Hormone Therapy Question and Answer

[CharleneT]

Regarding Breast Growth, I have heard some to take up to 12 months and others up to 3 months. Some girls are satisfied having a or b cups and do not get the augmentation. I say whatever fits the form of your body.

Not sure where you are hearing some of this stuff . . . but let's start with this one. Absolutely not going to be having significant breast growth in 3 months. 12 months would be a short time for such. Hormones, regardless of dose, cannot make your breasts grow any faster than they would in the average natal female. So, full breast growth for a MTF TS will take 2-5 years. That is a little shorter than a natal female because in TS's on hormones, the growth cycle quits a bit early.

I also believe that Melissa's post is quite wonderful and worth a second read.

[Tamera]

I do like Melissa's post.
It would be nice to do a survey on this site for those taking hormones and see what each ones' development was. Maybe kinda like do our own case study since no one else has. Everyone knows of other girls who have had different results. I do believe that each of us is telling what we know and that it is true.

One thing we have not touched on yet is attraction to the male gender. I heard that some (not all) after being on hormones either find themselves attracted to men or their desire is pretty much out the window. I also know of one TG who is on hormones that has a relationship with a GG female.

[Tamera]

Come to think of it..... Lets do our own survey.... I have not taken hormones yet but I do want to learn more before I commit.

All girls taking hormones I want to hear the changes that you have noticed physically and emotionally and an approximate time period that these changes took place. This will be from your personal experience only, others that you know or have talked to are not included in this for it is heresay and not from them personally. This will be our personal survey, if you will.

[Melody Moore]

What do you mean "it's not true"'? Of course it's true. I'm not lying to you. Read it again. I said, "ALMOST every post op transwoman I know or know of eventually gets BA."

I didn't say ALL. And I was referring to, of course, the ones that I knew or knew of. You Aussies may be an entirely different breed, although I do know a couple down there.

Its just the way you comment comes across, it's like your almost saying that all trans-women get Breast Augmentation which isn't true because many like myself will consider a lot of the other negative factors with Breast Augmentation such as having to have them replaced ever 10 years or so and the cost, inconvenience & pain involved often decide against it.

Now I happen to know a bunch of transwomen. I've been around this comunity a while. You may know all four TG women who are the exceptions to this rule. And one of them is also your housemate. But these results that you report are just not typical. "Significant changes in hips and thighs" from hormone therapy alone just doesn't happen except in fantasy stories. Could it happen? Of course it could. But for you to know four TG women who have received large breasts and significant hip and thigh development from taking hormone therapy alone is interesting. How many other TG women do you know?

Actually Stephanie I do know a lot more as well in both my local community but one had her SRS way back in 1978 and there is no way you could never tell she once was a male. There are several others who are also in the earlier stages of development. I also now many others through the Australian Transsexual Support Network and through other international sites like this one.

And I am sure that you know that the larger hip width enjoyed by most (see that word "most"?) natal women comes from a wider pelvic development to enable easier childbirth in the female. Of course you do. It's hard to mimic that with fat. Much easier to mimic it with padding.

I am fully aware of this Stephanie, however some transsexuals (myself included) who do have naturally wider hips due to androgyny which from my understanding is caused by a number of factors, chromosomes, natural hormones & genetics that is often found in those the transsexual community.

Personally this was something that I use to feel really embarrassed about as a teenager & young adult because I use to get teased & bullied a lot about it. So I hid my female hip ratio arms & shoulders by packing on more weight around my mid-section and by working out a lot in the gym & through martial arts to build up these areas of my upper torso. However now that I am rapidly losing weight & muscle tone my female hip ratio is becoming much more apparent again and to a point that even my doctors have noticed it. But you are right about bone structure - if it didn't develop naturally, then it certainly wont ever change though taking hormones however fat deposits will be relocated to bring out a more feminine form.

As was said, milage may vary. In some respects I have been very lucky in two years(pretty good re-growth and thickening on head

I think it all depends on the type of baldness that affects you. Again there could be hereditary genetic factors behind why hormones won't cure baldness. I was receding heavily over the past 7 years because of steroids I was taking for medical reasons & I started to believe I was doomed to permanent baldness. It even looks like in my photos before I started transitioning that I had no hair whatsoever in the front of my head & I use to hide this by wearing baseball type caps all the time which also contributed to my hair loss problem.

What was happening there I think was that my hair had become very thin & fragile from the steroids that it was breaking off. However hair follicles must have always been there because since I stopped taking the steroids & started taking hormones my hair is also thickening again & starting to also come back again. The regrowth of my hair in just over 2 months of being on hormones is already significantly noticeable. So it will be very interesting to see how the state of my hair is after 12 months to 2 years of HRT.

Come to think of it..... Lets do our own survey.... I have not taken hormones yet but I do want to learn more before I commit.

All girls taking hormones I want to hear the changes that you have noticed physically and emotionally and an approximate time period that these changes took place. This will be from your personal experience only, others that you know or have talked to are not included in this for it is heresay and not from them personally. This will be our personal survey, if you will.

While I personally think your idea is a good idea, I think it will be impossible to gauge this accurately through our own survey without proper scientific data because there are far too many variables with regards to age, chromosomes, natural hormones & genetics & intersexuality which I believe are the biggest factors that affect us in our transitioning.

[CharleneT]

Come to think of it..... Lets do our own survey.... I have not taken hormones yet but I do want to learn more before I commit.

All girls taking hormones I want to hear the changes that you have noticed physically and emotionally and an approximate time period that these changes took place. This will be from your personal experience only, others that you know or have talked to are not included in this for it is heresay and not from them personally. This will be our personal survey, if you will.

ahem ... there are both FTM and MTF transexuals here, so it isn't just "you girls". I think if you want to know what might happen if you started to take hormones, you should talk to your doctor(s) about it.

[Tamera]

Charlene,
You are right there is also FtoM here. I am sorry for leaving you out. This conversation would be good to get some response from them as well. I know of 3 FtoM's that are taking hormones and they look just like a "genetic male". So if any FtoM's want to respond go ahead for this is a "Hormone Thread" aso all imput is welcome.

Once agains sorry for leaving the FtoM's out. As for the survey it is only to give us an idea of the affects of hormones on each individual and I think any survey is better than no survey.

As for baldness. I heard once the hair follicle is dead it won't grow back. Rogaine is suppose to help lively up the follicle but it too won't help a dead follicle.

[Melody Moore]

As for baldness. I heard once the hair follicle is dead it won't grow back. Rogaine is suppose to help lively up the follicle but it too won't help a dead follicle.

There is obviously different types of baldness and I did mention this in my last post. Its now obvious that my hair follicles are not dead or I wouldnt be seeing any regrowth at all. Before I was put on steroids I had very thick strands of hair and no hair loss, so obviously my hair STRANDS themselves became fine & brittle and therefore broke off very easily - I was also suffering from a very low immune system at the time as well when I was being treated with steroids which is another thing that obviously contributes to hair loss - see: http://www.quickhairlosstreatment.co...hair-loss.html

Causes of Frontal and Temple Hair Loss:
Hormonal fluctuation, weak immune system and nutrition deficiency are leading causes of frontal and temple hair loss. Androgen is the male sex hormone produced by prostate glands which is later converted into DHT. Normal amount of DHT is necessary but when is it exceeds the limit, it destroys hair follicles. Hair follicles are very susceptible to DHT concentration in your blood.

Weak immune system is another contributing factor. Weak immune system responds badly to even useful substances invading your body by producing antibodies. These antibodies cause to destroy hair follicles.

Lack of nutritious substances such as vitamins and zinc can cause server hair loss. Zinc is essential for follicular health and healthy hair growth.
Vitamin E is an essential vitamin for follicular growth and health. It relaxes the tiny blood capillaries ensuring rich supply of blood and oxygen towards hair follicles.

Conclusion:
According to American Council of Hair Loss, nearly 2 out of 3 persons experience hair loss and most of them begin with frontal hair loss and thinning. Usually it is considered as a symptom of aging, but both teenagers and adults can experience frontal hair loss. It is totally curable if treated in its initial stages, as otherwise, it will be difficult. Do use herbal hair tonics and include them in your daily routine, do so, will essentially reduces the risk of hair loss and enhances the follicular health.

Note it does say it is curable if treated in the initial stages & in later stages treating it is difficult but it does not state anywhere that it's not untreatable. I am no longer taking steroids my hair is returning to a much healthier state & going by the fact that others who have slight baldness have reported regrowth then its entirely possible that the hormones are also helping my hair strands to become thicker & stronger helping regrowth.

I have also been to a transsexual social group meeting today and many of the issues I have been discussing lately on this forum I also brought up to the group today and one such discussion was about this topic. One of the girls had a hair loss issue as well and she told me about some medications that will also help regrowth in my situation, so this is something Im going to be talking to my doctor about next week.

Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_of_baldness

[Tamera]

Thanx for the clarification Melody. I also noticed some GG's haveing hair loss as well expecially in their later years.

[Melody Moore]

I also noticed some GG's haveing hair loss as well expecially in their later years.

Thyroidism is one of the most common medical conditions to cause hair loss for women especially in younger Premenopausal women, again the hair becomes fine & brittle and breaks off easily. But also as we age, our bodies produce less or our natural sex hormones hence the reason why older men start get 'man boobs' and women start growing more facial hair so this could also be a reason why women start to suffer hair loss post-menopause. The Androcur (Testosterone Inhibitor) I take is also used to treat hirsutism & female androgenization in Postmenopausal and hysterectomised women I do believe & its also reported to also help hair loss in males as well. The most common side affect of Androcur I have been told is depression but so far I havent been affected at all.

[Tamera]

MelodyN,
I see you are from Australia. How is the Transgender community treated their? Is is easy to find a job being Transgendered? What about laws to help protect against discrimination? Also anything else you can offer living as a TG in Australia.

[Melody Moore]

MelodyN,
I see you are from Australia. How is the Transgender community treated their? Is is easy to find a job being Transgendered? What about laws to help protect against discrimination? Also anything else you can offer living as a TG in Australia.

I am very fortunate to be living in one of the best places in Australia & most likely the entire world for transitioning from what I now understand - our local sexual health clinic is a one stop shop we have several endocrinologist & psychologists and our services are free and it seems to be about the only place in Australia that does all of this. I also get subsidised HRT. I personally believe my local services is one of the best models that other sexual health/gender centres should follow. The only thing I cant get done locally is SRS and we still have to go to Thailand if we want access to the best surgeons. There is a gender clinic ran by the Monash University that only uses the penile inversion method, but I do believe this is also under review with the view of improving services within Australia.

As for discrimination, we have some of the best Anti-discrimination laws of any nation in the world - both State & Federal - all state laws are governed & can also be overridden by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

There is a public forum about to take place in Sydney & Melbourne which I have been invited to contribute my personal data to with the aim of helping to improve services as well as the laws for transgendered people in Australia. So our government seems to care about such issues whereas I have noticed that governments in other nations dont give a damn because the transgender community is such a minority in society.

As for finding work, that Im not to sure about yet because I have been going through the process of getting all my legal documentation changed over to reflect my new name & gender identity, but employers cannot discriminate - my housemate transitioned in her job without any problems.

[Tamera]

Sure sounds better than here in the U.S. thats for sure. It seems unless you pretty much look like the girl you are not going to get the job even if you have the qualifications. Many TG's here have their own buisnesses that way they are their own Equal Opportunity Employer. There are some companies that are TG friendly and they are on HRC's website. Also we have companies that claim to be an Equal Opportunity Employer but its just words they "don't live by". As for the cost of HRT you have us beaten their as well. We pay for the cost of the doctor and our prescriptions. I know many who just get their drugs over the internet without seeing a doctor because of the cost.
Also even thought many restaurants for instance will let us use the bathroom that we are perceived that does not mean that a person can't call the ploice and site us for disturbing the peace. It seems that if the police can't site you for one thing there is always something else they can get you for.

[CharleneT]

The price of HRT drugs does vary, wildly, around the USA. But if you are careful and have prescriptions, you can get by with around $10/month.

As for restaurants, or other businesses, don't make waves and they'll very likely treat you well - regardless of how well you blend in or whether TG folks are a protected class in that state. Here, the same advice as is given in the CD's main forum applies: they are much more interested in your wallet than your private life.

[Karen564]

Sorry,

All I can say here is, ....Wow...this has been very enlightening..

All the answers you seek ARE here & have been covered many many times over...you just have to dig for them...unless the search engine here is disabled..