So commenting on another thread just now made me realize just how important hormones are for me, even though I've never done HRT or expect to. It also makes me wonder what having "no sex hormones" would feel like if it were possible.

Personally, I feel like I've come pretty close to that nothingness with my current regimen of birth control. I was told I needed to start to keep my endometriosis from growing back, and little did I know how good it would end up making me feel. My mood and libido used to fluctuate like nuts prior to going on the pill, but now I have no such things going on. I skip the placebo pills--I'm not supposed to have periods anymore, nor do I want them anyway--so that my body maintains pretty constant levels of estrogen and progesterone over the course of the month. I remember absolutely hating the way floods of testosterone AND estrogen used to make me feel... and now I don't have to live with either!

For a while there I thought that maybe because I liked the feeling of being on E while also being AFAB, I wasn't actually trans*. Aren't we not supposed to like the way our natural sex hormone feels? Today I've firmly decided that all of that's bunk and that there may be something more to this.

Maybe this is the closest we can currently get to having none in a healthy way. But I wonder, too, how this would translate to AMAB bodies?

Hm.

As to that last question, there's a whole palette of androgens with subtly different effects.  It wouldn't surprise me if, for example, trading dihydrotestosterone for androstenedione had a subtle, noticeable effect.

Or low-doses DHEA with spiro, something like that.  Unfortunately, the ethics get tricky and no drug company stands to make much money from that sort of product, so no interest in research.

all i know for sure is that my sister feels that her cycle is a defining part of her as a person. she missed it for the months it took before she got it back after her son was born, and told me the feeling was almost as if her entire life had been put on hold. while i would be happier if i never got it back, i almost cried when i didn't even get three months without it.

The only form of birth control/period regulation that I can use is depo-provera due to a genetic susceptibility to deep-vein thrombosis.

I always HATED periods. I cannot deal with them even a little bit. So depo is great in that regard because I don't have them at all now, and it feels SO much more natural to me. Unfortunately I think the depo basically kills my libido, so in 2012 I tried a Mirena IUD - BIG MISTAKE. My hormones went completely insane and I plummeted into a 6-month bout of depression - I haven't been that bad since before I went on depo. So I'm back on depo because at least with this I'm STABLE.

My mom has serious mood disorders and had a lot of kids and we've speculated that the change in hormones from pregnancy caused her to feel better? I don't know.

I really wish I didn't have to take depo, but now it looks like I'm stuck on it for life. Even if I could handle the bleeding I can't handle what the cyclical hormones do to me. *sigh*

I really hate my biology. : (

Quote from: insane_protagonist on November 24, 2013, 05:52:33 PM
The only form of birth control/period regulation that I can use is depo-provera due to a genetic susceptibility to deep-vein thrombosis.

I was -supposed- to go on depo instead of what I'm doing now, but I did some research and what I found scared the crap out of me, so this was the alternative I was offered. :x

I hated having a libido, so it's a welcome respite to me. Kill it with fire, lol. Ovulation used to leave me ragged and feeling lethargic for days... it wasn't good for me.

I'm sorry you don't have any other options though. :[

Quote from: Taka on November 24, 2013, 04:48:40 PM
all i know for sure is that my sister feels that her cycle is a defining part of her as a person. she missed it for the months it took before she got it back after her son was born, and told me the feeling was almost as if her entire life had been put on hold. while i would be happier if i never got it back, i almost cried when i didn't even get three months without it.

When I turned down depo and was prescribed packs without placebo pills, I asked my doc if there'd be any side effects from taking them continuously and things, and he shook his head and said no, there was no difference. The only reason that it's not the default option is that, apparently, most folks get weirded out when they don't have cycles anymore. I honestly couldn't believe it, and thinking that I was a woman at the time still, thought that all other women were like me, lol. I can't personally sympathize with you Taka, as I hate my body's hormonal cycles, but here's hugs anyways because it probably puts you in a tough spot. :\

Quote from: musicofthenight on November 24, 2013, 03:34:23 PM
As to that last question, there's a whole palette of androgens with subtly different effects.  It wouldn't surprise me if, for example, trading dihydrotestosterone for androstenedione had a subtle, noticeable effect.

Or low-doses DHEA with spiro, something like that.  Unfortunately, the ethics get tricky and no drug company stands to make much money from that sort of product, so no interest in research.

I have NO idea what you just said, except for the last part lol. But either way, the idea of not being able to get whatever kind of HRT you want is a darn shame. :\

Quote from: Lo on November 25, 2013, 11:52:56 AM
When I turned down depo and was prescribed packs without placebo pills, I asked my doc if there'd be any side effects from taking them continuously and things, and he shook his head and said no, there was no difference. The only reason that it's not the default option is that, apparently, most folks get weirded out when they don't have cycles anymore. I honestly couldn't believe it, and thinking that I was a woman at the time still, thought that all other women were like me, lol. I can't personally sympathize with you Taka, as I hate my body's hormonal cycles, but here's hugs anyways because it probably puts you in a tough spot. :\

I'm not sure you read me right? I'm also rather opposed to my cycles, and all through my pregnancy i hoped that my period would stay away for at least a year after. My mom had to go to hormone treatment to get her period back, just like with most women it weirded her out to not have it.

But i won't use birth control to get rid of it quite yet. The thought of pretending to be pregnant to get rid of cycles and libido is a little too weird to me. I like my libido, and feel worse when it disappears at certain points in my cycle.

Quote from: Taka on November 25, 2013, 02:36:22 PM

But i won't use birth control to get rid of it quite yet. The thought of pretending to be pregnant to get rid of cycles and libido is a little too weird to me. I like my libido, and feel worse when it disappears at certain points in my cycle.

I didn't notice any problems with libido when I was on regular combined oral contraceptive pills - I just didn't know about skipping the placebo pills back then! However it is true that these drugs affect many people in totally different ways. But it's only depo that I've had the libido problem with.
Having problems with depression/anxiety probably hurts my sex drive a lot too. I have a definite asexual streak, but there are times when it is also good to have a sex drive, for me, and not having access to that part of myself gets super frustrating.

Quote from: Taka on November 25, 2013, 02:36:22 PM
I'm not sure you read me right? I'm also rather opposed to my cycles, and all through my pregnancy i hoped that my period would stay away for at least a year after. My mom had to go to hormone treatment to get her period back, just like with most women it weirded her out to not have it.

Ahhh yeah derp. For some reason I thought you said you'd like to not have them, but it was even weirder to go without. Sorry~

QuoteBut i won't use birth control to get rid of it quite yet. The thought of pretending to be pregnant to get rid of cycles and libido is a little too weird to me. I like my libido, and feel worse when it disappears at certain points in my cycle.

For some reason I don't think of it that way... I guess maybe because the only reason I started using birth control was to get my endo under control, I think of it strictly in terms of "meds". On the other hand, one of the reasons I couldn't bring myself to take depo was the idea of undergoing chemical menopause. I also couldn't get it out of my head that it was what they give serious sex offenders as part of their "treatment".

Hey, I have a serious question, IDK if anybody would know the answer, but if I'm not allowed to take estrogen, would that mean that I'm also not allowed to take testosterone? I can't seem to find info on this and I don't have a doctor I can ask.