It seems like you are getting good results!

For me, I am 3 weeks into a mix of Estradiol Valerate and micronized progesterone.  I really don't want to take anti-androgens unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

My nipples started "staying at attention" just 3 DAYS into the hormones!!!  After 3 weeks, my nipples protrude noticeably when I pulled my shirt tightly against my chest.

I think my breasts are a little rounder than 3 weeks ago, but the change is gradual.  I am happy with the changes so far.

Emotionally, I feel TRANQUIL.  I don't have mood swings so far.  Really, I just feel calmer about life.  Even tough situations I seem to be able to handle more calmly than 3 weeks ago.  I am somewhat AMAZED at this happening to me so fast.

Hey, I have a STRONG desire to continue with this every days.  I am SO happy with these hormones.  The micronized progesterone makes me a little sleepy I think, so I only tkae this at bedtime.  The sleepiness effect only seems to last for a couple of hours, though.

I don't feel what I would call SEVERE problems with being a male, but I LOVE these hormones!!!!  I DEFINITELY don't want to stop them.

I want to continue for at least 3 months to see where this takes me.

I would like at least a 38A so that I can still WORK as a male, but, hey, if I get to 38B at some  point I can learn to deal with it.  38B may be a little hard to hide for male work purposes.  I think I probably could hide 38A with loose shirts working as a male.

Good girl   Hugs Shannon

Probably the most surprising effect was what it's been doing to my eyes.

My eyes used to be sorta a muddled green-blue, almost splotchy with the colors. At the 5 month mark I noticed that my eyes had changed completely. All the green in them disappeared, and instead the blue became much more prevalent. What I have now are these pretty blue-gray eyes, they look kinda cold too. The other thing I've noticed with my eyes, is I have a condition known as strabismus (for those who don't know, it means my eyes don't exactly align... it's really not noticeable, but it results in me having absolutely no stereovision (which makes learning to drive suck ass... and the main reason I haven't gotten my Drivers License despite being in my early 20s, and watching 3D movies is a no go... although I can sometimes play my 3DS ^^) Anyways, I could be imagining this, but I feel like I've been getting less double vision recently, which could be indicative of a number of things~<3

The other thing that surprised me, is just how much my sense of smell has altered... I mean it's like, I used to sometimes notice smells before HRT... but now it's like, almost almost a constant thing. We were cooking curry last night from scratch, I was so overwhelmed by sensation that I almost started crying.

Other than, how different uh... intimacy... feels now really caught me off guard. Also my sex drive dropped like a rock, which I expected, but then it came back with a grudge.

Oh right, and freckles. I've got so many freckles now. Like, I've got an entire chain of them going from one cheek to the other across my nose. x3 I love them, I think they look adorable!

Quote from: Kaylin Kumiho on July 10, 2014, 06:31:24 PM

Other than, how different uh... intimacy... feels now really caught me off guard. Also my sex drive dropped like a rock, which I expected, but then it came back with a grudge.

Oh right, and freckles. I've got so many freckles now. Like, I've got an entire chain of them going from one cheek to the other across my nose. x3 I love them, I think they look adorable!

Interesting the eye color change, and cool too. I used to loooove Actress Meg Foster's cool almost gray eyes. It's like they bore through to your soul. I'm not sure if that's the color yours have gone, but it would be cool if it were.

I haven't had much of a sense of smell change. And I still don't have much of a sex drive. Yea I get a little warm down there when I see a girl I like, but that's as far as it goes.

Now the freckles, that I can relate too. Though I'm Native American and dark skinned I've noticed I've gotten freckles between my boobs! I mean, I've never had a freckle in my life. Go figure, lol!

Ally

I've got a lot of Welsh and Irish blood in me, so that is probably where the freckles are coming from. My hair is kinda getting a little bit redder than it used to be as well, used to be dirty blonde, now it's getting more of a strawberry blonde. Idk. I read a lot and did a lot of research before going on E, but it still seems like every day I wake up and it did something completely unexpected... still most of the little things have been nice so far, so I'm not complaining at all~

Since getting on injections, my appetite has only increased. You know those carb cravings, right?





Right

Quote from: Evelyn K on July 10, 2014, 11:30:23 PM
Since getting on injections, my appetite has only increased. You know those carb cravings, right?



Right

Mmnnn, yum, yum. Your a baaaad influence on my diet Ev, bad influence. Now I want to order pizza!

Ally

Quote from: Allyda on July 11, 2014, 12:14:51 AM
Mmnnn, yum, yum. Your a baaaad influence on my diet Ev, bad influence. Now I want to order pizza!

Ally

Well then make sure it's good pizza and worth all the bad night.  (Personal favorite: A mushroom and pineapple pizza with bbq sauce bace on a thin garlic crust. This derailment bought to you by the 'anything goes, well within reason thread'. Now back to the topic of surprising HRT effects)

Oddly my toenails grow about 1/4 the speed they did prior to HRT.

Doing my nails is now a hobby.

Cars, survival techniques, knives, gear stuff are no longer on my mind - I want to do other things like folding little paper boats and filling them with potpourri, or channeling Julia Child when cooking.

"Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need."
― Julia Child

"Everything in moderation... including moderation."
― Julia Child

"I think every woman should have a blowtorch."
― Julia Child

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook."
― Julia Child

LOFL!  Evie, I LOVE those JC-isms!!

My nails..  fingernails, are growing reeeeeeally fast now..  I can bite them (ik, bad habit) down, even with fingertip, or short, on Monday, and by the following Monday.. they are 1/4"..  I'm doing 10k mg of biotin every few days, so that is adding to the growth too.  I wish my hair grew as fast or even half that speed/length..  Arm and leg hair regrowth really has slowed, even with the biotin.

I have noticed, and I have to try to find the link again.. abt nail health, signs..  like vertical streaks, rounded/flatness (thumbnails are just flat in the middle, no curve, and pretty sharp corners to them..  but there are several signs in your nails that are real warnings.. just cant remember where I saw the article.

Oh, yes..  (que fanfare music)  Wednesday morning, I go for my first laser consult and treatment !!
SenzaPelo..  with recommendation for technician from one of my friends, and my therapist goes there too..   $150/session.. but.. what is beauty without pain or sacrifice??   

My weight/fat shift seems to have slowed, but weight has not changed much in the last 6mos.. a few lbs up/down.. still 155lb avg but I have seen several say weight gain/loss is a problem on E..  just hope I can dodge that bullet.

My eyes are hazel (brown/tan/green) but I havent not really looked closely in the last few weeks.  I did start Restasis drops a few weeks ago..  eye docs recommendation for eye film covering, and fight dry eyes while flying.  I haven't really noticed much change, but he said it is a loooong term change thing.. nothing noticable for 3-4 mos.. so, just under a month down, couple more to go before he'll see any change.

One of the best things from my visit..  I -finally- got my girl glasses!  both clear and sunglasses!!   No more Clark Kents for this girl!  Ugh, idk why i let the girls in the office steer me towards them even last year.  last month, when they said, ok, time to pick new frames, I walked right over to the girls wall, and picked a few.  I should have said, "please.. pick a couple nice pairs, that would look good on me".  They pretty much know now..   and I'm ok with that, they are super sweet to me.  They know which wall to pick from now.. even, the doc, (kinda short, smarmy guy), is ok with it.

The Emotions Dept..  def open for business!!  OMG..  I cry at sad things, I cry at happy things, I cry when I let the dog out, I cry when I get the mail, I cry because I'm not crying!!!   I just wanna know, how can a body cry sooo much and not become dehydrated??  I should look like an insect husk on the window sill !!!

I think I have noticed my fingers getting just a bit thinner..  feet a tad narrower too.. gawd i hope so!  I'm a tight size 9, better 9 1/2, and would LOVE to get down to .. heck, even an 8 1/2.  idk if feet shrink shorter, or just get thinner.. if they can shorten up..  fab!!  but eh.. I will take what I can get.. I'm only just under 11mos on hrt (2 on 'script 'mones), so I still have a long way to go.

For me when it comes to hair and nails both are growing really really fast. My nails are like little knives on the tips of my fingers and toes. And my hair is growing at a rate of a little over an inch per month. It is time for another trim though as I'm starting to get split ends. They aren't too bad yet as I only have a few, and it has been a little over 4 months since my last trim. If I get another trim soon my length can be preserved. However if I wait too long I'll lose an inch to damaged ends.

@Paula: Yes, your nails can be an indicator of how healthy you are, and that cracked, chipping, splitting, or funny colors can be an early indication of developing health problems. The health of your head hair is another but more harder to read.

Ali

Quote from: Allyda on August 10, 2014, 12:48:09 PM
For me when it comes to hair and nails both are growing really really fast. My nails are like little knives on the tips of my fingers and toes. And my hair is growing at a rate of a little over an inch per month. It is time for another trim though as I'm starting to get split ends. They aren't too bad yet as I only have a few, and it has been a little over 4 months since my last trim. If I get another trim soon my length can be preserved. However if I wait too long I'll lose an inch to damaged ends.

@Paula: Yes, your nails can be an indicator of how healthy you are, and that cracked, chipping, splitting, or funny colors can be an early indication of developing health problems. The health of your head hair is another but more harder to read.

Ali

Hi, Ali...I have always been blessed with great nails, even pre-HRT.

Now that my toenails are polished beautiful bright red with sparkle/glitter ALL of the time, and my fingernails usually polished sexy medium purple when I am at home, I feel truly blessed to have great healthy nails of my life, including right now.

Now, just need some more breast growth to my already-existing small female breasts and things will be "girl-great."

And, my hair is growing longer, quite nicely...

Johanna.

Despite reading countless reports that facial hair remains in place throughout HRT, the most surprising thing I had when I started HRT was to have the majority of the thicker facial hair on my upper lip and chin fall out a few months in. In most cases it did grow back a lot finer, but on the whole quite a fair amount never grew back. Makes clearing the stragglers with a Tria a lot easier.

The sensual touch afforded from softer skin was a very pleasant surprise. I have to be on my guard a lot more when my SO tries to catch me out and tickle me when I least expect it.

Having a range of emotions other than meh or anger was kind of hard to realise before HRT, but it is nice to know that there are now a range of emotions available to me. Although lately there's been a lot of tragedy and sadness in the news and I find myself having a bit of a wet eye after each news report.

Being made aware of the aroma of men and young teenaged boys was another revelation that I do not relish. At work I have to suffer a room full of men and in an office with no windows and an a/c unit that seems to only really cools recirculated air it can get quite funky sometimes.

Quote from: Leila on August 10, 2014, 03:27:57 PM
Despite reading countless reports that facial hair remains in place throughout HRT, the most surprising thing I had when I started HRT was to have the majority of the thicker facial hair on my upper lip and chin fall out a few months in. In most cases it did grow back a lot finer, but on the whole quite a fair amount never grew back. Makes clearing the stragglers with a Tria a lot easier.

The sensual touch afforded from softer skin was a very pleasant surprise. I have to be on my guard a lot more when my SO tries to catch me out and tickle me when I least expect it.

Having a range of emotions other than meh or anger was kind of hard to realise before HRT, but it is nice to know that there are now a range of emotions available to me. Although lately there's been a lot of tragedy and sadness in the news and I find myself having a bit of a wet eye after each news report.

Being made aware of the aroma of men and young teenaged boys was another revelation that I do not relish. At work I have to suffer a room full of men and in an office with no windows and an a/c unit that seems to only really cools recirculated air it can get quite funky sometimes.

Yes, Leila, about the emotions.

I was chatting away from Susan's with one of the gals here, and she told me she has Parkinson's Disease.  I started crying.  Wowwowowow.  I cannot believe this is happening to me.  I can FEEL and I sometimes start crying at surprising moments.

The mental changes for me, 8 weeks into HRT, continue to be even more amazing than things like my new female breasts.

I feel a euphoric happiness 90% of the time.  All of my relationships work and personal are better.

Johanna, who is now becoming FREE.

Quote from: Leila on August 10, 2014, 03:27:57 PM
Being made aware of the aroma of men and young teenaged boys was another revelation that I do not relish. At work I have to suffer a room full of men and in an office with no windows and an a/c unit that seems to only really cools recirculated air it can get quite funky sometimes.

This ^^___^^ I second. Though I seemed to always be slightly aware of these very different odors than I seemed to have, I wasn't quite prepared for the intensity of them I experienced after only a week on hrt.

Ali

Quote from: Allyda on August 10, 2014, 04:19:15 PM
This ^^___^^ I second. Though I seemed to always be slightly aware of these very different odors than I seemed to have, I wasn't quite prepared for the intensity of them I experienced after only a week on hrt.

Ali

Ali, Leila, you have my "third" on this...

My former body odor problem disappeared almost completely just 3 weeks into HRT.  But now too, I have more abilities in the areas of smell and perception and feelings, and I can notice this "man" smell in others a little more.  I'm glad I don't have this "man smell" problem any longer.  I live in a hot tropical climate, so this is quite a relief for me.

Johanna.

Quote from: JohannaJohn on August 10, 2014, 04:29:38 PM
Ali, Leila, you have my "third" on this...

My former body odor problem disappeared almost completely just 3 weeks into HRT.  But now too, I have more abilities in the areas of smell and perception and feelings, and I can notice this "man" smell in others a little more.  I'm glad I don't have this "man smell" problem any longer.  I live in a hot tropical climate, so this is quite a relief for me.

Johanna.

Hot tropical climate, where do you live Johanna if you don't mind. You can pm me if you don't want to put it up on open forum. I'm in Florida is why I ask.

Ali