Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi, everyone. I just started HRT a little more than a week ago, and had a few questions. How long would you say it was before you started feeling anything? My one transgender friend said she could feel effects within a day or two. She said her mood was better, and her nipples started tingling. I can't really say that has happened yet. However, one very strange thing has happened. I am noticing that I sleep more easily, wake up more easily and I have vivid dreams that I can actually remember now, every night. It's kind of cool! :D

Transition is a marathon not a race. Everyone reacts a little differently. Getting your T down is important for E to take effect. At your next doctor appointment make sure it includes a blood test for T and review it with your doctor.

I didn't notice anything the first week - that's normal. I probably started noticing small changes 3 weeks in.

I felt things the first or second night.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

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RedheadWhovian:

Hello again.

I just switched from another thread with a similar topic.  Allow me to repeat my post here for you.

Is this your first time on ERT?

Depending upon your dose, tired may be the least of your experiences.  I was ill:  fits, queasy, heaves, vomiting.

I was frequently ill while still presenting as male in some parts of my life and that must have thrown some observers for a loop.  Later when I was full-time female experiencing that same illness was when I got an explanation of it.  Female co-workers not knowing my story but recognising the symptoms approached me and asked un-solicited pregnancy-related questions to me:

     -  'Is this your first?'

     -  'Which do you want - a boy or a girl?'

     -  'When are you due?'

That illness was 'morning sickness' same as any pregnant female gets when her hormones go on overload.

You are experiencing vivid dreams, too, huh.  Another consequence of my 'morning sickness' were my night-time dreams experiencing stages of pregnancy.  Maybe you'll get those in your night-time dreams.

All that came courtesy of those little pills.

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Quote from: RedheadWhovian on December 05, 2015, 03:57:16 PM
Hi, everyone. I just started HRT a little more than a week ago, and had a few questions. How long would you say it was before you started feeling anything? My one transgender friend said she could feel effects within a day or two. She said her mood was better, and her nipples started tingling. I can't really say that has happened yet. However, one very strange thing has happened. I am noticing that I sleep more easily, wake up more easily and I have vivid dreams that I can actually remember now, every night. It's kind of cool! :D

Hi sweetie
You have only been on for a week nothing happens over night. It takes a month or so before you start to feel the effects and that also depends on the dosing that your doctor has put you on. Be patient things will happen. We al want things to happen over night. Give it time it will.

Big Hugs
Lyndsey

Hello Dear,

I have posted elsewhere about this, but it is certainly no problem to repeat my personal experience.  I was started on a T-blocker (spironolactone) and a DHT blocker (finasteride) several weeks before I started estradiol patches.  I didn't feel any different on the spiro and finasteride.

The estradiol was a different story.  Within several days, my dysphoria started to decrease.  My appointments with my endocrinologists started out at every six weeks, at which time he would increase the spiro and estradiol doses.  My libido vanished, and I started to get some mild pains around my nipples.  I have since developed breast nodules, fuller breasts, and of course, constant breast pain.  That took about three months.

I have also started to pack on the pounds, gaining about 7 pounds in the last month, despite decreasing my alcohol consumption significantly, and doubling my exercise regimen.  I have decided to back off the estradiol until I see my endo next month. I was up to two patches at once, twice a week.  I am going back to one patch at a time.  Weight loss is now a priority for me.

The last caveat is that I am no doubt much older than you, so your experience may differ considerably.  (Why do so few people list their age in their profiles???)

Hope that helps.

With kindness,

Terri

Quote from: Cynthia Michelle on December 06, 2015, 09:03:41 AM
Transition is a marathon not a race. Everyone reacts a little differently. Getting your T down is important for E to take effect. At your next doctor appointment make sure it includes a blood test for T and review it with your doctor.

Okay! :) I should have stressed that I am not expecting anything yet. I just wanted to see what everyone else's experience has been like, to have something to measure off of. Guess everyone is simply different. :)

Quote from: RachelsMantra on December 06, 2015, 09:18:42 AM
I didn't notice anything the first week - that's normal. I probably started noticing small changes 3 weeks in.

Thank you for your input! :)

Quote from: AshleyBeech on December 06, 2015, 11:24:50 AM
I felt things the first or second night.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I guess everyone is indeed different with it!

Quote from: Sharon Anne McC on December 06, 2015, 12:47:15 PM
*

RedheadWhovian:

Hello again.

I just switched from another thread with a similar topic.  Allow me to repeat my post here for you.

Is this your first time on ERT?

Depending upon your dose, tired may be the least of your experiences.  I was ill:  fits, queasy, heaves, vomiting.

I was frequently ill while still presenting as male in some parts of my life and that must have thrown some observers for a loop.  Later when I was full-time female experiencing that same illness was when I got an explanation of it.  Female co-workers not knowing my story but recognising the symptoms approached me and asked un-solicited pregnancy-related questions to me:

     -  'Is this your first?'

     -  'Which do you want - a boy or a girl?'

     -  'When are you due?'

That illness was 'morning sickness' same as any pregnant female gets when her hormones go on overload.

You are experiencing vivid dreams, too, huh.  Another consequence of my 'morning sickness' were my night-time dreams experiencing stages of pregnancy.  Maybe you'll get those in your night-time dreams.

All that came courtesy of those little pills.

*

I'm so sorry I missed your post! I am such a busy bee X_X. And I am sorry you had to deal with such sickness during your transition. D: I can't say I am feeling that just yet. As I said in the post, if anything I am waking up more easily and sleeping more easily. And yes, this is my first time on HRT. Thank you for your help. :)

Quote from: Lyndsey on December 06, 2015, 12:56:55 PM
Hi sweetie
You have only been on for a week nothing happens over night. It takes a month or so before you start to feel the effects and that also depends on the dosing that your doctor has put you on. Be patient things will happen. We al want things to happen over night. Give it time it will.

Big Hugs
Lyndsey

Hi! ^_^ Thank you so much for your help. I'm more relieved to hear that it is simply different for everyone who goes through it. :)

Quote from: Maybebaby56 on December 06, 2015, 01:10:34 PM
Hello Dear,

I have posted elsewhere about this, but it is certainly no problem to repeat my personal experience.  I was started on a T-blocker (spironolactone) and a DHT blocker (finasteride) several weeks before I started estradiol patches.  I didn't feel any different on the spiro and finasteride.

The estradiol was a different story.  Within several days, my dysphoria started to decrease.  My appointments with my endocrinologists started out at every six weeks, at which time he would increase the spiro and estradiol doses.  My libido vanished, and I started to get some mild pains around my nipples.  I have since developed breast nodules, fuller breasts, and of course, constant breast pain.  That took about three months.

I have also started to pack on the pounds, gaining about 7 pounds in the last month, despite decreasing my alcohol consumption significantly, and doubling my exercise regimen.  I have decided to back off the estradiol until I see my endo next month. I was up to two patches at once, twice a week.  I am going back to one patch at a time.  Weight loss is now a priority for me.

The last caveat is that I am no doubt much older than you, so your experience may differ considerably.  (Why do so few people list their age in their profiles???)

Hope that helps.

With kindness,

Terri

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I hope much of the pain has subsided for you. I'm glad your dysphoria is almost gone, and that you simply feel comfortable in your own skin now. I am on Spiro and Estradiol, and I can't say I'm physically feeling anything yet, but I am told everyone is different. ^_^ My age is 24.

Quote from: RedheadWhovian on December 06, 2015, 01:30:35 PM
Okay! :) I should have stressed that I am not expecting anything yet. I just wanted to see what everyone else's experience has been like, to have something to measure off of. Guess everyone is simply different. :)

Thank you for your input! :)

I guess everyone is indeed different with it!


I'm so sorry I missed your post! I am such a busy bee X_X. And I am sorry you had to deal with such sickness during your transition. D: I can't say I am feeling that just yet. As I said in the post, if anything I am waking up more easily and sleeping more easily. And yes, this is my first time on HRT. Thank you for your help. :)


Hi! ^_^ Thank you so much for your help. I'm more relieved to hear that it is simply different for everyone who goes through it. :)


Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I hope much of the pain has subsided for you. I'm glad your dysphoria is almost gone, and that you simply feel comfortable in your own skin now. I am on Spiro and Estradiol, and I can't say I'm physically feeling anything yet, but I am told everyone is different. ^_^ My age is 24.

I'm so glad we can help you as that is what this place is all about. Asking and receiving help.
Big hugs
Lyndsey

*

RedheadWhovian:

The first time around while I was still presenting as male was early in my ERT and my internist was new - I was his first transsexual and this was 1979 with less information than nowadays.  He had no idea why I was sick so he had me spread my dose throughout the day and my sickness cleared - but neither of us knew at that time that it was a 'morning sickness'

A few years later, a different internist, a different prescription at high dose once in the morning, and that sickness returned; now I was female full-time.  Other women would notice me going through the sick feelings and ask unsolicited questions about my pregnancy.  They had been through their pregnancy, recognised the symptoms, and presumed that I was pregnant.  I was puzzled at the questions at first and had no answer in my naivete - I probably behaved as any young women who did not yet know she was pregnant for the first time.  It eventually dawned on me as I worked temp jobs for a month or two at different locations and women at each place asked those same questions.  I could not tell them my real reason.

This was all putting two and two together after the fact.  I then realised why I was getting those pregnancy dreams - my mental subconscious must have thought my body was going through beginning stages of pregnancy and rendered my mental state to dream of pregnancy while asleep.  I was so intrigued by all that.  Those dreams went away when my internist told me to split the pills and do half at morning and half at evening.  The activation for me must have been the morning sickness - it may happen to you and others on a high enough dose that causes morning sickness, but probably not on lower single doses when you do not get sick.

Yeh, the queasy, achey, feelings and all that happened was kinda bad at first since neither my internist nor I knew what was happening and why.  Then I went along with the ride, so to speak, as I began figuring things out the second time around when my female co-workers asked me about my pregnancy; I enjoyed getting sick in a peculiar way so that I could continue my dreams as long as possible.  They did not have the chronological order of a pregnancy - dreams were random points along the imagined experience.

You mentioned that you were getting vivid dreams, maybe you might get those pregnancy dreams if you have a single dose high enough for your body to 'think' it is in pregnancy mode.  I did not know about this until toward the latter stages and it became more obvious retrospectively.  If you or anyone else get these dreams, cherish them.  I share this so if you know early enough, then it will give you more time to savor those dreams.

*

Bio-identical progesterone commonly produces vivid dreams.

Quote from: Maybebaby56 on December 06, 2015, 01:10:34 PM
Hello Dear,

I have posted elsewhere about this, but it is certainly no problem to repeat my personal experience.  I was started on a T-blocker (spironolactone) and a DHT blocker (finasteride) several weeks before I started estradiol patches.  I didn't feel any different on the spiro and finasteride.

The estradiol was a different story.  Within several days, my dysphoria started to decrease.  My appointments with my endocrinologists started out at every six weeks, at which time he would increase the spiro and estradiol doses.  My libido vanished, and I started to get some mild pains around my nipples.  I have since developed breast nodules, fuller breasts, and of course, constant breast pain.  That took about three months.

I have also started to pack on the pounds, gaining about 7 pounds in the last month, despite decreasing my alcohol consumption significantly, and doubling my exercise regimen.  I have decided to back off the estradiol until I see my endo next month. I was up to two patches at once, twice a week.  I am going back to one patch at a time.  Weight loss is now a priority for me.

The last caveat is that I am no doubt much older than you, so your experience may differ considerably.  (Why do so few people list their age in their profiles???)

Hope that helps.

With kindness,

Terri

Hi Terri
I have to agree with you about the age thing I don't know why they don't list it ether. I'm 58 and proud of it. it took a lot of bull ->-bleeped-<- to get here but here i am and still kicking and feel great. I have a lot of people that tell me that I don't look anywhere near my age and that makes me feel great.

Hugs
Lyndsey

Congrats, an I hope when you do experience some changes they are just the ones you always wanted, an do let us now how it goes because, im hopefully starting hrt thursday :D, personally other peoples stories helped encourage me to know im not the only one going down the same road just a different path. Keep it up your results will start soon :)