Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I drove down the freeway with a sense that this was one of the happier doctor visits I had ever gone to. I had found an endo who was sympathetic to my situation and accepted my therapist's letter and now we were going to discuss a forward plan.  Interestingly, even though I wanted to take just enough estrogen to moderate my gender dysphoria, she keeps on telling me that in a couple of years, feminization will be noticeable with my clothes off and maybe I want to consider electrolysis ....hmmm.
She gave me some really good advice about diet and how to keep my blood sugar under control, and then the moment I was waiting for happened. She prescribed a full dose of spiro and a low dose of estradiol. I sincerely thanked her, thinking this was like the best Christmas or  birthday gift ever, and made plans to go to a pre-selected CVS.  I dropped off the prescription and ran another errand and came back at 4:30 to get the prescription. I picked up a bottle of water on the way out so I could take my first dose in the parking lot.  There,at 4:35 PM,at the corner of Highway 6 and Huffmeister in Houston, I took my first HRT dosage.  I had a 10 minute drive home and felt slightly elated. Within a couple of hours I noticed a calming effect.  I felt very non  Stressed out and maybe even a little scattered.  I know some of this is psychosomatic but it's good to know that I am finally starting down the path to being authentic.

Congrats Charla, that is fantastic. It's a day you will remember for a long time. Hugs
Mariah

Congrats! Low dosage can indeed have feminzation effects. I have remained on a relatively low dose. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Thank you, Maria!
I am feeling a lot more dehydrated even after 2 days - drinking a full 8 glasses of water a day.  But the this was a 4x increase in spironolactone dosage so it goes with the territory.   I am feeling a lot more peaceful like the internal noise has quieted. After seeing many other comments on body changes, I decided to start a log of measurements to quantify changes.  I am not wanting significant breast growth, and at my age (63) I don't expect it, but who knows?  I know on even the very low dose of spironolactone and finestaride I was on before, my bits were down in size and my baseline T was 300, and E was normal for males.  The endo expected the T to plummet after 3 months so we will see.

More later!

Hi RobynD,
Thanks for your offer to allow me to PM for more information.  I don't think I have enough posts yet to be able to PM, so I will have to wait a little while...

Add my congrats. Having just done that very happy, if a little nervous thing about two weeks ago, I want to wish you a great experience. You have a few years on me but not many. If you want/need to compare and contrast. I guess I will be doing measurement things too although just once a month with photos(my most feared part of documenting).

With warmth,

Joanna

 There,at 4:35 PM,at the corner of Highway 6 and Huffmeister in Houston, I took my first HRT dosage.  I had a 10 minute drive home and felt slightly elated. Within a couple of hours I noticed a calming effect.
[/quote]
Charla.... I know the CVS well.....I'm 57 and last November at about 1pm in the parking lot of the CVS at I-10@Gessner also in Houston.......lol....... I Took my first dose of spiro and E.......good luck on your journey wherever it takes you.....the calming effect is wonderful.....
Hugs
Dianne
xo

Quote from: Charla on February 19, 2016, 10:53:16 AM
I am feeling a lot more dehydrated even after 2 days - drinking a full 8 glasses of water a day.

Be sure to take in enough salt, this is also very important.

Congratulations.

Congrats! That sounds wonderful!

I also live in Houston and I sent some fellow residents on here a PM requesting some information on the endo.

Hopefully one of you will be able to point me in the right direction. That sounds like a great experience!

Congrats!   Welcome to the rabbit hole!  :)

I hope you meet your HRT goals!

Dear Emily-G,
I don't have enough posts yet to send PMs, but I can tell you that the endo I used did require a letter from a licensed therapist or psychiatrist that addressed the WPATH guidelines for administering hormones.  So if you have been to a therapist, and can get a letter, then you can proceed to the next step.  The therapists I've seen all had recommendations for endos. I don't know if we can give out names for therapists here, so just google therapist and transgender.  Some like the ones on Kirby, are very expensive but very experienced, and others like ones on Old Katy Road or Bellaire will work on a sliding scale.  It seems that most people have to been in contact with a therapist for a year before they can get a letter, unless they are presenting as a member of the opposite sex.  My therapist used medical codings for insurance that kept me under the radar for my insurance, and the endo I used on 20th off Yale in the Heights did the same coding so the prescription didn't raise any flags.

I wondered if I would get any comments from the pharmacists when I went to drop off my script - it was a non-event! They took the script, filled it, and off I went!

As soon as I get enough posts to send PMs I will give you more specifics.

Quote from: Charla on February 19, 2016, 10:53:16 AM
Thank you, Maria!
I am feeling a lot more dehydrated even after 2 days - drinking a full 8 glasses of water a day. 

i drink 16 to 20+ glasses every day and still feel really thirsty when I get up in the morning.  I'm not bloated and don't have to pee often enough to indicate some other kind of medical problem either.  It's almost a mystery to me where all that water is going!


Sapere Aude

You can drink all you want but if you don't eat enough salt to retain water, then you'll lose it.

Quote from: KayXo on February 20, 2016, 12:42:29 PM
You can drink all you want but if you don't eat enough salt to retain water, then you'll lose it.

Thanks - that could be the issue for me.  I cut back on salt a while ago.

Well, I've been through 4 therapists at this point and finally got my letter a few days ago. So, I'm happy about that.

Thanks for the PM!

Well, one change showed up today - larger nipples!  I had on a polo shirt and went into the restroom and had distinct points in my shirt!  They look cute but not at work! Fortunately I had band aids in my desk and I taped them down.

Congrats! I remember that happening quickly too. I walked into the bathroom and was like...wow, I'm not even cold.

I knew before I even started on "low dose" that it really meant nothing, no matter what your age. I'm 43 and even on what would be considered low dose by most standards I have very noticeable breast growth already. My E was already in the 200 range pre-hrt and my testosterone was in the 600 range. I'm excited to see what my blood tests show after I go in on the 1st of March.

Like you, I wasn't expecting much, but you will likely be very surprised by how much change you end up experiencing. Good luck and I hope that everything goes well :)

I too have experienced noticeable breast growth and have also noticed that my nipples are erect a lot and seem to protrude further out but don't seem any larger.....which doesn't seem to make sense!! I do know it makes me feel wonderful!!
Hugs
Dianne
xo

A brief update. After a little more than a month on low dosage HRT,
I am noticing that I am less obsessed with feminization, but also have experienced a drastic drop in libido. This is about what I wanted, as I wanted to moderate my feelings of gender dysphoria. I've gone to an asexual state, where the thought of sex with either men or women is all that interesting, but I can still arouse myself if I try.  It does take longer though!

There are some pleasant side effects, like less beard growth, hair on my legs is growing back much finer than before, and less body hair on my chest and abdomen.  This last effect is surprising, and it is almost like the hair is spontaneously falling out. I haven't looked at my back to see if there is hair loss there also.

I was hoping that there would be no breast development, but things are happening. Over the last week I have developed a lump in my right breast that has expanded to the point where it no longer feels like a bump. I still cannot pass the pencil test (where you put a pencil under your breast and see if it stays there; if it does, it's time for a bra). Nothing is happening on the left side.  Both nipples are kind of sore and I may need to start wearing something under my shirts to stop the shirts from rubbing.

I am scheduled for my next doctor visit in May, so there will be blood work just to see what the E and T levels are at. I guess I will have to make a decision then on whether to continue as is, stop, or try a higher dosage.  I have also been wondering if a change to progesterone would be of any benefit.  All the reading that I have done indicates that it accelerates breast growth (not desired!), but I was interested in positive mood changes that some people have reported.

More later!

Hugs,
Charla