I've been on HRT for 2 weeks now. I've been really happy to have started but at the same time I've been anxiously awaiting for something to change. I feel like I'm trying to watch a pot of water boil with my constant checking myself out in the mirror. What were some of the first changes you noticed on HRT? Will I most likely not have any changes while I'm on the low starting dose of estrogen or are some changes possible at this point in my transition?
Congratulations Yukiko. The first change I noticed was psychological. Then facial skin changes, smoother, younger looking. Breast soreness came about 6 weeks I think. But I also had spiro to block T.
I'm currently taking Spiro. The doctor was planning to see me in 8 weeks after starting to monitor my progress and possibly increase my dose. I think the plan right now is to do appointments more frequently early on and slowly increase dosage amounts.
First thing I noticed was the skin on my arms getting a lot softer. Then my chest started itching.
Yep I noticed the softer arms thing too, especially on the top of the wrist and up the arm a little bit.
It has since spread to the entire arm :D
It's weird how some things just catch you off guard after a while on HRT or seem to just "pop" into effect... Like this weekend- I went on a camping trip and I SWEAR the girls got bigger. Things just start to take off after a while, I think it has something to do with testosterone buildup in your cells. It seems to me that each type of body tissue has a different foothold when it comes to latent testosterone and it takes differing amounts of time to saturate everything with estrogen.
It's interesting how certain areas of skin change before others, I've totally noticed that. Same went for the skin next to my nose. Those were the first pores to start shrinking.
^Wow, that is the exact same place where the skin-texture changes started for me. (The backs of my hands and wrists.) That's kind of cool that everyone seems to get that first.
I began noticing the very infancy of the physical changes after about 2 weeks on full-dose HRT. lt started with the skin texture on the backs of my hands. All of a sudden, I brushed my hand across my face, and I was like "OMG, that's smooth!" And in the not-quite-a-month since then, this softer skin texture has spread across my entire body. It's now EVERYWHERE. When I shaved my legs last night, I just about died with pleasure from feeling how smooth they were. At about the same time as I first noticed the soft skin on my hands, I noticed that my nipples were getting a more conical shape to them, and that there was a little bulge forming on both sides. Those are the two physical changes that you will notice first. If you're on t-blockers also, you'll notice a decrease in sex-drive around the 3 or 4 week mark also. Facial changes (albeit subtle) may also start. I really don't know why my face started looking a lot more feminine after about 3 weeks, but it really did, and continues to now. When I first started, my face looked muscular and defined and tough, and looked about accurate to what my real age is. While starting at about the 2-3 week mark, my face just randomly started to look younger. I started looking more starry-eyed, my skin softened, the muscular appearance declined, and there must have been some sort of change in my cheeks or something, because I really can't describe it, but suddenly my face just started reading as younger. People used to always guess my age almost spot-on, while when I asked random people at the point where I started to notice the change, suddenly they were all under-guessing it, guessing that I was 23 or 24 instead of 27. (And honestly, now that I'm past the 5-week mark, I'm starting to look closer to 19 or 20.)
Anyway, that's my experience. Low-dose probably would have been different, probably a bit of a stretched time frame, but these changes do still come. The big difference between low dose and high dose, though, is that you don't get the same roller-coaster ride of emotions when you're on low dose. Your T levels slowly drop and your E levels slowly rise, versus constantly catapulting up and down as they fight for dominance like mine did. (I regrettably started my HRT on DIY, which yes, was VERY stupid. And it really made my first few weeks an absolute roller-coaster ride of emotions. Yeah... don't do it. Doctors are paid big bucks for a reason.)
^ ^
Yes me too with the eyes, cheekbones, and looking much younger!
Starry-eyed is a great way to put it. It's almost like they open a little bit wider and are rounder or something. It is indeed hard to explain, but it is very noticeable looking at photos of just two months ago.
I'm a similar age at 29 and just over 2.5 months on estrogen implants and progesterone shots. My birthday was just this past week.
A silly sidenote- since I decided to change my gender expression, I decided I could change my age as well :D I jokingly told people I was turning 23. Only those that know me really really well raised any question. The majority of my friends just said something like "oh, cool!". By the way- I always ended up telling them my actual age.. It's not like I was actually trying to hide the truth ;) It was cool to see the shocked look on their face when they found out my actual age though.
My mother told me she's not willing to go past 39 in age, so I have to tell everybody that I'm 19. Maybe with E, people will believe me (and her).
Well I am on my third week of low dose E, can't really say I have noticed anything, although I don't know if I'd be able to tell even if it had as I most likely would it was in my head lol. I have however gotten the itchy chest part(though could just be hair) and some days I swear my cheeks look more full but then when I touch them they seem to go back to how they were.
By the way I have read Spiro a few times and I think that is what my endo will add on my next appointment as she said she will give me something that could help with my facial hair(not much) but I have no idea what it actually is or what it does.
Prepare to wait months but its different for everyone.
Trying to observe your changes is like watching paint dry. Better to just go on with your daily life and let it surprise you.
Puberty isn't known for being short and sweet.
Quote from: MaidofOrleans on February 19, 2013, 12:48:19 PM
Prepare to wait months but its different for everyone.
Trying to observe your changes is like watching paint dry. Better to just go on with your daily life and let it surprise you.
Puberty isn't known for being short and sweet.
This so much. Be patient and give the hormones some time to work.
If you really want to notice changes, take a picture of yourself every month so you have somethings to compare. This way, I'm sure you'll notice immediately when things do change. However, I didn't do this and I was pleasantly surprised at the changes just before 8 months. The changes will come and congratulations on starting HRT!
Thanks for the info girl you look fierce, and thanks everyone for the advice I had a feeling it would be something like months just thought I'd ask. Thank you Kayla.