Hi! My first post here, and the reason I finally, err, couraged up and joined.
I'm pre-everything and sincerely considering transitioning, but I'm concerned that it might be a bad call for health reasons...
Unless it's an excellent call. It's probably silly, but I've got an intuition that my illness could have to do with lack of estrogen. But if that were the case, and if transitioning eased both the dysphoria and the ailment, then it would seem logical that there's precedent.
The problem is, I can't find any. Or at least, no matter what I search there's a glut of information on mental illnesses but little to nothing on physical ones. Yesterday I discovered a post where someone was answering a series of questions on one of those "you might be trans if..." type questionnaires that seemed to indicate the person answering thought it's pretty common. So it seems like its time to stop being shy and just ask:
Did HRT cure you of anything other than the nominal reasons for starting it? Did it make anything worse?
I apologize if I've missed a thread that already asks this! And thanks in advance!
Welcome to Susan's Place, Lexira! I don't think HRT carries a lot of extraneous curative ability. Only your doctor can know what's going to work for you. We've discovered that "You might be transgender if.... you think you are" is about 99.99999% effective as a diagnostic tool. See you around the site!
Hugs, Devlyn
Welcome to Susan's Place. Estrogen might directly help with a few physical condition such as a high red blood cell count and it is used for some cancers but for the most part it has little effect on the body. That's why most medical conditions don't prohibit the use of estrogen. Now indirectly is another story. Gender Dysphoria can cause an enormous amount of stress and many conditions respond favorable to a reduction in stress. HRT has cause people to quit smoking, control their weight, exercise and help create a feeling of well being. I don't know if it will help you but it probably won't hurt.
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Quote from: Dena on July 30, 2017, 12:03:56 PM
Gender Dysphoria can cause an enormous amount of stress and many conditions respond favorable to a reduction in stress. HRT has cause people to quit smoking, control their weight, exercise and help create a feeling of well being.
This!!
It did all that for me and in the process eliminate a borderline high blood pressure issue I've had since high school. It wasn't the HRT directly but rather extensive efforts to improve my diet and lifestyle that were made possible by a gross reduction in dysphoria.
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
I was on the verge of a breakdown. I was losing my family by my actions, but I was harboring a life long secret. One the led to depression and stress. I have been confused about my sex from an early age and it only continued and got worse as I aged. So HRT made my depression disappear and with that all the stress. It improved my outlook on life, even though I know there are haters outside the door. Now when I look in a mirror I see what might have been if i had reacted sooner. For once in my life I actually feel good about myself.
Hugs
Thanks for the replies everyone! So far it sounds pretty much like I expected.
A little background so you have an idea of where I'm coming from: I have ME/CFS. One of the major symptoms is sound sensitivity, which basically means the sensory gating in my brain doesn't always work properly. While researching, I learned that sensory gating problems often occur when there is a problem with the myelin sheath, and that estrogen is vital for the upkeep of both myelin sheath material and also especially the nerve cluster that controls sensory gating. Like most of us, puberty was hell for me- although I had no idea what was causing the distress at the time. However, there were some things that I lost during that time and never got back. All of them correspond eerily to the mental symptoms of menopause, including the way they progress over time.
My crackpot idea here is that if my brain is female and is designed for a certain kind of hormone balance, it would seem to make sense that despite the bodies ability to transmute testosterone, it wouldn't be enough and this would mean the deterioration of the nervous system over time.
This isn't about trying to justify making a decision I've already made- I'm going to try one way or the other. It's the opposite, actually- things are on an edge physically and making a mistake in this regard could have severe consequences. So I'm hoping someone else has tried this and that if it didn't help, at least it didn't make things worse.
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on July 30, 2017, 08:20:46 AM
"You might be transgender if.... you think you are" is about 99.99999% effective as a diagnostic tool.
Ha! Troo! n_n I wasn't actually looking for anything to tell me what I am- just something I stumbled across.
Quote from: Dena on July 30, 2017, 12:03:56 PM
A Cautionary Note:
This is a public forum so please remember when posting that The Internet Never Forgets, and the various web crawlers and archival sites out there may retain information that you post.
Yup. I'm well aware of this. As far as I'm concerned anything I post is fine for the world or I wouldn't be willing to post it. On the other hand it occurs to me (or perhaps this is what you are implying) that people might feel uncomfortable answering a question like this because it might reveal too much. Thanks for that! I'll keep it in mind for future posts!
Quote from: Dena on July 30, 2017, 12:03:56 PM
I also want to share some links with you. They include helpful information and the rules that govern the site. It is important for your enjoyment of the site to take a moment to go through them
Thanks! I read all these prior to posting. :D
A little googling said ME/CFS is three times more common in women than in men. Of course it also said they were unsure of the cause so there could be more than one cause and thus there might be a different treatment for each cause. As you already have it, I suspect HRT isn't going to result in additional harm and it might be beneficial.
Quote from: Dena on July 30, 2017, 08:29:54 PM
A little googling said ME/CFS is three times more common in women than in men. Of course it also said they were unsure of the cause so there could be more than one cause and thus there might be a different treatment for each cause. As you already have it, I suspect HRT isn't going to result in additional harm and it might be beneficial.
Yeah, that's what I thought too, and what led me into researching various things. Thanks for taking the time to look it up! That's super cool of you. n_n
Hi Lexira,
I'm Laurie, a self appointed and unofficial greeter for Susan's Place therefore I don't have to post those links. I do for my own enjoyment have to say Welcome to Susan's Place ((Hug)). Hi you! Come on in and sit yourself down already will ya? We want you to be all nice and comfy while you look around the place and peruse the topics that suit your fancy. Oh yeah there's coffee and hot water on the counter over there ----> and soda in the fridge, water as you might expect is in the faucet. If you want that bottled stuff you'll have to bring your own.
I'm sorry that I have no input for you regarding ME/CFS as until you mentioned it and I looked it up I had no idea what it was. I also would not know if estrogen would be of help either. I mean ,sheesh ::), I'm not even an official greeter.... what would I know?
So I will offer what I do know.. another "Welcome to Susan's Place" and leave it at that.
Hugs,
Laurie
Hi Lexira and welcome!
Fortunately, I have had no chronic illnesses to test my T therapy on ;D But the prospect of transitioning and going on T has propelled me to work harder on my physical fitness and start taking better care of myself overall. I started working out regularly and watch what I'm eating so that I'll be in the best shape as T takes effect ( to shift female fat areas to male fat areas, and later for improved top surgery results, I've been working on my upper body musculature).
Plus, since I will have to have regular blood tests, and new T prescriptions and injections ( I'm taking the long acting ones which means I can't inject these myself), I'm being medically monitored more than ever in my life. So if anything crops up, it is likely to get detected and treated far earlier. On top of that, I feel I can communicate much better with my T prescribing doc than my regular doc, and so T has been all positive so far.
No one can't tell better than a doctor after studying your case.
Personally I don't know of any transgirl who got cured from an illness by taking HRT. If the illness has to do with low sex hormone levels, endocrine system, etc, might be a chance. But I can't say.
Don't wait more, and go to the doc!
I can't prove causality but my PTSD all but disappeared probably due to stress reduction. I also had some really annoying food allergies that have dissipated. Shrimp is back on the menu!
:
April 22, 2015, the day of my first face to face pass in gender neutral clothes and no makeup. It may be months to the next one, but I'm good with that!
Being transgender is just a phase. It hardly ever starts before conception and always ends promptly at death.
They say the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. I say, climb aboard!
Think outside the voice box!
I had insomnia for many years, but since starting HRT, I now sleep like a baby. HRT lifted my chronic depression when no antidepressant could.
Chronic persistent background anxiety was cured by HRT.
Chronic fatigue also cured by it.
Migraines all but gone post-HRT. (I know the ones I had were definitely related to estrogen).
My natural hormone levels prior to HRT were pathetically low. I suffered slow healing from injuries and DOMS which has since resolved.
Quote from: Violets on July 31, 2017, 08:47:57 AM
I had insomnia for many years, but since starting HRT, I now sleep like a baby. HRT lifted my chronic depression when no antidepressant could.
I quit antidepressants about three months into HRT. Still got my insomnia, but it's mostly circadian disruption in my case.
My chronic depression has gone away thanks to HRT.
In addition to the gender dysphoria issues many of of ladies had, I also had prostate issues. Specifically Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy. BPH is common in men after the age of 60, which I am. Surgery and anti androgens helped some, but my situation needed much more and Estradiol worked fantastically well.