Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello!
I've been on HRT for 6 months and have had GREAT changes, b-cup boobs, smoother skin, more full face yadda yadda. The two things that never changed for me however, was testicle size and ejaculation. I self-medicate because in my country, Norway, there is only one hospital that can give you hormones and it can take 2-4 years to be diagnosed. I recently had a blood test done and it showed that my testosterone was in the male ranges. I also read today that spironolactone's bioavailability is supposedly almost doubled if you take it with food, which I have not been doing. Is there anything else I can do? I am at a high dose already, and don't want to go higher than what I already am at.
Also my s-bilirubin was at 41(idk meassurements) but it was way above normal levels, but everything else, except for vitamin d was fine (did an extensive test for pretty much everything you can test..).

Thanks if anyone can help me and sorry if I broke any rules!

EDIT: Also, my estrogen level was just above male levels, even though I am at a standard dosage for that as well.

I think its ok as long as you don't mention dosages.

My endo said that she would start me on spiro and estro. If my T levels were to high at my next visit, she would add progesterone.

Kanad3

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Quote from: awilliams1701 on December 30, 2014, 02:50:30 PM
I think its ok as long as you don't mention dosages.

My endo said that she would start me on spiro and estro. If my T levels were to high at my next visit, she would add progesterone.

From all the reading I have done, I haven't found any conclusive proof that progesterone actually helps with feminization. However, it is proved it adds to the risks of HRT, therefor I would not want to have anything to do with it, though.

There are a lot of people here that believe that its good for the boobs. However it sounds like you've already lucked out in that area with a B cup in only 6 months. I know its a huge controversy with a lot of opinions. I can only tell you what my endo told me.

My endo has been working with trans patience for 20 years I believe. The woman that recommended her to me says she's familiar with most of the endo's in the area and said that she is actually one of the most experienced. I specifically recall her saying that if the T levels were still too high, she would add progesterone as it should help bring them down farther.

Of course ultimately SRS or even an orchi would solve the problem by eliminating the source. That's not an option for me at the moment and I'm guessing probably not for you either.

Quote from: kanad3 on December 30, 2014, 02:59:04 PM
From all the reading I have done, I haven't found any conclusive proof that progesterone actually helps with feminization. However, it is proved it adds to the risks of HRT, therefor I would not want to have anything to do with it, though.

Quote from: awilliams1701 on December 30, 2014, 03:06:34 PM
There are a lot of people here that believe that its good for the boobs. However it sounds like you've already lucked out in that area with a B cup in only 6 months. I know its a huge controversy with a lot of opinions. I can only tell you what my endo told me.

My endo has been working with trans patience for 20 years I believe. The woman that recommended her to me says she's familiar with most of the endo's in the area and said that she is actually one of the most experienced. I specifically recall her saying that if the T levels were still too high, she would add progesterone as it should help bring them down farther.

Of course ultimately SRS or even an orchi would solve the problem by eliminating the source. That's not an option for me at the moment and I'm guessing probably not for you either.

Heh yeah, my mom has h-cup boobs, so kinda won the genetic boob lottery.
I'm sure your endo will do what's right for you ^^
And I will get SRS in a couple years, but that's not soon enough :p

(damnallthesecaptchasaandjalgjkdsgsjdarekillingmexo)

Even if pro is harmful in the long run (hugely disputed topic by the way) and really does lower T, you would only need it until the surgery. After that E would be the only thing you need.

Don't worry its temporary. I think its only 10 times and it goes away.

Quote from: kanad3 on December 30, 2014, 03:11:53 PM
(damnallthesecaptchasaandjalgjkdsgsjdarekillingmexo)

Quote from: awilliams1701 on December 30, 2014, 03:14:30 PM
Even if pro is harmful in the long run (hugely disputed topic by the way) and really does lower T, you would only need it until the surgery. After that E would be the only thing you need.

So many people claim that it messes with their emotions and give them intense moodswings. I really can't afford taking that risk. I wouldn't be able to deal with it.
I am at a slightly above average dose of spiro  now, though, and I'll wait a couple months and get a new blood test done, if it doesn't look good, then I think I will consider moving to androcur, even though it will cost a ridiculous amount of money -_-..

I would love to experience more emotions. I start to feel things and then something cuts them off at the last second. I was under the impression that taking E would help with that in the first week, but its minor at best. So it sounds like I have 2 reasons to be hopeful for adding pro. (breasts and emotions) I do know that there are no guarantees HRT has more unknowns than knowns.

Quote from: awilliams1701 on December 30, 2014, 03:27:22 PM
I would love to experience more emotions. I start to feel things and then something cuts them off at the last second. I was under the impression that taking E would help with that in the first week, but its minor at best. So it sounds like I have 2 reasons to be hopeful for adding pro. (breasts and emotions) I do know that there are no guarantees HRT has more unknowns than knowns.

You're only a little over a month into it, I wouldn't worry about it. Most changes start occuring at 6 months ^^

True, I just know the order isn't what I expected. "He" "died" almost immediately, which while great and I'm happy about, I expected to occur a lot later. I was under the impression the mental changes would occur before that happened. I'm definitely growing boobs. While they aren't visible yet, they're very sensitive and I can feel the difference in that area.

My endo explained the progesterone as being an additional tool to lower T to female levels when spiro alone doesn't do the job.  In that sense, it's a rather effective tool.  Even low levels of T (for a male, which are still high for a female) will dramatically hinder feminization - lowering T to female levels seems to be the new gold standard for HRT, rather than raising E to female levels.  Progesterone indirectly helps with feminization by helping to tackle the problem of high T, instead of directly contributing to boobs, fat redistribution etc.

Testosterone is not nearly as potent of an androgen as DHT is.  My endo swore by knocking DHT out with dutasteride, then the T level went down on its own by the dutasteride fooling the hypothalamus and testes into not producing much T (I think this was how he explained it...).  I never once took spiro, but when I had the orchi, the testes were the size of marbles due to the combo of E, P and dutasteride.

I am post-op, I take PROGESTERONE which is different from other progestogens like Provera or even Cyproterone Acetate which are sometimes known to cause emotional problems. The addition of progesterone for some, whether pre or post-op has proven to be beneficial. It can sometimes even alleviate depression. :)

Also, dutasteride/finasteride only reduce conversion of T to DHT and may even by themselves increase the amount of T and E as less T is converted to DHT. They do NOT affect pituitary or hypothalamus feedback loop in the least bit.

Spiro's bioavailability is quite high already so I doubt taking it with food will make much difference. But, it may help reduce, in some, gastric upset/irritation. :)