Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I hope my post title says it all. Muscle atrophy seems to have begun in earnest and there are times my muscles will just ache. There are days when washing my hair seems exhausting. Or my neck and shoulders get sore. It will feel like I had been working out super hard for a week straight when I haven't been doing a thing. I have noticed that my pectoral muscles will get achey shortly before my breasts grow a bit. In fact while my boobs have increased in overall volume they aren't any larger, I think that's just my pecs dissolving. I have less to give too and get tired much more quickly than before. The best part is my tops/bras etc. are all fitting so much better. I am excited to see how far this goes.

Anyway, is this all normal and good? Did y'all notice muscle loss as it happened?

The only thing that really hurts are my breasts. So, no.

Well other people report muscle loss too...
and that the remaining muscles are more likely to ache... :)

I did notice it at first.  It was harder to do things like open jars, lift heavy bags, etc.  But it didn't really hurt, and eventually I got used to it.  Maybe it's something else?

Pickle jars and pop caps. I have arthritic wrists so not having functioning muscles cause big problems trying to open things. I think there is some kind of Alien conspiracy in the sealing of pickle jars.

I had that for a little bit, but it went away. I'm certainly weaker than I was 10 months ago. Its not a huge difference though. Also "he" still not only works, but far too frequently for my tastes.

I haven't really noticed a whole lot of difference in the ability to do things although my muscles do measure smaller.


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Quote from: stephaniec on October 14, 2015, 01:01:25 PM
I think there is some kind of Alien conspiracy in the sealing of pickle jars.

Don't say that... most E t's are benign... its only a few bad apples that spoil the reputation... :)

Quote from: Laura_7 on October 14, 2015, 01:39:17 PM
Don't say that... most E t's are benign... its only a few bad apples that spoil the reputation... :)

sorry not enough sleep

Nice to know that there isn't something wrong with me. My only sadness is that I can only manage 2.5 pull-ups. I haven't been there since the sixth grade. It kept the bullies off my back because I could knock them around too. I am far too happy though to want to change anything. When everything settles in I will find my new normal. Sorry y'all I still pop pickle jars with ease. Although my hands are much smaller these days!

"Sorry y'all I still pop pickle jars with ease"

So you must be one of the good ET's

Quote from: stephaniec on October 14, 2015, 02:10:15 PM
"Sorry y'all I still pop pickle jars with ease"

So you must be one of the good ET's

Darn it you clocked me! I guess it is back to the mothership...

I also have a lot of atrophy with aches, especially in the places with more atrophy like shoulders and back.  Still have almost the same grip though.  I wear out quickly, extremely quickly.

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Spironolactone has a number of potential courses of action that can cause muscle aching. You may be mildly dehydrated or low on salt because of the Spiro, which would both lead to rapid muscle fatigue and cramping.

I experience muscle pain close to the bones.

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on October 15, 2015, 01:44:45 AM
Spironolactone has a number of potential courses of action that can cause muscle aching. You may be mildly dehydrated or low on salt because of the Spiro, which would both lead to rapid muscle fatigue and cramping.

That makes sense too, I sometimes feel better after eating something salty...thanks!

Quote from: Lili on October 15, 2015, 02:45:59 AM
I experience muscle pain close to the bones.

I have had this in my hips. It started at the end of summer and was the worst in early September. My but stcks out more now and my hips look more shapely.

I was not on spiro or lack of any nutrients or water and I had dome serious muscles aches, I can't say if this was cause by muscle atrophy but it happen in the same time.

My muscles were sore for any little effort I made when started HRT. I started back some serious weight lifting this year and well now the soreness is pretty normal. My muscles are not getting big anymore only firmer.

I work in a fairly physical job and as my E levels have climbed and my T levels have dropped, have noted loss of upper body strength.  Cannot say there is pain associated with it, but things that used to be easy now require real effort.  I started Yoga about the same time I started working on my hormonal balances.  If anything, I would say that everything has become smaller and firmed up.

My doctor told me to expect some more serious muscle mass loss once synthetic HRT starts.  We shall see.  Staying active in any capacity will certainly help with keeping your physical abilities limber.

Quote from: Kellam on October 14, 2015, 11:44:00 AM
I hope my post title says it all. Muscle atrophy seems to have begun in earnest and there are times my muscles will just ache. There are days when washing my hair seems exhausting. Or my neck and shoulders get sore. It will feel like I had been working out super hard for a week straight when I haven't been doing a thing. I have noticed that my pectoral muscles will get achey shortly before my breasts grow a bit. In fact while my boobs have increased in overall volume they aren't any larger, I think that's just my pecs dissolving. I have less to give too and get tired much more quickly than before. The best part is my tops/bras etc. are all fitting so much better. I am excited to see how far this goes.

Anyway, is this all normal and good? Did y'all notice muscle loss as it happened?

All I can say is yes.  I thought I was just sleeping weird or something but in the last few days, my neck and shoulders hurt as though I worked them out even though most of my workouts have been circuits and cardio.  I also think my pecs are losing volume since my chest seems to have gotten smaller overall even as I develop breast tissue.  So disappointing.  :-\

I had pain and cramps in back neck and leg muscles, my HRT doc suggested I add Magnesium as that is also lost with the sodium and potassium from the dehydration effects of spiro.  I didn't think it would make much difference but I tried it and it helped so...learned something new.

Hugs  :)

I'm not the most muscular of girls anyway and less than a few days into my HRT regimen I hope I don't become even more of a push over!

I'm reluctant to train my arms and shoulders as I'm already concerned the width of my shoulders is always gonna be a huge tell so bulking them out at all frightens me slightly.

That's a difficult question for me to answer because I was hit by a car and was dealing with quite a bit of pain long before I even started HRT

Does the HRT exasperate that pain? I wouldn't really know -  I do know that I have lost quite a bit of strength, but I'm not really sure how much of that to attribute to the injuries or HRT either

I'm just glad I'm not confined to a wheelchair and I only have to use a cane to help me stand up from time to time these days

Hugs