It's been FOREVER since I've posted here...but Cyndi encouraged me to post an update and this thread seems the appropriate place.

I've now been on testosterone gel daily for three years now. (Just celebrated my anniversary actually. So really, three years!!) and I still totally pass female. Seems my body needed just an androgyn level of T same as my mind....*shrugs* I do have a much lower voice (male...I'd say) but still talk with such a feminine inflection that I'm rarely gendered male. I can grow a beard, patchy though it is...I do have more body hair than I used to, but still very very little.

I had top surgery in the form of a reduction. I'm more of a C cup...maybe B cup...not sure. I don't wear a traditional bra anymore. A stretchy kind that doesn't require me to know what cup I wear. I'm down from a DDD and it feels so much better!!

I work at an LGBT youth center where we talk about gender quite a bit, I'm able to be out with the youth and encourage them to use my preferred pronouns (ze/per) which they do....sometimes.

I'm legally changing my name to Sevan Marlow next Monday, and I'm in a good place.

Many seem to still be waiting for me to suddenly realize I'm binary male but...hasn't happened in three years, quite doubt it's suddenly going to at this point. I'm genderqueer, and I'm (usually, generally) happy with that.

I'm so happy to see so many who are considering HRT and similar!! Three years ago when I started...I was the only one I knew besides Kinkly. I couldn't find anyone else who was even seriously considering it, let alone had already done it!

I've been considering it, but only really started researching it - and I've still got to find a doctor and psych to start down the path...

One of my biggest frustrations has been my very-much male presentation, specifically in the face (and being bald) and the frame.  My body hair has never been a big issue...  I've got small breasts - maybe an A: if I was female, my frame would probably have a D cup (working with home-made falsies when I dress up) so I'd like a little larger breasts (maybe B/C not something that could be easily masked in a default-male presentation) and hips/thighs/butt. From what I read some kind of low-dose E should provide a good bit of feminization for my face and body.

I feel like I can pass now fairly easily (visually) with a wig and make-up, mannerisms and voice (if I chose to present as female) will come with practice.  So a little nudge in the right direction is what I'm looking for - I don't think I need to go as far as surgery.

After reading Zythyra's response, I realized I better change my vote also. I originally voted "I am not considering hormones or gender surgery". That was a long time ago (I was the first vote). Now I'm a few weeks into HRT, so obviously a change was in order.

Quote from: agfrommd on February 05, 2013, 11:48:47 AM
After reading Zythyra's response, I realized I better change my vote also. I originally voted "I am not considering hormones or gender surgery". That was a long time ago (I was the first vote). Now I'm a few weeks into HRT, so obviously a change was in order.

Wow what a progression!

Quote from: omdorastrix on February 05, 2013, 10:56:09 AM
I've been considering it, but only really started researching it - and I've still got to find a doctor and psych to start down the path...

One of my biggest frustrations has been my very-much male presentation, specifically in the face~
~From what I read some kind of low-dose E should provide a good bit of feminization for my face and body.

I feel like I can pass now fairly easily (visually) with a wig and make-up, mannerisms and voice (if I chose to present as female) will come with practice.  So a little nudge in the right direction is what I'm looking for - I don't think I need to go as far as surgery.

Although YMMV, Low Dose E probably won't do much for the feminization that you sound like you're looking for.
You can use a higher dose, possibly full transition doses. I think depending on what you are specifically looking for, you may be able to make some changes and then back down to a 'maintenance dose'. You will need to drop your T if it is in the normal male range, which isn't always the case. Have it checked, lower it into a female range for the E to be more effective.
Some T blockers will give you some feminizing effects over time by themselves. What you read is guidelines that may or may not apply to you. The only way to find out is to find a knowledgeable doctor, and start out low and move up if you want. You can always back down if you are finding them to be uncomfortable. On the other hand, you may find that it is what you really want and higher doses could be right. There isn't any way of knowing until you start. Over the course of over two years with blockers, I've changed my dose several times. 8 Months of E has seen a couple changes in dosage.
Even though there is a fair amount of information out there on low dose HRT, not that many Dr's are that familiar with it. And there really isn't enough information to speculate what is going to be the right doses. There isn't an effective range to go by. And just winging it on your own is really out of the question. Although it isn't as dangerous in most cases as what has happened in the past when people tried to go it alone with full transition doses, it is still dangerous. A knowledgeable Dr is a must. As it turns out, just lowering the doses doesn't always give you the results you're looking for. You have to stay on top of it. And so does your Dr. There are still complications that can come up that are dangerous. Regular blood work, full comp panels w/ available and free T are needed, along with the usual indications of other problems that can come up. Your Dr of choice should be well aware of all of this, otherwise you should get one who understands what is current. Very current.
If they need information, I use a center that is very current. They are constantly upgrading their information and Dr's can get that information from them. They are pretty much the people that started low dose with a base line of information that is needed to make informed diagnoses.
Done properly, Low Dose can be safer than most meds that are handed out these days.
But lack of knowledge can make them  dangerous to use. Unfortunately, there are Dr's out there that are not current and are just guessing based on old information. It really pays to have a talk with them and find out their extent of knowledge about HRT, both full transition doses and Low Dose HRT. It is not just a matter of using lower does. There's more to it.
There are to many different combinations of things to really know how any one person is going to react to them.
Really what you are going to be doing is using side effects from different drugs to achieve something they weren't designed for. But the good news is that they have been documented for full transition levels for a long time. The information coming in about Low Dose is gaining, but it is still not as close to a complete picture as higher doses are.

A constant theme you will hear is that a therapist is a very good idea to help sort out things with you, a Dr that is current on Low Dose is essential. If you need to educate them and have to push them to find current information, so be it. You'll be doing yourself a favor and it will be helping those following in your steps towards using Low Dose HRT.
Ativan

*Hey Sevan!  *

Quote from: agfrommd on February 05, 2013, 11:48:47 AM
After reading Zythyra's response, I realized I better change my vote also. I originally voted "I am not considering hormones or gender surgery". That was a long time ago (I was the first vote). Now I'm a few weeks into HRT, so obviously a change was in order.

How do you like them so far? I freaked at how well I felt from Spiro alone. The E was the icing on the cake for me.
Ativan

Quote from: Ativan Prescribed on February 05, 2013, 04:31:52 PM
How do you like them so far? I freaked at how well I felt from Spiro alone. The E was the icing on the cake for me.
Ativan

Well so far it's just low dose estradiol.

But I like it. Aside from noticing smells more and breast tenderness, the most pronounced effect has been a total change in the sexual arousal/release mechanism.

My next appt. is 2/18. My doc doesn't believe in adding more than one med at a time, so if I see negative effects he knows what it's from. I imagine he's going to start me on AAs then.

Quote from: agfrommd on February 05, 2013, 06:39:09 PM
Aside from noticing smells more and breast tenderness, the most pronounced effect has been a total change in the sexual arousal/release mechanism.

I totally get that. My description is that everything is just smoother.
That and I catch myself in these totally indulgent feminine states of mind.
I find myself female in dreams more than I used to. It's a nice way to wake up most days...
My creativity has gone up a lot, especially my guitar playing oddly enough. Especially Blues tunes.
I'm back to working on my photography again, too.
Ativan

Quote from: agfrommd on February 05, 2013, 11:48:47 AM
After reading Zythyra's response, I realized I better change my vote also. I originally voted "I am not considering hormones or gender surgery". That was a long time ago (I was the first vote). Now I'm a few weeks into HRT, so obviously a change was in order.

Congrats!!!

2+ months into HRT, I'm feeling completely right with it. There's already some breast development, subtle changes in skin, and my emotions are much closer to the surface.

Z

I wish I could, but I live in norway. So unless I lie my ass off, I will never get any surgeries or hormones.

Quote from: Faun on February 09, 2013, 02:11:59 PM
I wish I could, but I live in norway. So unless I lie my ass off, I will never get any surgeries or hormones.

if you need it
lie

I just looked at current vote totals.

QuoteI am taking or have taken hormones or have had some type of gender surgery    26 (35.6%)

I have not taken hormones or had gender surgery, but I'm considering it.    41 (56.2%)

I am not considering hormones or gender surgery    6 (8.2%)

This is fascinating; over 1/3 of us are doing, or have done, some sort of medical treatment, and over 1/2 of us are considering it. Total of 91.8%

When I first joined Susan's Androgyne Forum a few years ago, there weren't very many of us in those two categories, the majority wasn't considering (or saying openly that they/we were).

Z

Far as I can remember it was only Kinkly and Sevan who were doing medical transition to an androgyne body when this was started.

Two years (and two days) ago I started Spiro.
I don't remember how long I was considering it, but I know it was months, maybe around six.
I started using E patches a little over eight months ago.
I started talking to my Psychologist about E within a couple weeks after I started the Spiro.
Ativan

Quote from: Ativan Prescribed on February 09, 2013, 06:09:38 PM
I don't remember how long I was considering it, but I know it was months, maybe around six.

I occasionally wondered, for years, about whether I should consider HRT. I was seriously thinking about it when I started therapy over a year ago. Funny, at around three months into it, I told my therapist that I was absolutely ready to start HRT, and she was willing to write a letter. By my next session, I'd backed off, however shortly after that I decided to start living openly (again) as Z. I'd hoped that would be enough to quiet the dysphoria. It wasn't. Another 9 months went by, and I finally started. From the moment I made this decision, it has felt very right.

Z

I was wrong, I started on the 17 of Feb, 2011. I got the OK, had a blood draw done and then got the script filled.

I went back and looked at some old posts. A lot has changed in two yrs.
Ativan

I would love a full vaginectomy and hysterectomy.

Something to sort out my figure would be nice, too. I have an hourglass waist and I feel like I'm permanently stuck in a tight corset. I wish I could just loosen the strings.

I want to go on spiro, because I am starting to go thin on the top hair wise. I don't know about low dose E (would definitely be low if at all)...probably, maybe not. But I'm in no rush when it comes to that.

Quote from: Brightest After Dawn on February 27, 2013, 02:33:18 PM
I want to go on spiro, because I am starting to go thin on the top hair wise. I don't know about low dose E (would definitely be low if at all)...probably, maybe not. But I'm in no rush when it comes to that.

You may want to look at something besides Spiro for hair loss issues.
Check out the alternatives, different T blockers, they all have different effects, which are mainly side effects.
Ativan.

Yes! You are right, and I have seen the list of side effects for Spiro...pretty scary! I already decided I don't want it. There are other meds that can be prescribed that are safer than Spiro and have less serious side effects / less serious reactions and sensitivities.