I am a new member here. I have visited these forums so many times to give me advise on my transition and whatnot and now, 2.5 months into HRT, I've finally decided to join because I have many questions.

I really hate when people say YMMV or anything related so please keep those comments to yourself.

Anyway, I am a 20 year old African American woman for your reference. I started HRT on January 17th and have been taking my estradiol pills sublingually. As of right now, I am 5'8", 160 lbs, 17" across shoulders, 32" under bust, 35" bust, 27.5" waist, 37" hips, 19" thighs, 14" calf, size 11 women's shoe, 8" length hands, 4" width hands, 11" circumference of outstretched bicep, 15" neck circumference - I think that is a good gauge.

My problem is that I have experienced lots of skin softening and loss of inches in my things, calfs, and waist, and I now have pretty decent sized breast buds with clear separation of nipple with small areola but that is about it. I cannot say for certain that my face has changed any nor has the bulkiness in my upper body. I used to run track and play football so I have a very toned build. I get asked if I body build sometimes

Anyway, I have been having trouble recently with taking my estrogen. For some reason, I have been over producing spit and it's hard to gauge whether or not the pill is dissolving correctly and sometimes, it's completely gone in like 1 minute which I know shouldn't be. I don't know whether or not I dissolved it accurately or accidentally slowly swallowed it with the overproduced spit. I have been worried that the pills are not working and it's annoying trying to take them multiple times a day. I have been contemplating whether or not to ask my doctor to switch me to injections.

However, I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and I pay about $30 for spiro and estradiol. How much would the injection regimen be for me especially if I want to get supplies to last 2-3 months? Will I experience better muscle deterioration on injections?

My face isn't super masculine but I have seen no change in it nor in my upper body which really have me skeptical about my current regimen. If anyone can give me some advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Just a suggestion, but think about the 3.5 day patches. They are working very well for me. The steady dose doesn't give me the ups and downs like oral and I cant forget to take them. Physical changes will take a while because girls develop around ten years until maturity.

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on March 23, 2014, 11:31:13 PM
Just a suggestion, but think about the 3.5 day patches. They are working very well for me. The steady dose doesn't give me the ups and downs like oral and I cant forget to take them. Physical changes will take a while because girls develop around ten years until maturity.

I definitely don't want patches.

Implants? They are wonderful!!! Just swallowing the pill will give you the positive effect of HRT, sublingual is not totally necessary. When I was on pills I was told just to swallow them. They worked for me

Quote from: Cindy on March 24, 2014, 01:44:23 AM
Implants? They are wonderful!!! Just swallowing the pill will give you the positive effect of HRT, sublingual is not totally necessary. When I was on pills I was told just to swallow them. They worked for me

Implants are not offered at my clinic. And I'd rather not swallow my pill because it actually is less effective than sublingual and damages the liver

The increased fat from HRT should help to soften your facial features and hide your masculine build. Some muscle may atrophy over time but it takes time...years. It seems to me that, so far, results have been pretty good considering you've been on hormones for only 3 months.

If you feel sublingual is not convenient for you, then just swallow (some report no difference, others do)...or switch to injectables. There is no guarantee that injectables will be better or achieve faster results although they do give much higher estradiol levels.

If I were you, I'd not change anything considering the effects you've gotten so far...it might backfire and you might end up regretting it. Be a little patient with other changes but if you really feel disappointed with results, then you could either ask your doctor to increase pill dosage and just swallow OR switch to injectables.

Quote from: KayXo on March 24, 2014, 08:28:31 AM
The increased fat from HRT should help to soften your facial features and hide your masculine build. Some muscle may atrophy over time but it takes time...years. It seems to me that, so far, results have been pretty good considering you've been on hormones for only 3 months.

If you feel sublingual is not convenient for you, then just swallow (some report no difference, others do)...or switch to injectables. There is no guarantee that injectables will be better or achieve faster results although they do give much higher estradiol levels.

If I were you, I'd not change anything considering the effects you've gotten so far...it might backfire and you might end up regretting it. Be a little patient with other changes but if you really feel disappointed with results, then you could either ask your doctor to increase pill dosage and just swallow OR switch to injectables.

You're right. I'll stick to my current regimen and just go with the flow lol Thanks!

I think variance when taking E sublingually is just the way things go. At 21 month sublingual E here, I also take provera sublingually, it's a bit chalky that way, but seems to absorb in after a few minutes.

Long time ago, when I attempted HRT for the first time (I did it three times, two of them with unsatisfactory results) I took Estrofem as an estrogen and swallowed it. Later, I was told about the sublingual method and when I switched to it, I saw better results very soon, without increasing the dosage, so I, personally, am convicted about the effectiveness of the sublingual intake.

Quote from: Missy~rmdlm on March 25, 2014, 01:26:34 AM
I think variance when taking E sublingually is just the way things go. At 21 month sublingual E here, I also take provera sublingually, it's a bit chalky that way, but seems to absorb in after a few minutes.

I'm not sure Provera can be absorbed sublingually and besides, its bioavailability orally is quite high. I understand that you may be worried about it causing harm to your liver but I'm not sure it's effective that way and makes much of a difference, if any.

Provera has been associated with increased breast cancer and cardiovascular incidences in genetic women, appears to partly reverse estrogen's beneficial effects on blood vessels and mood, is mildly androgenic and can cause quite severe depression or other mood disturbances in some. For this reason, I'd highly advise anyone to avoid taking it, especially considering that there are far safer alternatives on the market at this time, like bio-identical progesterone, dydrogesterone, or 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate.