Hey I'm new here! 19 years old, recently had my parents understand my situation and support me 100%, church now supports... and so forth. I'm completely ecstatic that I can start therapy with the support of the two things important to me and that were somewhat holding me back.

So lets get to the point, shall we?

I haven't sent in the letter just yet to this guy who can help me out. And well, I only just got the good news from my parents on Friday but we both want to get as much information as possible and make sure I'm ready for this before I proceed.

So, here are my concerns about going on T(when the time comes.)

-I'm already a pretty aggressive person. I have an Irish temper so to speak, though I'm quick to cool off. I don't know if T will make it worse or bring me more peace and patience. I'm a bit worried how I'll handle it.

-I've always been pretty sexual. Beyond what I've seen from bio females. Its settled down, most likely due to hormones settling previously, but even before I could keep a good tab on it, even if it got unbearable at times. I'm worried if I go on T, its going to get even worse. I hate feeling like I'm not in control of things and to have an even more active sex drive is quite frightening. My sex drive in the past has been comparable to those of my male friends.

-I'm afraid T might make me go bald. I've heard it may cause male pattern baldness, but I don't know if they mean I'll lose the hair on top like some males do, or if its just the hairline and thinning.

-I love to sing. I sing a second soprano and its a bit of a talent of mine, people say I have a real gift... while I love my singing voice, I'd love to sound male and all that. I realize I can appreciate female voices instead of having one. What concerns me is that I may not be able to build up a male singing voice. I've considered recording a quality album of my voice now, so I can look back on it and remember it and cherish it. It may be apart of me thats in the past where I was not comfortable with my body, but I still appreciate it, right?

-I already sweat like crazy. Theres points in the summer where I almost need two showers. I've heard going on T increases sweating or something to that nature and that kind of worries me.

I guess those are the things that worry me. I guess I have a few traits that lean toward the 'male' side, but then again, everyone is different. I'm just concerned I'm going to get an overdose of some traits I already struggle with in the fight to become more 'masculine' physically.

As you probably know, having got this far, everyone's response to T varies.

If the temper stuff concerns you, you could try taking some anger management. I didn't notice any difference in my temper except that it does seem to flare up and cool down more quickly. I don't get stuck on stuff.

You may be able to adjust dose to deal with the effects on your sex drive, so that if it becomes a problem for you, you could dial it down a bit.

And the bad news with male pattern baldness is that it means that just like bio guys you could lose all your hair, some, or none. Have a look at males in your family, that may help you guess your chances. It is thought to pass through the mother's line, or be x-linked, but given that we have an x from dad's side, probably a good idea to have a look at dad's family line as well.

And just like bio guys, some of our singing voices survive the change, others don't. I've been fortunate with that and my singing voice has actually improved. It took a long time for it to stabilize though, especially the upper range. I went from alto to bass and can now sing a lot of the tenor range, although it's taken a few years beyond the point where my speaking voice stabilized.

Haven't noticed increased sweating, but I do smell worse than before when I do.

You can't know what effects you'll get from T, but you do need to be ready to accept the bad if they do happen. That's part of getting emotionally ready for it. If it's any consolation, guys who are born male have many of the same effects and they just have to hang on for the ride.

And, as far as potential negatives, there's also the possibility of having major struggles with zits. That was the one I was most concerned about because I didn't want to be a 42 year old with the complexion of a teenager.

Dennis

Thanks for that summary, Dennis!  I go to the endo today for the first time.

Jay

Thanks for the response, Dennis. I appreciate it!

Yeah, anger management might be a good idea for me. And I just remembered meditation, that could probably help.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to adjust the dose or not when it came to that. I suppose thats comforting.

Unfortunately for me, I have no knowledge or information of my biological mother's side of the family and my father's side seems to be hit or miss. Though my generation looks like they still have their hair. I guess I'll have to chance it.

Hopefully my voice works out along with it.

Thank you, once again, for posting.

thanks Den. i had the same concerns as well.
and thanks Monty for asking.

I can speak about the aggression part.  I noticed pretty immediately a calmness come over me.  I'm much less quick to anger.  My emotions are very stable now.  When i do get angry though, i can physically feel it.  Like Dennis said, no more stewing over stuff.

Sex drive... i haven't heard of a dude who hasn't had an increase.  It goes with the territory, but yeah you can adjust things with your doc if it gets too out of hand.

I'm three months in... just upped my dosage for the first time so we'll see how it goes from there.

Hmmm, very interesting. I'm already the quick to anger and cool off type... maybe I'll become more at peace with myself and less aggressive? I guess I wont know until it happens. And if it gets worse, then I can try anger management or meditation or whatnot.

Yeah, I haven't  heard of any guy yet who hasn't had an increase from T. I'm worried how much it'll effect me but on the other hand, maybe it'll balance it out? At least I can manage it with the dosage. I heard this one guy would do his shots more frequently in small doses so the change was very gradual and not sudden.

Its just a theory, but maybe the male tendencies I already have will calm down if I go on T. Maybe theres something off with my balance, I don't know. Maybe thats just wishful thinking there.

Hope it goes well for you, J.T! Let me know how your progress goes.

Quote from: Monty on July 02, 2008, 02:38:01 AM
Hey I'm new here! 19 years old, recently had my parents understand my situation and support me 100%, church now supports... and so forth. I'm completely ecstatic that I can start therapy with the support of the two things important to me and that were somewhat holding me back.

So lets get to the point, shall we?

I haven't sent in the letter just yet to this guy who can help me out. And well, I only just got the good news from my parents on Friday but we both want to get as much information as possible and make sure I'm ready for this before I proceed.

So, here are my concerns about going on T(when the time comes.)

-I'm already a pretty aggressive person. I have an Irish temper so to speak, though I'm quick to cool off. I don't know if T will make it worse or bring me more peace and patience. I'm a bit worried how I'll handle it.

-I've always been pretty sexual. Beyond what I've seen from bio females. Its settled down, most likely due to hormones settling previously, but even before I could keep a good tab on it, even if it got unbearable at times. I'm worried if I go on T, its going to get even worse. I hate feeling like I'm not in control of things and to have an even more active sex drive is quite frightening. My sex drive in the past has been comparable to those of my male friends.

-I'm afraid T might make me go bald. I've heard it may cause male pattern baldness, but I don't know if they mean I'll lose the hair on top like some males do, or if its just the hairline and thinning.

-I love to sing. I sing a second soprano and its a bit of a talent of mine, people say I have a real gift... while I love my singing voice, I'd love to sound male and all that. I realize I can appreciate female voices instead of having one. What concerns me is that I may not be able to build up a male singing voice. I've considered recording a quality album of my voice now, so I can look back on it and remember it and cherish it. It may be apart of me thats in the past where I was not comfortable with my body, but I still appreciate it, right?

-I already sweat like crazy. Theres points in the summer where I almost need two showers. I've heard going on T increases sweating or something to that nature and that kind of worries me.

I guess those are the things that worry me. I guess I have a few traits that lean toward the 'male' side, but then again, everyone is different. I'm just concerned I'm going to get an overdose of some traits I already struggle with in the fight to become more 'masculine' physically.

My temper decreased, yours may not.  Awareness is probably the best idea here.  Things like therapy, etc can help you keep a handle on yourself.

You have no idea what a male sex drive is like until you have one.  Maybe you'd like sex as frequently as your male friends, but there is a consistency to your sex drive when on testosterone that is hard to describe, except for my fascination with round, moving objects.

T might make you go bald.  But, then again, you could get hit by a bus before you even inject.  It's a gamble.

My recorded pre-T voice sounds silly to me now, yours might as well.  You can always find a vocal coach and take voice lessons during T to try and preserve some of your upper register as well as develop the lower end in a healthy way.  No matter what, it's going to be horrible for a while.

I haven't noticed an increase in sweating, but our society is much more tolerant of a sweaty man than a sweaty woman.  Again, it's a gamble.

What I think many people don't realize is that there are negative effects to testosterone, too, many of which the OP touches on.  I just watched a video on youtube where a guy (?! not sure how he's id'ing now..) went off testosterone because of things like body hair.  I wasn't particularly looking forward to having a hairy butt, but it's all a trade off.  When I first started on T, I would check in with myself before every shot and make sure the positives outweighed the negatives-- they always did, so I continued to inject.

Thanks for the reply, 'Mister'. 

And now that I think about it, you're probably right about the sex drive thing. I don't truly know what its like, all I know is that the urges seemed to be as frequent as some of my male friends, but its probably a totally different experience. Thank you for making that point.

And I think it might be a great idea to find a vocal coach while I'm on T. I can't believe I didn't think of that, but I guess its one thing that I can do.

I suppose everything else is just a gamble and a risk I'll have to take. I wont know until I try and I'd probably regret every day of my life for not trying and wondering, "what if?"

I'm actually kind of glad I brought up some of these concerns, because it looks like I wasn't the only one who was worried or curious about it. If anyone else has anything to add, I'm all ears.

hey, im an artist (visual and literary) and am considering going on T but im worried of its effects youall have been talking about. to anyone who has taken T, does it really effect ur emotions that much?--for my work and pay i somewhat depend on these

Hey, I'm an artist as well!

From what I understand, though, is that it doesn't change your personality or your emotions that drastically. I'm not on T personally, so I can't speak from experience, but I can speak from what I've been reading lately. Some guys get a little more aggressive, some get more passive and at ease, it depends but it shouldn't be anything that would get in the way. There are expressive male artists too, y'know? You're still going to be you and theres no written proof that T will automatically make you into a different person. You may just feel more comfortable with your body to do things you didn't before. Heck, even without T, our interests and personalities can change as like any other person.

Coincidentally, last night I went through an entire youtube blog of a guy and his journey on T. It turned out he was an artist too and T hadn't changed any of his abilities to express himself and it didn't change the things that he liked before. The only thing in his personality that really changed was his attitude. He was more comfortable and less shy because of the positive changes.

Once again, I'm not on T yet, but from what I've observed and read... its not going to make you into a completely different person. You are still going to be you.

Quote from: Monty on July 12, 2008, 09:32:21 PM
Coincidentally, last night I went through an entire youtube blog of a guy and his journey on T. It turned out he was an artist too and T hadn't changed any of his abilities to express himself and it didn't change the things that he liked before. The only thing in his personality that really changed was his attitude. He was more comfortable and less shy because of the positive changes.

was it meepmarmoset?

Yeah, that was the guy. Hes pretty cool.

yea, hes totally awesome!

Quote from: Monty on July 12, 2008, 09:32:21 PM
Hey, I'm an artist as well!

From what I understand, though, is that it doesn't change your personality or your emotions that drastically. I'm not on T personally, so I can't speak from experience, but I can speak from what I've been reading lately. Some guys get a little more aggressive, some get more passive and at ease, it depends but it shouldn't be anything that would get in the way. There are expressive male artists too, y'know? You're still going to be you and theres no written proof that T will automatically make you into a different person. You may just feel more comfortable with your body to do things you didn't before. Heck, even without T, our interests and personalities can change as like any other person.

Coincidentally, last night I went through an entire youtube blog of a guy and his journey on T. It turned out he was an artist too and T hadn't changed any of his abilities to express himself and it didn't change the things that he liked before. The only thing in his personality that really changed was his attitude. He was more comfortable and less shy because of the positive changes.

Once again, I'm not on T yet, but from what I've observed and read... its not going to make you into a completely different person. You are still going to be you.

hey thanks. just a little nerves--I'm considering going on T in a little while (hopefully within 3 months--really thrilled!) and want to know all the effects (emotional & physical) to judge my readiness.

T seriously screwed my voice up although more my vocal range than anything else. I used to be able to start at about the higher end of Neil Diamond and one of the things I used to love was singing along with The Beautiful South, I could mimick Paul Heaton nearly bang on, have no chance since T. Can do the whole of Neil Diamond range (to be honest he even goes above what i can reach on Sweet Caroline). I do miss that aspect of what T has changed in me.

Aggression wise I wouldn't worry too much. I kept an extra eye on my behaviour during the first few months and my girl and kids knew I may be a bit different but they said if anything I have been calmer and less aggressive than before (more assertive if anything).

Sex drive will go up massively. Not much can be done about that. I have never heard different but it is not forever. It will die down and level after a while you'll get used to it and what's wrong with having a high sex drive anyway?

The baldness question. Hmmmm... you may or may not. Look at males in your family. No-one wants to go bald, not even cis-gendered males but it's part of being a male and that can only be a good thing. I have too much bloody hair and it's far too thick (I'm a ginge) and it's too strong. I want to thin to be honest.

The sweating issue was a MAJOR problem with me and I put it down to the T but I now think it was the fact I was binding that was causing most of my sweating problems. I never sweated much before T and I did sweat quite a lot more afterwards but I have noticed since my chest surgery and I have stopped binding my sweating has decreased 100%. Unfortunately binding around the chest area is very near the heart so it will cause a major rise is in body heat and will cause more sweating in the armpit area and overall body sweat.

Hope this helps mate
John

hey i know this may be a little off topic but didnt want to start up a whole new board just to ask. as far as passing without T i do pretty well all save for my hips--they give me away everytime no matter what clothes i wear or how i walk. i was wondering how much T may change this or if i will have to live with abnormally feminine hips for the rest of my life?

T changes the way fat is distributed into a more male shape. It will tend to straighten you out. I never had big hips or much of a waist before T so maybe someone who did may be able to help answer this better than me.