Hi all,

I've been on MtF HRT for 5 months, but I have not experienced any mood changes evidently some of us have. Out of curiosity, is it normal? Do any of you feel the same as before?

Thanks,
Yuna


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  Hi Yuna,

  I haven't noticed any mood changes really except that I find tears come easier than they used to and are more difficult to suppress.  That's it so far and I am at 4 months and 3 weeks.

Hugs,
   Jeanette

 

Count yourself lucky

I'm at the five month mark, too and haven't had any changes in my mental outlook either. I have a feeling that the worse that a person feels anxiety, dysphoria, etc., the more likely that beginning HT will affect their mental outlook. It's just based on anecdotal input, though.

All the best,
--AshleyP

Thanks for sharing, Jeanette and Ashley. In lieu of looking for subtle cues of mood fluctuations I have started to think whether or not they are part of a biological reaction to begin with. I think I have always been very observant of these things,  but still I have to say it is entirely possible that I am too detached from whatever is left in my brain that produces/experiences emotions.

Best,
Yuna


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I guess it would be mood, I feel mentally relaxed, at peace and physically better while on HRT. Many years ago I was on HRT for 6 months and it was the same then, when I stopped all that was gone in a few weeks. I haven't had mood swings, just mentally and physically much better.

Lucky you! I've been in mood swing hell since Saturday. Have you experienced any other side effects associated with your HRT regimen? If you have then it probably isn't too much cause for concern, otherwise you might talk to your doctor about reviewing your levels, doses, and method of administration to find something that might work better.

Last appointment with the MD she said she would likely increase dosage on next visit. I've read on this forum many different changes/effects others report that I haven't experienced, dry skin, softer skin, softer finer hair & more. Breast/nipple growth & nipple sensations I am quite pleased with so far.

I wouldn't say mine are "swings," but more like the type of switch changed. Before, the intensity of an emotion went in steps, almost like a multiple position switch. Now, it's more like a slide dimmer. (If that makes sense.) But it may seem like a swing because I can now actually identify more in-betweens, that I didn't feel before. Like, if you put an emotion on a spectrum, it doesn't take me as much to budge from a given point as it did before because those steps in intensity were much wider.

Emotional changes and Moods.

After just over four years and a bit back on HRT, I have had a range of emotional changes.

Importantly  we all need to understand that in effect we are all undergoing a second puberty as the body switches from a  Testosterone dominant environment to an Oestrogen dominant environment.

Gradually after about 6 months on HRT I started to  find myself feeling uncertain with  conflicting thoughts and you may also experience frequent and sometimes extreme changes in your mood.

For example, sometimes your mood will swing between feeling confident and happy to feeling irritated and depressed in a short span of time. These frequent swings in how you feel are called mood swings. They may occur due to the shifting levels of hormones in your body and other changes that are taking place during this second puberty, such as there growth of your breasts.

During puberty, a young woman's body undergoes many changes, so for Transgender women we too can feel uncomfortable about these changes and become overly sensitive about our physical appearances.

As a result you may feel irritated quite easily, lose your temper or feel depressed.

These emotional experiences are more pronounced for girls because they develop faster and obviously the changes in their bodies such as development of breasts and widening of hips are more noticeable. Although we are unlikely to have the widening of our hips, fat redistribution and breast development and facial changes do happen

One emotional change I noticed is getting sexually excited by normal everyday activities such as reading a romantic novel or watching a romantic scene on television.  Also this emotional engagement can find me weeping profusely.
I've also noticed a greater emotional range. I cry much more. I only rarely cried before, yet now some things can reduce me reduce me to an incoherent bucket of sobbing.

Occasionally I also receive little heart melting flutters more, with acts of kindness sort of leaving me with an overall warming of  my soul in a way I didn't feel before. Basically I just more aware of my emotions that I was ever before as a male.

Things I noticed more in my second year on HRT was that I was then on a high dosage of oestrogen, and I tended to take a higher oestrogen dose in the evenings than in the mornings, but I noticed that as I wound down the day, around 12 hours after my last oestrogen dose, I started to feel... off. A little depressed, irritable, and generally a little overwhelmed.

Part of that may be because it was early in transition and  just getting dressed as a woman and going out into the world can be draining, but I also found that smoothing out my dosage, so I wasn't really high right before bed and then coming down over the course of the day helped even out a lot of that overall bout of emotions. Of course over time Oestrogen builds up in the body and will over time somewhat smooth out the emotional effects.

All the hormonal changes of another puberty may mean one has mood swings and bouts of feeling sad or down or really high. This is of course just an important part of a young woman's self-discovery and growing up.

Remember that this second puberty is a time of adjustment for all of us  when we will be discovering new interests, becoming more aware of our sexual attraction and what we generally crave for is female reassurance that what we feel is normal for women going through a puberty .

In short this second puberty is a roller coaster of emotions, and the second puberty that you will experience during your transition is no exception. You may find that you have access to a wider range of emotions or feelings, or have different interests, tastes or pastimes, or behave differently in relationships with other people and have other people behave differently to you as well.
Judith

I wasn't see any changes until recently after eight months on HRT, and I think because at 57 I am a late bloomer. Until last couple weeks I feel tender on my breast, and I can't sleep on my stomach as late. I just found out both breasts bigger almost one inch.

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I have experienced no mood changes either.
I was always a very chill happy person, and still am X3
I cry more though, which is great

About 2 months into spiro + estradiol + progesterone and I actually feel less mood swings. I used to be depressed, sometimes with frequent bouts of relatively mild euphoria (almost bipolar, but not quite). Clearly, since I've started with the medication I feel more constantly happier and content with life... Much more zen, I would say. More emotional, also... I don't cry out of sadness because I really don't feel sad, bur sometimes I easily cry with joy... go figure!
Hugs, Sarah

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