Friday will be 6 weeks since starting hrt! Currently Spiro and estradiol. Yay! However......I am tired. Exhausted. I can sleep for 14 hours without trying. What was your experience with tiredness and starting hrt? Is this common? How long should I expect this to last? All I want to do is eat and sleep. I feel like a teenager again. Thanks!
Tara
I was a slug for the first few months before my system got used to it. When I asked my endo about it, she said it was the Spiro doing what it does. The drop is T no longer being usable as the receptors are full. She said it would pass by about month 3 or 4 and it did. You might want to ask your doctor about it, but it is generally something considered normal for MTF HRT involving Spiro.
The tiredness seems to pass after a while and you feel as energetic as before. The only thing that does not seem to be as before is related to heavy exercise. I am not recovering as quickly as I used to. That may be partly age though, LOL.
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It took a few months for me as well. It seemed like while I was in no man's land (where E & T were not in normal ranges for either male or female) I had zero energy. Was drinking lots of coffee and sleeping an average of 12 hours a day. Once the levels normalized I felt normal again.
Congrats on beginning HRT
I will second what Deborah said on exercise. My stamina crashed and has not recovered since starting HRT.
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Well good, it seems to sound normal. You'd think working in a pharmacy I'd know more about hrt meds, but they give us absolutely zero training on trans hrt regimens ::)
My tiredness went away after 2 months to 1 1/2 years. I started getting energy and strength after the 2 months. The above advice from Deborah is a must here. But in my case, my painful neuropathy flareup over the past 4 plus years put me on nerve pain meds, thyroid, and 8 months of IVIg treatments requiring a visiting nurse. After all of this was done I was put off of the E due to edema of the feet which is indicated, and then off of Spiro to rest my system for a few months. The above treatments for the neuropathy put me in bed more than up due to a narcoleptic reaction to the extreme pain as these painkillers did not even touch the pain.
Now, I'm off of everything and my energy levels rising now have a sharp edge to it. Some tiredness remains as residue, but I am still coping.
Joelene
Most pharmacies don't know because they are not used to the affects of the switching of hormones. The result is as the switch occurs and your body adjusts you are tired at first until your body adjusts to the new hormone mix. It took me awhile to get used to, but I had read up enough at the time to know what to expect. The more we can learn about things the more educated we can be in regards to HRT or anything else we do along our transitions or in regards to anything. Hugs
Mariah
I was desperatly tired for a while. Then if got better but even now i am suffering from fatigue all the time, between not getting a good night's sleep due to constant Bathroom breaks, and fighting dehydration and the spiro effects it has been tough. I am seeing my doctor next week about it and weight loss in prep for hopefully surgery, resolve the spiro issue at its source. :-P
Serena