I'm not really worried yet but figured I'd share this just to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.  Two weeks into HRT and I seem to be experiencing the opposite of just about every effect your supposed to see from HRT.  Reduced morning wood?  Nope, more often than before I started.  Where it was rare before, now it happens almost every morning.  Reduced body hair growth?  Nope, I'm having to shave a lot more often than before I started.  Thickening of hair? I'm seeing more hair in the drain than before.  Weight Gain?  Nope, my appetite has plummeted and I've dropped 8 pounds (Note, I'm not complaining about this one and I'm guessing since Spiro is a diuretic that maybe it's water weight, but still).

Now I know at two weeks it's far to early to expect to see any of the feminizing results, but I'm just surprised that I seem to be seeing the opposite effects right now.  I'm staying the course and not getting panicked or anything but still curious if anyone else saw similar changes early on.  I don't have my first follow-up until the end of May, so I'm hoping by then I start to see some of the positive changes we all look for from HRT.

Oh, I should mention one positive change. I can't say for sure, but it seems like some of the lines and wrinkles on my face are becoming lest prominent or disappearing all together.  Especially my forehead lines seem to be much less prominent than before. So I'm holding on to that as proof of positive change 

After two weeks, anything you imagine happening is just that, your imagination. Every negative and positive you just mentioned are not happening. Nothing is happening yet. My advice to you is to quit looking in the mirror, forget what's going on with body changes and fill your mind with other matters. Your brain is zinging and you're trying to quantify things too infinitesimal to notice. Time will take care of all of it. But two weeks is nothing. As difficult as it may seem,  reeeeeeeeeelaaaaaaaaax!!!!!!! 

   I am with Jen on this one. Anything physical you think you are seeing is most likely your imagination, At this point you may notice feeling a little better about yourself. A lessening of your dysphoria if your will but that is probably it.
  Your likely first physical thing you will probably notice is when your chest starts to feel tender under the nipples and a small lump forming but that sure be a few more weeks yet.

  It will happen Alyssa. I promise.

  Hugs,
   Jeanette

It will take some time to even get testosterone supressed to the correct levels.  It took me 6 months of HRT.   I've heard of it taking longer or shorter, and I do hope it's shorter for you.  My advice is find other ways to continue transition steps that aren't related to HRT.  For example: buy some clothes, learn to paint your own nails, get your ears pierced if you want that, practice using the correct bathrooms with full confidence, come out to more people you've neglected, try hair removal if you haven't already started, maintain diet and excersize, and find a support group IRL if you can.  They may bring up topics you don't find online or otherwise think of.

I hope this helps.  Remember, everytime you take your HRT meds, you are voting for your new life.

Your body is producing a lot more T in response to the influx of E.  This is quite normal and after a couple of weeks, T production will decrease again.  That would explain the morning wood etc. 

Yes and no. I definately experienced faster body hair growth for a few weeks. I had been using dietary supplements to lower my bodies T production for a few months while waiting for my therapist to write the letter and for an appointment with my doctor. The diet / foods were fairly effective at dropping my bodies already fairly low T level. When I started HRT I quit all the extra stuff. My body hair had been slower growing but the first couple of weeks on HRT and my chest hair was coming in like it hadn't for years. After the first month or so it slowed again much more than the diet did on its own.

I've read that body fat can store hormones and when there's a big change it sounds like all that stored T gets dumped into the bloodstream. If that's right then it just takes a little while to fully cleanse the body of old hormones. Hang in there. My facial hair and body hair has slowed a great deal compared to before HRT.

I'm not certain that Spironolactone has totally suppressed my bodies T production as much as the food products did but I go back for my 3 month appointment in May. I'll find out then. I'm also on a low dose E right now. I'm really thinking of asking to at least double it now. Still will be less than full dosage by a bit.

Hey Alyssa

I'm a few weeks ahead of you with the HRT.  I'd say I had most if the same issues as you mention in the first two weeks now that you bring it up. 

Can't say for sure how long that stuff lasted, no longer than a month for sure. 

So now at 8 weeks I have the nipple tenderness (no buds yet☹) and the electrologist wants 3 days growth instead of 2 now so I guess I'm making progress. 

So hang in there, it gets better soon.  And as always YMMV and talk to your doctor if things get worse or don't improve.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Thanks ladies, it's helpful to hear that others have seen similar things.  As I said, I'm not panicked or really worried, was just noticing some things happening that were contrary to what one might expect. I wasn't really looking for any changes yet.  However the weight loss is pretty hard to ignore and easily proved it's actually happening (even without the scale, I came back from a week long business trip and my wife could see that I had lost weight).  Also, the morning wood is impossible to ignore.  As I said, it was very rare for a long time, now I'm waking up almost every day with one. Even the hair growth is pretty obvious. I was able to go a few days to even a week before having to shave my torso.  Right now, two days is the max.  So I don't think it's just me looking for changes, these are real measurable things.

That said I realize it may or may not be a result of the hormones. It's very likely a combination of factors.  I'm just glad to hear others have dealt with similar situations.  Helps to know that this is normal.

Quote from: tarabel on April 17, 2017, 05:17:39 AM
Your body is producing a lot more T in response to the influx of E.  This is quite normal and after a couple of weeks, T production will decrease again.  That would explain the morning wood etc.

Actually, the influx and increase in E results in less T being produced by the body because E exerts a negative feedback on the pituitary gland and hypothalamus so that the hormones usually secreted to get the testicles going and producing sperm and T are suppressed or at the very least, diminish. More E, less T. Spiro also blocks and reduces T.

Spiro is a diuretic so could account for the weight loss (and dryness, stay hydrated and eat salty). Spiro binds to androgen receptors but is not a pure antagonist which means it still stimulates androgen receptors but to a much weaker degree than T (or DHT, the really powerful androgen that makes you lose hair on top and grow hair on the rest of your body).

Interesting side note, we can argue all day if this is the result of the hormones or just something else happening with my body, but I just got back from my Therapist.  Very early on in our discussion I made a comment about changes becoming visible once the hormones start having an effect.  She stopped me right there and said "They already are, I can see it in your face".  She too had noticed the changes in my skin and the fading of some of my creases and wrinkles. So whatever the cause, WOOOHOO!!