Something going on only 20 days in?

[RachelDee]

I only started applying these Estradot 100 patchs on May 2nd, and while I have not really noticed anything different, for the past 4-5 days im noticing something funky going on with my nipples lol. :o

Sometimes they are 'soft' but quite often then seem to be going quite hard and pointy and feel quite 'firm' behind, and mostly on one side. But sometimes both sides. I am also feeling what seems to be some tenderness. Its hard to explain, its not frightfully obvious but it feels more like they are brused right in the nipple area. And if i push/rub over it it feels achey/sore.

This is more noticable now when wearing certain tops because they kinda 'rub' over them and it feels a bit too sensative.

I don't mind this at all, its actually quite exciting :heehee: but I cant quite help but think im imaginig it or something. Because its been like only 20 days! Maybe its also my imagination but my chest seems to be getting a bit 'fuller' I had a quick look at some pre-photos my Dr encouraged em to take, and there didnt seem to be anything visually different that I could see, but was hard to get the same angels/lighting. However they def feel a bit more.... more lol.

Um yeah anyway just thought I would share that :)

[AllieSF]

From your avatar you appear to be quite young. So, they say that the hormones really work well for physical changes in younger people. You may be one of those lucky ones. Good luck.

[Stephenie S]

That just means something is going on. Relax and let it happen.

Stephie

[Inna]

I am on my 3rd month. Nipple/breast tenderness you describe is typical and the mild to extreme tenderness is expected. Mine is somewhere in between some days though approaching quite achy. Since the start 3 months ago I have grown 1 cup size and no longer can hide these beautiful elevations from the world. Even loose Tshirts do not cover without showing, maybe it is more than one size :). If your mom or sister have a tendency for large breasts chances are you will end up with good size. Get ready for some more aches and pains, after all, they are growing pains we get to experience once again, this time though, I am ecstatic to endure. Love babe, Inna

[RachelDee]

You may be one of those lucky ones. Good luck.

That would be really nice if true! :) and I prob look younger than I am in that avatar pic.


That just means something is going on. Relax and let it happen.

Stephie

Hehe I am relaxed, well no maybe not exactly XD I am kind of excited that something is happening :D but at the same time thinking, "Am I imagining it? since its not been long enough." So thought id make this thread so that people can tell me if what I am feeling is actually something relivent lol.

I told someone yesterday Alexia that it's not everyone gets to have two pubertys :) so its exciting. Since I didnt really enjoy my first one much lol. I am trying to eat as much as possible so that I can start putting on fat in the right places, not really sure what id call my mother/sister's breast size (I cannot say its something I look at lol) but they arent small. Not HUGE either though.

I know what you mean about being ecstatic. It does feel achy etc but its a good ache ;) hehe.

[Teri Jean]

This is the beginning of a truely wonderful experience. If the feeling becomes to intense you can get a cami that is softer and can be worn under the clothes that produce the irritation. In time you will notice softer skin, body hair gets softer and grows slower. Although there is no direct proven relationship of hormones and the change in emotions you may experience changes, for me it was intensified.

I wish you the best and have fun. Teri

[Hope]

This is how god punishes us. All those times we said we wanted boobs, all those times we said "if I had boobs..." for all those times we couldn't understand how it is that girls could possibly hate theirs... this is our penance. Growing them ourselves.

I am a bit ahead of you - 8 week tomorrow, and mine have been feeling the way you describe for about 3 weeks or so. There is definite development, but very little projection yet. My wife insists they are projecting some, I would like to believe her, but I am not sure I do.

Don't worry - this is normal, in fact this is what you are hoping for. When you picked up your prescription the pharmacist did tell you about possible breast tenderness didn't she?

[gerigirl]

I am trying to eat as much as possible so that I can start putting on fat in the right places,

I would strongly advise against this. The hormones alone will cause you to add weight. Some will go on in the "right" places but you may find that you gain in other areas as well. Women come in a variety of shapes. I'm guessing that you want it in the bust line and hips. Well a bigger bust also usually comes with some additional back and upper arm fat. Broader hips usually have more to do with the pelvis than added fat. Many women like lots of men carry extra weight around the middle. My belly moved "lower" on hormones, but it is no less of a struggle to control it. As your muscle mass diminishes the possibility of undesirable weight gain will also increase. Finally, all that estrogen running through your veins will make weight loss much more difficult. Many of us have struggled more with our weight while on hormones. Pre-op doses of estrogen can be pretty high and can pack on the weight just like pregnancy. If anything you should be eating less and exercising more during this time.

[Melody Moore]

Congratulations Rach - You've started to notice the first physical effects of hormones. It is
quite normal to feel this aching & soreness about 21 days (3 weeks) into hormone therapy.

As for eating to put on body fats in the female areas of your body (breasts & hips) I would advise against that as
well. A couple of personal trainers have told me that cardio exercises are the best thing for us because we need
to burn off fats collected in the usual areas where guys collect it. When your body stores new fats it puts it back
in the places where females would store fat. So a good balanced diet & cardio exercise work best for us apparently.

[joan47]

Where did you get the patches???

[Jorja]

Sore nipples, OMG get to the doctor quickly!!!!!!

As mentioned this is a normal part of starting to grow those lovley breast we all so love and admire. Congratulations Rachel. Wait a few more weeks if you think they are tender now. Have fun with it and enjoy.

[PortiaHoney]

I am trying to eat as much as possible so that I can start putting on fat in the right places,

There are 2 mistakes a lot of new girls make.

One is losing too much weight because they want a waist and to be slimmer.

The other is to go to the other extreme and overeat to try to get fat in the "right" places.

There is no guarantee of where the fat will go. My experience (and a lot of other girls I have spoken to) is that the distribution will be spread between where a natal female would get it and the typical places a male would put it on. I can assure you that a "beer belly" is not very becoming on a woman.

Another problem you may find further into your journey is that you can kiss your "eat what you like" days goodbye. As your metabolism becomes more in tune with a normal female metabolism you will find less food will make more fat. There is a good reason why all the weight charts have different weights for the same height males and females. And it's not because they want women to be skinny.

A healthy diet is the only answer to maintaining a good figure.

As far as the nipples go. Some days you will feel like your are developing in leaps and bounds. Others you will feel like nothing is happening. Just enjoy your body as it changes.

Good luck in your journey.

[sandra-leigh]

I've lost track of the exact time-scale now, but Yes, by 3 weeks I had nipple changes. If memory serves, by that time, on the left side the nipple portion itself had enlarged and was looking like it might become "button-like" (bigger around than the portion connecting to the body); the left nipple in particular was quite sensitive when that was going on. Then within a few day after that my nipples became smaller than what I started out with, as the mounds started to rise.

I started March 31. My left side has always been further ahead than my right side. For me I'm softest when I wake up, and I get firmer as the day goes on. Any particular new feature has a tendency to develop and then seem to go away or become undetectable again, and that cycle might repeat several times, but each time the feature being more pronounced.

Feeling sort of "bruised" around the nipple is a good description of what is happening for me. At the three week mark, I was mostly only aware of the sensation if my nipples pressed on something (or vice versus), but now it is noticeable a fair bit of time during the day. It isn't a sharp pain for me. My nipples have not (yet?) become "magnets" for accidentally running in to something.

[RachelDee]

I dont think they (my nipples) look any bigger. They just seem to be getting excited on their own a lot lol, and feel different. Achey/sore/over sensative at times. Interesting information though, im not sure my chest is "bigger" it just feels more ummmm fuller. Hope it continues! Quite a way to go yet, so better not be all I get lol.

I am just getting over excited though :$ I want to tell people that my nipples hurt, and isnt it great! Yes sorry im strange lol.


@Hope

Haha yeah, though I did sympathize that it must be awkward for girls to do certain things when they have natures cussions in the way =}.

@gerigirl & @Melody

Thanks :) its good its not my imagination. It's also good that something is happening dispite the lack of an anti-androgen (which concerned me and I posted about). Hope that means my T levels are being pushed down (fingers crossed!!!!).

And ah yeah, well what I meant mostly by that was that I was feeling more hungry and sort of "going with it".

I read lots of conflicting things on HRT and weight. I have always been naturally thin, and it VERY VERY hard for me to keep my weight up. Infact when I was feeling particularly down/depressed my weight seemed to be dropping weekly even though (to my knowledge) I had not changed my eating habbits. I am just starting to come back up now. I got weighed on one of those machines the day I got my hormones and I was 8st 11. But I have been down to 7st odd..... and I weighed that when I was 14.

Since a lot of what HRT does is fat redistrobution (so I read), and since I have seen some videos of "slim" looking people say that HRT didnt do much for them, I thought it best to try and get something (fat) for the hormones to work with if I can. But I will be careful I don't overdo it. Thanks for the extra info.

@joan47 -- The Dr I go to see about gender issues prescribed them. From what I can tell (reading the leaflet with them) they are just patches for menopause. But then I assume thats what all HRT is for (well originally for).

@jorja

Funny thing is, the leaflet I got with it tells me to stop taking them and to talk to my GP if I notice any changes in my breasts ;) does this count? lol. It also tells me something similar if I notice abnormal vaginal bleeding, but if I noticed that I would be concerned for other reasons lol.

@PortiaHoney

Yeah well I will becareful I do not over do it. It's ok though I am not going out of my way to eat like a mad person, I am just trying to eat *that bit more* when I feel hungry :) and thanks for the extra info. So does the redistrobution to "male places" happen forever (because of our genetics etc?) or does that lessen the longer you are on it?

Interesting you should say about "eat what you like" because I can pretty much do exactly that. I am naturally thin, and find it impossible to develop muscle (not that I have tried that much, maybe twice in my life and gave up on it).

Thanks for the good wishes too :)

[david]

LISTEN girl do not let yourself worry to much about your weight being on hormones will change your body shape and yes your chest will get a little sore at times but keep yourself in shape by going to the gym and let nature take its course and enjoy being female .It is a great feeling believe me . davinax

[Jorja]

LISTEN girl do not let yourself worry to much about your weight being on hormones will change your body shape and yes your chest will get a little sore at times but keep yourself in shape by going to the gym and let nature take its course and enjoy being female .It is a great feeling believe me . davinax

DO NOT do the typical male type workout!!! Male muscle is grainy and will bulk with little effort. Do more arobic type exercises you want to develop long lean muscles. Go to the thousands of women's exercise websites and find a workout right for you.

[BreenaDion]

Although there is no direct proven relationship of hormones and the change in emotions you may experience changes, for me it was intensified. Teri

Hormones basicly did NOTHING for me in the area of emontions. One I did come to realize was about 6-7 months in I fealt the calming effect of spironolactone doing its thing , lowering the testosterone to a new low, lower than woman for a brief period and almost to zero, my best time as a Transwoman on HRT. This was so joyful, to be at ease within myself, what I was looking for years ago searching for the right antidepression meds, but never found it. Guess in retrospect I did in HRT.

After 10-11 months on HRT i did start to reconize the different stages of my phycological period. This I have come to realize the onset an warn others of the impending doom LOL. I do know why hormones didnt play a starting role in my transitioning, and thats ok. At 19 month on HRT I have come to see my life change oh so much, so different I am, this just isnt me. AS Lady Gaga's New song " I Was Born This Way''. I was but wasnt now I am so different now it boggles the mind when I do an overview of my past life. I stop an Think, this is SOOOOOO!!!! messed up how the brain can change you, your Ideology, your processing way of thought, self awareness,your total sense of self, and the list goes on.

Just a couple weeks ago when I was walking Main st in Buzzard Bay getting my bike upgrade done and in plain view of every one I didnt even get a look or stair on my appearence. I was wearing boot cut jeans, white sneakers with light blue color, and long sleve tee shirt with you might say size C cup . As I looked down at my newly self created Twins, thinking to myself, this is F***ed UP. Mind you I was in the past at that moment reflecting on previous moments in time how much I dreamed and wanted Breasts. Some days I often wonder why I do this but its Breena and the ISM grinding it forward as I stand by and wonder and amazed at this whole process being undertaken before my own eyes.
Breena.

[Aprilrain]

Yay for sore nipples! just wait until you get on the anti-T. I love my little mosquito bites. just started Progesterone so hopefully that will help with the growth.