Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey all,

I hope to be on T soon, but online I've seen people complain about being angrier and having more rage after starting T. I'm concerned for myself. I'm a pretty laid back guy and while I could use more confidence, I don't want to be angry all the time or anything like that. How often does this happen? Is it pretty common?

I'm also really laid back and easy going.  Before T my confidence was 6 feet under.  Now it's much better partly because of T but mostly because I've taken better control of my life.

I'm not angry all of the time at all.  But sometimes I get a rush of rage if I feel the situation deserves it.   I surprise myself in the way it makes me react.  I recently took a punch at another guy because I was tried of his crap.  He easily dodged it and took it as a playful joke.  I was just surprised I did it at all. 

At times it's good because it helps me stand my ground and stand up for myself.  Which is vitally important when you are interacting with an all male group. 

I think I've always had explosive rage (punching walls to the point of breaking my knuckle, but hey, it keeps me from punching people unless they start it) but previously it took much longer to build up and much, much longer to die out. Now my "rage" dies out in a matter of minutes, literally, and then I'm back to being my nice and laid-back self.

I also second the better confidence. I was one of the shy, silent types but I'm suddenly much more confident to voice my opinions and stand up if I disagree. And all this in just 6 weeks of T so I don't know if it's actual effect or placebo effect, but either way it's working miracles.

I think those complaints are kinda exaggerated.

Is true that T changes the way you experience anger from emotional to physical. For example, pre-T I would experience dysphoria on an emotional level w/ feelings of helplessness, sadness etc. and would be inclined to cry. After being on T for a year I now experience it physically through feelings of rage and would be inclined to punch something. I can't cry anymore.

This is all just an inherent part of being male. Your anger will be no less and no more than any other guy's, and chances are if you're laid-back now you'll continue to be.... people with explosive rage are usually predisposed to it and T exacerbates (god I hate that word) it.

Peace brother.

A lot of pre-t guys (I'm pre-t aswell) worry that taking t can give them something similar to "roid rage" (roid rage in itself is also somewhat of a myth).

I think the truth is men experience anger (from testosterone) differently. From what I've heard, anger with men is alot more physical. Like you feel it a lot more physically, where with women it's a lot more emotional and I think women internalize their anger a lot more (Ever have an argument w/ a girlfriend who will bring up something from a long time ago? haha) A lot of the times transguys are so relieved and so much happier on T and to finally be becoming themselves that they actually tend to be more laid back and less emotional than before.

I agree with them. Simply put I'm not angrier, just differently angry. It's better now, I'm confident & don't let people walk on me.


My only real increase would be instead of getting upset at pain, I get annoyed with it.

Quote from: Squirrel698 on October 06, 2011, 12:42:00 PM
I'm also really laid back and easy going.  Before T my confidence was 6 feet under.  Now it's much better partly because of T but mostly because I've taken better control of my life.

At times it's good because it helps me stand my ground and stand up for myself. 

This

what these guys are saying is perfect i mean when i had T i was failed my test ah! punch a wall but only when i was super happy but mwa i cry on E :) hmmm T is well like a hormone for hunters so rage of that level is there for boys to not be harmed :) i say don't worry you will only become a lay back dude with the ability to protect himself :) pls you can't say you don't want those extra muscles  :P :D

Hi Darrin,

I wouldn't worry about the rage, especially if ur laid-back already. It's just one of those things. I wasn't very laid-back and I havnt killed anyone yet lol, and I've been on it over 2 years now.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. I was pretty nonchalant and unemotional before T, and I still am after T. That doesn't seem to change. Though it is true that when I do get emotional, it tends to express itself differently. (Consistent with what others have mentioned here. I'm more likely to feel anger than other negative emotions when I feel something negative.) But overall, it doesn't make you more emotional in general. (The opposite, even. If anything, it helped me give even less of a crap than I did before.) So if you're already laid-back, you should be fine.

it's just like going through male puberty. all teenage boys will SOMETIMES lose control of their temper while they are getting used to being exposed to more testosterone. it doesn't turn you into the hulk. it's just part of becoming a man and that journey goes a little different for everyone. i wouldn't worry about it.

also, i'm pretty pre-disposed to angry outbursts and so is the rest of my family and t hasn't made it much worse. i definitely wouldn't use the word "rage" to describe 'testosterone-exacerbated anger'. rage is like when you want to kill someone. what i've experienced has been, at worst, a GRRR moment.

the guys i know who are on T it makes them happier. as they are seeing changes and that makes them really happy. ive found the only guys who have T rage are guys who are already agressive or have a short temper. some guys have erratic emotions and mod swings but that mostly happens when their T levels are really high and some of their T turns into estrogen. i wouldnt worry to much about it especially because your a laid back guy.

I don't think you should worry that T will change your personality. Echoing what people on here have said already, T hasn't really made me angrier, but it has changed the way I experience anger and negative emotions. Before, when something upset me I would want to start crying. Now I feel it more physically and want to hit something. Just like before I didn't actually cry most of the time when I got mad, I don't actually hit something most of the time when I get angry now.

When I first started T, there was a period of time when I was moody and got angry really easily, but I think this was just mood swings related to hormonal changes. Now I feel a lot more balanced than I ever did before because I'm not anxious/stressed out about when or if I'll ever start T.

This guy is great - very honest, real, and sincere, but also entertaining.  He doesn't post too much anymore       though
: (.  He talks about how T affected his capability for anger.  I think it will help you, though of course, as always, YMMV:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/9/w3gpLkCY0Eo (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/9/w3gpLkCY0Eo)

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/8/0doApoWkJNo (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/8/0doApoWkJNo)

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/7/HxK981tQuE8 (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/7/HxK981tQuE8)

I'm going to echo what everyone else said about T merely causing you to experience anger and react to it differently than you're used to. If you don't already have problems with it I don't think you have much to worry about. As for me, I felt "rage" sometimes pre-T and would have a hard time controlling it. But those moments were few and far between. I've been on T for a few months now and I have felt "rage" far more often, to the point where I feel out of control. All of my negative emotions are usually just felt as anger now, too. I guess since I've had a past with this type of behavior that would be why this is happening. Just wanted to get in my perspective since it seems almost everyone else here has a pretty good handle on their anger.

Quote from: sonopoly on October 06, 2011, 07:02:12 PM
This guy is great - very honest, real, and sincere, but also entertaining.  He doesn't post too much anymore       though
: (.  He talks about how T affected his capability for anger.  I think it will help you, though of course, as always, YMMV:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/9/w3gpLkCY0Eo (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/9/w3gpLkCY0Eo)

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/8/0doApoWkJNo (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/8/0doApoWkJNo)

http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/7/HxK981tQuE8 (http://www.youtube.com/user/TC38Cole#p/u/7/HxK981tQuE8)

I've talked to him in depth. He's amazing.

Before T I would get angry a lot, I was unhappy and pissed off most of the time so it was easy for me to get very angry really fast, even at little things, whereas now i'm on T i'm happier and more laid back, I get angry a lot less. One thing i've noticed is that pre T I could get very angry but it could go away easily but now i'm on T I find that I can still be angry for a while afterwards.