I had a LOT of problems with HRT.
I started on spiro and about a month later started semi low dose of estradiol. Around what they normally start MTF on. The spiro I had no issues with. The estradiol made me feel simply horrible. It felt like I was taking poison. The first day would be ok, 2nd day I would start feeling clammy with a mild headache. By day 3 I had a full on migraine 24/7, insomnia and felt like I just wanted to crawl out of my skin. After 7 days I couldn't make myself take another pill if I wanted to. We tried 4 different kinds of this oral med, then tried transdermal creme. Even just a tiny dab of this creme brought these same side effects after a few days. Last we tried the lowest dose patch made, it's like 1/100 or less of what I would need to be on to get any MTF results and I had the same severity of these side effects. It would take 2-3 days for me to start feeling normal after I would discontinue the meds and then we would try something else. Sometimes I would let a week go by to try to really clear the meds out of my system. After several months of this (and feeling like crap) we decided I could not tolerate estradiol for some reason.
About 6 months after I gave up estradiol my Doc remembered talking to a patient about some place that has "bio-identical" hormones they compound. He called them up, told them my story and they suggested I try estriol rather than estradiol. I found I have no problem at all with estriol and after 9 months have seen rapid changes to my body.
I guess the moral to this story is don't give up. And that we are all very different in how we react to meds. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you. HRT is about improving the quality of your life, period. It isn't worth being sick or dying over.
Stephe
