I have been looking around, and now have a few questions about HRT:

Here is what I know/think I know:
It will not change my voice
It will not get rid of my facial hair(conflicting info on reduction of growth speed)
It will not stop body hair growth(conflicting info on reduction, and texture changes)
It will not get rid of my gut(it may help as I exercise as it will redistribute fat locations)
It will grow my man boobs to real boobs
It will not change my hip bones but may increase hip size do to female weight distribution
It may help thicken my thin head hair
It may cause kidney problems
It may cause illness/bad reactions with my body
It will likely cause penis shrinkage, but some people have a lesser effect than others
I have heard that there is the potential for minor body changes in hand and feet sizes.
That it will make subtle facial changes to appear more feminine, but not always.
That it may actually have a minor effect on my voice, which goes against the previous info.

Any that are flat out false?  Are these true to an extant that some people have these effects and others don't?  Did I miss anything?  I'm sure the Dr will let me know more, but I like to get experienced feedback as well.

It will not change my voice
- it won't change your voice... you may need training if you want to change how your voice sounds. Some people use surgery.

It will not get rid of my facial hair(conflicting info on reduction of growth speed)
- it won't get rid of facial hair... laser or electrolysis is the only way to do this permanently.

It will not stop body hair growth(conflicting info on reduction, and texture changes)
- it won't stop body hair growth but over time it will slow and fine up (especially if you help it alone with a few waxings) - some of this depends on how thick, wiry and dark it is to start with.

It will not get rid of my gut(it may help as I exercise as it will redistribute fat locations)
- probably not, and it could actually make you put on more weight. Weight doesn't travel around, it goes from one area and deposits elsewhere but doesn't technically move.

It will grow my man boobs to real boobs
-  kind of, female breasts have glandular development whereas man boobs are mostly just fatty deposits.

It will not change my hip bones but may increase hip size do to female weight distribution
- won't change hip bones, your hips might change shape due to weight changes but it will take many months

It may help thicken my thin head hair
- depends on how thin it currently is... the thinner it is the less it will help. And it will take time anyway.

It may cause kidney problems
- dunno, drink water if you are on spiro as it is a diuretic.

It may cause illness/bad reactions with my body
- everyone is different. I haven't had a problem, possibly some have.

It will likely cause penis shrinkage, but some people have a lesser effect than others
- yep

I have heard that there is the potential for minor body changes in hand and feet sizes.
- if your feet and hands are "muscular" then yes, there could be some change as the HRT will, over time, reduce musculature... but it will take many, many months.

That it will make subtle facial changes to appear more feminine, but not always.
- it might, but it might not. Tends to help if your face isn't too masculinised to start with.

So you have a long list of potentials that may or may not reflect your experience.

All of that list are outside physical indicators and while they are interesting, it has been the dramatic internal changes for me that have been the most phenomenal.  The calming of my dysphoria and the changing thought processes as HRT works what it does.  I did not notice most of the behavioral and attitude changing at first, but my friends did and they were really surprised at how the lessened internal conflict improved my demeanor.

The physical stuff is cool and gets most of the focus in the first few months, but it is the inside work that becomes the best once it gets noticed!

I have my own boobs.  Not moobs, boobs.  They are breasts requiring the same care as any other woman's breasts.  I have started to fill in the hips, the butt being the first thing to fill out.  I have lost a huge amount of muscle mass.  Not something I noted at first, but once it became obvious...it was obvious and very pronounced!  It has reduced body hair, thinning it and slowing dramatically.  Head hair is coming along nicely.  Almost all of the places where it was gone entirely have fuzzy now.  Just baby hair, but it is there and that is happy for me.

Face, I did not think much of it...until I got ma'am'd without any attempt to present in any way other than myself.  No makeup, baggy work clothes and whala...the clerk at 7/11, "I can help you here Ma'am".  Yep, it is having an effect.  Mostly I think it is the softened skin that causes the stares and the confusion.  The lack of facial hair is my doing, but after several months of therapy...I dropped from shaving twice a day to once in the morning with the same growth rate.  Now I have had laser and the beard is gone.

There is so much of what I just wrote that may or may not be for a sister that has been on HRT may or may not experience.  In the end, our experiences on HRT are hugely personal and the results are as unique as we are.  There is no one thing that is guaranteed.  I will say that even had I not experienced any changes at all, just starting it was an affirmation of who I am and that is worth the price of admission alone!

I've noticed quite a few changes already after about 6 months at low dose.

* my voice cracks sometimes and is getting higher by itself
* my hips have gained muscle not just fatty deposits to the point of needing to buy new jeans. i bought new jeans in January to accommodate my widening hips. Now i have to buy female pants to be comfortable. I've grown a fierce bubble. btw I've been blessed with wide hips anyway and hips are so damn useful lol.
* testicles have shrunk, but not the lil' soldier then again i use an extender for size maintenance occasionally.
* face has definitely softened.

I'm not 'normal' though... I tested with E of 125 & T 300... later i tested E of 39 & T 300 during a different time of month. Both before hormones.

if boobs don't grow i am getting gummy bolt-ons.

MtF hormones don't widen your hip bones, but if taken early enough do stop the ossification of your pelvis, which allows more fat to deposit in your hips (or so I've read) ^_^


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Spiro is used to treat hirsutism so yes it will affect hair.

It can/does reduce cartlidge so you do get shorter, some people say they lose half a shoe size, theres not much cartlidge in foot compared to sping so don't expect much.

Doesnt effect voice