test results (I hate losing the time too but I want to do this right). My boobs still itch and are filling out but no longer hurt when I hit them on something. I can only hope they start to hurt again when I resume taking my meds.

I will need a larger cup size soon as my bras do not fit as well as they used to, they seem to move around and I am adjusting them now whereas before they would stay where I put them and my breast tissue would not drop out of the bra cup-but it does now.

I can't say with certainty that you will see more growth-only time will tell if you will-but if you are like me you will see them growing again soon-7 months is not a really long time in the grand scheme of breast growth and hormone use. I am assuming my 1 1/2 years is not a long time and sincerely hope that I will see my status return to the way it was when I was taking Estrogen and Spiro together [places hands together and says quick prayer].

I have my checkup and bloodwork done next week and hope things go well but am prepared for a test of wills if it comes to that. Keep us posted with your progress.

Randi

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on July 25, 2011, 05:18:14 PM
Is it too early to be getting worried after 7.5 months?

Yes. everyone is different and breast growth occurs over a period of years in natural female puberty. Some people get a lot of growth early on and then stop, other grow steadily over 5+ years. Anyway I'm sure your boobs are just fine hun and will continue to grow just fine...I very rarely if ever experience breast tenderness...sometimes they itch, mostly they don't, but my boobs have carried on growing just fine and so will yours.

I've been on HRT a few months longer than you and have the same problem.  I had the initial growth the first few months and then went dormant.  They continue to be very sensitve though.   But nothing else noticable.  That includes no weight change.  No hip change.  No softening of skin.  No change in the hair on my body.   Makes me wonder why I should continue with HRT.

Zoë,
your entire post could have been written by me, word for word, even your 3/4 A38 fits.
And it's not easy to find "normal" off the shelf bras that can work. No-bra I hardly have man-boobs. I can feel your plight...

Since you are a lot younger I wish for you it be just a dormant spell, to be over quite soon.
You may wish same for me to, hon.

Axelle

Yes, it's way too early to panic..  From my research, it seems that breast growth can be ongoing for up to 4 - 6 years.

Well, let's consider our bodies in a general sense for a moment... We start out as babies and grow a bit every year until we reach whatever height we are going to grow to... We may be tall, we may be short, some are thin, others are heavyset... We grow at different intervals at different times

Every time my breast growth slows down, I think "Well, I guess that it... That's all the boobies I'm gonna get"... Right about that time they perk up again

I'm sure they will stop growing at some point, but I'm not worried about it anymore

Writing this response on my phone so apologies if it's kind of disjointed. :)  For some reason, this phone and these forums don't get along.

Thank you all so much for your responses so far in this thread.  I feel like I'm being silly and acting like my usual neurotic, strung-out self, but I'm literally worried about this to the point of not sleeping at night.  I fall asleep fine, but wake up with racing thoughts that keep me up for hours when I so acutely feel the lack of any sensation in my chest. It no longer hurts like the growth did a few months ago, but they also don't feel sensuous like they did.

I'm back to wondering if my body is up to its old tricks and overcoming what I'm putting into it.  Not only has the breast sensation gone, but uncontrollable erections (like constant) have returned after being gone for six months.  Spiro didn't work on me and so my doc put me on depo provera, and I'm wondering if that's also stopped working.  She also has me on generic estradiol that I take under my tongue, and she's said that if my current treatment plan doesn't work, there aren't any other options open to me.  No progesterone, no injectables, nothing.  I'm super frustrated with that assessment.

And then there's the fact that I started taking prozac a month ago to treat the depression that the depo provera caused.  Now I wonder if that's disrupting my HRT because the erections and loss of breast sensation started with the prozac.  Anyone else have this experience? I see my doctor in three weeks and I'm going to be quite vocal about this concern.

And as if this whole thing can't get any more convoluted, I have genetics both on my side and totally against me breast-wise.  Every woman on both sides of my family is quite well-endowed, all a D cup or higher.  My sister is a C she's tall and skinny like I am).  But then there's my mom, who's the runt of the family with her A cups.  So I have no clue in the world how I'm going to turn out.

This is so aggravating! :(  I want so much to stop panicking already.

Zoë,
*... I started taking Prozac a month ago to treat the depression that the depo provera caused.  Now I wonder if that's disrupting my HRT ... *

YES! It will.
It is a known fact that anti-depressants will happen to reduce E efficacy.
I recall that anti-depressants interfere with estrogen receptors.

Funny thing is that lots of doctors don't know, or don't want to know.

So you'll have less E is my best guess, AND progesterone up, which also happens to be a precursor to T.

It explains to me every thing you are relating, boobs, morning-glory, the works.

Progesterone in any case is "optional" and mostly used so as not to go Estrogen dominant.
It's also well known that it can cause depression.
Add Prozac and reduce E that way... hello!

I'd stop the progesterone and the Prozac and watch what happens.

Axelle

The fact that you are on progesterone only 7.5 months into HRT is a big red flag for me. In classical medical terminology, I think it's time you got a second opinion.

@Zoë 101 HRT, never go for ANY depo if you have not established that it work in terms of dosage!

Yeah, now you got to wear off the depo shot.

@Sarah7 Progesterone suppressing T, that is an entirely new one to me! Say no more.

@Lisbeth I really agree with you. You start thinking P after MAYBE one year HRT, some would say even later.

Do not just stop the Prozac. Wait until the Depo has had time to clear from your system, on the order of 4 months after your last shot, and then gradually taper the Prozac. Depression caused by Depo is serious business (almost killed me). And antidepressant withdrawal is also serious. And you don't want to be dealing with both at the same time.

Do not take Depo again if you've had a bad reaction to it. It's evil stuff. There may be a form of progesterone that won't cause problems for you, but this isn't the one. And if part of your HRT is causing rather than relieving depression...that's a serious problem, and should have been a red flag for your doctor.

As for your breasts, for a standard of comparison, I had less-than-A-cups at 11, Bs at 15, Cs at 18, and Ds at 20. So that's 9 years. Even if yours develop twice as fast as a cis girl's because you're already an adult on adult dosages, 5 months is nothing. I'd be much more concerned about your mental health, involuntary arousal, and loss of sensation than about any physical development.

(By the way, I'm not aware of progesterone suppressing T levels. Estrogen alone can have that effect, but progesterone? Not aware of any mechanism.)

Red flag, eh?  Whatever for?  I'm curious about that comment since I don't know what difference it would make if I was on progesterone now or later. :)  My doc put me on it because the max dose of spiro didn't put a dent in my T levels.  She even tells me not to count my months on spiro as months that I was on HRT because my T levels were so high, at 650.

I'm not surprised about the link between estrogen and antidepressants... Just looked it up briefly and there appears to be a lot of info about that out there.  Could be why my doc was very hesitant to put me on the prozac?  She didn't say anything, but she wanted me to try everything but.  Only problem is that nothing I tried worked because I couldn't stop crying four to eight hours a day, despite my best efforts.

As for finding a new doctor?  I'm thinking about it if my current doc won't try anything outside of two HRT regimens, one of which doesn't work on me, the other leaving me completely non-functional without antidepressants.  There has to be more...

I hope for all of our sakes, Axelle and Sarah, that we can find something to put us at some more common sizes! ;D

Wow... Three responses while I wrote that?  Writing on a phone is so slow. lol  Can't wait to get back home to a real internet connection!

Kyril, I sincerely appreciate your thoughtful and hope-invoking response to this.  I really hoped at least one FTM would come here and chime in! :)  What you said mirrored my thoughts completely, why my doctor would have me continue on the depo when my last shot put me in a paralytic depression.  She wasn't completely convinced it was the depo because I didn't react that way to my first shot and didn't start until three weeks after my second, but that it ramped up again three weeks after my third shot is pretty conclusive proof that the depo is killing my emotional life.   This time I don't think she'll have any problem coming to the same conclusion and take me off the depo.

What disturbs me though is that she flat out said that if not depo, my only other option is spiro, which simply didn't work.  My T levels were 650 on spiro, 9 on depo, but I can't continue with depo if I can't handle the emotional side effects.  It left me sitting in a dry bathtub next to a knife, not because I was going to end my life, but because the thought of being so close to doing it helped put me into such a crying fit that I couldn't do anything but sleep due to the exhaustion.  I know just how bad this stuff is. :(

So if my doc refuses to do anything else, I might be in the market for a new one...


EDIT: I should probably qualify my earlier statement about the erections... they're not exactly full, it's just marginally solid all the time.  As in, the solidity hadn't abated one iota in six days.  Six complete days, every second of the day.  Something is not right here, and I really think the prozac is causing it.  This has never happened in my entire life.

There you go honey, straight fro the horses mouth, um. :-)

* (By the way, I'm not aware of progesterone suppressing T levels. Estrogen alone can have that effect, but progesterone? Not aware of any mechanism.) *

Seem your doc is doing some Guinea-pigging. In fairness HRT is not so much a science as more of an art form. But excuse me, some basics also apply to art.

BTW, I'm longer the 1 year on HRT and I use progesterone cream and there is all oral Prometrium (ABBOT), and generic Endogest (Cipla) and Utrogestan (Benson Int).

Why depo only, beats me... and why P in the first place...
Is your doc an Endo or normal medical practitioner? Just wondering.

'nough said,
Axelle
PS: * Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) is another option *
Not so! It's not FDA approved i.e. a banned substance in the US.
Only used on sex-offenders for all I know. It is approved in Europe, also SA.
It is ~4 times stronger then Spiro. I used it for some time.

Well I have tried twice to post back in without success so here goes again.

I am sorry that you continue to struggle like this. Your condition is more complex that I was aware of and my heart goes out to you. The spiro knocked my T out very quickly and I am looking forward to using it again-very soon. The testosterone dominance is something I truly hate. It makes me have difficulty concentrating and at times it makes me extrememly irritable. The erections are an indicator of the rising T dominance over E. Just try to bear in mind that hormone use is a long-term thing and there is time to counteract problems in the long run so don't loose hope [hugs].

My sisters are large breasted but our Mom is the opposite-I am as large as she is and still filling out. 

I'm looking (though not very aggressively) for a new doctor. I wanted to wait until I talk to my nurse pract (who I really like) and get my checkup and bloodwork behind me (her boss is a real jerk and I refuse to let him touch me again). Hang in there sis, we'll make it thru this somehow.

Randi

Fancy some more info

Quote from: Hayley Rivka on July 20, 2011, 03:51:12 pm
For those that asked about progesterone boosting libido. I was taking Depo-Provera injections prescribed by my doctor and my libido shot through the roof!!!!! I didn't like it all! I was always switched on. I also started getting body hair coming back and so after about two months or so, I stopped it.

I'm now on Finasteride as well so I started taking the Depo-Provera injections again on my own, in hopes that the Finasteride will counter the Depo's hair production.
+++++++++++
So much for suppressing T... hello!
+++++++++++

Next, quote ?

I had excellent hearing before Provera.  After Provera I experienced trouble hearing one person in a crowd.  My brain could no longer distinguish one voice among many.   I stopped taking Provera and told my endo.  She said I was just old and my hearing was deteriorating.   I tested my hearing and it was O.K. for a single soft sound.  I lost hearing at picking one voice among many!  I noted that problem among other TG's taking Provera....

++++++++++

What we have here is failure to communicate...? :-)

Well honey, now you go and take you pick, eh

Axelle

As for my doctor, I don't know if she's an endo but she's in general practice.  She's also known as being one of the top docs in my area for HRT, at the top of everyone's recommendation lists.  Her practice takes about eight weeks to get into and appointments are booked months in advance.  So even if she's not an endo, I like to think she knows her stuff.

Then again, my case seems to be anything but ordinary now. :(  I'm just not having an easy time with HRT at all, but it's typical for my body.  I counteract every treatment any doctor had ever given me my entire life, to the point that I've always needed the strongest doses of the strongest medications to get through anything.  I think my HRT treatment is probably way too conservative for how my body has historically reacted to meds.

Thankfully I haven't had any side effects from the depo except for the crushing moods.  For a short while, spiro seemed to decrease my already-sparse body hair, and that stopped with depo but no additional body hair has come up.  My sex drive on spiro was out of control and depo killed it.  As for hearing, I wouldn't notice anything like that because that's my reality anyway: unable to hear people very well in crowds.  I had hearing loss from ear infections as an infant so it's been like that my whole life.

FWIW, those who report issues of any type with progesterone tend to do so more with any of the Provera family as opposed to the compounded or micronized progesterones...it may very well come back to the same differences some had with natural versus synthetic estrogen (I was one who had to go to synthetic in order to get any sort of a response since the system processed the natural through far too quickly to do anything out of taking mammoth dosages). 

Quote from: Ann Onymous on July 26, 2011, 03:30:52 PM
FWIW, those who report issues of any type with progesterone tend to do so more with any of the Provera family as opposed to the compounded or micronized progesterones...it may very well come back yto the same differences some had with natural versus synthetic estrogen (I was one who had to go to synthetic in order to get any sort of a response since the system processed the natural through far too quickly to do anything out of taking mammoth dosages).

I don't know how my body reacts to synthetics versus naturals because my doctor has been set on these two courses of treatment, either spiro or depo.  And at this point, I'm having grave doubts as to the effectiveness of my last depo shot at suppressing my T levels.  These constant and uncontrollable erections and total lack of breast sensitivity and tenderness are pretty good indicators.  On top of that, I'm now having to shave my face twice a day because I'm so stubbly after five or six hours. :(

I really wish I knew why anti-androgens weren't working on me at all... or why they stop working.  My stupid body just sucks.

It sounds like a fairly frustating situation Zoe :(

I wish you could find another doctor, as your current one seens to lack much knowledge or willingness to change his course of action.

Quote from: Maiara on July 28, 2011, 06:27:07 AM
It sounds like a fairly frustating situation Zoe :(

I wish you could find another doctor, as your current one seens to lack much knowledge or willingness to change his course of action.

I have an appointment with her on August 13th (or 16th... that paper's at home on my desk) and if I don't get some satisfactory answers, I think I'm going for a second opinion somewhere.  I can't help but think that there's more out there than what she's doing, something that might help people who have problems with conservative forms of HRT.  It's maddening!

From someone who studies medicine..

YES. There is plenty that can be done for you. You just have to find a doctor that is either already experienced or willing to study your case. Preferably both.

Quote from: AbracaDebra on July 28, 2011, 06:13:51 PM
Well, just to throw my few pence worth in.  Whoever said about hormones affecting different people differently, has hit it on the nail.  Prior to starting, I was drowning in information.  Then, as time passes by I realise that my growth is occuring in a way nothing like my other friends.  After a few months of E & Spiro, tenderness, and starting to swell, don't touch etc.  Then had to stop E for a month and was worried about stopping the growth. What rubbish!  Carried on with just Spiro and tenderness almost gone, but boobs keep growing !  Go figure that.  I think we have to be aware that not only are people different but that the time things take to happen varies with people also.

So, in a nutshell, just stick with it and all will be well in the end.  :)

Debbie

Thank you, Debbie! :)

I'm trying really hard to be patient and not stress out about this, but what's been going on lately has me worried that testosterone is back to ravaging my body and I'm going to lose what very little gains I had in the first place. :(  I already have a history of one anti-androgen not working, and now I'm faced with the possibility of a second, and a doctor who tells me I have no other options and that HRT simply might not work on me.  She literally said that back in March and now I'm fearing it's true...

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on July 28, 2011, 10:22:04 PM
I'm trying really hard to be patient and not stress out about this, but what's been going on lately has me worried that testosterone is back to ravaging my body and I'm going to lose what very little gains I had in the first place. :(  I already have a history of one anti-androgen not working, and now I'm faced with the possibility of a second, and a doctor who tells me I have no other options and that HRT simply might not work on me.  She literally said that back in March and now I'm fearing it's true...

There is one documented case of estrogen insensitivity that I'm aware of.  True EIS is extremely rare.  I would think then HRT would work for you, its just a matter of finding the right combination of medications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrogen_insensitivity_syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrogen_insensitivity_syndrome)

Hon, since you perceive having an AA issue --- ever considered orchie?

It should not be THAT expensive, or?

Axelle

Quote from: regan on July 29, 2011, 06:16:40 AM
There is one documented case of estrogen insensitivity that I'm aware of.  True EIS is extremely rare.  I would think then HRT would work for you, its just a matter of finding the right combination of medications.

I'm definitely not estrogen insensitive considering I had previous breast growth from a point when my testosterone was under control.  The problem is that my body is a genius at overcoming and overcompensating for any medications that get put into it.  My liver is ridiculously strong in that regard.  We can't get my testosterone under control through medication and my doc says I have no more options.

Quote from: Axélle on July 29, 2011, 10:08:36 AM
Hon, since you perceive having an AA issue --- ever considered orchie?

It should not be THAT expensive, or?

Axelle

For the reasons above, most definitely.  But I really don't want to considering I want the full surgery someday and want as good of results as possible. :(  But I may have no other choice at this point in time.

Orchie followed by SRS can be fine even after 5 years as we have heard already.

If you are circumcised, most US male-bodied babies are/were, you have some need for skingraft very probably in any case to get reasonable depth. My knowing.

Also the surgeon doing orchie must be familiar with SRS techniques as not to create an issue for the SRS surgeon later on. These days this aught to be not problem IMHO.

Axelle
PS: Then there is of course some emotional issue involved that only you can sort out...

The T lowering properties of medroxyprogesterone acetate (provera) are well documented and one of the only drugs usted in the US to chemically castrate sex offenders.  I have personally used it just for the purpose of reducing T and it is very effective. he

Cyproterone Acetate is a much more effective antiandrogen but it is not FDA approved (but not banned or controlled). CA is a generic drug so drug companies are not going to to spend money to push through the FDA for MTF transsexuals and the other population of users for CA are geriatiric prostate cancer patients and the CA is harder on the geriatric patients liver.

The dangers of CA are overexagerated and come from studies wit ha geriatric population taking over 800 mg/day which is WAY more than a M2F needs by a factor of 8-16x. Personally, I'm lucky since my T is under 20 with a little spiro every day. Thanks to everclear :-)

Quote from: Axélle on July 26, 2011, 01:48:49 PM
* (By the way, I'm not aware of progesterone suppressing T levels. Estrogen alone can have that effect, but progesterone? Not aware of any mechanism.) *

Seem your doc is doing some Guinea-pigging. In fairness HRT is not so much a science as more of an art form. But excuse me, some basics also apply to art.
PS: * Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) is another option *
Not so! It's not FDA approved i.e. a banned substance in the US.
Only used on sex-offenders for all I know. It is approved in Europe, also SA.
It is ~4 times stronger then Spiro. I used it for some time.

"My stupid body just sucks."


No it doesn't Zoe, it is very wise.   I know your body's defence mechanisms - it considers hrt etc to be something alien and it is doing it's utmost to protect you from an alien pathogen - are getting you down Zoe I sympathise with you though.   :)

...medroxyprogesterone acetate (provera) are well documented and one of the only drugs usted in the US to chemically castrate sex offenders.

I was of the impression we were talking about "micronised progesterone" i.e bio-identical, sorry.

Reading up on Provera, it suppresses BOTH estrogen and testosterone!
Fine for male sex-offenders I guess. But using it as an AA? Suppressing E as well?

Hm,
Axelle

Quote from: Axélle on July 30, 2011, 12:59:14 AM
...medroxyprogesterone acetate (provera) are well documented and one of the only drugs usted in the US to chemically castrate sex offenders.

I was of the impression we were talking about "micronised progesterone" i.e bio-identical, sorry.

Reading up on Provera, it suppresses BOTH estrogen and testosterone!
Fine for male sex-offenders I guess. But using it as an AA? Suppressing E as well?

Hm,
Axelle

Since we take E and don't manufacture it except for a little bit that made from testosterone by conversion by the reductase enzyme, I don't think it is going to interfere with our estrogen production unless it is locking in to estrogen receptors at the cellular level and blocking estrodiol (like phytoestrogens can do).

Depo provera is well documented for use by M2E (male to eunuch) to lower T levels and is often accompanied by gyno unless an anti estrogen is used like Arimidex or Tamoxafen. You can research personal accounts at www.eunuch.org (http://www.eunuch.org) for other peoples experiences.

Thanks for clearing up some more of the details Jessica,

as for me, I'd be most apprehensive to use THAT drug (medroxyprogesterone acetate, Provera). Thanks to this thread I learned that for myself. Jolly good show.

Thanks again for sharing,
Axelle

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on July 29, 2011, 10:16:30 AM
I'm definitely not estrogen insensitive considering I had previous breast growth from a point when my testosterone was under control.  The problem is that my body is a genius at overcoming and overcompensating for any medications that get put into it.  My liver is ridiculously strong in that regard.  We can't get my testosterone under control through medication and my doc says I have no more options.

For the reasons above, most definitely.  But I really don't want to considering I want the full surgery someday and want as good of results as possible. :(  But I may have no other choice at this point in time.

Ok dont kill me over this but since Thailand increased the age limit to 21 for SRS, the number MTF's getting castrated has increased. Ok not suggesting do it but maybe look into it because that should help until you can do the SRS. Again i would do it myself but i havent looked into it but if you have no options maybe its time you consider it as your AA.

Love Zoey  :)

Zoey,
see post #33 --- suggesting 'orchie' (orchiectomy) = castrated.
The latter is just a much more nasty sounding word, at least to me.
Axelle

So here's the deal... apparently, this was caused by the Prozac after all.  I called my doctor because that semi-erection I had had lasted a full 8 days and I was tired of it.  Yes, that's 8 full days and nights without going away at all.  It wasn't bad enough that I couldn't tuck (just poorly done) and it didn't hurt, but it was terribly annoying.  She suggested going off the Prozac since I'd only been on for 20 days.

Would you believe it?  After a few days off, that erection went away and it feels like someone's put clothespins on my nipples.  The growing pain is officially coming back.  Unfortunately, so are the crying fits... I still have a headache from the one I had in the two hours before I went to bed last night. :(

Zoe did you have these mood swings before HRT?

Strogen and P does changes our moods, and you will be a teenager emotionally speaking until you learn how to live with the new set of emotions. As for Provera, I use it as part of my HRT, since I do a hormonal cycle, and things have been working great for me.

Endogenous progestorene does reduces Estrogen concentration in natal females as well. All in all, it  depends of how your body reacts to the drugs and what kind of HRT you are doing, not the drug itself. As everyone says, your mileage may vary.

Quote from: Maiara on July 31, 2011, 09:26:14 AM
Zoe did you have these mood swings before HRT?

I've suffered from major depression since I was 10 (even tried to kill myself at 11).  I just haven't had a downturn this bad in 6 years.  In fact, I might even say this is worse than the one I had 6 years ago, which culminated in what I promised would be my last suicide attempt.  Now, it's like I'm depressed to a paralyzing level, but I'm not suicidal because I see so much to live for and I actually like my life now that I've transitioned.  I have too many beautiful friends and family that I could never hurt in that way, nor do I want to hurt myself anymore.

So really, I'm in a good place, just depressed beyond any stretch of the imagination.

So now, antidepressant are well know to interact negatively with ERT/HRT. You just proved THAT point once again.

The next point you'll now prove is that progesterone can cause depression, and in particular medroxyprogesterone acetate, Provera. That's also well known.

You'd be NOT the first person to experience that to the point of getting suicidal --- oh yes, you did mention something like that already.

That's why one NEEDS to establish these things using ORAL, before getting a shot in the butt, taking a ride to hell in a handbasket.
Your doc should know ALL that.
I'm really sorry for you having to suffer all this learning.

Axelle

I do agree with Axelle's take on the P and mood. I think the downsides of P far outweigh any benefits you may get from the it. I'd seriously look for another way to lower androgens.

Jessica,
kiss, kiss, what we do for fuller tits, never mind AA. (so far for the theory)

Zoë.
just say good bye to those "twins" - got one good motivation now, haven't you?

Axelle

Quote from: Princess of Hearts on July 25, 2011, 05:40:44 PM
I am sorry to be negative but there is a night and day difference between naturally produced oestrogen and synthetic oestrogen.   My personal view is that hrt affects people on a very individual basis.

Please enlight me.

Kate D

I know it's a little late to enter this conversation but my breast growth has been more in the dormancy period than the active period for the last 2.8 years! :(