Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi, everyone! Just have a quick question. I was on Spiro and Estradiol for 2 and a half months, and I wasn't feeling too much. My doctor took my levels, and she discovered my T levels were still too high, so she increased my does. That was about a month ago. Just wondering, how long might it take before I feel something from the increase in dose? Has anyone experienced a similar situation?

Yes, at nine months my spiro was doubled.  This week was six months later and my blood test showed a significant drop.  If I had to guess when it finally was effective in that time I would say after about three or four months.  So it was about a year after first starting.  For reference here was my timeline.

Starting T 826 ng/dl
3 months. 158 ng/dl
9 months 120 ng/dl (doubled spiro)
15 months 19 ng/dl

I noted some specific physical things at around the 12 month time.


Sapere Aude

No breast growth? No change in body fat? How is body hair, scalp hair? Body odor, skin texture, dryness/oiliness? Libido, erections, orgasm, liquid coming out?

Quote from: Deborah on March 11, 2016, 06:53:34 PM
Yes, at nine months my spiro was doubled.  This week was six months later and my blood test showed a significant drop.  If I had to guess when it finally was effective in that time I would say after about three or four months.  So it was about a year after first starting.  For reference here was my timeline.

Starting T 826 ng/dl
3 months. 158 ng/dl
9 months 120 ng/dl (doubled spiro)
15 months 19 ng/dl

I noted some specific physical things at around the 12 month time.


Sapere Aude

Thanks, Deborah! This helps to give me perspective. :)

Quote from: KayXo on March 11, 2016, 06:53:57 PM
No breast growth? No change in body fat? How is body hair, scalp hair? Body odor, skin texture, dryness/oiliness? Libido, erections, orgasm, liquid coming out?

Oh I should have mentioned that! I'm sorry. My breasts are definitely budding, and they are super tender. I also have more fat in the hips, my hair is softer, my skin is softer, libido is down, erections are a thing of the past, and I almost ejaculate no fluid. I was referring mostly to mental effects. I see some slight stuff so far, but sadly nothing significant.
:(

I was on hrt (oral e and spiro) for 9 months and my lvls were still way off, e way too low, t way high (tho a lot lower than baseline was).

During that visit, we switched my e to patches, spiro stayed the same. I could kinda tell fairly quickly after starting that that it was working. I noticed way less output coming out downstairs and it was clear...tmi sorry. Also noticed I was shedding like a dog! Knew hormonal changes can cause that so put two and two together.

Had blood redrawn a month later and wham, huge change. Not quite there yet but pretty close. We changed the dose a bit, raised it, checked again and yay, was there.

I shed head hair for a bit, maybe a few months, was a bit worried, not gonna lie, but I do have a ton of it so wasn't noticeable or that bad. Thankfully it stopped after a bit as the body adjusted.

But ya, those were the main things I noticed.

Quote from: RedheadWhovian on March 11, 2016, 08:25:17 PM
I was referring mostly to mental effects. I see some slight stuff so far, but sadly nothing significant.

What mental effects did you expect or do you wish for? If you feel fine, what is the problem?

Quote from: KayXo on March 11, 2016, 08:44:51 PM
What mental effects did you expect or do you wish for? If you feel fine, what is the problem?

Perhaps a bit less hazy in the head. Also, I feel almost less emotional, and more apathetic, which makes no sense to me. However, that could be withdrawal from an anti-depressant from three weeks ago. I was on it for 8 months.

I had the opposite:  I totally lost interest and motivation in everything prior to HRT.  I felt a lot more ambitious upon beginning HRT... maybe too ambitious (academic related), but I made it happen.  I am a lot more focused.

I had noticeable effects (eg. tenderness) beginning HRT, and these effects were enhanced when the dosage was increased (about two weeks ago).  I am noticing some newer effects like more frequent and severe headaches, and feeling physically weaker...  I can still open and lift things, but it takes more effort.  What's strange is that I have not lost any weight, which makes me wonder if the weakness is a mental thing or inherent of something else.

I don't know my hormonal levels.  I've never seen these results in my blood test.  The blood tests only reveal metabolic information.  I'm incredibly healthy.

Quote from: StillAnonymous on March 12, 2016, 01:02:15 AM
I had noticeable effects (eg. tenderness) beginning HRT, and these effects were enhanced when the dosage was increased (about two weeks ago).  I am noticing some newer effects like more frequent and severe headaches, and feeling physically weaker...

Did they increase Spiro? Spiro can cause headaches (and fatigue) if you don't drink enough water and eat enough salt due to decrease in sodium.

Quote from: KayXo on March 12, 2016, 10:48:53 AM
Did they increase Spiro? Spiro can cause headaches (and fatigue) if you don't drink enough water and eat enough salt due to decrease in sodium.

They did! One extra pill than normal.

Quote from: KayXo on March 12, 2016, 10:48:53 AM
Did they increase Spiro? Spiro can cause headaches (and fatigue) if you don't drink enough water and eat enough salt due to decrease in sodium.

For me, no.  I was surprised that I was noticing these effects because I thought they were more likely correlated with spironolactone, but when I looked at my documentation, this is a common side-effect for estradiol too (the headaches).  This is probably a good notice for anyone who has an increase in estradiol alone.

Estradiol is a vasodilator, like medications that help relieve headaches. It should not cause headaches unless non bio-identical forms are given OR too high dose of bio-identical estradiol is taken. Headaches are part of PMS which occurs when estrogen levels drop in women. Some complain of headaches with the use of progesterone.

I'm not sure, but it's in my documentation as a side effect.  I think mine are bio-identical, but I am not 100% certain.  I know the manufacturer's name is Barr (or at least that is what is on my bottle).  I think this may be why we have had some conflicting perspectives in this post and the previous (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,205382.0.html) because the stuff I have "read" is the documentation from my physician.  I definitely have to admit that I am ignorant of the science or theory behind it all and I don't have time to do the research.

Quote from: StillAnonymous on March 14, 2016, 12:45:11 AM
I'm not sure, but it's in my documentation as a side effect.

Sometimes, side-effects associated with other types of estrogen are listed for this estrogen, not taking into account the differences in effects. This is just in case, to protect from lawsuit. And one should check that if this side-effect was noted for this estrogen, then was it in the context of a randomized double-blind controlled trial where headaches occurred more significantly with estrogen than placebo?