Hormones?

[Hana22]

I've been tkinking long and hard for a few years now about getting on hormones and going as far as I can with the male to female transition without any surgery. It seems like the more I read the more confused I get. What hormones should I take and how much? I need some advice. I know I need two kinds it seems one to block my male hormones and another to introduce the female ones right?

[Sharon]

Your doctor should be able to determine what you should take. There are several hormones out there and the dosage really depends on many factors.

You do intend to see a doctor about this -- right?

[Hana22]

I didn't realize I needed to. Thats why I'm posting here to get some guidance from others :o Looks like I'm going to the doctor soon.

[xexoticx]

just wondering will ur doctor perscribe u hormones without seeing a therapist at all?

[Sharon]

Assuming you are in the US, because things may work differently elsewhere -- you need to contact a gender therapist, one who specifically treats gender issues(do a websearch for your area). This therapist would then(presumably) diagnose you as TG and can write you a letter stating such. This could take several sessions or more, but the time spent is invaluable.

Then, you either go to your doctor(GP) and explain things and have him or her take blood tests to determine the health of your liver, pancreas, and assorted other factors, or you can just go to an endocrinologist who can order the same tests and also prescibe the appropriate meds for you. Not all endocrinologists deal with the transgendered, so it will be best to be upfront when you call around.

Just do not take chances with your health and attempt to bypass the professionals -- it won't be worth it if you have complications.

[Wendi {LI NY}]

Hon,
Listen to Sharon, Playing with Hormones without a Doctor is like playing with Dyemite. hugs,Wendi

[xexoticx]

actually im in canada but prolly no difference really, has anyones family docter refused to take you after notifying him. kind of a small town and easy to get singled out

[AmberTG]

WOW, Tori-e! I've had enough low blood pressure issues with 100mg of spiro daily, I can't even imagine taking 400mg daily!
I'd get an orchie before I'd take that much spiro!

[Wendy48088]

Some advice: First off, have an answer to the following questions:

What you are going to do for a living as someone who is going to be permanently half-way between genders?

Can you handle socially being half-way between genders? (your ID will say male even if you have female breasts).

Does the rest of you look female or are you going to look like a man with boobs? Do you walk and talk like a man or can you pass as a woman in public?

Do you mind getting old as someone who is half-way between genders?

Sorry to sound mean, but I've just saved you from spending $$$ on a therapist. You should be able to answer those questions before you go too far down that road - or you forge ahead at your own risk of a great deal of personal embarassment.

For your health, you should see a doctor and have him prescribe you the Testosterone blocker and the estrogen, and also do the blood tests to be sure your liver and kidneys are doing ok.

DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) is a risk with feminizing hormone therapy.

For information:

First, Go to the Transsexual Road Map site and read everything there.
http://www.tsroadmap.com/
Note that Hormones are only a part of the total situation.

Then go to Yahoo.com and get a Yahoo account and a Yahoo ID, if you don't already have one, and then join the TSDoItYourselfHormones Yahoo group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TsDoItYourselfHormones/
and read everything posted there.

Also read this for a good guide to femizing hormonal therapy information:

Hormone Treatment in Transsexuals
http://www.transgendercare.com/medical/hormonal/hormone-tx_assch_gooren.htm


I've been tkinking long and hard for a few years now about getting on hormones and going as far as I can with the male to female transition without any surgery. It seems like the more I read the more confused I get. What hormones should I take and how much? I need some advice. I know I need two kinds it seems one to block my male hormones and another to introduce the female ones right?

[stacie]

You really should go and see a therapist first and find out if this is something you really want to do. After they feel you are ready they will sign a letter to start hrt. Then you want to find a doctor who works with hrt and they will find out what is right for your body. They will do a lot of blood work in the beginning and find what is right for you. What prescription the doctor will give you is hard to say, Some like pills, or shots and some like the patch.
One thing to remember is, after a certain amount of time on hrt the affects are unreversible.
If your not looking at living your life full time as a female then hrt is not for you. After a certain amount of time on hrt the results are hard to hide and after 2 to 5 years you will not be able to go back and forth from male to female looks.
I hope this is some what helpfull for you, but what you will need to take will come down to your body.

[xexoticx]

im planning on going to se a gender therapist within the next month or so hopefully, while on this topic has anyone gone and been rejected for HRT? i would think the would be a huge let down for me but am hoping that since i havent heard anyone mention it that it does not hapen often.

[Scotty]

Go the doctor therapist route!

I took my last one two days ago, and OMG what an emotional day I had yesterday!

I've achieved the results I want, and any more and I would not be able to hide it.........which should make you stop and say "Wow I never thought about that".

Doctors appointments, future lovers, all that should be considred - going to the beach - forget taking your shirt off!!

I'm tiny but I can still hide them, except at a beach with my shirt off in a crowd....

There's some downsides - digestive system may take a whack - milk allergy may g et amplified, and the moods - you will become a different person. I can't believe the night and day difference transitioning back and I was only on 2mg!!!!!!!!!

You may not want to COME back and if you are mar ried or have a g/f - think twice!!

I've already given the positive benefits so these are the negative benefits.

[AmberTG]

Tori, I really don't know what it's like in Canada, but here in the U.S., you can get an orchie without all the letters, but there's only a few places that will do it without the letters. Personally, I want to go to Trinidad, Colorado to have mine done, if possible.

[Anna the Dub]

Hello everyone, I am new so be gentle with me.

I just wanted to say to the poster above about anti androgen drugs. I was put on these as I was exceptionally hairy, and my therapist thought they would help in conjunction with the HRT. In less than a month I suffered a DVT. Very scary and also extremely painful. Luckily enough, when I was out of hospital and recovered, my therapist referred me to a hospital consultant who agreed to do an 'orchie'. Just saying, be careful of anti androgen medication.

[Andrea Elva]

The only thing that I am going to add here is that here in South Africa after a period of time being on hormones and the changes that hormones have on ones body are there, visible for all to see one needs only to get a letter from the Doctor treating you and a letter from another Doctor verifying the changes and without any surgery can have ones name, gender changed and an new ID issued. This includes the birth certificate.
Never go the DIY way with hormones as there can be some bad things like an increase in the risk of breast cancer and thromboses.

[Cara Allen]

If you don't already know, there are quite a few sites that will sell you prescription drugs without a prescription, including antiandrogens and oestrogen.

Some months ago, I got curious, and ordered anti androgens from one of these sites. They were CHEAP, and relatively fast. No prescriptions. I could not believe it!

I will not tell you that these went into my body. They are sitting in my medicine cabinet, staring at me. I am seeing a gender therapist, and will wait it out. Some things that have not been mentioned are that I want to be sure that I am absolutely committed to this, and that I approach transition with the closest thing to certainty and clarity that I can muster. The therapist and I have worked on several issues that I needed to work on, and I am glad for it. Nothing has changed my mind, but I am glad that I am doing this, no matter how long it takes. When I am ready, if it is still right, I will start popping pills as prescribed, get the checkups, etc.

Also, most clinics want to establish a baseline, which they cannot do if you are allready taking non-prescription hormones. You'd have to stop self medicating for months and months, then they would proceed.

Finally, the Gender Clinic has this screening process, and they ask you if you are taking hormones. It also shows as a clause in a waiver that you must sign. They will kick you out of the program, if you take illegal prescription medications, including and specifically hormones.

Make a decision about which way you want to go. I will never tell anyone not to go the illegal route. For some, it is the only option, and I am not your mother. The process is like an exclusive club that narrows down the pipeline to a few financially heeled, fortunate individuals. Having said that, I am very very glad that I decided to go the legal route, and I think you would be too. This decision is HUGE, and for the most part, one way. If you do this out of economy, consider what happens when you decide that you cannot sport a B cup. Breast reduction is expensive, major surgery, and leaves scars. Once you start this, either way, you're pretty much off the beach.

Hugs!

[Maggie Kay]

My experience is different. I have done DIY hormones because of many factors that are special to me and the why is not important for this discussion. However, I have now gone to a gender clinic and and endo. She as reviewed my HRT regimen and I showed her the meds. They are from French and New Zealand companies with solid reputations. I signed the waivers as requested and she is in the process of evaluating my meds for writing a prescription for them. We discussed that I probably could properly get them off shore still to save money.
As for the baseline testing, she found that even GG's have wildly varying hormone levels so that hormone testing is not useful for her. She prefers to do what works while monitoring basic blood chemistry for liver and other organ health. I used a very low dose approach but she upped my spiro levels to make my blood pressure come down more. The goal is for relief of GID symptoms and development of secondary sex characteristics. I have these already and her adjustments are making the hormones even more effective.

She further is concerned with my total health and is advising on exercise and diet. I rather doubt that any gender clinic would drop a person with DIY HRT. Rather, they would be more likely to help to improve and correct. It is about our health not our politics. Plus so many have to buy all sorts of meds off shore that it is becoming a viable main stream alternative to the gouging of our pharmaceutical industry.

[Cara Allen]

I rather doubt that any gender clinic would drop a person with DIY HRT. Rather, they would be more likely to help to improve and correct. It is about our health not our politics. Plus so many have to buy all sorts of meds off shore that it is becoming a viable main stream alternative to the gouging of our pharmaceutical industry.

I just signed this release yesterday, and it said said exactly that. If I experiment, I am out. I don't care. I am not experimenting, anyway. The reason for this is that they want a clean baseline. Different clinic, different requirements.

This is a State College Gender Clinic, with tons of patients, and more at the door. They want what they want. It is a kind of Catch-22. When I had my intake interview, they asked me if I had experimented. I kind of got the impression that, if I had said yes, they might have considered me at risk, and I might have got moved up the line. But I have talked with others in the program. They said that, if I was on hormones when I started, they would make me stop for 6-8 weeks to get a clean baseline for my progress and monitoring. That is hard to do, when you have hormones in ya.

Go figure.

[susan_]

Once the majority of the desired changes take place does one still have to continue with a limited hormone treatment regimen in perpetuity?

I have not been able to locate any information on this. I assume that one would need to continue taking something more or less forever, a bit like transplant patients do - but I could be wrong. I would be much less likely to consider something that effectively required a life-long commitment to drugs.

[Scotty]

Susan - I have stopped in teh past for a few months at a time and there is some reversal, however there is a majority of permanance, at least in teh breast as that tissue is there. The fatty tissue may dissapate but the rest of the glands etc are still there - thus they will shrink but not all the way back.

I went from full A back to AA cup.

As for the hips, I believe "most" of that may be undone unless you have bony hips like I already had.

I could not stay off E! though, it's emotionally addicting, sooner or later I will quit, likely in the summer where the sunshine can replace that. :)

[Teresa Amina]

As for the baseline testing, she found that even GG's have wildly varying hormone levels so that hormone testing is not useful for her

From my perspective (as one of those horrible DIY folks) the baseline is really the only way you, as an individual, can tell if there are problems. My baseline (pre-hormones) showed an elevated liver enzyme level and I put my plans on hold until I could get it checked out. As a baseline you can keep track of the changes, which is really the only way to know what's happening since the 'norm' is pretty arbitrary. My most recent test had those (as well as cholesterol and everything else) in an improved position. Yet even though my T level is stupidly high and estradiol less than I'd like I'm still getting reasonable development-go figure!

[Bobby Anne]

I've been tkinking long and hard for a few years now about getting on hormones and going as far as I can with the male to female transition without any surgery. It seems like the more I read the more confused I get. What hormones should I take and how much? I need some advice. I know I need two kinds it seems one to block my male hormones and another to introduce the female ones right?

Don't play with your body chemistry with or without a doctor. I know many who have had the SRS and are no more happier than before. It's a tragic situation I know. The SRS road is a long hard road of no return.

[Maggie Kay]

When I was referring to baseline levels, it was of the hormones not basic health levels. She is monitoring that carefully. I had blood drawn yesterday for tests. I had a blood panel done a couple years ago too and there was no hint of liver problems.

Bobby Anne,
Are you telling us that in your experience, SRS is not helpful? The transwomen that I know say it is and that after transition, most go on to live normal lives. The statistics that I read were that 95% plus are relieved. If you read the posts here too the post ops also say that they are happier. I rather doubt that people would put themselves through all these irreversible life changing things only to find no relief. What alternative do we have? Or are you saying that all there is to look forward to is misery no matter what?

[Nicki B]

Sounds like it's an opportune moment that this thread (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75734) is posted...

[Kieron Andrew]

Sounds like it's an opportune moment that this thread (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75734) is posted...
This thread was one of the reasons i posted it