OMG being hammered by mood swings

[AlyssaJ]

I can't seem to stay in a single state of mind/emotion lately. For instance today, I had an amazing 3 hour conversation with a trans friend of mine. She's one of these people who has an amazing energy and spirit that just makes me feel amazing every time I talk to her. But 20 minutes after our discussion, I felt really depressed and sad, no idea why. Another 30 minutes later and I was feeling good again, and excited about an upcoming trip. Then out of the blue, I was really crabby and agitated, again no idea why but really ready to just scream at someone.

I'm guessing this is a byproduct of the hormones but geeze I didn't think it would come on quite like this.

[jentay1367]

Welcome to the amusement parks 24 hour roller coaster ride. It's exhilarating and unfortunately, quite exhausting...l.o.l.

[Pat]

Yeah, never a dull moment. ;) I've always had a tendency to swirl around on the emotional palette, though I think I used to play it pretty close to the chest. My friends tell me since I started hormones (9 months ago today! Yay!) it gets writ large. I hear it settles down after a while. It hasn't for me yet.

[JohnH]

My experience with estrogen has been the opposite. The HRT has lifted me out of depression, mood swings, and suicidal thoughts. I guess everybody's different.

[Mirya]

Some, but not all, cis women experience mood swings during PMS. The general consensus among researchers is that these mood swings are caused by the rise and fall of hormones, specifically estrogen, during the monthly cycle.

I suppose that this could happen for trans women too, especially if they do estrogen injections every two weeks. The E levels are more likely to fluctuate over time and therefore cause mood swings. But if you're taking E pills daily, I really don't know why it would happen, because your hormone levels should be more consistent.

I've been on weekly injections ever since I started HRT (more than a year ago), and I've never experienced mood swings. Not once. I'm sure part of it is genetic too - my mother and sister haven't really experienced mood swings either. But the delivery method for E might be a contributing factor too. You may want to consider switching to injections if the mood swings are becoming a problem.

[jentay1367]

I was on oral estrace for a period. The ride was substantially smoother than on IM estradiol. Roughly equivalent doses. Much preferred the consistent emotional benefits of pills. But I love the hassle free benefits of the injections. Like everything else, it's a trade off.