In the footsteps of the Capt'n.

[~Dee~]

well .. as our good capt'n has done, putting up his experiences with the dreaded, but somehow wanted ;), testosterone.

i figured that i might put up my thoughts on my hormone regime... and maybe some others might chime in and fill us in on the more longer effects and side effects they have experienced.
i started mine only yesterday .. 6-6-06 ... thats not at all ominous, right?? :evil:
so mines going to be a story starting on day one.

so.. ive started oestrogen at the starting dose as well as a starting dose of progesterone. i had specifically requested this due to research that we had done previously and we hope that this will give the best results in development.

oestrogen is a far less aggressive hormone than testosterone, so i do expect that effects would be slow acting. so whereas Lex might be able to give quicker updates, mine will be a long time work in progress. :happy:

but, the reason why im posting now is to talk about the immediate effect ive noticed already...
tired.
tired, tired, tired, tired, tiiiiiiiirghnu *snore*

bah!.. um ... oh yeah .. tired.
i feel a lot more lethargic today and find that my eyes feel as though ive been up all night. which i havent, we got a good nights sleep i had thought.

one of the good things is that after being on the anti-androgens for about 5 months, i was starting to get a lot of aches and pains in my joints and in my bones.
especially my right hip, which was damaged a while back when i was ill .. it seemed to flare up each day and made me hobble around a lot.

but ive noticed that my joints feel a lot better already .. not 100% fine .. but still a hell of a lot better than they had been before.

so, did anyone else notice anything when they started theirs?..

what have peoples experiences been with their hormone therapy?

afterall .. the pack is littered with warnings of health complications .. has anyone experienced anything more aligned to the adverse?

all comments of actual experiences are welcomed.

[CaptLex]

Congrats, Dee. I know you've been looking forward to this for a while - you must be thrilled. I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences.


i started mine only yesterday .. 6-6-06 ... thats not at all ominous, right?? :evil:
That's funny, I had my third shot yesterday too and was wondering if the date was an omen too - LOL. :eek:


one of the good things is that after being on the anti-androgens for about 5 months, i was starting to get a lot of aches and pains in my joints and in my bones. especially my right hip, which was damaged a while back when i was ill .. it seemed to flare up each day and made me hobble around a lot. but ive noticed that my joints feel a lot better already .. not 100% fine .. but still a hell of a lot better than they had been before.
Have you ever been tested for fibromyalgia? I'm only asking because I was diagnosed with it right after I stopped taking female hormones. There's a lot of pain (joints, bones, muscles) and severe exhaustion . . . just a thought. It seems that the hormones I was taking took care of the symptoms, so I didn't even know I had it until I stopped taking them. And now that I'm on T the symptoms have disappeared again. I suppose there's a hormonal connection, then (although doctors are really clueless about this).

Anyway, looking forward to your reports. :D

[Danielle1960]

Looking forward to hearing about your progress. I've had the joint pain but am using herbal stuff for now. I ran accross my doctor the joint pain and my hands feeling swelled. He said to use cod liver oil or just fish oil and it would make a difference. After reading about the two I decided on a fish oil tablet and notice a big improvement with in 24hrs. Now I don't have a problem 20 days later. The doctor said that most Americans ( in my case anyway) diet has way to much omega 6 in the diet. The counter active for this apparently is Omega 3 which can be had by eating a large amounts of fish in your diet or take it in suppliment form. Anyway I thought it might be a help if you still are having problems.
Danielle

[Maria D]

First off, good luck to everyone who goes this route, and to those that don't. There's no right way, as long as everyone ends up happy. I don't think Testosterone is any faster than estrogen, but its more potent in that you need less of it. Boys don't finish puberty faster than girls, for instance.

I've been on ovysmen and finasteride 10 months so far. I felt nothing for 2 weeks at all, then noticed greasy skin, bad hair, a change in body and wee smell, and a loss of the 'focused desire to do something with the genitalia' that Lex is so enjoying now. ;) I think that's all. Overall, nothing stands out as 'noticable' in event terms, things just slowly changed. I am very different now, but it's a slow slide, not a straight drop.
Starting from an average 5 foot 5, 10 stone male shape, ie a tube, I'm currently 34/30/40 and the 'male' fat on my gut hasn't fully shifted yet. Turns out the huge hips running in my family run in me too. My face looks very feminine, except for the beard hair, which just won't die. My advise to anyone serious about transition would be to start the beard removal early. Like puberty if you can! I have b cup breasts and they were the first thing to be noticed by anyone, about when they were an a. A work friend pointed at me and exclaimed that I had huge nipples, then called someone over to look. That's when I decided it was time to come out. I changed my name legally after coming out to parents at Christmas and work in early Feb. They were fantastic, thinking it unusual and interesting, but not bad at all. One girl joked she wanted my pills because she wanted to grow bigger breasts. ;)
Body hair thinned, but not in density, and I am a lot weaker than I used to be. Emotionally I personally am more stable now, mainly due to happiness, but not everyone reports that.
In terms of how I 'feel' with myself, I still have issues with how I look, but I'm much happier now. I don't do the whole 'girly' thing, I'm usually in jeans and a top, but I'm looking more as I want to now, that's what I was after iyswim. The fact that women's clothes and makeup etc 'come with the body' was something I had to accept, not what I was actually wanting. Like a born girl has no choice I suppose. That said, I do like the way heels make my legs look ;)
That's it so far, and it's probably different for everyone. I hope it helps anyway.
Take care :)

[~Kitty GG~]

I've been on ovysmen and finasteride 10 months so far. I felt nothing for 2 weeks at all, then noticed greasy skin, bad hair, a change in body and wee smell, and a loss of the 'focused desire to do something with the genitalia' that Lex is so enjoying now. ;) I think that's all. Overall, nothing stands out as 'noticable' in event terms, things just slowly changed.


Take care :)

Maria~

Did you start both ovysmen and finasteride at the same time? I don't know ovysmen's particulars.. does it contain progesterone?

Did you start with the same dose you have now? Or a smaller dose that was increased after a time?

What are you doing for beard removal?

I think the beard is the cruelest aspect of M2F transition. Wish there was an easy, inexpencive way to get rid of it.

thanx for sharing all this with us.

Love & Hugs
~Kitty~

[Maria D]

No, I started ovysmen first, then finasteride 6 weeks later. I don't know why this was, I was just told to.
Ovysmen contains 500 micrograms of norethisterone (a progestogen) and 35 micrograms of ethinylestradiol, the most potent and most unsafe estrogen.
http://emc.medicines.org.uk/emc/assets/c/html/DisplayDoc.asp?DocumentID=4062

I take 3 ovysmen a day and half a tablet of finasteride, and have been on that dose from the start. My GP provides 'shared care' and does the blood tests whenever I book a nurses appointment. This is important as things do change.

I SHOULD HAVE SAID THIS EARLIER BUT DIDN'T THINK, SORRY :(:

My blood pressure is up, my potassium is up and my calcium is down. Nothing drastic enough to require medication, but it needs watching. The point is, keep checking your health Dee, it will be affected.

Beard removal started well over a year ago in the form of IPL and was very effective except on my top lip, for which I am now having electrolysis. I seem to have really SAS lip hair because even now it just will not die. So shaving is still a must after about 18 months I think. It's depressing sometimes, but hey ho.

Take care :)

[~Kitty GG~]

Maria~

Thanx for the info.

The reason to start one at a time is probably so that they could monitor you between them.

If you started both togther and had a problem.. there would be no way to tell which was causing the prob.

I thought that usually the docs start ya on the anti a first. Not sure why. Maybe so the E doesn't have to fight w/ the T..?

Will you be moving up in dosage for the Estrogen?

Argh @ beard removal probs. Hope the electolysis does the trick for you.


Love & Hugs
~Kitty~

[Maria D]

No, the dose I'm on (105 micrograms a day) is pretty standard for ethinylestradiol, it's very potent in terms of amount needed; as my testosterone is through the floor and things are progressing without problems, apart from those above, it'll be staying as it is.

Thanks for the sympathy; the main problem is that you not only have to let it grow for the session, but the marks show on the face for a few days at least. I feel it's a big neon sign above my head saying 'here be dragons'... no I mean 'Transgendered person here'. It's lucky I'm not bothered what anyone else (apart from those I care about of course) thinks any more; that mental attitude helps.
I do think starting electro early is best, and so very much easier as a man.

Take care :)

[tori-e]

Hi Dee!

Did your doctor start you on a bunch of stuff all at the same time? Maybe mine is overly conservative?

I started with Spiro in November 100MG, at about 6 week increments went to 200MG then 300MG. I elected to not go to 400MG, because I don't want to lose all libido. Even without estrogen, I noticed some tenderness in the chest and a bit of "man boobs" happening. I have noticed a bit of a decreased libido. (Important note: make sure you keep your SO happy:p )

About 8 weeks ago I started Estrace 1MG then a couple of weeks ago went to 2MG.

Emotionally, I think I am much happier now. Although it could just be coming out that is doing that. (As you can all tell, I've been planting daisies all over everyone's threads. – So sorry!:( )

Physically, aside from now having an AAAAA cup, I haven't noticed too much of anything. I've been keeping a chart with my measurements and overall there has been maybe 1/2inch difference. Weight has not changed.

I haven't had any of the tiredness you describe.

with love,
Tori

[~Dee~]

ok mini update -

there have been two main effects that i have noticed.
i dont know if anyone else has noticed anything, but this is whats happening to be.

1) i cant lift as much .. in fact, my muscles are distinctly smaller .. its a little annoying, but only when i believe i should be able to lift or pull or shift something and instead i just end up spinning my wheels, as it were.
i know that i havent lost any speed and my reflexes are as good .. so the strength thing doesnt really bother me ..
though it does mean that Kitty wins the tickle fights now. :rolleyes:

2) and this one i have mixed feelings over. i have had a nightmare every single night since first taking my meds and they seem to be getting stronger. im a bit unhappy about this because i tend to wake up and not be able to get back to sleep afterwards .. but i do like a good horror or thriller and these tend to be very well sculpted dreams .. so if nothing else, the Director should be acknowledged. :happy:

something that i havent noticed of yet, but Kitty has, is that my body smell has started to change again.

anyone else experienced nightmares as a side effect at all?
seems like a pretty weird side effect to me. :raisedeyebrow:

well, its dark and its in the AM still .. so i guess its time to end intermission and see what part 2 holds for me tonight :happy:

[Maria D]

Lack of strength caught me out this weekend. I tried to tip gravy from an oven hot griddle onto the plates with one hand, I always could... but not now. The griddle flagged down into the dinner, I grabbed it with my other, non oven-gloved hand, and I have a huge white blister now. Oh well.

Nightmares, no I never had that. I'm so sorry, it must be awful. I hope it's just due to the hormones balancing out, and that they go away soon. In terms of movies, you can't eat popcorn in bed, you'll get crumbs. :)

Take care :)

[CaptLex]

2) and this one i have mixed feelings over. i have had a nightmare every single night since first taking my meds and they seem to be getting stronger. im a bit unhappy about this because i tend to wake up and not be able to get back to sleep afterwards .. but i do like a good horror or thriller and these tend to be very well sculpted dreams .. so if nothing else, the Director should be acknowledged. :happy:

something that i havent noticed of yet, but Kitty has, is that my body smell has started to change again.

anyone else experienced nightmares as a side effect at all?
seems like a pretty weird side effect to me. :raisedeyebrow:
This probably won't help you, but I've had nightmares, night terrors and dreams that (I can only imagine) must be what a bad acid trip is like since I was a child - and mine are just like little movies too. Whenever I'm going through something particularly stressful in my life, these intensify. I've been having crazy trans-related dreams for a little over a year now, but they're not hormonally-related, just my own weird mind, I guess.

The other day I dreamt that I woke up, looked in the mirror and I had a full beard. It looked really nice (to me, of course), but I kept saying "No! It's too soon! I'm not ready for this." Sometimes I dream that I change so completely that no one knows me anymore. More stuff for my shrink to help me through, I guess.

Anyway, I'm sorry you're having nightmares. I can't say if the hormones themselves have something to do with this, but I'm sure your mind has a lot to sort through right now. Wishing you sweet dreams soon. :hugs:

Also, I know what you mean about the change in body smell - I like it! :D

[~Dee~]

thanks for the replies.
at first i thought that i was trying to tell myself something .. and in the start i was .. i kept having a lot of dreams where id end up burnt at the stake :D .. kinda a no brainer there.
but now they dont seem to have any sort of commonality that ive been able to find.
i really should write them down.. if nothing else i could compile them and make a horror movie someday :D

throughout my life i sometimes have had really vivid dreams which my brain thought were real, so if i go through that i can end up with bruises and sore muscles from what i had suffered in the dream.
i saw a doc about it when i was a really young kid, cause i think people thought i was hurting myself. but he said that its rare, but it does happen.

i know that my brain would have more than enough to have to process at the moment, so i guess you cant blame it for wanting to go watch a movie during down time :happy:

Maria ~
bleah @ blistered and buggered dinners.
ive not had that yet.
where i notice it especially is carrying a crate full of wood into the house for the wood fire. i used to be able to carry so much more.
i cant even carry the groceries like i used to.

part of my business is that im a bladesmith, and since starting my meds ive been doing a lot more of the jewellery and not getting out to the smithy.. im kind of wondering if the steel is just going to laugh at me when i next try to beat it into submission :D

[Sandra]

Hope you don't mind me butting in on your thread Dee :).

I am very good friends with a TS, she started on hormones last year don't ask me what she is on cos I aint got a clue.

She has mentioned the lack of strength, I thought she was just being lazy ;) she also has the nightmares real weird ones at times. One bad side effect she gets, is every 3-4 weeks she gets a "downer" hates herself, cries and wonders why she is doing this, she gets them really bad, usually they only last for a day and then she is ok. She knows when they are coming though but she can't do anything about it and tries to get on with it.