Hello folks, I'm curious if any of you have noticed any feminization ebbs and flows. In the last couple months, I feel like I've lost a bit of my feminization. I'm not as chest heavy, my face is less femme too. My weight is the same. I got worried and had my levels checked. They are ideal, prob a bit higher than most have for e and t is very low. I'm wondering if there's something that can affect the interaction of the hormones, so even if my levels are perfect in the blood, no receptors are accepting them. The drugs I take regularly are finasteride, prep, progesterone, estrogen (pellets). I also take a one a day vitamin, biotin, and k2d3 pill. That's about it. I'm a bit frustrated. Hoping for some guidance. I've also posted this question to my Endo, covering all avenues of knowledge.
Bari Jo
Yes, there are ebbs and flows in development for me, and I think that holds true for all of us. I'll just point out the obvious, if you want well padded curves, your weight isn't going to stay the same. Welcome to Women's World!
I really doubt that you're having some unique "receptors don't work" condition. More likely it's an impatience/expectations issue on your side. Enjoy the ride and accept the pace of your progress. You've been on hormones for a year... give it five. :)
Hugs, Devlyn
I checked for possible drug interactions and I can find none listed.
As long as your blood levels are good, then you have nothing to worry about from your medications.
What you are seeing may just be the normal fluctuations of transition. For my self, I was on HRT for over three years before people started gendering me properly. Patience is most important for a successful transition.
Just keep doing what you have been doing and you will be fine.
Bari Jo,
This is what I have read, please do your research and talk with your endo to validate or invalidate it: When you use drug hrt with estrogen, it is unwise to consume a lot of phytoestrogenic foods because those phytoestrogens block the receptors that the pharmaceutical estrogen would bind to.
They compete for the receptors, and although the drug estrogen is far more potent than phytoestrogen, the latter appears to grab on to the receptors and the drug estrogen stays in the blood and its potential effectiveness is reduced. So if you eat a lot of soy and legumes, or consume lots of other phytoestrogens, maybe this is a factor for you.
I do know that my feminization has been gradual. But at times, more significant development spurts happen. I am losing weight overall, but if I go up a tad, fat seems to go to the hips, thighs, and bottom. Fat seems to disappear more from the tummy, but it probably comes off a little everywhere, when my gradual weight loss continues.
You thus may need some excess calories for fat to be placed in the female fat deposit areas. I wonder if fat actually redistributes, it may just be that you lose existing fat everywhere if you lose weight but any new fat goes to the female fat deposit areas.
Maybe your endo will shed some insights. Perhaps your metabolism is high and your calorie intake is low, so for you fat is simply not accumulating?
Finally, maybe you are not talking about curve development when you talk about feminization, but perhaps skin, hair, and so on? But I think that is tied to hrt, and finesteride for head hair.
Chrissy
I'm hoping it's just an ebb. Yes, skin, face don't feel as femme anymore. Perhaps I need to change up my beauty routine or something. I haven't heard back from my Endo yet, prob Monday.
Bari Jo
Bari Jo, I have gone through ebbs and flows myself. At the moment my belly girth has increased due to turkey overexposure and it detracts from my butt.
Hugs and smiles, Jess
I continue to backside here. I am thinking of switching medications. My numbers are ideal, but I'm wondering if pills or shots might work better for absorbtion than the pellets I am on. For those interested, my e is at 515 and t at 9. Is it possible that too high of e gives results I'm experiencing?
Bari Jo
What units are you measuring your blood levels in?
T in ng/dL and e in pg/mL. I had to look at my labs to get that answer, I always forget the units. In doing so my numbers are slightly different (can't trust memory). T is 7 ng/dL and e is 563 pg/mL.
Bari Jo
Your estrogen level is high, like mine is because I also use pellets. If you change to something else it's going to drop significantly. Lots of doctors would say it's too high, but no way I'd change. I thinks there's just natural progress and pauses along the way.
There's a nice chart here of blood levels
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Estradiol
There's another for testesterone, somewhere.
I'm wondering if this is just more dysphoria on my part too. I am hoping that when I see family over Xmas, they will all comment on how much I've changed and how femme I look. I could use that.
Bari Jo
Quote from: Bari Jo on December 07, 2018, 09:49:46 AM
I'm wondering if this is just more dysphoria on my part too. I am hoping that when I see family over Xmas, they will all comment on how much I've changed and how femme I look. I could use that.
Bari Jo
Oh that would be nice to hear, right? I think dysphoria can have a part too. If there's something you can do, I'd say why not try? I don't know much about pellets though.
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