Wow, look at me actually starting a topic. That doesn't happen very often. 😉 Anyway, so since starting a full dose of estrogen last month, I have overall been feeling a lot better. I have been a lot more mentally and emotionally stable, and just in general more happy and confident. I even stopped taking St. John's Wort, which I had been taking to help stabilize my mood, because I felt like I just didn't need it anymore. And so far I've been right. There have been a few times where I have just been in a bad mood for no apparent reason, but they usually don't last more than a day, if that.

But I've also been wondering about the other ways estrogen might be affecting me mentally. Specifically, last week I spent a the day with my cousin and her friends, and I found myself having fun and enjoying myself and getting along really well with the entirely female group. I guess that shouldn't be too strange, except that I had really never done anything like this before. For my entire life (or most of it at least) I always had trouble socializing, with girls, or anyone else for that matter. I can never recall being as comfortable in any social situation as I was last week. I have to wonder, is this just because I am being myself and I'm not constantly being concerned with the way others are perceiving me? Or is it because the estrogen I am taking is actually starting to feminize my thought patterns to the point where the way my brain processes socialization is changing? I guess in the end it doesn't really matter, since I am happy with the result either way, but it's still interesting to think about. Does anyone else think that taking estrogen caused their thought patterns to become more feminine, or is it just a natural thing that starts to happen when you decide to stop fighting your feminine side and just let it take over?

Yes indeed estrogen has made my mind a lot more girly...
a lot more emotional would be the better word.

It took three or four months to tell what was really changing and what was just the joy of being on HRT finally.

I am emotional. Way more emotional. Chatty. Sometimes scatterbrained.

It is pretty easy to tell how estrogen effects the mind when you get a shot every two weeks. The ups and downs are unmistakable.

I don't know if I'm a lot more emotional or not... It's hard to explain. I still don't really get overwhelmed by my emotions, but I do notice the way I process emotions has changed. I'm a lot more empathetic than I was before, so I notice and respond to other people's emotions more than I used to. But I was expecting emotional changes. What I wasn't expecting was such a dramatic change in how I relate to people that even I'm surprised by how girly I sound sometimes. 😮

haha, even though i'm not on estrogen, it sure as hell looks like i am becuz i'm an emotional wreck on certain days of the month if thats how it is xD

Quote from: Tori on May 06, 2014, 11:26:29 PMIt is pretty easy to tell how estrogen effects the mind when you get a shot every two weeks. The ups and downs are unmistakable.

I get my estrogen by injection, too, and even though I get an injection every week (on Tuesdays), I still feel the ups and downs. I'm really glad I don't have to deal with another week on top of what I already feel on like Mondays.

i dont think i can ever do the shots though i heard they work faster than the pill o.o

I almost threw up and passed out last time I had my blood taken for lab work...

Other than that, I feel driven way more by emotion than logic, am quick to get sassy with people, and assume everything my partner says is somehow asserting that I'm fat. I don't know if that's more girly, but I definitely feel like I have chronic PMS.

Also, I hated chocolate before. Now I $#%ing love it, and crave it whenever I start crying (which is all the time nowadays- no wonder I'm getting fat).

HAHA! rocky road ice cream is my friend on any day of the week xD i even started crying during movies o.o in a sense my body has already accepted my brain chemistry and just switched on its own. makes HRT a lot more easier for me xD just need to get that pesky letter though -.-

One of the beautiful changes is the mental changes. Our estrogen brain receptors has been starved by Testosterone until we start HRT and have the estrogen into our systems. This will be euphoric if you have a female mind. Its this mental changes of an estrogen driven brain that facinates me. I have changed in my empathy,and perception for the better. Its a long journey but one so exciting and full of new experiences. I dont know who the evolving me will be mentally but I'm happy to be on the journey.

Quote from: Debussy on May 07, 2014, 01:36:03 AM
I almost threw up and passed out last time I had my blood taken for lab work...

Other than that, I feel driven way more by emotion than logic, am quick to get sassy with people, and assume everything my partner says is somehow asserting that I'm fat. I don't know if that's more girly, but I definitely feel like I have chronic PMS.

Also, I hated chocolate before. Now I $#%ing love it, and crave it whenever I start crying (which is all the time nowadays- no wonder I'm getting fat).

haha, that pesky letter though is eluding my grasps. i love dark chocolate. was craving strawberries with dark chocolate with a nice hot bath earlier o.o

My mind was girly already before HRT, I think that estrogen mostly just let me accept my body easier, and thus my mind was allowed to freely think the right thoughts.

One thing that I specifically link to HRT, is my body and mind's natural reactions to being aroused. Once the hormones start pumping through my system, Its feels exactly like I have all different equipment, even though it isn't even really there. Being aroused has always brought my mind and thoughts into an altered state, but now that state is completely different, and comes along with a whole different set of thought patterns and emotions.

I believe it does make you more girly... Hormones effect a lot more than just your body.. it affects your mind too

female Hormones give you the desire to reproduce, attraction and make some of us bitchy too. I feel I like also think like a woman, more emotional than logic.. and I love romantic comedies now. I even cry far more easier now.

I get my shot once every two weeks,  and after the shot for about a day or so I am very moody and emotional.. although I am learning to control it... 3 years in.. I am even getting broody..

In the beginning after my first two shots, I even got morning sickness.. but i got use to the estrogen following in my veins.

My cis-female roommate says to me.. Noleen I cant believe how much a girl you are.. I always smile when she says that... but she is also very girly..

Umm, yes. 

My therapist told me that not only does it satisfy your estrogen receptors, it sort of helps wire your brain more that direction if you had such an inclination.

And I'm so glad it did.  I LOVE being a girl.

Quote from: noleen111 on May 07, 2014, 02:42:52 AM
I believe it does make you more girly... Hormones effect a lot more than just your body.. it affects your mind too

female Hormones give you the desire to reproduce, attraction and make some of us bitchy too. I feel I like also think like a woman, more emotional than logic.. and I love romantic comedies now. I even cry far more easier now.

I get my shot once every two weeks,  and after the shot for about a day or so I am very moody and emotional.. although I am learning to control it... 3 years in.. I am even getting broody..

In the beginning after my first two shots, I even got morning sickness.. but i got use to the estrogen following in my veins.

My cis-female roommate says to me.. Noleen I cant believe how much a girl you are.. I always smile when she says that... but she is also very girly..

So does that mean the nausea I experienced every morning for a while was morning sickness, not just pills on an empty stomach? I almost threw up several times! (I have good control over my gag reflex, don't ask)
Because that would make me ecstatic!

Also, I've had many dreams at night that I got pregnant, and it was the most euphoric feeling ever. All day my thoughts would revolve around getting pregnant, wanting to bear a child...

Quote from: Debussy on May 07, 2014, 02:48:22 AM
So does that mean the nausea I experienced every morning for a while was morning sickness, not just pills on an empty stomach? I almost threw up several times! (I have good control over my gag reflex, don't ask)
Because that would make me ecstatic!

Also, I've had many dreams at night that I got pregnant, and it was the most euphoric feeling ever. All day my thoughts would revolve around getting pregnant, wanting to bear a child...

have those dreams every night. even pop out my stomach sometimes thinking i'm pregnant. i even giggle at the thought every time. i told my friend and she just hit the floor laughing

Quote from: Debussy on May 07, 2014, 02:48:22 AM
Also, I've had many dreams at night that I got pregnant, and it was the most euphoric feeling ever. All day my thoughts would revolve around getting pregnant, wanting to bear a child...

I know how you feel, i also would love to be able to bear a child. I would love to be pregnant.. the feeling of a child growing inside me must be amazing.. I get extremely broody at times..

Right now im going through what I call my "2nd Round with Puberty", so my mind is as girly as ever... 14 year old girly to be precise lol. I react to things in ways i would never have reacted in the past, or I get way more emotional about something these days. A lot of movies make me cry happy or sad tears; my love for my wife is that of a innocent infatuation (even though without it, i still love her endlessly) and it feels like I'm back in Middle/High School.

I told my wife the other day "why would anyone wanna be male? Everything is so much more emotionally colorful now... love feels like a gentle breeze and sex is like this amazing connection of energy... before it was just bland straight-forwardness and a quick release"

I'm sure maybe its just because i was never really male and hated living it lol but Estrogen hasn't just made me girly, its turned me into a borderline diva lol. There was an episode of House where a rat started eating the lip of a guy who had a stroke, and I was like "*shudder* omg.. thats so disgusting".... back then i wouldv'e NEVER reacted that way, and it wasnt even forced, its just how it came out of me... or sometimes when my friend tells me something crazy that happened or something bad that happened, i literally gasp and it effects me in a way that would have never been back when i was male, I actually empathize (and sometimes sympathize) more than i ever did before.

I laugh like a girl, I smile at things that never use to effect me, I act and react like a girl... hell, i even complain or argue like a girl lol. Its incredible ~ I love every minute of it, and the more natural it is, the more satisfying it feels. Before hormones i would just force myself to behave female... now its not even a choice lol.

I think my favorite thing is that now I have this amazing feeling when i sit on my balcony during mid-day while it rains, and just sit and listen to nature or drink a cup of tea

This estrogen stuff is where it's at hehe.

Quote from: Miyuki on May 06, 2014, 11:08:04 PM
Does anyone else think that taking estrogen caused their thought patterns to become more feminine, or is it just a natural thing that starts to happen when you decide to stop fighting your feminine side and just let it take over?

That is a really good question and I would love to know the answer to it.  I am certainly a lot more relaxed and at ease in social situations (TBH, all situations really) than I was.  I am not sure whether it is due to the chemistry of my body being what it should be, changes to the way my brain is processing things, no longer not doing things because that it "not what men do" or something else entirely.  But yeah, nice observation and I entirely agree with you that it can be a thing that happens and that it pervades pretty much everything.

Rosie

I always feel a bit left out in this aspect because hrt really didn't change how I think and/or feel.  I'm still very much the same person.  Sure, there are subtle changes (sense of smell, color perception, libido changes, and occasional mood swings etc) but they aren't radically different.  I'm still the same crazy overly emotional and sensitive person I've always been.  And the way I carry myself and my interests are all pretty much the same. Therefore, I can't really say that I feel more girly or different in the grand scheme of things. However, I do feel more at piece with my gender when I was once ashamed.  Like I'm glad to be a girl when in the past I thought of myself as a freak for being trans.  Maybe I am a bit of a freak, but I'm a freak who happens to be a woman, and that's okay.  That's a little freeing despite my many issues with coming to terms with myself.