Susan's Place Transgender Resources

What changes have people seen and how long did it take for people who started hormones in their mid twenties?

I have only been taking estrogen for 2 weeks but have already noticed a few changes. My head hair feels different and bits look lighter brown if a light shines on it (does hair colour change?)

My face feels different, my arms, legs and skin have become more feminine and my chest has shaped like its ready to start growing the breasts. Have these changes happened faster than expected or are they normal, and when could I expect breasts to grow. Because of work I will have to get some more clothing to try and hide the changes.

thats actually quite fast for 2 weeks but your young so that may be the reason why
jessica

probably at least partly psychosomatic because hair only grows about 1/2" per month and is dead, no color change from hormones that way.

ya I'm almost >2 weeks in and some of my changes I think are in my head lol like my boobs feeling softer.

I started HRT a couple months after my 22nd birthday.  For me I didn't really notice anything for about a month.  3 - 4 weeks in my boobs (or lack thereof) started to get sore, but I didn't really have any noticeable growth for about 2 - 3 months.  I think it took a little longer for my skin to change.  My body hair started to thin out at probably 4 months.

I started noticing that I am getting a wave in my hair.  Not sure if it's really related to HRT or not.

I did lose quite a bit of muscle.  I lost about 1.5 inches in my chest.  My forearms and biceps got a lot smaller.  I haven't had a lot of fat redistribution, but I have had some.  Not a whole lot of fat on me.

Something that I heard about, but didn't expect was my feet getting a little smaller.  All of my male shoes (a couple that I just couldn't part with) don't fit anymore.  I wear about a 9 womens now, which is fine with me.  If I had to say, I lost about .5 - 1 shoe size.

Lastly, after about 9.5 months of HRT I have an A cup breast. 

Lots and lots and lots of changes.  :P  I don't even know where to begin, really.

I started taking hormones off and on in my early 20's, then consistently in my mid 20's.  I never had a lot of muscle mass, but definitely lost definition during the first few years.  Breast development was the most noticeable thing to occur, starting in a few months.

Everything else was very gradual... I'm in my early 30's now... hair has lightened noticeably on my arms and my leg hair is less coarse.

Was too far after puberty to do anything for my facial hair unfortunately (thank god for good laser and electrolysis).

The most striking change that I didn't expect actually came after my orchi (late 20's).  Over a few months it was _very_ difficult to maintain muscle definition in my tummy  unless I really worked out a lot, and I rounded out on my hips and thighs and gained 20 pounds!  Am thankful for the changes, but dang, I really got work for a good figure now.  :laugh:

Also, I listened to a recording of me talking back before I was consistently transitioning (once again, early 20's) and my voice was _dramatically_ deeper.  The thing is, I don't remember ever making a huge effort to consciously change my voice, and I had an endocrinologist tell me that some people's voices have changed, even after puberty, thanks to hormones.  But yeah... my voice was definitely a world apart from what it used to be in my mid to late 20's with out voice training or conscious effort.

i'm not the best to comment here since i'm partial ais but i started formally on hrt in 2007 when i was 26yo...i didn't have any facial hair to begin with, and my upper body muscles and body hair are somewhat inbetween male/female range, but for my personal experience, hrt:--
* didn't do anything to my body hair (i had my lower legs lasered)
* didn't change my voice (i can still switch b/w my m/f voices, fairly easily)
* did redistributed my fats around abit nothing dramatic, though a lot of my arm muscles turned to fats
* did make my skin softer and drier, which makes it more susceptible to cuts...and healing takes longer than before.
* did make my face rounder than before, esp my cheeks under the cheekbone

i think the rule of the thumb is that unless you are a growing child before or during early puberty hrt won't do anything to your bones...they're set for life. anything has to be changes to your muscles/fats.

what is everyone's opinion of getting hormone with out a dr care? 

Brianna, next time you might want to start another post instead of posting on one so old. That being said though please don't be insulted or take this the wrong way but I strongly strongly suggest against it. Your hormone levels are not something safe to just mess with on your own. They need to be occasionally checked by a doctor. Also I don't think you can legally get hormones without getting a prescription first. I've heard of a couple cases where doctors would not prescribe a patient hormones the legal way after they had gone the illegal route so if that is what you are talking about it's probably not the best idea. I've been known to be wrong however so if anyone wants to correct me feel free. I know that sometimes it seems like it's taking forever or that it is impossible and will never happen but it will. 

I'm now almost 11 months in and have close to an A-cup breast, soft skin (that gets scraped/bruised very easily), freely flowing emotions, low sex drive (by myself...when I have a bf, sex drive seems just fine), facial softening, some waist fat redistribution (not much yet).

I was on oral for about 10 months and now switched to injectables , hoping for some more results from that.

As for getting Hormones w/o doctor care...that would be kind of scary frankly. I know people who have had blood clots because their doctor sucked...let alone if they didn't have one. If you end up with blood clots, they'll take you off estrogen possibly for good. It's just not worth it.

I see a doc every 3 months to check my blood levels.

Pre-HRT:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.skitch.com%2F20101020-g54qa9eey896p8ru2i94apdsng.jpg&hash=efb9e08df955ff3fdafa530e9a1ece2d1eb407be)

Today:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.skitch.com%2F20101020-m374cieeyypsemy68n5y4cyicg.jpg&hash=65f43427fed1695225c4a7d156015f8a29c4ceea)

I will say that I started my hormones without a doctors care.  My doctor wouldn't prescribe them because she didn't know anything about it (trans stuff) and wasn't comfortable with it.  It took me some time to find a doctor who knew what he was doing, and would prescribe hormones.  In that time, I started my own regiment, which turned out to be basically the same as what I was doing.  I was taking Provera and he switched me to Prometrium, which I like more.

Be careful.  Even if you can't find a doctor who won't prescribe them, try and to get your blood drawn at least every 6 months.  Also, don't over do it.  Do not take a ton of estrogen to try and expedite the process, it's not worth it.

There are places that you can get legitimate hormones online.  I won't mention them here, but if you poke around on the internet you can find them easily.  While I can't recommend this route (and I do not), if it is your only option, then so be it.  Just be sane, safe, and reasonable with the dosages.

bye

Quote from: Sada on October 20, 2010, 02:34:24 PM
keep a scrapbook to let you see the changes over time, rather then looking in the mirror every day. It really will help you to see the progress you are making. Good Luck ;)

Truth.

Quote from: Sada on October 20, 2010, 02:34:24 PM
1) start with removing that beard as soon as possible

Also truth.  Probably one of the most important things you can do.  I thought I could put it off.  BIG mistake.  I'm still dealing with it, and I am essentially done.  I had FFS over a year ago, and SRS in February.  If I had to do it over again, I would have financed hair removal completely before anything else.