Susan's Place Transgender Resources

 Does skipping one or two days of hrt and then making it up the following days slow down the feminizing process?

I am scared that since I skipped a few days in the past few weeks it's going to be like starting over... :-(

A very worried Andrea

Generally, if you miss a dose, you are NOT supposed to double up the next time.

What I do with most of my meds is take them in the morning, before any other "morning routine" (pee, shave, shower, etc). Some meds I have to take twice (HRT being one of them), so I have trained myself to be acutely aware of 7pm (my "second dose" time).

This way I only have to remember one time--7pm--because the morning time I do immediately after waking up.

I sneaked an increase in my HRT dose about a month before my endo said ok, but he wasn't really happy about it...he was concerned I might self-increase it again, and get myself into a pickle. I haven't since that one time.

Quote from: NotThereYet on December 29, 2012, 10:31:37 PM
Does skipping one or two days of hrt and then making it up the following days slow down the feminizing process?

I am scared that since I skipped a few days in the past few weeks it's going to be like starting over... :-(

A very worried Andrea

I would think that "a few days" in "the past few weeks" wouldn't make any long-term difference, certainly not enough to say it's starting over...hormones take a few days to build up, and a few days to diminish.

Just try not to forget to take them...either you NEED to, or you don't really care...

eta: Please disregard the stricken text, thx.

No, missing a dose or two periodically shouldn't hurt anything and as Beth said, don't try to make it up, just get back on schedule.

If you're on spiro, skipping it is bad. You want to always take it and as regular as possible.

As for estradiol. Estrogen is stored in your body's fat. Even if you stopped taking estradiol tomorrow, it would be a few weeks before a blood test would show your estradiol levels reverting to what they were without the introduction of the hormone from an outside source.

Be as regular as possible. Treat it like any other woman would birth control pills and you should be fine.

I have when for a week before, awaiting funds to get my HRT.  I just start the cycle when I have them.  Check the instructions or with your doctor as to whether or not to double up on the missed dosages.  Some you can and some you should not.

Quote from: Beth Andrea on December 29, 2012, 10:47:02 PM

Just try not to forget to take them...either you NEED to, or you don't really care...

That's kind of an awful thing to say. Having trouble remembering something is based in cognitive ability, not in what's emotionally important to someone. Some people have a harder time remembering than other people, just like some people are athlete runners, some people can't walk at all, and a bunch of people are somewhere in between

I find myself not knowing whether or not I took the HRT. I probably am pretty being pretty good about it most of the time but I don't really know. I'm planning to get one of those medicine planners like old people use for my HRT so I'll at least know what I did. But just because that will probably be enough for me doesn't mean it would be enough for someone else.

Thanks all for the replies! :-)

@Hippolover
Pardon my ignorance but could you elucidate on Spiro and why it is bad to skip(and double-dose)?

Thanks in advance,
Andrea

Quote from: Carbon on December 30, 2012, 06:39:57 PM
That's kind of an awful thing to say. Having trouble remembering something is based in cognitive ability, not in what's emotionally important to someone. Some people have a harder time remembering than other people, just like some people are athlete runners, some people can't walk at all, and a bunch of people are somewhere in between

I find myself not knowing whether or not I took the HRT. I probably am pretty being pretty good about it most of the time but I don't really know. I'm planning to get one of those medicine planners like old people use for my HRT so I'll at least know what I did. But just because that will probably be enough for me doesn't mean it would be enough for someone else.

You're right, I shouldn't have said that.

My apologies.  :embarrassed:

Quote from: Beth Andrea on December 30, 2012, 07:15:20 PM
You're right, I shouldn't have said that.

My apologies.  :embarrassed:

it's okay, thanks

No worries, Beth, I was not offended. :-)

Thanks Carbon for thinking about my feelings. :-)
Andrea

Quote from: NotThereYet on December 30, 2012, 07:03:35 PM

@Hippolover
Pardon my ignorance but could you elucidate on Spiro and why it is bad to skip(and double-dose)?

Both are equally bad to miss. Don't miss them if you can help. But unlike estradiol, spiro is not stored in your body's fat. It's not stored at all. It works by filling up cell's receptors for testosterone. Picture this:

Hold your hand up like you're going to draw a thanksgiving turkey with it. This hand represents a cell in your body that has a receptor to testosterone. Now take your other hand and slide your fingers in between each other so that both hands are locked. This hand represents the hormone testosterone. This model is similar--a dumbed down version of course--to how cell receptors work in the body.

In your body your cells have receptors that respond to hormones. When a testosterone locks up within a cell to the appropriate receptors the cell knows to do "manly" things (lol!). Spironolactone's structure so closely resembles the structure of testosterone that it fills in the cell's receptors before your body's testosterone can fill them in. Thus, "spiro" blocks testosterone's ACTION in the body. Spiro alone will not lower T levels--this is according to my doctor. I don't know if she is right by saying that spiro alone will do nothing to lower total T levels. But she does have the Ph.D. not me! Lol.

But anyway, spiro has a short life span in the body though. Its not stored anywhere. If you miss a day, or more, the receptors for testosterone are no longer blocked, meaning that testosterone can resume sending "manly" signals to your cells.

Hope this explanation helps. My doctor used the same method to explain it to me. I like to know how things work. So I asked her and she told me. Your doctor will likely do the same.

Oh--and estradiol works the same way as testosterone. Each cell has an appropriate receptor for it. Its stored in the fat though and is released much more slowly. Thus it last in the body much longer. As it is released it fits into the receptor's of cells in your body. My doctor says estradiol is more potent that testosterone. I would agree with her, though many on here will strongly disagree with that. My doctor is old school and is of the mind that Estradiol SUPPRESSES Testosterone Spironolactone BLOCKS Testosterone. She wanted to start me out on just Estradiol; I had to talk her into giving me spiro too. 

I just got one of those old lady pill containers so I know for SURE if I missed a dose :3