Susan's Place Logo

News:

Based on internal web log processing I show 3,417,511 Users made 5,324,115 Visits Accounting for 199,729,420 pageviews and 8.954.49 TB of data transfer for 2017, all on a little over $2,000 per month.

Help support this website by Donating or Subscribing! (Updated)

Main Menu

Question for those on HRT

Started by carrie359, October 09, 2013, 01:36:22 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

bethanyjadefowell

A low dose will do nothing for you. Being on a low dose of HRT will not make you feel happy about yourself (it didn't for me, being on low start dose for 9 months) I had no changes and did not feel any better about myself. It wasn't until higher dose of HRT that things started to change, and now I feel better in myself. Also you will need a T blocker, as HRT will not work on its own.

The thing you need to understand about transition is that, you CAN'T pick and choose the things you want to change and the things you don't.

Even if you have a low dose of HRT (like I had), you can't stop changes (if you get any) without stopping HRT all together.

And I can't see any DR would let you stay on a low dose (what would be the point?)
  •  

Beth Andrea

I was on phyto-estrogens for several months before HRT...even those helped. It is illogical to say "X won't help you, because it didn't help me"....everyone is different and will have different responses to E or T.
...I think for most of us it is a futile effort to try and put this genie back in the bottle once she has tasted freedom...

--read in a Tessa James post 1/16/2017
  •  

bethanyjadefowell

Ok. What about changes that they don't want? My point is, if he wants to stay a guy, how can he do this without any changes from HRT?

  •  

Ltl89

Hey Carrie,

As some have said, hrt effects us all in different ways.  In my case, it hasn't eased my dysphoria much at all.  In fact, it actually has emphasized how much I need to transition by highlighting how much I want to do so.  Most people report a calm sensation, but for me it has been making me think things like "you got to do this girl and make it fast"!  While I have always desired to transition and stop presenting male, hrt has really strengthened those feelings to an intense level.  It may not do that for you, but please be aware that hrt can also inspire you to make further changes so you can forever leave male mode.  That doesn't sound like something you want, so please be careful. 
  •  

carrie359

Quote from: learningtolive on October 10, 2013, 01:28:48 PM
Hey Carrie,

As some have said, hrt effects us all in different ways.  In my case, it hasn't eased my dysphoria much at all.  In fact, it actually has emphasized how much I need to transition by highlighting how much I want to do so.  Most people report a calm sensation, but for me it has been making me think things like "you got to do this girl and make it fast"!  While I have always desired to transition and stop presenting male, hrt has really strengthened those feelings to an intense level.  It may not do that for you, but please be aware that hrt can also inspire you to make further changes so you can forever leave male mode.  That doesn't sound like something you want, so please be careful.


Wow, really good food for thought.. I am just trying to figure out a way to be happy.. As much as I would love to transition.. I have so much good in my life that could change for the worse..  I may need to just do as I always have an find diversions...and put Jeannie back in the bottle ..  As a guy everyone loves me so much.. I pass well as a guy LOL...I will have to put a lot of energy into transition..  I wish I could find a way to get the pain to go away..without drugs..
Carrie
  •  

LizMarie

Just a small correction. According to my endo, who has been handling MTFs since 1975, in some cases estrogen alone will shut down testosterone production. Consequently, he starts with estrogen and adds a t-blocker if needed after he sees how far testosterone production falls or if it falls at all.

So in some cases (the minority) just estrogen alone can shut down testosterone production. He did state that most MTFs require an additional anti-androgen but that this was why he would start slow and add the anti-androgen later.
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.



~ Cara Elizabeth
  •  

bethanyjadefowell

Is everyone not understanding the question?

Did he not ask, how he could stay as a man but take HRT to feel better in himself?

If I'm understanding his question right, won't HRT give him changes he would not want, like slight breast growth?
  •  

DrBobbi

Yes, you can titrate you HRT to reduce, and even eliminate depression and dysphoria, however, the feminizing effects of Estradiol aren't limited to your appearance. Brain changes begin almost immediately. In just months your brain will feminize, including a 10% reduction in total volume. You will process sense data as a female, using a combination of grey and white matter. The differences in thought are profound, and will lead you, in my own experience, down the road to transition. In short, the train will leave the station, and whether you take your wife on the ride, will depend on several factors-Truth and love primarily. According to an endocrinologist I know that handles HRT, his experience is because of slow outward changes on HRT, wives get "used" to the idea and learn to accept their trans husbands.

Good luck.
  •  

Jenna Marie

Bethany : Actually, my caution was going to be the reverse, that even low-dose HRT *could* have significant effects. I had exactly the opposite experience from yours; I started on a dose so low menopausal cis women use it, no anti-androgens, and after 3 years I was 42DDD and pathology reported my testicles were 100% nonfunctional.

So it's different for everybody, all right. It is, however, true that the changes aren't something we can choose or control. Carrie, you will have to be prepared for the possibility that in addition to the psychological temptations, there may be real physical effects that you may or may not be able to hide... though usually there's a window in which you can stop, if you can't risk further changes.
  •  

Ltl89

Quote from: carrie359 on October 10, 2013, 03:21:26 PM

Wow, really good food for thought.. I am just trying to figure out a way to be happy.. As much as I would love to transition.. I have so much good in my life that could change for the worse..  I may need to just do as I always have an find diversions...and put Jeannie back in the bottle ..  As a guy everyone loves me so much.. I pass well as a guy LOL...I will have to put a lot of energy into transition..  I wish I could find a way to get the pain to go away..without drugs..
Carrie

There may be a way to settle the pain without drugs.  HRT and/or transitioning can be a god send to many, but I truly believe there are trans people that have found peace without transitioning.  Is that you?  Only you can know.  What's important is that you follow through with the best path for you and not what's best for trans person a or b.  Remember, hrt can ease possibly ease dysphoria, but it can also make you really feel your dysphoria and want to keep moving forward.  Also, there will be physical changes over time that you can't always take back.  The best thing to do is to weigh the pros and cons and find what's best for you.  I'm concerned about whether you are simply holding this in for others.  If you do that, no pill will solve your happiness because you are stifling your inner desires and needs.  You need to address what is making you unhappy and find a peaceful resolution, whatever that may be.  Let me ask you, in an ideal world what do you want?  After you realize your ideal world, how do you think your idealized self would cope or exist in the current circumstances of your life and limitations you face?  what would life be like?  Is it something you desire or something you can't bear?  Is it better than your current life and could you find the happiness you seek?  These questions are really tough but they helped me in the past (and still do), so I hope they may offer you some insight on where you are going and what you really want. 
  •  

carrie359

Quote from: learningtolive on October 11, 2013, 03:37:54 PM
There may be a way to settle the pain without drugs.  HRT and/or transitioning can be a god send to many, but I truly believe there are trans people that have found peace without transitioning.  Is that you?  Only you can know.  What's important is that you follow through with the best path for you and not what's best for trans person a or b.  Remember, hrt can ease possibly ease dysphoria, but it can also make you really feel your dysphoria and want to keep moving forward.  Also, there will be physical changes over time that you can't always take back.  The best thing to do is to weigh the pros and cons and find what's best for you.  I'm concerned about whether you are simply holding this in for others.  If you do that, no pill will solve your happiness because you are stifling your inner desires and needs.  You need to address what is making you unhappy and find a peaceful resolution, whatever that may be.  Let me ask you, in an ideal world what do you want?  After you realize your ideal world, how do you think your idealized self would cope or exist in the current circumstances of your life and limitations you face?  what would life be like?  Is it something you desire or something you can't bear?  Is it better than your current life and could you find the happiness you seek?  These questions are really tough but they helped me in the past (and still do), so I hope they may offer you some insight on where you are going and what you really want.

So many great posts...for me I have decided to hold on HRT and give more time to therapy.. It will also let me get do a few things.. grow hair out for fun....want long hair.. can pull back still work.. lose another 30lbs get into perfect shape... then decide.. If the pain is still as great as it is today I will not be able to keep from starting HRT or I will do something stupid to myself.. if you know what I mean.
I just spent 50k on a toy.. and I am no happier.. although it may give me a short term diversion. 
Now that I accepted myself as I am.. I can't deny my female side..
I might be able to cope but I don't think so.. I was ready to kill myself not long ago.. only thing that helped was the thought of getting what I wanted all along.
My wife was ok with low dose.. but I told her I was putting on hold the whole thing and see if I can cope now... at least If I can't and give in she will know I tried my best and I know she will appreciate me for that.
Carrie
  •  

carrie359

Quote from: DrZoey on October 11, 2013, 01:52:23 PM
Yes, you can titrate you HRT to reduce, and even eliminate depression and dysphoria, however, the feminizing effects of Estradiol aren't limited to your appearance. Brain changes begin almost immediately. In just months your brain will feminize, including a 10% reduction in total volume. You will process sense data as a female, using a combination of grey and white matter. The differences in thought are profound, and will lead you, in my own experience, down the road to transition. In short, the train will leave the station, and whether you take your wife on the ride, will depend on several factors-Truth and love primarily. According to an endocrinologist I know that handles HRT, his experience is because of slow outward changes on HRT, wives get "used" to the idea and learn to accept their trans husbands.

Good luck.


Zoey,
I think in my case that would be true.. my wife loves me.. and I think a slow change she would become accepting.. not sure but its possible. 
I have decided to put on hold the HRT.. go ahead and get my letter and be ready but just wait..
I am going to try some competitive aerobatics and dive into that and see if the diversion works.. I know it won't but will be fun to try.
Carrie
  •  

TerriT

Quote from: Beth Andrea on October 10, 2013, 01:18:48 AM
Well....as has been said, YMMV...perhaps you'll be happy on a low dose + no further transitioning (except for clothes and small details). But, you've already noticed the "I just can't help it..." feeling. Once you're on a low-dose, it might be that "you just can't help it" when your endo says, "Bloodwork is fine! I would like to increase the dosage to abc, how do you feel about that?"

Just went through that. We talked it over. My SO is supportive but I decided not to press my luck. I think the best thing was me being honest and not increasing anything behind her back. The best plan I have is to keep things at her pace.
  •  

Rachel

I originally planed for low dose but when the time came I said I want full dose.

The 5 year old won in December. I had a 45 year fight and now I have peace.

I have to admit, the last few months have been so much better than the past I can not express the freedom I feel.

My body really likes E and I am so so happy I have AA and Fen. 
HRT  5-28-2013
FT   11-13-2015
FFS   9-16-2016 -Spiegel
GCS 11-15-2016 - McGinn
Hair Grafts 3-20-2017 - Cooley
Voice therapy start 3-2017 - Reene Blaker
Labiaplasty 5-15-2017 - McGinn
BA 7-12-2017 - McGinn
Hair grafts 9-25-2017 Dr.Cooley
Sataloff Cricothyroid subluxation and trachea shave12-11-2017
Dr. McGinn labiaplasty, hood repair, scar removal, graph repair and bottom of  vagina finished. urethra repositioned. 4-4-2018
Dr. Sataloff Glottoplasty 5-14-2018
Dr. McGinn vaginal in office procedure 10-22-2018
Dr. McGinn vaginal revision 2 4-3-2019 Bottom of vagina closed off, fat injected into the labia and urethra repositioned.
Dr. Thomas in 2020 FEMLAR
  • skype:Rachel?call
  •  

Beth Andrea

QuoteOriginally posted by DrZoey:

Brain changes begin almost immediately. In just months your brain will feminize, including a 10% reduction in total volume.

If this is true, how does the brain stay stable within the skull? Bone doesn't reduce...just curious, maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

"I don't just have a screw loose, the entire brain assembly is clunking about inside!"
...I think for most of us it is a futile effort to try and put this genie back in the bottle once she has tasted freedom...

--read in a Tessa James post 1/16/2017
  •  

PrincessDayna

As for hrt for or against it, im going divulge a little teensy bit of my wife and mines history. Granted, we are thirty now, have been together for seven years....but shes known so to speak since we first met around age 13: shes always 100% been into men, and from day one
let me know as shes seen me live female off and on for years, that she needs a man.  I took the statement for what it was, andw as fine at the time as i was supressing myself. Eventually, curiosity got to her, and once that box was opened, there was in essence no shutting it. She was curious as to my liking female clothing being so feminine anyways. Well, that led to weekends once a month, to once a week, over a very short time frame. And everytime i had to go into man mode, a deep rooted depression would hit, and hit hard. I tried further supressing myself by joining the army. Yet again, when we got the chance while i was in training after bootcamp, she would meet up with me every weekend, or me, her. That was a once a week trip for either of us, for quite a few monthes. Each time, my inner female was no longer supressed in privacy together. Well, once I got home to her, and had an assigned duty station, it was as often as possible, so as we kept it at home. Amd she would see my depression hit, and even went so far as to being mbaressed in public I was so feminine. Now, to me, in past relationships, this was a deal breaker for me, but we stuck it through together hone the less. Finally, we decided that HRT was the best route seeing as i was infertile, and that it would stop me from slowly being more and more and deeper depressed. We discussed things with my PC doc, I got testing. Sent me to an endo, read my test results, and informed us we couldnt get preggo cuz i was intersexed. Clothes off in front of him he was shocked the army never said anything and that i didnt get "fixed" at birth, and concurred with us that not only is HRT correct and true for me, but according to my bloodwork, medically nessecary. All that said, HRT hit me hard, and in good ways, and she saw this. In the end, we are fully out and ive been living full time since day one pretty much of deciding hrt was right. Prior i lived full time at home, once hrt started i went fulltime public and work as well.

I guess that my point is sometimes, wives tend to come around when they realize that love is there and the only thing changing really is a social role....asside from other changes we see as time goes on. Now, Im only four monthes in for the most part, but am legally female 100%....sometimes, it is better to just go with the flow, and once HRT starts, there is a way to back out, but if you are genuinely female, HRT will only further strengthen those emotions to a point of not being able to turn back, no matter what. Because that dark place is finally gone, and your chains of a male role get broken. And once that happens, well.....lol! You can figure that out from everyones stories, because it is true!
"Self truth is evident when one accepts self awareness.  From such, serenity". ~Me  ;)



  •  

FrancisAnn

As to your initial question. You will feel the effects of HRT. Spiro will make you pee very often & estrogen will certainly change your attitude to a much more peaceful level.

Good luck resolving your others issues. Just my personal advise on HRT.
mtF, mid 50's, always a girl since childhood, HRT (Spiro, E & Fin.) since 8-13. Hormone levels are t at 12 & estrogen at 186. Face lift & eye lid surgery in 2014. Abdominoplasty/tummy tuck & some facial surgery May, 2015. Life is good for me. Love long nails & handsome men! Hopeful for my GRS & a nice normal depth vagina maybe by late summer. 5' 8", 180 pounds, 14 dress size, size 9.5 shoes. I'm kind of an elegant woman & like everything pink, nice & neet. Love my nails & classic Revlon Red. Moving back to Florida, so excited but so much work moving
  •  

PrincessDayna

Quote from: Beth Andrea on October 12, 2013, 05:12:31 PM
If this is true, how does the brain stay stable within the skull? Bone doesn't reduce...just curious, maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

"I don't just have a screw loose, the entire brain assembly is clunking about inside!"

This is correct, lol. The brain does not shrink, it just changes certain areas under MRI to have a female pattern and match from the effects of estrogen on the brain. Further more, they have done pre hrt studies on trans women and they show those areas of the brain already have a female shape and pattern. This reiterrated the gendermapping in utero theory of a developping fetus, and is in effect a huge part of the scientific evidence that moved Gender Dysphoria out of a mental disorder status that it was once held in by the term Gender Identity Disorder. Its not a mental disorder, but a scientific anomoly. Therapy SoC has been reformed to match this by acknowledging that HRT helps those with the condition, and lessened the rigors on gatekeeping. Therapy helps sort and deal with the dysphoria, not rid ourselves of it, for that purpose. It is there as a guideline to help with transitions social and financial implifications solely. ;)
"Self truth is evident when one accepts self awareness.  From such, serenity". ~Me  ;)



  •  

luna nyan

Hello Carrie,

I've been on lowish HRT for over 18 months and currently have no issues in passing as a guy.  I have no intention to transition at this point in time - I'm in a similar situation where life is pretty darn good if it were not for the GID.

It's working for me for the time being.  My experiences on low dose are in this thread:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,130268.0.html

Hope it helps.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm.
Drifting down the river of life...
My 4+ years non-transitioning HRT experience
Ask me anything!  I promise you I know absolutely everything about nothing! :D
  •  

carrie359

Quote from: luna nyan on October 12, 2013, 10:12:34 PM
Hello Carrie,

I've been on lowish HRT for over 18 months and currently have no issues in passing as a guy.  I have no intention to transition at this point in time - I'm in a similar situation where life is pretty darn good if it were not for the GID.

It's working for me for the time being.  My experiences on low dose are in this thread:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,130268.0.html

Hope it helps.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm.


Very Helpful,
Thank you. 
Carrie


  •