So, I've been taking T since December and so far I'm mostly cool with the changes, except for the weight gain. I expected to gain muscle, if anything, but since my eating habits haven't changed much in the recent past, I'm confused as to why I seem to be gaining fat in some places as well.
Specifically, among other places, my breasts are noticeably bigger. Pre-t when I wasn't binding I didn't really need to wear a bra. On T, I definitely need to wear one when I'm not wearing a binder. I've often thought, why can't I just donate my breasts to someone who wants them? And my uterus and ovaries as well? They're decent body parts, but they have no business being a part of my body.
I'm wondering if other people who have taken T have noticed any similar issue in breast growth? I'm not taking an estrogen blocker, but I'm not sure if I should. The thing is, I don't have insurance, and so I see a doctor at the local health department for free, because I'm v broke and can't work because of crippling bipolar disorder. This doctor, he's obviously never prescribed T to a transgender individual in his life, so it's very much a situation of me taking him by the hand rather than the other way around.
So, he's no help in terms of advising me as far as what to take. I know, this forum isn't a substitute for medical advice, but I'm just wanting to know if other people have had this sort of experience on T and sort of get opinions from people who have been there.
I'm not a ftm but I do have experience with weight gain and loss both with high T before HRT and low T after. The fact is that if you eat excess calories you will store it as fat regardless of what your T levels are. That is simply how the human body works for everyone regardless of physical sex. The second fact is that muscle gain is a response to increased work and not simply the presence of T. With T, increased work allows you to build muscle faster and bigger but the T does not build the muscle on its own. So, even if your T is high you have to watch your diet closely and have a pretty intense workout schedule if you want a really good physique.
Sapere Aude
Maybe your T level is high and your body turns it into estrogen
Did you check your T level ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your metabolism may have changed on T. Though it usually goes up, everyone is unique. You say your diet hasn't changed from before--are you absolutely certain? Most people get an increased appetite on T which is what leads to the weight gain. Foods can surprise you with how many calories they have so just eating ONE more slice of pizza or having a large fry instead of a medium can bump you up 200 calories. If you are not calorie counting then you actually may be eating more calories than you think. The trick to having an increased appetite and not gaining weight is to eat more filling foods with lower calories. I suggest using MyFitnessPal app to track your calories for a couple weeks. You might be surprised to find you are eating more than you think!
Option number two is, if you are working out your chest, the growth of your pectoral muscles may make it seem like you have increased breast size. If you are not actively working out, this is unlikely.
Option number three is that your T level is too high and the T is converting to estrogen which is lowering your metabolism. I would have your levels checked. I just found out mine were high and had to lower my T dose (I started T in November).
Of all of these, my money would be on the fact that you are eating more than you think you are. Most people I know eat more calories than they think because processed snack foods and fast food are packed with calories but aren't very filling, giving you a false sense of what you are eating.
Get your T and E levels checked at your next round of lab work and see where they fall in regards to the reference ranges. You should be within the range for cis men in terms of T and E. If the T is too high for your body chemistry, it can convert to estrogen, which would lead you to accumulate more fat in those places.
In general, fat redistribution is a longer term effect of T, so without changing anything else you may find over time that your chest and hip sizes go down on the right dose of T. But it may not be an immediate change.