Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm going to start T and my therapist actually convinced me to start before top surgery. He says it will help my sanity.

So is it true that the proper hormones for your gender have a calming, normalizing effect?

Please share personal experiences and feelings.

Not sure really, Nero. I'm not particularly self-aware and wasn't really noticeably (to me) anxious or nervous before, so I wouldn't be the right one to ask. I've heard it from others, so perhaps others who have noticed a difference could chime in. If I was any calmer, I'd be in a coma, so it actually gave me more energy.

Dennis

I never found T calming! LOL, and that is what your asking about, right? And there have been/are times when E isn't either, but those have been when a shot is wearing down.

It makes sense to me that being on HRT would be at least a little calming for a TS. I mean, that's a signpost on the road and all. Problem with that is simply as one hormone rises and the other falls there could be turmoil in that.

Hmm, a firm I don't know! :laugh:  Or better yet, your mileage may vary.

Keep in mind I have been on T all of 4 days now. For me the calmness is in finally starting, I believe, as I don't think it has had time to do anything yet. I have been going back and forth about the whole transition or not for 2 years and I feel calm because I have finally made a choice and definitely the right one for me. I feel I am now moving forward and making positive progress instead of sitting around stewing in it, which was not a good/sane place to be.
Myles

Quote from: myles on March 30, 2009, 03:50:57 PM
Keep in mind I have been on T all of 4 days now. For me the calmness is in finally starting, I believe, as I don't think it has had time to do anything yet. I have been going back and forth about the whole transition or not for 2 years and I feel calm because I have finally made a choice and definitely the right one for me. I feel I am now moving forward and making positive progress instead of sitting around stewing in it, which was not a good/sane place to be.
Myles

So ya mean then that as yet, Myles, you've felt no irresistible urge to beat a woman, rape, pillage, get into a street fight, allow your pants to droop around your butt, impregnate as many women as you can today, or get drunk and sleep on the couch with a  remote control in your hand?

LOL!!!

What great news!! 

Quote from: Laura91 on March 30, 2009, 03:49:27 PM
Well, the title WAS "the calming effects of hormones" and not just "the calming effects of T" you silly, silly girl!! :eusa_hand: :icon_weee:

Thanks so very much, Laura, I sometimes forget how silly I am until you remind me!! :laugh: :icon_hug:

Quote from: Nichole on March 30, 2009, 04:34:08 PM
So ya mean then that as yet, Myles, you've felt no irresistible urge to beat a woman, rape, pillage, get into a street fight, allow your pants to droop around your butt, impregnate as many women as you can today, or get drunk and sleep on the couch with a  remote control in your hand?

I never did any of that while trying to be a guy, no wonder I never really fit in, lol.

Hey Little Brother,

For me, I would say that 'E' was very calming for me.  It was as if my mind was finally under the correct hormone.  Of course there is the emotional side to that.  My friend says that I can get PMS'y at times.  And she should know, she use to get really, really Bitchy, till menopause hit.  :laugh:

Janet

I thought about pillaging about 8 minutes after the shot but was too distracted by the beard I grew in the first 5 minutes and the voice change at minute 6 and huge biceps at minute 7 then I got tired and took a nap, too tired for pillaging.
Myles ;D

i was afraid of switching to femme hormones at first. but at the same time, i knew that i really *really* wanted them. plus by the time you're done jumping thru all the hoops, you're thinking, Oh please, just let me get started, already.

i promised myself a three month trial period, but once started, i never thought of quitting.

i don't think i really feel all that great. just, you know, kinda normal. which is about 1000 percent better than i was doing before. oh dear, was i a wreck.

-ell

For me it was.  Much less anxious.  Less quick to anger.  And it finally just "feels right"

I agree with Ell. To me the "calming" effect has everything to do with being done worrying about that decision and all the hassle, and very little if anything to do with any chemical effects.

As I see it, it doesn't matter if the calming effect of hormones is psychosomatic or physiological. Not everyone will have the same effects.

But the bottom line is that if hormones are right for you, you will know it. The how and why doesn't matter. You just will know.

Quote from: MMarieN on March 30, 2009, 09:03:20 PM
As I see it, it doesn't matter if the calming effect of hormones is psychosomatic or physiological. Not everyone will have the same effects.

But the bottom line is that if hormones are right for you, you will know it. The how and why doesn't matter. You just will know.

The best bit of advise I have seen as Hormones is not right for everyone - there is no one size fits all.

Gee - thank god HRT was not right for me - transitioning would of been a mistake brought on by desparation. At least I was able to get it out of my head so I could move on in file, but till you try you will never know.

Alice

Quote from: Alice on March 30, 2009, 09:06:59 PM
The best bit of advise I have seen as Hormones is not right for everyone - there is no one size fits all.

Yes. Exactly. They are not right for everyone. But you will know if they are right for you. No one can answer this for anyone else.

I'm an emotional wreck actually.  E has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.  I, for the first time in my life, am actually insecure about myself.  Before when things got me upset, I would just get mad and break things, now, all I want to do is cry when I get upset.  It's been hell.

I hope everyone else has better luck than I have with their HRT.

Aw Ashley, That sounds like what I went through. My emotions where all over the place and I was always crying. I have heard it settles down for some people but I was just going off the rails, I got so bad I needed to stop before I did self harm.

I hope it starts to get better for you.

:icon_hug:

Alice

I've pretty much been my usual self.  A bit more stable, though.  What I feel like all the time now is how I felt when my estrogen + progesterone levels were at their monthly trough point... or that wonderful 8 month stretch when my ovaries just decided to shut down.  Basically I feel... yeah, calmer and more myself if that makes any sense.  Though I will say a week into T I got my last period.  I've never been particularly happy during that time--but that was insane.  The anger was ridiculous and I was actually finding it hard to control.  Hasn't come back since then--the period or the anger.  Things were definitely a bit wonky the first few weeks, though; watch out for the hot flashes.  I'm 2.5 months on T this Sunday.

Quote from: Nichole on March 30, 2009, 04:34:08 PM
allow your pants to droop around your butt,  or get drunk and sleep on the couch with a  remote control in your hand?

Add fail to ask for directions and drive around for an hour like an idiot and I can say "I've done that"

Dennis

I haven't noticed any calming affects.. I am more laid back now, but can get aggressive when certain situations arrive and my skin is alot thicker now aswell (if you know what I mean)


Jay

Add fail to ask for directions and drive around for an hour like an idiot and I can say "I've done that"

Dennis, you forgot the tragic accidents that begin with the words, "Hey, look what I can do."

Quote from: tekla on March 31, 2009, 04:35:49 AM
Add fail to ask for directions and drive around for an hour like an idiot and I can say "I've done that"

Dennis, you forgot the tragic accidents that begin with the words, "Hey, look what I can do."

No no, it's "watch this. Hold my beer."

Dennis

I can honestly say for me, T had a calming effect.  Or maybe it was the combination of T plus hysto...the first month on T I still got my period and that incited an ugly rage (but then, my period always did that).  Since starting T I no longer have anxiety, I'm more confident, and as a result much calmer and 'zen'.  I guess I've always been that way, but the whole wrong body thing was irritating and I was far more stressed living that way.  All of that tension has dissipated.


Jay

Well, if we can equate this to anything like medication, half of it is mental.

Sometimes we don't allow ourselves to be calm or at peace.

Quote from: tekla on March 31, 2009, 04:35:49 AM
Add fail to ask for directions and drive around for an hour like an idiot and I can say "I've done that"

Dennis, you forgot the tragic accidents that begin with the words, "Hey, look what I can do."

Quote from: Dennis on March 31, 2009, 09:01:21 AM
No no, it's "watch this. Hold my beer."

Dennis

Silly guys! It's actually this.

Hey, look what I can do. Here, hold my beer. :laugh:

Nichole

Oh, you know those guys then?

Quote from: tekla on March 31, 2009, 12:38:46 PM
Oh, you know those guys then?

O, yes, I've been acquainted with various ones throughout my life!! :laugh:

I learned this from it: Never get into a car when the guy drinking the most beer is driving!! LOL!!

Never get into a car when the guy drinking the most beer is driving

But the rest of us need that time to catch up.

Quote from: Nichole on March 31, 2009, 12:41:40 PM
I learned this from it: Never get into a car when the guy drinking the most beer is driving!! LOL!!

It's not always smart to let the sober one drive either.
Guys, we need more gas money... hour later... guys we need more gas money...

Why did we need so much gas? To beat the Porsche of course!  :icon_suspicious:

Quote from: Leslie Ann on April 01, 2009, 01:54:42 AM
It's not always smart to let the sober one drive either.
Guys, we need more gas money... hour later... guys we need more gas money...

Why did we need so much gas? To beat the Porsche of course!  :icon_suspicious:

I'll take my chances with the sober one, Leslie! :laugh: Even if it might mean using more gas!

My worst experience was hitchhiking with a friend from Monterey to Seattle back in the mid-seventies. We got a ride on the ramp of U.S. 1 in Santa Rosa with this fellow who had us and two other hitchers with him in the car. He also had a bottle of hash oil into which he continuously was dipping his Marlboros as he chain-smoked and was well on his way to finishing a case of Budweiser.

The trip through the redwood forest that night and past the rocky coasts of northen Cali was ... exciting? :laugh:

Even in the dark at 65 mph with a totally wasted driver I was ... very impressed with the size of those trees and the depth of the chasms made by the headlands! :laugh:

Nichole

Have found the emotional rollercoaster I used to be on all the time has stabilized some.  Though I still get anxiety, and my temper hasn't improved but don;t think it's gotten much worse either.

Still can;t talk to my father though without breaking down in one form or another though.   Lot of anxiety with him.