I've been through a series of HRT treatments for over 15 years. I am almost 41 and for the last two years I have been noticing quite a bit change with my body. I'm noticing body hair, arms and abdominal area fat distributions are changing towards a more undesirable levels and. Don't feel that my therapy is working. I'm not sure if there's anyone going through the same so I am seeing for advise if anyone has tried any new treatments.

I have a great doctor and my estrogen levels seem normal. She did took off my progestorones and replaced it spiro which makes me dizzy and eat too much. I sleep with spiro a lot so I stopped taking it. I am taking an Estrace pill and get injections twice a month.

These changes are really affecting my self esteem and I don't even feel comfortable wearing dresses that beats my arms anymore.

Any enlightenment would be welcomed

Im not in the same situation as you, im 52 started Estradiol pill form 20 months ago no spiro. I recently had an orchi and they said I had mild testicle atrophy and that the longer I was on E  they would have most likely atrophy completely.

  Im just surprised that after 15 years they decided to put you on spiro now instead of putting you on it at the start and then taken you off it as some point later.

But im not a doctor and everyones treatment and results vary greatly

I hope you find the answers you are looking for

Take care

Hi Proudmommy17:

First, I most state that even though as a post op, I have been on HRT for decades; I am not a medical doctor and am not qualified to give medical advice.

Being that said, I really feel you pain and know how traumatic it can be when your transition is not progressing as expected.

But, if you are now 40 years old and have been on HRT for 15 years, and have not experienced good to excellent results, there really seems to be something very wrong. You may not have started HRT in the golden years of prepubescents or puberty, but starting in ones mid 20s is an excellent age to begin, and rightfully should expect very good "passing" results.

I also want to prefix anything further, by saying I am not just speaking from personal experience, and have personally known hundreds of transgender people from around the world.

First, I have never met anyone who has told me that they are taking progesterone, even though I am fully aware of what is stated on the internet and elsewhere. Have you had both your estrogen and testosterone blood levels checked lately? From what you describe, you are on peak levels of depo-estrogen, but please be aware that there are two formulas, and one last much longer than the other. Please, research this!

Another real concern I have, given your early start with estrogen, is you being a late bloomer, sort of speak! Only starting to see visible results after many years on estrogen, at your age, is very troubling. Something is very wrong! Especially, if your dosage over the years has be what you are taking presently! You should be a knock out girl by now!

I understand that you very much value your present relationship with your current doctor, but this is not a social friendship! You are seeing the doctor for results, not bedside manners! If there are not results from your current doctor, you definitely need to move on immediately! Passing, is a profoundly important issue to us transgender people that not even most cis doctors can fully appreciate.

Finally, the million dollar question is have you been prescribed with any type of antipsychotic medication? If yes, the above really will not help. You may not be fully aware or in control of you medical circumstances. HRT can be very emotionally destabilizing!

Hi, ProudMommy17!

Welcome to Susan's Place.

Sorry to hear that your HRT is no longer working as you hope.  This sounds like something to discuss with your doctor.  If your blood hormone levels are fine, then there is something else going on.  If your own doctor can't figure it out, get them to refer you to a specialist.

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Thank you all for your sharing your thoughts. I am new to the forum and have been an lgbt advocate for years and I am very happy to learn about this site. It makes me proud to be a part of this community.

I am sorry if I was unclear about my situation. My therapy has been amazing. I have found great results in the beginning. The challenges or results that I am experiencing is just recently. I am being medically supervised accordingly. The new changes in my regimen was due to high estrogen levels (over the 1000s) so they lowered the dosage. They did give me spiro in the beginning but it had an adverse effect on me (gained excessive weight, emotional, and dizziness) so they took it off. I started noticing this when they took off the progesterone but they said it's because that's not even required.

I will discuss these things further with my provider and look into alternatives.

Grateful,

Proudmommy17

Welcome to Susan's Place. Something missing is if your testosterone levels are being checked. Sometimes estrogen can block testosterone so if your levels were reduced, it's possible your producing testosterone again. Spiro would solve the problem but if you unable to use it, you may need to consider another blocker or a higher but still safe level of estrogen.

This is the reason why testing estradiol and testosterone levels is so important. The same dosage given to two different people may not produce the same results. Only by knowing the test results can you know if the dosage is where it would be most effective.

Thank you all. I've seen post around pills being placed under tongue instead of swallowing. What are the advantages? This is the first time I've heard of this. Right now I'm taking an Estrace pill.

The estrogen is absorbed directly into the blood stream and because it avoids the first pass through the liver, it provides a much higher initial level. Estrogen levels drop pretty fast as the blood will eventually make a pass through the liver so after several hours, either method would have the same level. When I did it, it seemed to push breast development a bit faster but as I was on a half dose, my normal oral levels are pretty low.

This concept dates to Nitroglycerin for heart problems. When a person is having a heart issue, the pill is placed under the tongue to get it in the blood fast. In this case, it can provide relief in minutes.

Thank you Dena

Do talk to your doctor about sublingual delivery. 

When swallowed, much of the E is destroyed by digestion before it makes it to the bloodstream.  With direct absorbtion, such as patches or sublingual, a much larger proportion goes into the bloodstream.  I was amazed to see that oral doses are measured in milligrams, whereas patch doses are measured in micrograms.

So to be sure that you are taking the right dose, ask your doctor before taking the pills under your tongue.

Quote from: Proudmommy17 on April 12, 2019, 02:28:18 AM
I've been through a series of HRT treatments for over 15 years. I am almost 41

ADD to the fact that you "just heard" about placing pills sub-lingual after 15 years of possibly starting and stopping HRT points to a possibly less than stellar HRT result. I've only been on HRT 2 months and already present full time at work and 3/4 time in public. You must stay on your HRT and take it as prescribed by your Physician and the results will come.

Also a lot has to do with your frame of mind!

If you believe you are a beautiful woman, then you ARE a beautiful woman.

Best of luck....

Sophia