As someone who writes, sculpts and draws for a living, I'd be concerned if T put a brake on that. But I always take time to articulate my thoughts and feelings to myself every day, either in tutorial videos, in my head, etc. I've found it useful and therapeutic to do this during periods of living abroad when I don't get to articulate in my native language much, and the creativity is a good outlet also... but it all helps to maintain the thought processes and creativity flow when you don't have very inspiring surroundings, or people around you who are imaginative or even talkative.

I've been doing it for a while in response to being quite isolated, it seems to come natural. And also since I heard a few years back that challenging yourself to learn new skills and to articulate can help to keep degenerative brain diseases at bay... use it or lose it, I guess. I'm always using it, and nearly always in some kind of education... so I hope that will keep any effects of T on the thought processes in check.

I hadn't noticed anything about T affected my creative outlets...

- Didn't expect T to make my eyebrows go from a curve to more linear (I like the more manbrows)
- The weird mix of dark and light hairs (but that is partly due to genetics) and getting use to the extra hair
- Extra sensitivity down below
- Too easily frustrated (But I actually like the fact I don't cry so easily because frankly, I was embarrassed about how easily I would tear up in a movie when no one else would)

No change to my creativity either, or English capabilities, or memory (though mine was bad to start with lol), and I'm still waiting on those man-brows...

Unexpected:
-How much it raised my normal mood level: I don't often get 'down' anymore unless I've waited too long between T shots.
-Ditto the energy, when I'm unusually tired for 'no reason' it's because it's T day.
-Just how much the sex drive increases.  I was expecting an increase, but yeezus...sometimes distracting but not necessarily a bad thing.  This combined with the previous 2 tends to make me feel like a badass a good portion of the time (even though I'm probably not one)

Unwanted:
-The butt crack hair. I shave that stuff off when it gets too long/obnoxious.
-Currently keeping a nervous eye on my shoulders due to a single black hair that popped up on my left side.
-I agree with the crying comments.  Most of the time I'm glad I can't, but sometimes I think I might feel better faster if I could, but it just won't come out.

I'm pretty fuzzy on my shoulders and upper back. I have always had a horror of back hair, yet I crave hair on other parts of my body. I am torn.

I also tend to think of back hair as uncouth. In the movies, a surefire way to make a character seem like a lowlife is to find an heavyset actor with a hairy back and shoulders, and put him in a wifebeater so that a lot of the hair is visible to viewers.

Some of your have mentioned that
T makes your Angry and sometimes
unable to think the right words.
For me I was angry and mad and
my emotions had no limit or control.
With T, I seem calmer and others have
noticed it. there are times where I'm
like I'm about to flip out but normally
I'm able to remain, calm. As for the
Memory loss. I can't really say if It has
changed my memory or the way I recall
information. I will have to update you.

Quote from: CursedFireDean on November 22, 2015, 01:05:36 PM
I've also had a harder time crying which is nice sometimes because I don't cry at stupid things like I used to, but I also want to cry sometimes and it won't come.

My dad died, and he was my best friend in the world.  I spent two years trying to cry.  I never could cry for longer than about 30 seconds.  Team estrogen FTW!

I cry frequently!!!  May be not so much outright sobbing as I used to pre-T, but I still get teary at a touching movie or hearing a story about good in the world.  I cry with joy and I cry when I am sad, and there has NEVER been a time in my life when I felt like I could not cry.  My GF calls me a sap...

But I have noticed that on T, I definitely know what emotion I am feeling that leads to the crying.  Before T I would cry for absolutely no discernible reason.  Now that my hopeless despair is gone, crying seems like a reasonable release of normal emotion.

I'm a big crier, but I think that's due to the mental illnesses I have more than the T.

TMI, but I didn't expect the downstairs smell/sweat situation to suddenly happen and be as gross as it is.

Quote from: zetabyte99 on November 23, 2015, 01:28:28 AM
I haven't heard this one before, I know T can sometimes mess with emotions- like make you less prone to cry, more prone to anger, etc. But this actually scares me a bit- I write music, poetry, and speeches a lot. I'm a Visualization major... I can't afford to lose my creativity/my voice... this scares the crap out of me...

Honestly, if you'd told me before transitioning that I'd lose some of my creative impulse, it would've scared the ->-bleeped-<- out of me too, but I actually didn't really miss it when it left. (I was a fine arts major in undergrad.) I think part of it might be that a lot of the angsty emotions that compelled me toward art disappeared with transition, but there's also probably some change in the way my brain works on T. Now, instead of being a creative virtuoso, I'm an absolute wizard at logic and reasoning problems, and I'm headed to law school next fall to make good use of that skill. Couldn't be more excited about the path I'm headed down.
fwiw, I also know plenty of artists who've transitioned and remained as such. My experience definitely isn't universal (and I'm actually a bit surprised it's not just me lol). I don't think it's really worth worrying much about either way.

Maybe it's a good thing... If i was less emotional about art i might make better art! lol

Acne was definitely a big one for me when I started. I had it on my shoulders and my face. After two years it's pretty much cleared up except a few small spots on my face. I am definitely not a fan of the ass hair up around the butt hole. Sometimes I go to wipe and it rips the hairs out which is painful lmao. My hair has actually gotten a lot darker, I use to have medium brown hair and now it's dark brown. I'm also someone who can't cry at all, I just get mad. Although I can let out a little tear when I see a heartwarming video about an animal :p.

As a child, I was very, very blond. As an adult, I had dark blond hair. After T, I'm not sure how to classify my hair. Darkdarkdarkdark blond? Or is it time to give up and call it light brown? The thing is, all of my documentation says blond.

Now that I'm getting some gray, I suppose this question will no longer matter in a few years.

Quote from: RaptorChops on November 28, 2015, 08:11:33 AM
Acne was definitely a big one for me when I started. I had it on my shoulders and my face. After two years it's pretty much cleared up except a few small spots on my face. I am definitely not a fan of the ass hair up around the butt hole. Sometimes I go to wipe and it rips the hairs out which is painful lmao. My hair has actually gotten a lot darker, I use to have medium brown hair and now it's dark brown. I'm also someone who can't cry at all, I just get mad. Although I can let out a little tear when I see a heartwarming video about an animal :p.

I'm surprised my acne hasn't been that bad at all, since it used to be a problem for me when I was in my teens.

Creativity loss, loss of vocal ability, mental fog, and emotion issues are the scariest to me. Beforehand the only thing I was too nervous about was sensitivity below the belt and loss of vocal ability. I don't know. They all scare me to ->-bleeped-<-, but I know they won't stop me from taking T. Does anyone have any tips to retain some of these things or better control them? Do you have any regrets from taking T? Have any of you stopped and for what reason?

Have you experienced any of those things?  Don't forget that drug companies have to list every possible side effect as a side effect to cover their butts for insurance purposes.  I honestly have found that my creativity is exactly the same, my mind is clearer and more alert, and my emotions are more stable (and I had anger issues before taking T!)  I haven't been on it for long, yet I am fairly certain none of these things are placebo effects as I have taken a lot of drugs in my life and am not easily persuaded that a drug is causing a particular symptom--I have to see a lot of evidence that it is the drug and not my mind before I believe it.  I wouldn't worry so much.  If you experience any of those symptoms, you can always stop taking it.  The effects of T aren't exactly instantaneous, so it is doubtful you would experience anything right away that couldn't revert except for some minimal bottom growth.  I am a little over a month in and no one would ever know I took T at all if I quit right now, yet I have already seen quite a few effects--they're just not things that would be permanent if I quit.

The worst ones for me have been the acne and increase in sweat. I had bad acne in my teens so I expected it this time as well, but it still sucks. I used to be fairly normal in terms of sweat. I would break a sweat when exercising but nothing excessive. Now, I'm soaked by the end of the workout and leave gross sweat puddles on equipment and the floor. Oh and I agree on the butt hair lol. I love my body hair everywhere else but that one is a pain.

I've never been very creative and that hasn't changed on T. I do feel like my memory has gotten a bit worse but it's never been great either. My mood has definitely improved and overall, the good effects of T greatly outweigh the bad for me. Best of luck in making your decision!

One effect that we shouldn't discount is people's ability to compensate and adapt. I did feel as if I had lost some of my linguistic ability for a while--I would grope around for words and so forth--but I was so overwhelmed with all of the fallout in my life that T might not have been responsible. I had a breakup, a move, unemployment, document changes, depression, and a whole slew of other stuff to contend with. That kind of chaos can cause anyone to have difficulty in thinking.

Yeah, I still struggle to find the right word occasionally, but I did get better with practice. And I noticed in the past month that when a bunch of bad things happened to me all at once, I was having trouble thinking and focusing again. I'm still not completely through the current brain fog, but I have confidence that I'll get back on track soon.

Unexpected:

-A weird change in my ability to taste and/or smell certain things. Especially wheat and soy. I can barely stomach pasta now and edamame is a NOPE.

-All the glorious body hair. Oh my god, I wanted this so badly, and it's coming in with wild abandon. I LOVE IT.

-PUFFY FACE. I hate this so much.

-Belowdecks went from being so so so sensitive it was PAINFUL to touch pre-T (great for the old sex life, I can tell you  ), to now being much more amenable to...interaction   

Quote from: Clever on December 10, 2015, 02:35:31 PM
Unexpected:

-A weird change in my ability to taste and/or smell certain things. Especially wheat and soy. I can barely stomach pasta now and edamame is a NOPE.

-All the glorious body hair. Oh my god, I wanted this so badly, and it's coming in with wild abandon. I LOVE IT.

-PUFFY FACE. I hate this so much.

-Belowdecks went from being so so so sensitive it was PAINFUL to touch pre-T (great for the old sex life, I can tell you  ), to now being much more amenable to...interaction   

Now that you mention your taste sensations, I completely forgot I've experienced something similar. Before I'd abstain from going near pepper or anything with it, but now I'm putting it on almost everything and I can't get enough of it. Same goes for super spicy foods, which I crave ridiculously now along with red meat--something I've tried to not include in my diet so much like I used to. Craving steak with all the trimmings in the middle of the night is intense.

Quote from: CursedFireDean on November 22, 2015, 09:40:15 AM
-hot flashes (eventually stopped)
-worst cramps of my life (eventually stopped)
-butt hair. Nobody talks about butt hair but it happens. My ass crack is a forest now.
-I have a few back hairs too but that's stopped growing so maybe it won't happen

Butt hair - brilliant (laughing out loud)