Other than the sigh of relief and joy for starting HRT what were your first mental/physical changes you experienced and how many days before you noticed the change?

In the first two weeks I noticed my body Odor had changed but really other than that nothing really. Truth be told the first couple of months are not the big of a deal. Yeah small stuff here and there but not much. So don't get your hopes up too much. 

Within the first week:

* Breast tenderness
* I started noticing smells more
* Female full-body orgasms 

Quote from: suzifrommd on July 31, 2013, 04:30:45 PM
Within the first week:

* Breast tenderness
* I started noticing smells more
* Female full-body orgasms 

WOW female orgasms. That's amazing in just the first few weeks

Quote from: Heather on July 31, 2013, 03:21:13 PM
In the first two weeks I noticed my body Odor had changed but really other than that nothing really. Truth be told the first couple of months are not the big of a deal. Yeah small stuff here and there but not much. So don't get your hopes up too much. 

Will agree with you, seems it takes for most many months before anything seems to change or drastic notice. For me it was my skin, noticed it when i was or had to shave my face it needed more care. The mind i think just knowing i was on my way to women hood made me feel more secure with myslef inside.

The biggest thing i did notice is the drop in the amount of cash in my wallet when i started HRT. lol..

Izzy

Quote from: suzifrommd on July 31, 2013, 04:30:45 PM
Within the first week:

* Breast tenderness
* I started noticing smells more
* Female full-body orgasms 

wow your body just must love the e.

I think it helped calm the dysphoria by making positives steps toward the goal. After a week or two, libido started dropping off and erections only happened if I wanted them to. Masturbation quickly got to where it was never a thought and snuggling and physical contact became even more pleasurable and could be enjoyed a lot even without sex.

I've never got weepy or anything like that in the last 2.5 years on HRT but I know others that found themselves crying at anything.

Mentally I became much more calm dealing with my own work group and while they did not know why, they appreciated their renewed old supervisor.

On the down side I found I was reacting more negatively to some situations than I had before.  One of those involved a female colleague who was a puppy's mother when her hormones were low (she was on menopausal HRT) and her lows hit my 28th day of the month.  Boy did I get set off one time, but ended up crying in my ofiice with the door shut.  (Luckily she was in an office 40 miles away.)  I ended up coming out to my boss because of it, but did not transition on the job since I was close to retirement. 

<I was not on cyclic hormones, but for the last four years I have had 28 day bitchy cycles like a clock was set!!> 

The biggest change that I have noticed mentally is that I cry much more easily and am more emotional.  As for physically I have noticed that my breasts have started growing.

felt lot more relaxed and calm - and hungry - I was famished all the time - I could not believe that - I remember putting on weight like nobodies business everywhere

breast tenderness and then they started to grow

Quote from: kg85621 on July 31, 2013, 03:16:47 PM
Other than the sigh of relief and joy for starting HRT what were your first mental/physical changes you experienced and how many days before you noticed the change?

For the MtF, estradiol really does hit the brain immediately.  So the sigh of joy and relief just might be a real calming effect.

The first time I took estrogen was 1962 or 1963 when I was 13 and 'self-medicated'. The pills then were more than 10X the strength used in later years and my first response came within a few days - MORNING SICKNESS! Violent morning sickness. It made it very hard to take the pills every day (plus they were hard to get) so I only took them occasionally for a year or so.

I started full-time HRT when I was 17 at a much lower dosage and it very much acted as a tranquilizer - I was more calm and easy-going on HRT so that very much helped me survive the 7 years to SRS.

Now, so  far down the road, I am still on HRT, the patch. I am supposed to put on a new patch twice a week but if I forget, I get a reminder! Within a couple of days after I was supposed to change the patch, I start getting 'down' and become quite depressed if it goes a few days more.

On day 3 a fog started to lift and a pressure like someone squeezing a fist in my chest went away. My nipples started to get tender the end of the 1st week. Week 2 there were smiles and hunger. Dysphoria cut in half end week2, erections had to be made to happed.

+1 Minute: "Welp now you've done it."
+6 Hours: I need to pee, Like Constantly.
+12 Hours: Ugh, it feels like my brain is filled with cotton wool. Wanna go back to sleep.
+36 Hours: Hmm this tastes different from how I remember it, Did Stuart always smell like that?
+48 Hours: My nipples are itchy and sore.
+3 Days: Hmm, My sex drive has vanished. My nipples look like they've been pinched.
+4 Days: I'm *SO* cold, I know it's January but I never felt it like this before.
+5 days: My eyes hurt, Ugh I feel sick.
+7 Days: My skin is really dry, My zits are vanishing. (Cotton wool brain vanished)
+11 Days: I REALLY want to eat lemons, beans and fish... I'm just so hungry why can't I stop eating?!
+15 Days: Wow my hair looks great. It's not flat or greasy at all I've not washed it for... Wait that's impossible... 4 Days?!
+18 Days: Ow my Chest is starting to hurt, it feels like I've got a lump behind my nipple with "Roots" Growing out of it. Is this what your doing with that food?

Mostly just corroborating what you guys experienced, I've been nervous to list the Crying as a symptom because part of me felt that was psychosomatic rather than indicative of an actual change, but I don't know.

All of the above!

One that I certainly DON'T recommend. After a few weeks, looking at my depression meds and saying, you are down the toilet. They were. I've been fine but please don't do it without consulting your medic.

As for the wallet hit, I swapped a few bottles of whiskey a night for cute clothes, shoes, nails, hair. I'm not sure which cost more but I sure know which I prefer

Cindy

I had SRS in 2001 and was taking no hormones since 2003. Just over a month ago I was started on a low-dose patch for maintenance HRT. Well, my breasts are now tender, growing again little by little, but noticably. I think I like this, and probably should have never quit the low dose hormones I was on in 2003 (except they were pills, which cross the liver, unlike a patch).

The first thing I felt was terror, but I'm scared of new things. Within a few hours I felt calmer and happier, and I don't know if that was purely psychological or not but it was certainly welcome.

My nipples were tender and I had breast buds and bouncing (plus OW! going down stairs) by day 5. I think I noticed smells more and softer skin in a few places by week 2. As I recall, the, ahem, involuntary downstairs involvement also ceased within a couple of weeks, though it never stopped working altogether (well, until GRS - that showed it!). Other than that, the only major thing was that it took a while to get my hormone dose *and* delivery system balanced, so I was PMS as hell half of each week for most of month 2.