Hi ladies.

So this is my ninth month on hrt. My skin hasn't changed yet and that bothers me, even though I've had dry skin for a good while pre hrt. I'm sure this is a YMMV thing but generally how long was it before you started noticing your skin changing?

Huh. That was honestly one of the first things that I noticed. It definitely happened within three months.

It stuck in my mind because suddenly just scratching my skin could cause damage.

I noticed my skin soften nicely in the second month on estradiol spray, but most of its softness has since disappeared. I believe the cold weather and spironolactone are to blame; I have become terribly dry lately. I also switched to oral estradiol, not sure what effect that may have. Dryness inhibits softness. Some women find moisturizers helpful; I tried one and it did not work - I am still dry, not soft. It pains me too because my soft skin comforted me; now I no longer have it and that really hurts. The effects of hormones on skin are very controversial, and I would rather not enter that minefield again, but using a good moisturizer and finding an alternative to spironolactone (if you are using that) could improve the dry skin problem that inhibits softness.

I'm both on injectable E and oral P and my skin, despite the dry cold winter here, is quite soft, sometimes so soft, it is like baby soft. More so, when I'm active, I exercise 3-4 times weekly. Some women swear by bio progesterone, helping restore their skin condition.

If your skin is dry, you may not be drinking enough water.

oh yea...I also noticed in girls taking Spiro, dry skin can occur...especially if not enough water+salt is consumed AND I found on lower E, my skin was drier...no longer have this problem. My hair is quite soft as well.

Skin change was almost immediate but day by day it is getting softer and smoother.

In terms of actually feeling softer, it happened pretty quickly, after about three weeks I could notice it.

With that said, though, it didn't really VISIBLY start to thin until almost a year on HRT, and has continued getting thinner and thinner all the way through this entire 2nd year. I feel like I'm finally approaching mostly female-normal levels now, 2 years in.

See this is where the "everybody is different" part comes in. My arms and other parts of my body are very visibly different than pre HRT and I'm only a month in, really (3 months if you count low dose self med E only, but there was a significant break in between). In fact my skin feels softer and smoother than my cis wife's (but I am younger and we're slightly different ethnic makeup).

My skin was noticeable softer about 6 weeks on HRT. Pre-HRT when I was getting a Tattoo the artist said  my skin was very soft and how did I do it. That was 10 years ago. Last Saturday the electrolysis person ( she does a lot of cis woman and trans woman) said my skin (face) was really soft. So it may have a generic component.

9 months?! My skin started changes around the third day, became notieably softer by only a little bit.
At 9 months it should definetly have changed i think

Well mind you, all this time I've been on pills. In February I'm switching to shots.

Quote from: AnnaiyahStarr on January 23, 2015, 07:37:36 AM
Well mind you, all this time I've been on pills. In February I'm switching to shots.

If it makes you feel any better, I take the pills and I've got the visibly noticeable difference in certain places, while overall softer skin all around. I'm also months behind you, so it really is YMMV. Hopefully the shots will give your body a nicer balance  to work with all the same.

Quote from: AnnaiyahStarr on January 23, 2015, 07:37:36 AM
Well mind you, all this time I've been on pills. In February I'm switching to shots.

I take pills, but sublingually. Just the generic estradiol from the pharmacy and spiro (which is not taken sublingually)

Quote from: AnnaiyahStarr on January 09, 2015, 08:05:45 PM
Hi ladies.

So this is my ninth month on hrt. My skin hasn't changed yet and that bothers me, even though I've had dry skin for a good while pre hrt. I'm sure this is a YMMV thing but generally how long was it before you started noticing your skin changing?

At around month 2 or so, people were commenting on how great my complexion had become.  Acne still pops up here and there, however.