I'm really concerned, I've been on estrace, prometrium and aldactone for about one year now, and I have only had very little breast growth. Actually, I started out with a lower dosage of estrace but 4 months ago I was bumped up to to a higher dose.
I'm 22, 6'1'' and 160 pounds, so I'm tall and thin. Therefore, a small chest would suit me and I would only want to go B or C cup max, but I'm not even an A cup yet.
Is it normal, or should I start looking for breast augmentation surgeons now? Or should I talk to my endo?
Any insight would be great, thanks all!!!
Chrissi
I don't know if there is such a thing as normal. Response to hormones is so individualized. You may see continued steady growth and get a sudden spurt later after SRS (if you choose to get it). I myself will most likely get a BA to get me to at least a C if I'm not there after SRS next year.
One thing though, posting dosages is a violation of the terms of service. You might want to modify your post before the mods see this thread.
Talk to your endochrinologist. Boob job as a last resort, be patient! Development may take awhile. HRT varies with the male taking it. Is your hormone level profile being checked? I agree with Melody, please edit out your dosages.
I'm on a different progesterone and the dosing is modulated, not everyday. I notice the different types of development during certain times with this modulation. This is all that I could tell you. Progesterone usage for breast development is still controversial but a lot of the anecdotal evidence has progesterone as a tool for breast development. My breasts are a sub-B and steady after 5 months, but the internal structuring is still developing. They may or may not grow larger, Evidence I seen have them growing in spurts that varies from 2 months to 2 years apart, SRS or no. Expect 1-2 cup sizes smaller than your female relatives, but I seen exceptions! Even here on this forum! Alas, I am 6'2" and old :'(
Joelene
How much caffeine do you drink? Lower it. Do you help the estrogen by intaking a food that is high(ish) in cholesterol after taking it? Try it, but stay healthy.
Some of this is an individualized science experiment.
Maybe it is time to change your method of delivery. Patches or injectables.
Also I drink a ton of coffee and I am at a B cup. And I am at 36 months HRT. My cholesterol is at 100, so says my Doctor. I do take Lipitor to keep it down.
Thanks Janet, there is now hope that I can keep that beloved narcotic in my life! I'm shooting for a B too.
As you can probably tell, mileage varies greatly.
Quote from: EmmaM on April 16, 2011, 09:37:18 PM
How much caffeine do you drink? Lower it. Do you help the estrogen by intaking a food that is high(ish) in cholesterol after taking it? Try it, but stay healthy.
Some of this is an individualized science experiment.
Yes, the jury is still out for the caffeine. Mine is limited to the occasional Dr Peppers, I never drank coffee but some tea. Those going the herbal route says the breast growth started after quitting caffinated drinks. A weaker estrogen is at work here, they had very limited effect on me before I started HRT. This was not the pills in a bottle advertised as "Bust Boosters", but a Charles Atlas (A muscleman that only had a pamphlet, no other products, just instruction.) analog of an E-booklet of what kind of herbs and application tips. The ciswoman author has her own site/ blog and has some satisfied clientele plus a lot of info on feminization tips on CD's and her blog with a lot of responses with pictures. A lot of hairy boob growth, but the rest of the feminization not there with the herbals. I still subscribe to her site. Do not take those phytoestrogenic herbals while on HRT! They are stronger onto latching on the estrogen receptors, but weaker in the effect! I weaned myself off of those one month before starting HRT and started drinking the little caffeine again.
Joelene
The psychiatrist and the therapist I've recently started seeing both told me the same thing (like they're used to having to point this out!): a teen girl's breasts take at least 5 years to fully develop from scratch, so on top of the "everyone's body is different" factor, we need to be patient - or fork out for a boob job if patience doesn't feel like an option.
Yep Yoxi nailed it. And actually make that more like ten years before the growth stops - if then. nearly 30 years on I still find I get an occasional size increase. I'm borderline between F and G cup now.
Also forget worrying about caffeine. I drank huge amounts of super-strong coffee in the early days. I still got good development. It's more of a genetic thing. Look around at your female relatives. If they a flat so will you be. If not then it should happen...
Quote from: yoxi on April 17, 2011, 01:03:58 AM
The psychiatrist and the therapist I've recently started seeing both told me the same thing (like they're used to having to point this out!): a teen girl's breasts take at least 5 years to fully develop from scratch, so on top of the "everyone's body is different" factor, we need to be patient - or fork out for a boob job if patience doesn't feel like an option.
I was about to say...when I was a teenager, I was very small and took a long time to develop. I thought it meant that I would always be small, but I got larger over a long period of time. :(
Took about ten years for me to really mature...but maybe I was slower than most.
I have a friend who got her BA only a few months into HRT. She got pretty sizable implants...maybe a size too large, even at this stage of the game. I keep thinking she should have gone a size too small, to allow for hormonal growth. Because what will she look like in a couple of years? :o
Yoxi and Jenny are right about this.
I started with a small B after srs, now I have a D.
So it takes some time, be patient.
btw, i liked the B more but it grows how it grows.
hug
Annette
yes its puberty, rome was not built in one day either are boobs, hips, faces anything you care to mention >:-)
just enjoy the journey its special and if at the end you need more results there is surgery
hehe
Same Valerie, i had BA best thing i ever did after SRS ofc
Welcome to my world.
15-16months & flat... Flat flat flat always the flattest girl in any photo
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Darkphantom/216084_10150164478061433_516026432_7175807_5430891_n.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Darkphantom/216084_10150164478061433_516026432_7175807_5430891_n.jpg)
haha :P *sigh* can barely even push my shirt out!
It's not really a "problem" unless you have had no other responses to estrogen either... although my boobs haven't grown I've gotten cellulite and fatty hips/abdomen and face changes implying it's just my chest that won't grow.
Oh crap,
I drink coffee like there is no such thing as water. Why would drinking coffee hurt growth?
I don't know if this is relevant to trans women, but cis women who drink a lot of coffee (over 5 cups per day) on HRT have an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease.
Besides, it's an evil charismatic plant that has entire countries enslaved into cultivating it - it must be stopped ;).
Quote from: yoxi on April 17, 2011, 01:33:34 PM
Besides, it's an evil charismatic plant that has entire countries enslaved into cultivating it - it must be stopped ;).
:o Lies!
;D
Quote from: yoxi on April 17, 2011, 01:33:34 PM
I don't know if this is relevant to trans women, but cis women who drink a lot of coffee (over 5 cups per day) on HRT have an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease.
Besides, it's an evil charismatic plant that has entire countries enslaved into cultivating it - it must be stopped ;).
The programmers union will be after you with statements like that!
Quote from: laineyjain on April 17, 2011, 01:15:06 PM
Oh crap,
I drink coffee like there is no such thing as water. Why would drinking coffee hurt growth?
Caffeine has been shown (in some cases) to inhibit breast growth in developing women, I can't link a study because I'm responding from my phone. Looks like it may or may not, judging from these ladies' experiences.
Quote from: yoxi on April 17, 2011, 01:33:34 PM
I don't know if this is relevant to trans women, but cis women who drink a lot of coffee (over 5 cups per day) on HRT have an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease.
what about tea?
my bra size is 36 B, but it is hard to see because torso little big. I eat a lot of chicken which seem to go to my butt. Dont know why said all that. lol.
Two words: Keira Knightley ... the girl is a mega movie-star, models for Chanel is ravishingly pretty ... and is as flat as a pancake that just got run over by a steamroller.
Some girls get boobs so big they can't run for a bus or find a top that fits. Other girls get nothing at all. That's the way is works in cis-land ... You've gotta figure that's the way it works for trans-girls too ...
... but the really important point is, you can still be sexy, desirable and feminine, even if you don't have a pair of DDs on your chest (just as you can be if you do!)
You should wait at least 3-4 more years.
You're 6'1 and only 160lb - I think that's a big reason you haven't achieved much boob growth. I am 5'8 and a half, and over my first year of hrt I went from 193lbs to 130lbs and developed only mosquito bites for breasts - in fact, my breasts were bigger BEFORE hrt when I was heavier! Over the past six months I have made an effort to gain weight and have increased to 155lbs, and also incorporated micronized progesterone into my hrt regime. In the past six months my boob growth has been quite pleasing, to the point where I am now almost a B cup. Less pleasing is the fact that my arms have also gained an inch, but then there are still plenty of women with arms bigger than mine.
You might not want to hear this, but I think if you were to try gaining weight to perhaps 175lb you may experience boob growth. 175lb would still put you at a healthy weight for your height.
What I find interesting is that when I over-eat, like at Christmas or something, my boobs really start to itch the next day, and they look much bigger. Since my endo keeps my hormones levels at near-pregnancy levels, it's almost as if my body is saying "Wow! Here's some food, I'd better hold on to it so the baby can have some!"
I guess a lot of it depends on what type of woman you want to be as well. I would like to be super-skinny and waif-like but my frame won't support that, and I just end up looking ill when I get too light. If you are happy being skinny, then you should probably accept that you aren't going to get much breast growth, in which case implants would be the way to go. When I look around I rarely see skinny women who have decent-sized breasts.
Quote from: Icephoenyx on April 16, 2011, 08:21:00 PM
I'm really concerned, I've been on estrace, prometrium and aldactone for about one year now, and I have only had very little breast growth. Actually, I started out with a lower dosage of estrace but 4 months ago I was bumped up to to a higher dose.
I'm 22, 6'1'' and 160 pounds, so I'm tall and thin. Therefore, a small chest would suit me and I would only want to go B or C cup max, but I'm not even an A cup yet.
Is it normal, or should I start looking for breast augmentation surgeons now? Or should I talk to my endo?
Any insight would be great, thanks all!!!
Chrissi
First off sorry hun. I'd give you what little I have in a second lol.
I think though the fact that you're so thin at 160 might be the reason why you're flat. I'm about 5'10 ish and I'm only about 10 pounds less then you. Maybe you could try and see if gaining some weight will go straight to your chest? ;D
Also is prometrium basically just Depo Provera but in a pill form?
Thanks all for the responses, it's encouraging to know it might be only a matter of time before things begin to look up, and I'm not necessarily going to be needing a BA (the less surgeries, the better).
I've thought about the whole gaining weight thing, but I'm worried I will just get fatter everywhere else and not my chest. I do have a bit of a gut, and if I live off pizza and milkshakes it will only get bigger, but I may get bigger boobs. So I'm not sure what to do here....
In the meantime, what kind of bra should I be wearing? I'm about a 38 band but with AAA size cups I'll never be able to find anything to wear. Should I just look for a B or C and stuff it?
Chrissi
Hey,
It's probably not a good idea to gain weight on milkshakes and pizza! Although those things will help you gain weight, it's better to stick with high calorit healthy foods like nuts, olive oil, oily fish, although it's okay to splurge on pizza and milkshakes once in a while. I do love to splurge, and with progesterone I get soooo hungry at times.
Yeah that's the risk you run when you gain more weight, gaining it in undesirable areas, but that's the luck of the draw i guess. Like I said my arms ballooned an inch, and my waist gained about 3 inches too, although I did only have a 26 inch waist before, I do look kind of pregnant now sometimes. But hey, there are a lot of guys who like girls with a portly belly ;).
Why not just go for a 38A or AA if that's comfortable, or even a pushup bra? I have an a cup pushup bra and when my breasts weren't growing, I would wear that and it made me look like I actually had some breasts.
I'll comment on growth when I have been on the Pill for longer than 2 weeks. It's probably wishful thinking, but I may have experienced a tiny amout of nipple growth, and they are feeling a bit more sensitive.
All my female rel's are fairly well endowed, so there's hope. I will be happy with B or C.
As for the bra, just get properly fitted and used breast forms or silicon bra inserts. The woman who did my fitting pointed out that a push-up bra will only look right if there is something to push up!
Karen.
And just to add (contentiously!) that bras are optional - lots of women don't wear 'em :). I can see they're useful for holding breast forms if you use those, and breasts when we have breasts that need support, but otherwise, I can take them or leave them myself. Of course, my feelings on that may change... ::)
Many Thanks to the original poster and all the excellent replies to said post... I am in my fourth month of transition and also living fulltime as a female and hope to be on hormones within a couple of months... I currently use homemade forms in B cup ( Ipreviously used D cup but after some reserch via sites like TS roadmap I realized I will likely windup with about a b/c cup...
All i know is after doing the research and talking to a couple of local friends who are GG's who had implants, a boob job is out of the picture because of a combination of cost and the fact that in between 5-10 years i would have to go back under the knife. both friends did have the implants removed at different stages afterwards due to not liking the look, hardening of the implants and the fact that they would have had to have repeat procedures every few years.
the benifit of forms also has been that I have realized that with a b/c cup stuff fits better for one and i do not get as many rude comments from guys...
I would check your Testosterone and Estrogen levels. Changing to injectables could help feminizing results faster but in the end there will be no difference. I am about a year and a half on hrt and can't fill an A cup yet. Going to wait as long as possible for BA and if I do go that route, I will be doing fat transfer most likely.
Oh, also, extreme dieting can cause breast growth problems. I believe you are at the low side of your ideal weight. Wouldn't hurt, at all, to put on some fat to work with.
Oh really? Me it's almost 2 years now and no boobs neither. I'm on the weak Estradiol Valerate(injections) so obsviously nothing. But I prefer going slow and safe rather quick and dangerous. I know if I intake potent forms of Estrogen like PREMARIN OR ETHINYL ESTRADIOL my boobs are gonna inflate like a balloon rapidly but I don't wanna liver damage and soon I'm put implant so I don't worry too much.
Quote from: andream on April 20, 2011, 05:13:37 PM
What I find interesting is that when I over-eat, like at Christmas or something, my boobs really start to itch the next day, and they look much bigger. Since my endo keeps my hormones levels at near-pregnancy levels, it's almost as if my body is saying "Wow! Here's some food, I'd better hold on to it so the baby can have some!"
+1
I've experienced this exact same sensation as well. If I have a really big (or somewhat fatty/high calorie meal) the day before, the following day my boobs are hurting and itchy (more than normal). It's like wow, they're definitely growing. So, it does really involve a balance in your diet as well.
Quote from: EmmaM on April 16, 2011, 11:03:52 PM
Thanks Janet, there is now hope that I can keep that beloved narcotic in my life! I'm shooting for a B too.
As you can probably tell, mileage varies greatly.
@ Icephoenyx:
Girl: Patience!
Remember, it takes a genetic girl a few years to have good breast development in most cases. Why would we be any different? Also, you'd be surprised to know that my case was just like yours. I'm only now getting decent development and I'm 1 year and 4 months on HRT.
@ EmmaM:
Whoa ... far out! Like, I do 20 ounces of straight-black bold from Starbucks virtually every day and have the whole time I've been on HRT. Jeesh! Heck, I've been wanting to quit caffeine tripping anyway. I believe you may be on to something here. Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna try bagging the caffeine and see.
;) Lacey
Be careful Lacey, caffeine witdrawal is just as bad as drinking too much- headaches, shaking, body temp goes up... I couldn't do it, I'm weak ;D
please be aware also that breast tissue is mostly fat inside a structure of tissue so if getting fat tissue on your body has always been hard I.E. high motabalism like my sons this may always be an issue for you. estrogen cant deposite what isnt there.
jessie
Quote from: Carlita on April 19, 2011, 08:43:09 AM
Two words: Keira Knightley ... the girl is a mega movie-star, models for Chanel is ravishingly pretty ... and is as flat as a pancake that just got run over by a steamroller.
Some girls get boobs so big they can't run for a bus or find a top that fits. Other girls get nothing at all. That's the way is works in cis-land ... You've gotta figure that's the way it works for trans-girls too ...
... but the really important point is, you can still be sexy, desirable and feminine, even if you don't have a pair of DDs on your chest (just as you can be if you do!)
IF the rest of you is suitably feminine. I'm in the category of thinking I'll be past 50 if/when I ever have SRS and if i don't have at least a C I'm buying them. I don't think I can pull off being reasonably pretty while being flat.
I'm thinking of maybe switching to the patch, my endo says it's more powerful than the pill. Anyone know anything else about upgrading to another method? I guess for now stuffing a B or C cup would be the best route to go.
Chrissi