Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello everyone,

Let me preface this post by letting everyone know that I am getting bloodwork done very soon and have an appointment with my endo this week.  So I am taking all the proper steps to ensure my safety.  I just want to have the opinion of others on this board.

This past week I have been trying to exercise a lot to try and rapidly lose weight.  I am not the biggest fan of exercise, so I am not used to working out for a prolong period on a daily basis.  In any event, I have been pushing myself to the limit in hopes to get my dream body (I'm not really big or anything, but I want to get in good shape).  I have been really going overboard and have probably jumped the gun by throwing myself into intense workouts when my body wasn't prepared.  Anyway, after spending one day running on the treadmill for about an hour, I noticed that my legs were feeling strained afterwards.  This is likely due to me being a fool and pushing myself too hard, but I can't help but feel concerned about DVT/blood clots because of all that I read about estradiol increasing the chances of clots.  The past two days I have been resting, but on my eft leg I notice that the calf musle is a little tight and my knee is slightly achy. Also, the hamstring sometimes radiates a painful sensation.  The right leg is a little tender too, but not like the left one. I don't notice any swelling or redness, but I want to be on the lookout for anything that may appear.  I know it's likely that it's from the exercise, but what does everyone here think?  I have only been on estradiol for a month and it is a fairly low dose to start with.  Plus, I am in my early twenties.  Do you think I am driving myself crazy over nothing?  I'm getting worried because of all the horror stories I have read about dvt.  I'm sitting here popping baby asprin every 6 hours in hope that I'll be okay.  It's not too painful, just sore, but I'm afraid about a clot breaking off like you always hear about.  Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

It's normal for muscles to hurt like a sob when you first start using them, especially when you're so... enthusiastic about it. I suggest posting this in the fitness board. You'll be able to get advice from people who can tell you what's normal for post exercise.

LtL, the chances of you having DVT after one month of HRT are close to zero and it sounds to me that you are just suffering from tired muscles and slightly strained ligaments, exactly what you should expect given the situation you have described.
Apart from that, yes, you do seem to more anxious than most about just about everything. Can't imagine what it will be like if you start doing stuff like FFS & GRS...  :)
Hugs
Donna

The first day that I tried doing body feminization exercises, about 2 months into HRT, and I pushed myself to my absolute limit, I could barely even get out of bed for 2 days after that, to the point that I had to call off from work on Monday to recover further. I was worried about blood clots too, but it ended up just being extreme muscle fatigue.

From my experience, HRT makes muscle recovery from exercise WAY slower than before. Because the body doesn't have the programming to rebuild male-sized muscles anymore, and yet now after your workout you've got a lot of torn little muscle fibers that it needs to rebuild. So yeah... you'll recover in a few days. But just know, until HRT is over, and the muscles have settled into their final female size and shape, exercise is going to HURT. So don't strain yourself. Take it easy.

Okay, that's good to know.  I just worry because my last blood test showed that I had high hemoglobin levels, so I wonder if clotting would be more problematic for me in general.  Plus, I have had a few family members with high blood pressure and some have had heart attacks (one was fatal), I worry about the prospect of a clot travelling to my heart.  However, I probably have been over thinking everything. 

Quote from: learningtolive on July 14, 2013, 02:59:17 PM
Hello everyone,

Let me preface this post by letting everyone know that I am getting bloodwork done very soon and have an appointment with my endo this week.  So I am taking all the proper steps to ensure my safety.  I just want to have the opinion of others on this board.

This past week I have been trying to exercise a lot to try and rapidly lose weight.  I am not the biggest fan of exercise, so I am not used to working out for a prolong period on a daily basis.  In any event, I have been pushing myself to the limit in hopes to get my dream body (I'm not really big or anything, but I want to get in good shape).  I have been really going overboard and have probably jumped the gun by throwing myself into intense workouts when my body wasn't prepared.  Anyway, after spending one day running on the treadmill for about an hour, I noticed that my legs were feeling strained afterwards.  This is likely due to me being a fool and pushing myself too hard, but I can't help but feel concerned about DVT/blood clots because of all that I read about estradiol increasing the chances of clots.  The past two days I have been resting, but on my eft leg I notice that the calf musle is a little tight and my knee is slightly achy. Also, the hamstring sometimes radiates a painful sensation.  The right leg is a little tender too, but not like the left one. I don't notice any swelling or redness, but I want to be on the lookout for anything that may appear.  I know it's likely that it's from the exercise, but what does everyone here think?  I have only been on estradiol for a month and it is a fairly low dose to start with.  Plus, I am in my early twenties.  Do you think I am driving myself crazy over nothing?  I'm getting worried because of all the horror stories I have read about dvt.  I'm sitting here popping baby asprin every 6 hours in hope that I'll be okay.  It's not too painful, just sore, but I'm afraid about a clot breaking off like you always hear about.  Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

To tell you the truth, if I was in your position, I would not be too worried about DVT.

The older studies about hormone therapy and DVT were conducted on older women, usually post-menopause or after hysterectomy.  They involved Ethinyl Estradiol or conjugated estrogens (like Premarin).

There is always a small chance of DVT - even if you are not on any sort of estrogen.  But if you are on 17-beta estradiol, that chance is minimal.

If you are still concerned, see your doctor.

It is from exercising. Case closed.

This is most likely from overexerting yourself. Cardio helps the body produce hormones that break down blood clots in the body. So if you stay in shape, you're much less likely to get any actual blood clots. :)

I believe I have a DVT in my right calf. It doesn't always hurt, but I get charlie horses midday sometimes, and usually after that my calf will be in excruciating pain for days. Sometimes I have to pull over when I'm driving. I have the hardest time working my legs at the gym, and if I go too hard on weights I'll literally fall off the machine in pain. I almost fell over at work one time because the pain busted out of nowhere (after that particular incident, I noticed a massive bruise taking up half my calf). This has been going on for years (maybe 5 or 6 by now), and while other people seem worried for me when I mention it, I'm just kinda used to it.

I think weight/general poor health is much more of a cause of blood clots than Estrogen is.

I'm skinny as hell, the healthiest eater/exerciser that I know, go most days without smoking a single cigarette, and because of PCOS my body basically doesn't produce estrogen, so...obviously it doesn't matter what you're doing with yourself. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. You just gotta be proactive and make sure you check with your doctor when you suspect something like this (I don't have a doctor or health insurance, otherwise I'd have gotten this looked into a long time ago).

Quote from: D0LL on July 22, 2013, 11:21:23 AM
This is most likely from overexerting yourself. Cardio helps the body produce hormones that break down blood clots in the body. So if you stay in shape, you're much less likely to get any actual blood clots. :)

I believe I have a DVT in my right calf. It doesn't always hurt, but I get charlie horses midday sometimes, and usually after that my calf will be in excruciating pain for days. Sometimes I have to pull over when I'm driving. I have the hardest time working my legs at the gym, and if I go too hard on weights I'll literally fall off the machine in pain. I almost fell over at work one time because the pain busted out of nowhere (after that particular incident, I noticed a massive bruise taking up half my calf). This has been going on for years (maybe 5 or 6 by now), and while other people seem worried for me when I mention it, I'm just kinda used to it.

I think weight/general poor health is much more of a cause of blood clots than Estrogen is.

I'm skinny as hell, the healthiest eater/exerciser that I know, go most days without smoking a single cigarette, and because of PCOS my body basically doesn't produce estrogen, so...obviously it doesn't matter what you're doing with yourself. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. You just gotta be proactive and make sure you check with your doctor when you suspect something like this (I don't have a doctor or health insurance, otherwise I'd have gotten this looked into a long time ago).

I got my blood work and nothing showed up.  And my hemocrit/hemoglobin levels are now normal so I guess I'm okay.  It hasn't been hurting lately.

I think there is some reason for you to be concerned if this has been going on for such a long time.  Dvt can be fatal, so you really don't want to play around with that.  If you don't have insurance, it still would be wise to see a doctor and ask if they can give you a sliding scale fee.  If they want you to do testing, you can still ask for a discount as they usually have affiliations with labs in the area.  Please don't put yourself in this kind of risk.  It's not worth it.

You needn't worry blood clots come to trans women from years of HRT coupled with a period of prolonged and sedentary inactivity. I got mine from that coupled with self medicating using a hormone regimen that was known to be risky especially for an older person. Just got off Warfarin blood thinners and a clean bill of health last week.