How long did it take to adjust to new hormone levels?

[krobinson103]

Its been 12 days since Orchiodectomy and the addition of Progesterone has helped, but I still feel a distinct lack of energy. The operation itself is almost healed apart from some nerve pains. Now it just seems to be my body adjusting to the different hormone balances. There is definitely a difference between blocked t and no t! How long does it generally take to get used to it?

[Dani]

I did not have an orchi.  I had regular penile inversion GCS.

For me, I felt no effects from the loss of Testosterone. I just felt so good the moment I woke from surgery. My gender dysphoria was gone and never returned.

My recovery was significantly more involved than yours. Even so, I cannot pinpoint any specific time where I felt a loss of energy.  Post op, I  am not as driven as I was before, but I really have come to embrace my life as it was meant to be. Everything seems to be just really good right now.

[TheRitz]

Its going to hit everyone differently, but things still havn't fully returned to harmony.  The lack of both testosterone and estrogen(if you had to stop taking it) is not a very pleasant experience.  Especially if your testosterone levels start to climb as your body compensates for lack of both hormones by using other glands in your body.  Remember if you were taking Spirol diligently before your T levels were most likely ALREADY within normal female range so stopping hormones all together prior to surgery throws you off.  Imbalances cause a lack of energy and other nasty effects.

Once your E levels start returning to normal and any extra production of T dies off you should start to feel better.  Assuming best case scenario i'd say a month or maybe longer.  Depending on where your hormone balance ends up going to with your current med usages. 

Of course the dysphoria which is mostly a mind construct starts to get better in some not because of the lack of T production, but because the mere knowing your body will never create the hormone the way it used to.  In the case of GRS in particular it is also a finality of a journey.  But even there your hormones are imbalanced, some people just take the imbalance in stride and aren't as affected by its nasties.  For me i'd say it is mild, but there.

[Linde]

The only initial effect I felt was a loss of energy.  Once my endo doubled the amount of estrogen that went away.  After about 3 to 4 weeks, I felt a very strong surge of femininity.  This was very strong and made me want to ditch all my pants and wear skirts/dresses only.  This is still going on, it might be a psychological thing, but I feel more female than I ever felt before!
Maybe not having any real amounts of T inside me might be the cause for this?

I never was asked to stop estrogen prior to my surgery, my endo doubled my dose about a week after surgery to make up for the missing T and get me onto a "normal" female level.

[CynthiaAnn]

Hello,

  I had GCS in 2016 and I had stopped my HRT regime several weeks prior to the operation. My hormone bliss returned shortly after the Dr cleared me to take my first dose of Estradiol again. The stopping of my "spironolactone" was more  pronounced and that took several months to adjust to. I was very sodium intolerant during this time and really had to watch my diet, and I believe this medicine was hard on my kidneys. By 3 months post OP was fine again.

Good luck to you

Cynthia -