Hi...
I have been in gender therapy for six months now, and I am struggling with a many things (what a shock, huh?).  I have come out to only three people, a couple of friends and my Mother.  They are really hoping that I "get over" this and have said many helpful things to me, such as "You know, nobody will date you if you transition" and "You were so pretty when you were a girl" (yep, that's Mom).  I have spent these months struggling to discover if just wearing men's clothing 24/7 and wearing my hair like a man's (man sideburns, not pointy girl ones) will be enough to satisfy my manly interior.  I am still feeling like it isn't enough.  Last night, I dreamed that I got my first shot of T.  Mind you, I am not one to usually place a lot of importance on dreams, much in the way I place no stock in horoscopes or tarot cards.  But when I woke up, I felt sorrowful that it was just a dream.  Part of my struggle with hormones is that I have heard that Testosterone can cause liver damage.  I have tried to conduct some online research but much of what I read is secondhand stuff handed off by people on other sites, and I am very leery of the scientific validity of it.  One person wrote and stated that only T taken orally causes liver damage, that intramuscular injections do not.  Also, heart disease runs in my Dad's side of the family, and I worry that testosterone could send me to an earlier grave...although my Dad lived to be eighty-one (I am 44).  The liver damage is more concerning to me.  If any of you know of reliable information concerning hormones, please reply...

Check out the WIKI pages here.  In the medical section click on HRT.

My endo and my GP both told me that the older, oral forms of T did cause liver damage. The injectable does not. In any event, if you are a properly supervised regimen, the warning signs would show up long before any serious damage.

As far as heart disease, you acquire a male probability for it. So, if it runs in your family, you could have an increased risk. You will decrease your risk of various "female" (statistically speaking) diseases, like thrombosis.

Here's an article about health risks:

http://www.mmaonline.net/publications/MNMed2003/July/Feldman.html

Dennis

Quote from: Dennis on February 13, 2006, 09:34:29 AM
My endo and my GP both told me that the older, oral forms of T did cause liver damage. The injectable does not. In any event, if you are a properly supervised regimen, the warning signs would show up long before any serious damage.

It's supposed to be the same way with oral estrogen.  However, by dissolving it under the tongue, the majority passes right into your bloodstream and bypasses the liver.

Melissa

Thanks, everybody!   

Liver damage is mostly a problem if you're taking testosterone orally. If you take care of your liver, and don't drink until you're sh*tfaced, you should be alright.

Yeah, IM T is no big deal on the liver, unless you have something like Hep C or chronic liver disease.  Even so, you can still start/continue testosterone therapy, just with the knowledge that your other medical conditions may escalate at a faster rate.

You are at no more risk for anything than a bio male.  The one gray area is the long term effects of testosterone on the ovaries possibly raising the risk profile for ovarian cancer which is why some FTM's choose to have them removed after they have been on T for a while.  But there is no actual scientifc proof at the moment that being on T without undergoing an oopherectomy raises your risk of ovarian cancer.

Once you are hormonally male you lower your risks of diseases females have a higher risk profile for and raise your risk of diseases that guys have a higher risk profile for like heart attack, stroke etc...
This is why they advise you to give up smoking before commencing Testosterone Replacement therapy because smoking can contribute to heart disease.