Was talking with my therapist this week.  He told me that when I start taking T, I'll be really irritable and aggressive.  But, geez, guys...none of you seem overly irritable and aggressive to me.  (Either that, or you're all great actors. >)

Also, my family members are all jacked out of shape that I'm going to fall apart physically from T.  They seem to think I'm going to die.  The way everyone is worrying, you'd think I had told them I'm taking up Russian Roulette as a hobby. 

I know there are risks, but man, fielding their questions about doom and gloom is starting to suck the life out of me and is putting a damper on the excitement I've been feeling about my recent forward momentum.

Sounds like a load of hooey to me. I didn't have any increased irritation. In fact I became more even tempered because I could concentrate on what was going on around me. None of the guys I know had any aggression/irritability issues, although I have heard of it, just not frequently.

And health-wise, you're swapping female health risks for male ones. So you're decreasing some risks and increasing others. If you're properly monitored, complications are fairly rare.

Dennis

When someone has unmanaged rage and aggression, in theory you could see an increase in these issues. I personally became less aggressive and angry with T then I ever had before T. I was also a pretty angry kid. In fact my impulse control in much better now that I don't feel impotent and helpless. Don't stress too much about your family, they are talking without any information. In time they will see that you haven't picked up Russian roulette and calm down hopefully. I know my dad was convinced that I would start trying to take his place in the family, kill him and want to marry my mom. I know it is insane, I think he was reading to much Freud. He really thought that the minute T began coursing through my veins I would try to dominate the world. Honestly I think before T I was overcompensating and trying to dominate the world because no one would let me be who I was. Since T this has just gone away. Your mileage may vary and if you do have unmanaged rage and aggression you should really be working on it therapy.

->-bleeped-<-boy

Before T I would have classed myself as being a fairly aggressive person (mostly through being basically a very nervous person underneath). I was also told the same thing as you have been but I have been on T for just over a year now and I am now far less aggressive than I have ever been. I would say that what T does is makes you more assertive rather than aggressive and since I feel more assertive, I feel more confident in myself, I am no longer nervous about living in the world we are living in and therefore not more aggressive. Hope what I have put makes sense.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your comments.  Your replies confirm my previous thoughts about how things will probably go for me.  Even though I'm not an aggressive or angry person by nature, I'm cautiously optimistic that T will actually make me feel better than I've felt in years, because I have a medical condition which worsens during ovulation and menstruation.  Without periods, I might just see a much welcomed improvement!   

Dennis, I couldn't agree more about what my therapist said sounding like a lot of hooey!  My therapist was also the one who told me I'd get fat on T (even though I'm an athete.)  I hang in there with his odd slant on T, though, because he's been very agreeable in assisting me in moving forward with transition.  What matters most to me is that the endocrinologist I'll be seeing DOES know his stuff.  My future endo is one of the best in his field. 

->-bleeped-<-boy, thanks for your input.  I could totally relate to your post.  Also, I know you weren't trying to be funny, but I have to admit there were a few things you wrote (especially about your dad) that made me literally burst out laughing!  What an odd world we live in, huh?

Snowdoggy, yes, what you wrote makes total sense! 

Thanks again, guys.  You helped me regain sanity today.

- Benjamin

ACTUALLY MY MOM SAID SHE NOTICED OOPS CAPS SORRY my mom said i seem a whole lot calmer since being on T like at ease:)

I feel a hundred times better about myself, and I definitely feel calmer. I used to have a lot of problems with excessive anger, but they have for the most part abated. One weird effect of T is that I don't really cry anymore... I'm seeing that as a change for the positive, though. Really, my emotions have regulated, and I love it. I see no ill effects.

S.D.

I became a lot more mellow after T, whereas before I was...well, an ->-bleeped-<-. If my T levels are off I get ->-bleeped-<--ish (for example, when I ran out of T and couldn't get to my doc for a new prescrip until I got bloodwork, but I didn't have the money for any of that---so I went off T for about a month).

Very encouraging comments!

I think people just take what they hear on TV about "roid rage" and apply it to FTMs. Not true at all. What you'll be taking will put you at a normal level for a guy. It's not like you'll be taking massive amounts of dangerous steroids and transforming into the Hulk. (I wish.)

(Oh, but the stuff you hear about excess horniness is all true, though. All. True.)

Quote from: Andrew on March 31, 2008, 10:39:49 AM(Oh, but the stuff you hear about excess horniness is all true, though. All. True.)

I take it that's not a complaint? 

Excess sex drive is never a complaint. Mine was incredibly low before T (but still perfectly normal for a "female", and now it's moderate for a dude, I think, but the sensation is ultimately better now that I"m on testosterone.

Mine was high for a gal but now it's, um...

Excuse me. I have to go...water my plants.

Quote from: Andrew on April 07, 2008, 10:51:58 PM
Mine was high for a gal but now it's, um...

Excuse me. I have to go...water my plants.

My god if my sex drive gets any higher my girlfriend wont be able to walk!  >

Quote from: Andrew on April 07, 2008, 10:51:58 PM
Mine was high for a gal but now it's, um...
Excuse me. I have to go...water my plants.

Now that you mention it, my plants need watering, too. 

haha love this!
mine went through the rooof and seems to just get crazier i actually though mine was really high b4 T but now its a whole nother world it gets in the way of stuff some times.........its like carry the mathbook up to the chalkboard type of thing....
anyway T makes me happy in my pants:)

Quote from: Dennis on March 26, 2008, 04:37:53 PM
Sounds like a load of hooey to me. I didn't have any increased irritation. In fact I became more even tempered because I could concentrate on what was going on around me. None of the guys I know had any aggression/irritability issues, although I have heard of it, just not frequently.

And health-wise, you're swapping female health risks for male ones. So you're decreasing some risks and increasing others. If you're properly monitored, complications are fairly rare.

Dennis

Ditto this.

Also, think about it.  What do men who have lost their testicles to cancer do? Take testosterone!!  So lots of men take testosterone.

I am calmer, more zen, and far less anxious than I ever was.  In fact I didn't realize that I was even anxious until it went away!!  For me it's the trade off.  Got rid of the female risks for the male ones.  Nothing different than if I had been born male to begin with.

Jay

This topic was started in March 2008.... but it was resurrected yesterday, for some reason.  And so, as long as it's here.... update:  I'm now 9 months on T and I feel fine.  No mood changes.  None for the better; none for the worse.  Just me, being me.    No complaints.

YAAAY

Quote from: Benjamin on January 12, 2009, 05:30:48 PM
This topic was started in March 2008.... but it was resurrected yesterday, for some reason.  And so, as long as it's here.... update:  I'm now 9 months on T and I feel fine.  No mood changes.  None for the better; none for the worse.  Just me, being me.    No complaints.

That's what I get for replying to a thread without reading the date.  I blame it on lack of sleep from working 3 night shifts in a row...

Jay