For those of you who have been on T for awhile now, I'm wondering when your voice started to change and how long it took for your voice to stabilize and sound fully male. Oh, and if you can let me know whether you were on a low, moderate, or high dose of testosterone, that might help, too.

I know there's a lot of variation in people's experiences, but I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of how it is for a lot of guys.

1 month after T. Cant tell u the dose bro but I shoot T 2x/month

It started changing about after one month, was squeeky and gave me a sore throught and
had to keep coughing to stabalise. However Ive been on T about 7/8 months now and my
voice is deep and has stabalised and is much better and VERY passable now.
A the beginning I was shooting twice a month.

Within the first few weeks.

I don't know what dose I'm on in relation to whether it's high or low.  I was told it's the normal dose for biomales with hypogonadism.

Jay

May not have been me who asked but this is great news to me  I had no idea the voice change would come that quickly

My endo started low and gradually increased every three months, so the dose I was on to start had little effect, except that it did start my voice change. That started probably within a month or so. It stabilized for speaking probably six months or so, but took another year for all of my singing range to stabilize, and another year beyond that for my singing range to include higher notes without cracking.

Dennis

My first drop was 3 days after my first shot, on the standard dose you'll find elsewhere on The Internets.  It took about six weeks for my voice to be undenyable boy.

Quote from: Mister on November 28, 2008, 05:20:02 PM
My first drop was 3 days after my first shot, on the standard dose you'll find elsewhere on The Internets.  It took about six weeks for my voice to be undenyable boy.

Dang, that's fast. I guess you're one of the lucky ones. I'll keep my fingers crossed for myself.

I had another question in the HRT thread, but nobody is replying yet, so I'll repeat it here, in the hopes of hitting more people.

What did you have to do, medically, before your first T shot? Did you just go to the endo for a blood panel, then get T on the next visit? Or did you have to line up other medical stuff like a physical and a GYN visit and all of that? 'Cause if I have to do all of that other stuff, I need to start scheduling those visits soon.

I'm getting really impatient to start T, and I don't want any unforeseen delays.

Went to GP, asked for T.  Was referred to therapist.  Had one session with therapist.  Had phone call from GP saying to go get bloodwork at local hospital.  Had blood sucked.  Met with GP 5 days later for first shot.

Total time from initial visit w/ GP to T- 17 days.

and RE: voice- I was already down 1 ovary pre-T due to an enormous ovarian cyst.

Quote from: Mister on November 28, 2008, 08:38:19 PM
Went to GP, asked for T.  Was referred to therapist.  Had one session with therapist.  Had phone call from GP saying to go get bloodwork at local hospital.  Had blood sucked.  Met with GP 5 days later for first shot.

Total time from initial visit w/ GP to T- 17 days.

woah that's really fast, I thought there were certain timelines that had to be adhered to?

Quote from: Dawni on November 28, 2008, 09:06:29 PM
woah that's really fast, I thought there were certain timelines that had to be adhered to?

That IS very fast, but therapists can use their discretion. The three-month minimum in the SOC is a guideline, not an edict.

I can't really tell what the GP's role was in Mister's diagnosis, though. Mister, care to comment? Was it the therapist who made the call, or the GP? Or was it a joint venture?

I didn't get testosterone based on the SOC, I got it on an informed consent model.  My doctor was there to evaluate my health and prescribe my testosterone.  My therapist played the role of making sure I understood what I was doing, that my reasons were valid and that I was mentally sound. 


There's a few different ways of getting on T, though not all providers will use them.  The main three are-

Informed consent-  You're an adult.  You want it.  You're not crazy.  You sign something saying you won't sue people.

Standards of Care- What everyone on this forum seems to think you need to do.  Therapy for a minimum of three months.  RLE.

Harm Reduction-  You've been getting hormones off the street or internet, so you may as well be getting them prescribed legally and under medical supervision.  HR can also apply to those with mental health issues that they (and their provider) believe to be transition-related.

Quote from: Mister on November 28, 2008, 09:34:26 PM
Standards of Care- What everyone on this forum seems to think you need to do.  Therapy for a minimum of three months.  RLE.

I can't speak for anyone else on this forum, but I won't be doing RLE before T, and I definitely needed the therapy because I had/have a lot of, erm, issues to work through. But I sure as heck don't advocate that everyone ELSE go that route. I suspect that a lot of guys don't need to. Ya gotta do what's right for you, if you have that opportunity.

Quote from: Arch on November 28, 2008, 09:43:31 PM

Quote from: Mister on November 28, 2008, 09:34:26 PM
Standards of Care- What everyone on this forum seems to think you need to do.  Therapy for a minimum of three months.  RLE.

I can't speak for anyone else on this forum, but I won't be doing RLE before T, and I definitely needed the therapy because I had/have a lot of, erm, issues to work through. But I sure as heck don't advocate that everyone ELSE go that route. I suspect that a lot of guys don't need to. Ya gotta do what's right for you, if you have that opportunity.

Uh huh.  SOC's a pretty antiquated system, if you ask me.  While I passed quite well before T, there's no way I could've done it for a year.  Once I knew what I wanted, I did it.  No waffling, no foot-dragging.  I was off and running.  My transition was complete in less than a year- self-identifying, coming out, getting on testosterone, top surgery, hysterectomy, name & gender change...  all done.

So any adult can go see a GP and just ask for T without going through all the RLE and everything?

I don't feel like I need therapy and I honestly can't see anything I would change about myself during RLE, it all seems so pointless.

Quote from: Dawni on November 28, 2008, 10:15:29 PM
So any adult can go see a GP and just ask for T without going through all the RLE and everything?

I don't feel like I need therapy and I honestly can't see anything I would change about myself during RLE, it all seems so pointless.

Yes.  Not every doctor will necessarily feel comfortable enough with your situation to be cool, but you do not need to adhere to the standards of care to get testosterone. 

Quote from: Dawni on November 28, 2008, 10:15:29 PM
So any adult can go see a GP and just ask for T without going through all the RLE and everything?

I don't feel like I need therapy and I honestly can't see anything I would change about myself during RLE, it all seems so pointless.

According to the standards of care, RLE is not required for FtM's because it's so difficult to pass without T. However, most physicians will require a psych or counsellor assessment to make sure they're doing the right thing. It helps that the regret rate is extremely low for FtM's and that those who do stop taking T generally can live with the permanent effects.

I never did any RLE before T, in fact I didn't even start presenting as male until six months into T, although I did have a few questions asked of me before that. I just wanted to wait till after chest surgery before I did the fence - hop.

Dennis

I did, however, go to six therapy sessions just to make sure I did have my head on straight.

Quote from: Dennis on November 29, 2008, 01:36:00 AM
I did, however, go to six therapy sessions just to make sure I did have my head on straight.

Only six! I always knew you were an extremely level-headed guy.

Unlike me...