How Much Shrinkage?

[Joan_CD]

Hi All,

I started HRT a little over 3 months ago on a very low starter dose of estrogen. I just now got it upped and will start a T blocker in a month.

For those of you on HRT, can you tell how much shrinkage of the testes and penis you have experienced and over what timeframe? I am just trying to gauge approximate timeframes of when things might happen. As always, I know each person is different and again, this is only for approximation of what I might expect and in what timeframe. I had a nurse friend that works in a urology office tell me that seniors with prostate cancer that they put on estrogen shrink so much that at times it looks like a largish clitoris!

Thanks!

[KristinSkye]

I haven't started HRT (yet), but I'm extremely curious as to the answer to your question Joan. I hope the answer is "a lot"..lol..

[renee k]

Hi Joan,

I've been on HRT since Febuary this year. Yes the boys do get smaller but my results haven't been what your nurse friend has described. The things that amaze me are the softening of the skin and the male body hair disappearing. Not to mention the breast growth, and the body fat redestribution. The big mental thing to is I'm more laid back if you will to the world around me.

Renee

[EmilyMI]

I have been on HRT for about a year and a half and even though I have not had some of the body changes that some other girls have received so far (i.e. softer skin, redistribution of fat, ect...) I have noticed a significant shrinkage in that area (yay!!!), so yes you will notice some changes as the more you are on HRT, of course the results differ for each individual.

-Emily

[arbon]

Hi All,


For those of you on HRT, can you tell how much shrinkage of the testes and penis you have experienced and over what timeframe?



in a week it will be one year hrt. Testes, well there is not much left of them really. It has been kind of a slow but consistent shrinkage, but it has been very significant. :-) The shrinkage with the penis has not been as significant but it has still been quite a bit. Still there but on the bright side it is pretty much dead - that happened really fast, within the first week or two, so no erections, voluntary or in-voluntary. Which has been a very welcome change.

[CatAttack]

I've been on hrt since early last December, and I have not yet noticed and shrinkage in the area. So I feel like it is all up in the air and depends on the person. I really hope will start though haha. But the other things that came with hrt like others have mentioned are softer skin, some breast growth, fat redistribution, and yes the mental effects, which I think is my favorite part. I also read somewhere that the less you use it, the more shrinkage will occur.

[natasha]

Not enough shrinkage, its still there!!!

[Michelle I]

I have been on Spiro and the patch since December. I have noticed quite a lot of shrinkage, I never was the "manly man", small by most standards. My penis has shunk quite a lot, it has concerned me to the point where I am not sure there will be anything to work with when I have my SRS. MY doctor has assured me that it will be enought but I do wonder. The testes and sack have also retreated so much that I do not attempt tp tuck, tight panties take care of all of them.

[Melody Moore]

in a week it will be one year hrt. Testes, well there is not much left of them really. It has been kind of a slow but consistent shrinkage, but it has been very significant. :-) The shrinkage with the penis has not been as significant but it has still been quite a bit. Still there but on the bright side it is pretty much dead - that happened really fast, within the first week or two, so no erections, voluntary or in-voluntary. Which has been a very welcome change.

My story is pretty much the same as arbon's story - I also started on hormone therapy at the same time as well.

[Aprilrain]

Testicals shrunk a lot. Penis same size as always and still works if I want it to. 6 months on HRT.

[CharleneT]

Hi, I've been on HRT just a little over 2 years. Testicles have shrunk to about 1/2 original size. Penis is hard to judge, but I would say I've lost around 1/3 of length and girth. Strangely, after about 6 months I had lost more of the size of penis but it came back some over the next 1.5 years. Not much, but some. As for function, all still works fine, just very differently.

[Phyliss]

.... still works if I want it to. 6 months on HRT.


.... As for function, all still works fine, just very differently.

Latest blood work showed "T" level down around 1.7 (normal male 45 and up). I'm getting down to where I want to be. The testes have reduced somewhat in size, I think. Not so much that I really notice .... yet

Functionality .... it takes me all night to do what I used to do all night. BUT I can still do "IT" just not as often , recovery time has gone from one hour to one week, or more.

As mentioned, the other effects are nice thinking more relaxed, softening skin, growing boobs :D

An unwanted side effect of lower "T" is the ease of weight gain. It's become a battle of the bulge for me.

To answer the O.P. about time frame of "happenings" , Frankly I really can't pin down an exact day. I do know that the "nipple sensitivity" began about 3 months after I combined (with Endo Dr supervision) my Estrodoil and Spiro.

Tenderness was :eek: and then some at times

[Jamie Nicole]

it's hard to place an actual percentage on the the shrinkage. They both shrink and your orgasms will be fewer and fewer with less discharge each time

[Stephenie S]

This is really one of those YMMV things. Reported results are all over the map.

That said, I think your nurse friend is exaggerating just a bit.

S

[Jean Marie]

I am older so this may make a difference, I have had some shrinkage of testicles, penis is a whole lot smaller and when i started I was fairly well equipped. My male sexual function is gone with in 4 months, no more un-lady like erections and orgasms are dry, no discharge, but still have all the pleasurable sensations. I feel so much better because now sex is of much less importance. Like the other ladies other wise I have same bodily changes, plus some emotional ones as well at about 8 months noticed I am much more emotional. even cry at sad movies, I used to be hard hearted.

[Kathryn Martin]

My testes have shrunk to the size of cherries and have retracted into the body, so that there is no "package visible anymore. Penis has gone completely flaccid and tissue has lost volume so that it is now about 1/3rd smaller than before. It's time for surgery.

[Andrea85]

I've been on hormones for 3 years now, give or take a month or 2. No shrinkage here. Still seven inches, testicles haven't shrunk, no problems with erections, and amount of ejaculation is the same. (like crackin' a fire hydrant open, it sucks)

[StephanieC]

Wow, I didn't know clits were that large!

In my experience, the softening of the skin was first. If you have something that blocks the T, the embarrassing morning "salutes" stop pretty quickly. Hard to say about the testes, baggy thing...maybe over 2 yrs quite a bit smaller, more taut. Where there used to be two distinct hangers-on, it's kinda like one. Unfortunately, the central character is still bigger than I'd like but smaller than before (in both dimensions).

[Andrea85]

Wow, I didn't know clits were that large!

Lol............................................... .......

[Melody Moore]

I've been on hormones for 3 years now, give or take a month or 2. No shrinkage here. Still seven inches, testicles haven't shrunk, no problems with erections, and amount of ejaculation is the same. (like crackin' a fire hydrant open, it sucks)
But were you not taking the 'herbal hormone therapy alternatives' Andrea?

Maybe this has something to do with why those functions still remain unchanged, EVERYONE
I know has reported huge changes in this department that are undergoing proper hormone
therapy. I am NOT having a go at you, I just I wonder why are you so different with this too?

[Andrea85]

Melody, even though we had out little spat, I'm willing to put it behind me if you are. Just PM me if you wouldn't care.

I've never taken herbal anything. Been on Estrofem and Spiro all 3 years. I meant to add in that post that I don't have random erections anymore. If I get turned on it works like normal, but otherwise nothing.

[Bree-asaurus]

Over 13 months on HRT.

Testies have gotten a little smaller... can't remember how big they were... whatever size is still too big :P

Penis has shrunk a LOT when not in action, but is still quite large when turned on (and it gets fully erect just like before).

No problems with being able to get erect. I can still ejaculate (when I'm super turned on) but it's just the fluid produced by the prostate. No sperm production here.

[ReneeT]

I started my hrt in phases ( more on that later), so i can attribute my results to estrogen alone and estrogen plus spiro. I started oral estrogen at standard doses in January of this year. I first noticed definite softening of my skin at about two months, followed by breast tenderness and swelling. I did not notice any psychologic changes (stil a type A S/DOB), and had mild to moderate decrease in male sexual fxn. After 5 months my E level was 600 and my T was 210, only slightly reduced from baseline. My breasts are definite A cups, and i have to choose my shirts carefully when i must present in guy mode. My hips are also curvier, and i have put on 15 lbs (:-(. 10 days ago i started on spiro, and changes are a'happinen already! Spontaneous erections are gone, and i am definitely more relaxed and less perturbable! That alone may be worth it! While i have not noticed any changes in my facial or body hair, my electrologist tells me that it comes out easier (that was before spiro)

As for the timing of my hrt, it has been managed by an endocrinologist, but i am not satisfied. She wants me to have an orchi instead of an anti-androgen but i am not going to plunk down 3-4k for what will be included in SRS. So, (and dont try this at home!), i started spiro on my own. I am an md, but am still a tad uncomfortable with this. I will be seeing my pcp next week and hope tht she will assume the transition mgt

[Empress Lainie]

Sometimes all I can see is part of the glans. No erections. Not much sex drive. No ejaculate or extremely little. Wish the danglys would shrink to nothing or retract, but so far, don't really see any difference. Since I haven't made a practice of weighing them, I really don't know if there has been any difference. My frequency has gone from 3 times weekly to more like twice monthly. I don't mind at all. I have used herbals since 2007 and estrogen since Jan 2011. Spiro also since Feb 2011. I get no arousal at all.

[Angel.Marie76]

16 mo HRT, estro injections weekly and spiro twice a day = walnuts shrink to small green grapes, and beef summer sausage became a breakfast link. Random erections gone, and tucking happens almost automatically now. It does, on occasion, come to attention under direct focus, but the times are few and very far between.

What I was told about E and Spiro was that, if one wanted to just take E, that 'hardware' might not shrink as much, and still be relatively responsive. I can tell you that I started on Spiro first, and, within a week, was floored I had no sex drive whatsoever, and that within a month I was shocked to realize I hadn't even, um, been stimulated! It's true what they say though, 'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if you don't use it, it's going to rust'. Seriously, and it kinda goes both ways.. If you want to keep the hardware larger and more operational, then keep using it. Same goes for breasts (from experience) - The more I've massaged my breasts (and my GG partner's) the more full they stay. All about keeping that blood flow! ;-)

Just a thought, Andrea, but maybe you need a higher dose of Spiro? Just a guess, unless you fit the statement above, and you're not letting it rust..

[CharleneT]

Melody, even though we had out little spat, I'm willing to put it behind me if you are. Just PM me if you wouldn't care.

I've never taken herbal anything. Been on Estrofem and Spiro all 3 years. I meant to add in that post that I don't have random erections anymore. If I get turned on it works like normal, but otherwise nothing.

If you are taking that regime, and you still have ejaculate ... you should probably have your levels tested ... and if they are in a female range, then it would seem like a time to up the dose of either or both. That combo should have shut down both your testicles and prostate by now (heck, by 5 months or so). What has your doc said ? "Function" being maintained is relatively normal, but the fluids... they should be gone.

[RachelX]

I have been on estrogen for about four years. About a year and a half ago
I began taking my estrogen by injection. Soon after this I began to see undeniable
physical changes. One of these was shrinkage. How much? A lot. I am pretty teeny-tiny
down there now.

[Inna]

8 mths hrt, from a well in dowd, sizy male appendage to an exquisitely soft and about the half size of the original. Testes shrunk about 4 times their original circumference to about size of a large bean and surrounding tissue did the same shrinking to near null existence. All that is insignificant now because skillful surgeon will render them for ever removed from this female body, ahhhh...........at once to feel mornings essence infiltrate every sense, enveloping its exquisite sent throughout as mother does her girl, her child.

[Jean Marie]

my testicle shrinkage is about 30%, my penis is more, it it looks and feels like when I was about 7 ot 8 years old

[Traci Elizabeth]

My testes have shrunk to the size of cherries and have retracted into the body, so that there is no "package visible anymore. Penis has gone completely flaccid and tissue has lost volume so that it is now about 1/3rd smaller than before. It's time for surgery.

That is "exactly: what has happened to me. It's great not having any testes to deal with as they are no longer down there but up inside of me. I am at two years HRT and in large dosages. My "T" levels are less than 0.05 and my Estrodiol is at female adolescence levels so YES, my hormones are ragging and I am REALLY going through another puberty.

[Michelle.M]

Well, let's see. After 3 months HRT there's no real change yet in Mr Happy's size, the boys are somewhat smaller (but I unfortunately did not do a pre-HRT measurement of any sort to compare). But they stay up and out of the way about half the time and always after any sort of exercise, so when I do tuck it's very easy. Even now I'm hanging out at the house in skin tight jeans and you'd be hard pressed to see any sort of bulge, and no effort to tuck was made at all.

Within just a few days after starting HRT the quality of my ejaculate became very thin and hardly viscous at all. Shortly thereafter no involuntary erections - I can still get one but it takes FOREVER to bring that rascal to attention. And now at 3 months quantity of ejaculate is literally a few drops at best.

And some good news today. Back in February I had a prostate biopsy (no fun at all, by the way) because my PSA level was fairly high and it was somewhat enlarged and they wanted to see if there was cancer (there was not). Today I went in for the recheck, the size is normal and so is the PSA level.

Hooray for estrogen!

[Hope]

Well I go to see my endo for my 6 month check up in exactly 2 weeks, so I suppose I have been on HRT for 5.5 months now. I started out with the typical "starter" dosages, and am now up to a pretty typical dosage of both Spiro and E. I am hoping to increase my E in 2 weeks... but that is a different issue.

My experience has been that size reduction is dosage dependent - which shouldn't be a big shocker. Initially I had SOME shrinkage, but not a whole bunch. The big thing initially was that my sex drive almost disappeared all together. I went from the pretty typical "Once a day" routine to once a week? Once every 2 weeks? I went from thinking about sex every 2 minutes to - when I wanted to. I noticed a relatively large reduction in ejaculate after the first few weeks too. I think the biggest thing i noticed initially was painful erections (When I had them). After my dosage increased to where it is today I noticed a pretty good reduction in size. Testicle volume is down to 30-50% of where it was before - and tends to vary a little bit depending on how... full... they are... Penile volume is down too, but not by as much. That one is hard to judge fairly. I was always a "grower" and relatively well endowed (lucky me!). Now I generally don't get an erection, (it is still quite painful) and even when I do, I try to keep the time that I am erect to a minimum... or prevent getting completely erect in the first place - so it is hard to judge just how big the bishop still is. But even flaccid it is definitely smaller than it was. It is not everything I hope for, and I am still able to have erections, but it is definitely movement in the right direction. One of the weirder experiences is that on the rare occasion when I do still get an erection, it feels much bigger and harder than it actually is.

I did have one really surprising and amusing thing happen. Well, it is amusing NOW... not so much at the time. When I was a teen, I was an only child of single parent... So I had plenty of "alone time..." and I didn't have a whole lot of shame surrounding masturbation... which resulted in my never having a wet dream... Until like 2-3 months ago. With my drastically reduced libido and my drastically reduced activity level - there was apparently sufficient time for things to fill to the tipping point and one night I woke up and wen't "What the hell?" I thought that I was bleeding or that there was something pretty drastically wrong until I realized what it was... and then... face-palm.