Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi all,
As I write this, I am less than 2 hrs away from my very first Therapist session.

I just got5 back from a 5 mile walk and was thinking:

1. What effects do hormones have on someone who sweats very easily and a lot? I sweat very easy and I hate it. Living in Florida does not help.
2. If I were to go on HRT, can I still drink? I do not drink at all unless there is an occasion or I go out once in awhile.
3. What effects do the HRT meds have in all aspects?

Thank you,

Jess

The Wiki staff put it all in one place for us!

https://www.susans.org/wiki/Category:Hormone_replacement_therapy

Quote from: Jessika on October 21, 2014, 12:25:52 PM
Hi all,
As I write this, I am less than 2 hrs away from my very first Therapist session.

I just got5 back from a 5 mile walk and was thinking:

1. What effects do hormones have on someone who sweats very easily and a lot? I sweat very easy and I hate it. Living in Florida does not help.
2. If I were to go on HRT, can I still drink? I do not drink at all unless there is an occasion or I go out once in awhile.
3. What effects do the HRT meds have in all aspects?

Thank you,

Jess

I'll address the sweat. HT has a minor effect on sweating mostly it's a BO issue though. I still sweat easily afters years of ht. There is some good news, I did laser on my armpits and that actually fixed that area pretty well.

In the past I've abused alcohol to passing out regularly. Anymore I am a very light drinker so I really don't know that HT has any measurable effect. It's not my intent to ever drink to passing out again.

Thank you Ladies.  :)

Jess

Hrt basically changes you to how any other woman in general responds to alcohol. You're much more sensitive to its effects thus getting "buzzed" happens fairly quickly, at least in my case it does. I wasn't prone to sweating too much but still would somewhat prehrt. Now I barely sweat at all, at most its extremely light in comparison to before.

Remember that your skin will >slowly< become thinner and your overall muscle mass reduces during hrt.
In other words: You will cool out faster, and have less muscle mass that can produce heat -> less sweating.
But it also depends a bit on your overall body fat, since fat acts as a natural heat reservoir for your body.

Just be religious with your hydration.  :)

I appreciate the feedback all.
One thing that worries me, starting out at 47, I have a receding hairline and that infamous bald patch in the center top rear of my head. It's why I usually just keep it Bald.
So..I don't mind Wigs and I know they look great, but I really dread having to wear them all the time, specially living in Florida and during the summer. I pretty much do not dress at all (and it bothers me I can't express) during Summer months.  :(

Wish I could just step out and never have to worry about sweat.

If there are ways around that, PLEASE by all means let me know.

I do have minimal hair growth and not sure how Hormones would effect it overall except from what I read.

Jess

Thanks for the feedback.
So Alcohol while on HRT is ok?(More work for the Liver I would assume) I rarely drink unless I go out to a club on occasion or family gettogethers.. But at the club I'll have 3-6 drinks.  :angel:

I have found that since HRT that my tolerence to Alcohol has greatly diminished and the same for marajuana. I am told this is normal as the E driven person's metabolism for these drugs is not as tolerant as that on T

For me, spironolactone was problematic in many areas. Drinking too much alcohol can exacerbate the problems, as can too much coffee. Both are diuretics and can antagonize the digestive tract.

Jessika,

I'm 44 and have little hair left, and I was also worried about sweating with wigs as I'll have to wear them.

All my fears were put to rest by spending a few minutes looking at Sona Avedian's pictures on her facebook page.  She's bald, only wigs...but her frame is much smaller than when she started out her transition (check YouTube for her 9 minute breath-taking transition), so she won't sweat (as others mentioned in this topic) with less muscle.  Her living authentically has been a huge inspiration to me!  No better way to see my fears wash away then watch another TS sister document her living in pictures.

As for drinking, keep it to a light/social amount of drinking and it will never be an issue.  2-3 per night is plenty, drink 'em slowly!  And it will save you money! :)

I used to drink 3-6 drinks per night at the height...er...depth of my worst depression that caused me to look up and say "enough".  Now I probably have 1-2 drinks per week.  That's plenty.  I love a good beer, but it's not as important as losing weight to finally get to a size 8 dress, these size 22 are just too big and the beer/drinks just aren't worth it to me anymore.

Every person is different but you will most likely find on HRT that your ability to sock away large amounts of booze is over with.

I used to be able to (and often did) put away a 12 pack at a sitting and still remain vertical, but nowadays 3 beers and I am absolutely done and driving is entirely out of the question. I had a couple of glasses of wine at a friend's house one night and thought nothing of it, and later when I was driving back home I realized that I really didn't need to be behind the wheel. Lesson learned.

On HRT your dysphoria will most likely vanish, so drinking becomes a social proposition rather than an escape mechanism.

I've read that mixing large amounts of alcohol and HRT puts undue stress on your liver.

So - lots of reasons to cut back but you can still have a drink - just be aware of your new lower limits.

Great replies all. Thank you.
Something to keep in the back of my mind.

I don't drink at all just to drink when alone or whatnot anyway. My Liver gets the most work as I said on occasions, outtings which are not too often. :)

But a learning experience for the future.

Alcohol has a really weird effect on me where before it didn't.

It is unpredictable! I don't drink often but my experience has been:

Sometimes I am fairly drunky after only 2 drinks.
Other times I can drink 8+ drinks and it has very little effect on me, I get buzzed a little but nowhere near drunk.

Hangovers are awful now and last 2 days not just one.