Susan's Place Transgender Resources

It has been six months since starting finasteride and 4 months since starting estradiol patches.  My first follow-up appointment was yesterday. Right away the doctor noticed my smile, and that set the tone for the whole appointment. She seemed happy that HRT was working so well for me. We discussed the changes I had noticed - anger under control, less frustration, more smiles, facial features softening, body hair decreasing, and some minor but noticeable breast growth.

I asked about speeding things up a bit, and she said after checking my hormone levels we could work on decreasing my testosterone. She mentioned that lowering my T would also decrease my libido and wanted to know if I was concerned about intimacy with my wife. I told her there were many ways to be intimate, and that made her smile again. It seemed to be the answer she wanted to hear.

My estradiol level was 52. The doctor said she considers anything between 50 and 200 to be normal. We should get my testosterone level tomorrow. Hopefully I will soon have a prescription for spiro or something similar. As many have said this is a marathon not a sprint, but I really do hope the pace speeds up a little.

Since January I have lost about 25 pounds. At 6ft 1in and 160 pounds I think I am at a reasonable weight. I have always had hips, but now I am happy to have them. My measurements are 38 - 30 - 40.

I am only out to two people and am still in guy mode, but I am down to one pair of mens jeans that fit. Even after losing 25 pounds, no haircut since December 2016, over 50 hours of electrolysis, four laser sessions and wearing women's jeans, no one at work has mentioned anything. Someone is certainly going to be suprised, or maybe they are all just being exceptionally considerate.

I want to thank everyone at Susan's Place. Without the information I found here I may never have gotten the courage to start my journey. I may have started late, but I am certainly enjoying the ride.

Jessica_Rose, I am so happy for you that things are going so well.  I am not as far along as you. I am about 7 weeks on estrogen and 30 hours electrolysis. I don't know how much I need to transition. Just taking it one step at a time.

Do you plan to live full time as female and/or fully transition?

Yes, at least right now I do plan to fully transition. Both my doctor and electrologist mentioned that I did not have any strong masculine features, so hopefully the E will soften my features enough. I do have a prominent Adam's apple, so I will most likely get that reduced before I start transitioning socially. Luckily I work in a large company with friendly guidelines for transgender employees. They will even help with all of the legal work involved.

This can be a bit scary at times.  There is still a long road ahead and I have many more questions than answers, but so far at every step I have found nothing but happiness. I do expect to lose a few friends and maybe even some family, but then again I may be surprised. I have been fighting this for over 40 years, and to finally find peace with myself is well worth the price I may have to pay.

For some reason I remembered a line from Babylon 5 that seems to fit. The character Londo Mollari mentions something his father said - "My shoes are too tight. But it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance." This pretty much sums up how I felt as a male. I was trapped, having to live by following male norms slowly crushed the joy out of life. But on HRT I finally feel that my shoes are no longer too tight, and I am beginning to dance with joy again.

That is so wonderful that you have found happiness again. I hope you don't lose any friends or family on your journey but it is a sad reality that it may be a real possibility.

Yea! My testosterone lab work came back today, and my T levels are well within the normal male range. My doctor has now added spiro into the mix! Hopefully that will help the estradiol be more effective and speed thing up a bit.

Congrats  Jessica,

  I am sure you will begin to feel the positive effects of taking spiro as it begin to lower that nasty ol' hormone level. I myself have been taking spiro and estradiol for over 7 months and am pleased with the results I am seeing though my last labs showed my T had increased from 70 to 200. I will be talking to my doc if it hasn't come back down. New labs happen in about 2 weeks.

I hope you get the results you want and the sooner the better but *sigh* it will take time.

Hugs,
   Laurie

I wish my testosterone was at 200, mine is at 608! That probably explains while I occasionally feel anger building in certain situations. Took my first spiro pill this morning and did feel a little nausea, but maybe that was just my breakfast talking to me. So far I have not felt extra thirsty or had to make any extra trips to the bathroom.

My doctor (a female) did take a peek at my breasts and thought they were showing good growth. Initially I was worried about them possibly growing too fast and not being able to hide them during the Summer, but now I really hope the spiro kicks it up a bit. It would be nice to get a 'B' cup for Christmas.

Laurie, I wish you the best of luck getting your T back down.