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RachelDee
11-03-2010, 08:30 PM
Is it possible that the desire to dress or become a member of the opposite sex can be down to some sort of hormone imbalance?

I was thinking to myself that, my body seems to be very unmasculine really. I mean beside the obvious, I do have facial hair & body hair for e.g - but its not complete. Chin, upperlip and just along the jar line. It's taken ages for it to get that far, and seems to have pretty much stayed the same now (assuming thats all i get lol). Body hair is probably normal (legs/arms etc) but i dont get it anywhere other than those places (so no chest hair, back hair or other things that people dont want anyway).

I'm also quite thin, always found it next to impossible to increase/create any kind of muscle mass in the past, and i think that body shape my umm hips/thighs seem to get the fat (not that im terribly fat, im very unfat!) not my tummy/arms etc. I read that HRT in MtF actually does cause fat to gain in those places and not in others.

Maybe im being :silly: here, but i was thinking that i started taking Finasteride last year to help with another issue (its propecia, and which has worked perfectly btw). But read recently that its actually taken by people who wish to stop the effect of male hormones when transitioning, normally they take it with another type of hormone therapy (i think?) and in a higher dosage im sure.

Could this drop (over time since it takes time to build up in effectiveness) of the stronger male hormone in my system have caused the my gender issues to resurface for me? :sad: If there was some sort of imbalance to start with that i managed to get under control/out of out my mind 5 years ago, could taking this (its been about a year now) have pushed that balance out of whack again and made the issues harder to surpress?

Then again, i did have blood tests done once (to check for iron levels etc) so they would surley have picked up on any irregularities :doh: so there goes that theory i guess.

Karen564
11-03-2010, 08:47 PM
Chances are that your Testosterone levels are lower now after being on the finasteride for a year....which I am assuming was prescribed to you for an enlarged prostrate but also works very well for stopping and or reversing male pattern baldness..
One of the side effects is breast tenderness & some growth.
So yes, you are most likely having a hormone imbalance, which can be considered a good thing for some...lol

Barbara Dugan
11-03-2010, 08:56 PM
I don't think an hormonal imbalance would make you dress or want to become a member from the opposite sex by itself.
But hormones are a powerful stuff that can play a big factor if you already have gender issues. I had an hormonal imbalance with very low levels of Testosterone and tried to balance it by taking testosterone. I really feel like never before in my life but just for a very short time. Testosterone really made me feel more confused physically and emotionally it was just like a roller coaster, It made me do and said things that I never did before and in the end I had to stop it definitely not for me. I just realized that all my life I had lived with just a small amount of it.

RachelDee
11-03-2010, 09:07 PM
Thanks for the replies, oh and the Finasteride was not for prostate btw :) was just for umm.. yeah what you said, MPB. Most men in our family have it so when i started going a little thin i started taking the Propecia (Fin) and its worked fine.

I guess what im wondering is if i had some sort of imbalance to start with, and if this is what has caused the issues to resurface for me after being on Finasteride for a while. Yes right now, im finding the idea of it blocking male hormones quite a positive side effect, though at the moment im also kind of confused about things. Maybe im just looking for an explination to something that does not really have one though.

I recall reading how hormones (either type) are given to TS's to help ease anxiety and to see if they respond in a positive way to them. Apparently in most, taking hormones of the sex they think they should be causes a state of well-ness and calmness within a short space of time. Or they can cause anxiety and bad feels which i guess is what you had.

Karen564
11-03-2010, 09:14 PM
Estrogen but we also take anti-androgens (testosterone blockers) & other things...

Steph.TS
11-03-2010, 09:50 PM
I have a big thick full Beard, but very little chest hair, I'm not aggressive like my male co-workers or friends. very gentle, and while I will stand up for what I believe, I'm also quite submissive. is it possible I have lower testoterone? sure I'll accept it, but if my doctor told me I'd just need to take some male hormones and I'd be normal, I wouldn't want it. I honestly find myself wishing I was a woman, I wish so hard I was a GG, saving up is going to be hard, I don't know how I can afford seeing a gender therapist, taking hormones, getting SRS, and FFS, it's quite a strain, then of course my family doesn't like this part of me either. but still with all of that I want to be a woman.

I honestly don't think lower testosterone levels would create such a strong desire to change genders...

Melody Moore
11-04-2010, 12:17 AM
I believe hormones do play a part in our desires to become members of the opposite sex but these are hormones that affect our bodies and our psyche during the first 8 to 9 weeks of gestation while we are developing in our mother's wombs that a group of researchers are now believing can affect gender & sexual orientation. There is lots of research materials on this subject that can be found online published by Dr Dick f. Swaab (http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Dr+Dick+f.+Swaab). I know that name sounds funny, but I am being very serious here. Dr Swaab's research papers make for some very interesting reading so check it out if you are interested.

sandra-leigh
11-04-2010, 01:04 AM
Difficult to say. There is a distinct phenomena of "secondary transsexualism", of males in their mid 40's to early 60's realizing they are CD / TG / TS even though they had previously considered themselves male. This has been associated with "andropause", the male equivalent of menopause; andropause often has a lowering of testosterone and a reduced testosterone absorption rate. The male body always has the capacity to produce estrogen, as estrogen is one fairly simple chemical conversion away from testostrone, but normally enough of the testostrone binds into the body that there is not a significant amount of estrogen left. With a lowered absorption rate for the testostrone, the testostrone sticks around long enough to be converted to estrogen, and thus although the absolute testostrone production levels (raw material available to be converted) go down, relative estrogen levels can climb. It is because of this biological process that people who study gynecomastia (male breast growth) have placed a lower bound of 25% prevalence of gynecomastia in males (and at least one study suggests the correct figure should be closer to 60%)

Thus, a change in hormone balance is known to be associated with TG/TS in later life. Medicine does not say "causes", though, as there appear to be multiple routes to later onset TG/TS, and it has not been proven that the hormone change is responsible for this TG/TS onset or if there is some other cause that drives both together.

I did not realize I was a cross-dresser until I was 43, which is pretty much the beginning of the andropause range (but my testostrone level seems not to have been particularly high to begin with.) I can, though, in retrospect, trace "compulsion" to CD behaviour to a minimum of 2 years before that, and trace actual CD behaviour to some years before that, late 30's at latest -- an age by which andropause would not have started yet in normal individuals. And that's a problem with the theory of CD/TG/TS being triggered by the onset andropause in the mid-40's or later: full-blown CD behaviour often already appears by the time of the onset of andropause, and clearly that behaviour must have had time to develop.

In my particular medical and social history, facts can be pointed to over the decades that suggest that there was "something" there from at latest age 6, and that internal biochemical stress about that "something" built up until it lead to fairly serious problems. Andropause might be a "red herring" in my particular case as to fundamental causation. On the other hand, how my situation evolved since then (from CD to TG to now seriously checking out HRT but not considering myself TS) was undoubtedly influenced by andropause and an internal decrease in testostrone and increase in estrogen. There is a difference between "Okay, so I've become TG" vs what I want to do about that fact, and I feel that that "what I want to do" has been influenced by hormones and not just by "pure logic" or by "an accumulation of noticing" the world from a TG perspective and making purely rational decisions based upon that. Two years ago, the prospect of HRT scared me quite a bit; now it has become attractive, especially so after a rather unusual hormone fluctuation earlier this year for a few months that had HRT-like effects.

In summary, hormone changes have something to do with the process, and with one's mental acceptance of it, but there are "late onset" people like me whose history add considerable doubt to the idea that hormone changes are responsible for the process starting up in the first place.

Areyan
11-04-2010, 01:26 AM
if having PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) - which raises natural testosterone levels in natal females makes me trans then i don't want to cure it. i like being this way! :devil:

noeleena
11-04-2010, 06:02 AM
Hi.
Of cause as i say quite often age does have a bearing . & depending if your intersex & then hormones can change back & forth. over time for some,
Males can & do have lower t level s again over time they can change as a male gets older they do go down like in a womans the e can over ride p hence hormonal imbalance.

For you youd need to do blood tests to find out & then youd know, all id say is & not knowing the back ground it would be from birth . well concepstion or close to when your body starts its working as to how you will be & then all the details from a blue print thats normaly set in your body, & theres two many things that can go wrong ,
check in with a endo & have a talk with him / her , of cause theres two much detail in a ? like this to discuss here & each person is different ,

you did say youv had ...some ...blood tests .no that would not cover any others , only those that your Dr has stated on the form so no they would not pick up any thing else. & how many blood tests have you had say for us every 3 months for a year ,, or just the one one test does not give enough detail . you need more ,if you understand the tests then youll know whats going on , after youv been on meds for a good few years & done lots of tests you get to know. up to 14 ,

...noeleena...

RachelDee
11-04-2010, 02:16 PM
Thanks again for all the replies.


I'm not aggressive like my male co-workers or friends. very gentle, and while I will stand up for what I believe, I'm also quite submissive.

I think i could very well describe myself as this, and probably why i feel very uncomfortable around other people. Because i don't really seem to 'fit in' with anyone.


I honestly don't think lower testosterone levels would create such a strong desire to change genders...

Hmm well unless im mistaken (and thats possible) there are small natural amounts of female hormones in male bodies? so when the antagonistic male hormone (testosterone) is lower i think it has more 'sway' with your body. Which i assume would also have some affect on your thinking?

I have not had a blood test done for a great many many years noeleena, has not been any need. Last year was the first one i remeber this side of childhood, and that was just to check for iron levels.

Perhaps i should consider seeing the GP about my concerns, but im not sure i wish to bring up the whole GID thing again unless im totally sure. I do wish i could talk to someone about it in an official capasity though (like a councillor or something that could help talk me though it and help me sort my thoughts).

noeleena
11-05-2010, 04:27 AM
Hi. Rachel.

With anything of this nature it can be of benifit to have some one who does understand what we talk about . i know it has helped so many over the years, .

I all so see your point of not having to deal with this with your Dr . tho i would susjest a woman would understand far better , nether the less some males are more than happy to talk .

T in women oh yes for most the levels are about nmol 125 give or take.. mine is between nmol 0 . 9 to 125 .

now some women it goes up as they age .
males are about nmol 33 give or take thats seen in some if you like some aggressive just remember thats not the only hormone in the body as you study more you can get bogged down so ill not take it any further, than this , this is just a quick over look , & theres alot of factors that take place as well.

if i were you id just go as you see fit if you like dressing enjoy that you are who you are ,
The other detail have those blood tests at least youll have peace of mind do go & see a endo they wont be bothered they deal with this all the time , any way do let us know how you get on, drop us a email if you need more info,

all the best.

...noeleena...