Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Can not being on T cause you to be more depressed? I don't get it. I was fine before. I was setting goals and working towards accomplishing them. Then my doctor took me off the T due to a blood test and told me I had to see my regular doctor to redo the test. It turned out what was wrong had nothing to do with testosterone, and my doctor wants me to start seeing a real endo. My appointment is next week, but due to a scheduling conflict, I might have to change it. Now it seems like my whole world has just come to a crashing halt, and am walking around in a deep depressing fog. I've nearly stopped talking to everyone. I have no interest in anything, and I am really irritable. The funny thing is, I don't feel depressed about anything gender related. It's everything else. I can pinpoint the things that are bringing me down even though if someone asks i tell them I don't know what's wrong, and I try to avoid them. I even sort of have an idea of how to fix at least some of it. It's actually getting motivated that's the hard part. And I can't seem to talk to anyone about the things that are bothering me. I've tried, but then this idea that no one really cares pops into my mind, and I chicken out. Even as I type this (and I've tried several time before) I want to delete it. I have a coworker who expresses real concern, and he tries to talk to me. Today, I almost told him about some of it, but I backed out, just telling him it was a lot of little things. I've always had this issue where I felt I couldn't talk to people about things that were bothering me. Maybe some of it comes from my social anxiety. I came to the conclusion a while ago that not being on T might have something do do with my depression, but I have not told any doctors. When one of the docs prescribing my T asked how I felt off it, I just told her I felt a little irritable and she laughed a bit like she expected that.   

I think that t is linked to dopamine levels. Low t meaning a decrease in dopamine, which may make you feel more depressed.

Edit: Could you check with your doctor if l-tyrosine supplements are an option? This makes a huge difference for me (I'm not on t), even on a very small dose. It's an amino acid that is at some point along the chain converted to dopamine.

Oh yes.  I've had this.  My endo gives me pills,  because he's doing a gradual build up to the full replacement dose, partly because I have a history of severe depression.  Anyway, I forgot one day.  My god, I haven't been that sick in years.  That thought you're describing, that no one cares, I had that.  And the motivation problem.  I went from normal happy me to full-on depression - suicidal ideation,  the whole bit.  It was frightening to realise just how much my depression is linked to my T levels, and there wasn't really anything that set  me off.  It was entirely a question of hormone levels.  Do whatever it takes to get your hormones right again.  This can be fixed.

Well, I'm glad to hear that I might be right about my suspicion that it's my T levels. Assuming all blood tests are normal, it should be easy to get back on T. It's just really amazing how low I have gotten without it. I too have a long history of depression, but when I am on T I feel more neutral. I'll try to hang in there until I've got the doc Okay to go back on T. Thanks for the little bit of hope.   

They shouldn't just take you off of medication. That is sometimes more dangerous than leaving you on it.