Why do HRT when surgery is available?

[tgirlinva]

Like I said in my last thread, I am seriously thinking of going on HRT. And after lots of research, it seems like there are so many risks to HRT, some of them irreversible, which is what my biggest fear is.

So my question to the ladies who are currently on HRT, why didn't you opt for surgery instead? What does HRT provide that surgery doesn't? I guess surgery may be more expensive at a single moment, but in the long run, it'll be cheaper, no?

[Cai]

I'm not on HRT, but I can answer your question if I'm not out of line.

The reason to go on HRT is most definitely not just about breasts. Hormones change lots of things about your body - fat distribution is a big one, and so is mental state for many people. On estrogen, your face can soften, and your body hair often grows much more slowly.

Breast augmentation has none of those advantages, is much more dangerous (any kind of surgery where they have to put you completely out has serious risks), and requires a larger monetary investment up front. (Even if hormones are more expensive in the long rung, which I don't know if they are, a lot of people can't afford to put up enough money for surgery all at once.)

[Sharon]

Cai explained it very well, but I just want to add one more bit of information. Even after surgery, it is necessary to continue taking hormones. You willl not produce testosterone anymore, but neither will you produce any more estrogen than you are now, which I assume is very little.

[Alan]

Surgery does one thing. And it can't do jack about your estrogen levels.

HRT does something else. You can no more use surgery to replace HRT than you can a cardiac bypass surgery to replace taking beta blockers. If that's what I'm looking for...

[Ásfríðr]

yes exactly. i want to do HRT before i have any kind of surgery, beyond the fat distribution and softening of the skin (breasts if you're lucky) its that surgery is really cosmetic. HRT is chemically changing your biology, your internal environment, making it female. the way your hormones affect your brain and chemical cycles within, your blood sugar, your external appearence (to an extent) whether its testosterone or oestrogen; you can have the right one.
HRT to homeostatically imitate a female body, surgery to remove the nasty bits

[GypsyKaren]

My main reason for HRT was to get the right blood in my body, everything else is a bonus.

Karen Starlene :star:

[CaptLex]

Some of us will never be able to have the proper surgery, but even if we did, the hormones are what really get the mental gears working right - the surgery is to help tell the story to the rest of the world.

[tgirlinva]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are truly a transexual, aren't you supposed to already think like a woman? It's what it is, you're a woman trapped inside a man's body. the HRT will harmonize the physical with the mental. I don't know...but I already think/act/feel like a woman. And I guess being Asian already has some advantages like relative smoothness and feminine features....

[Sharon]

It really amazes me that some people do so little research when contemplating something as serious as SRS. Heck, if a doctor prescribes me an antibiotic or pain killer, the first thing I do is Google it to find out everything there is to know about it. Shouldn't SRS be taken at least as seriously?

Hormones have absolutely zero effect on how you perceive yourself, at least as far as gender identification is concerned.

Seriously now, do yourself a huge favor and do as much reading as you can on this. Hormones are about much more than breasts.

[Cai]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are truly a transexual, aren't you supposed to already think like a woman? It's what it is, you're a woman trapped inside a man's body. the HRT will harmonize the physical with the mental. I don't know...but I already think/act/feel like a woman. And I guess being Asian already has some advantages like relative smoothness and feminine features....

If you are a transsexual woman, then you're a woman with or without hormones, yes. In the same way that I'm a man with or without hormones. I don't believe that there's a way women think, as distinct from the way men think, as distinct from the way non-binary ID'ed people think. Your mind is your mind - if you identify as a woman, then your thoughts are a woman's thoughts.

HRT will affect brain chemistry, yes, but you're still the same person as before.

However, this doesn't mean that nothing else changes. It can affect your moods or your reactions to events. Many trans people notice that their moods are calmer and steadier once they have the right hormones, be it T or E, in their body. Stress levels drop, and people become less depressed.
HRT causes a myriad of physical changes. As has been listed, it can change your fat distribution, risk for heart disease, voice (on T), muscle mass, and along with all that, also cause breast growth.

There's lots of reasons for HRT that surgery doesn't provide.

[Kimberley]

Thank you Sharon, I was trying to find the words to say it politely...

[CaptLex]

There's lots of reasons for HRT that surgery doesn't provide.
That was a well thought-out, well said explanation, Cai . . . I hope it cuts through the fog. :thumbsup:

[Priss]

SRS and HRT, work together. While one could go and have SRS done without HRT, one will still need to take some sort of hormone afterwards due to the lack of hormone producing organs... Think of it like going into menopause. Without the hormones, one will suffer all of the problems associated with it, such as loss of calcium from the bones etc...

Apart from that, HRT allows us to experience more of what goes on in the body of someone born female. We may never be able to get the full experience, but we can get as close to it as we can. Like being born black in the US, being born female generally speaking puts one behind the eight ball. Boys and girls are generally raised differently for example, and those differences are usually forced upon them conciously or unconciously. Baby girls are often dressed in pink, while boys are in blue from the get go. Girls are given dolls and tea sets to play with and are told to stay in their place, while boys are given trucks and guns and usually allowed to be quite a bit more violent... The differences go on and on and for us, there's just no way to get the full experience of it. No matter how stealth one can go, there will always be that little bit that we can never know. That does not diminish us in what we are, or our own life experiences, but it does nag a bit.

I've been on HRT now since mid 1990, had SRS in late 2000 (It was my Christmas present that year...). It's been that long, and I can't imagine any reason I'd want to stop taking that maintenance dose that Iam on now. I suppose that someday if there are some sort of health complications maybe, but it will be under a doctor's care and advice. For now, I like the continuing effects of it and my body needs it.

[Scotty]

HRT has added fat to my butt, even OFF HRT I still have that fat that I only had after puberty - no more bony butt!!!
I have small breasts that are my OWN, no worries of the plastic breaking - no SCARS either.....they are real.

But it did far more than physical for me, it mellowed me out, allowed me to express my femme side more and not fear it and it DID shape my entire body.

While I've lost quite a bit of weight, some of those features stayed with me for sure, breasts, hips, and butt. Thighs are more like a bicycle rider again but when I gain a few pounds they get curvy...

I still have soft hair, and since I've grown my real hair back out - OMG is it far softer than it EVER was as a guy.....

It's a state of being, not just a physical appearance.

[Genifer Teal]

it seems like there are so many risks to HRT, some of them irreversible, which is what my biggest fear is.


IMHO It does not sound like HRT (or surgery) is for you.

Our male bodies will never produce estrogen on its own - surgery or not. Surgery will end the production of testosterone. YOu will no longer need T-blockers but Estrogen supplement will be needed for the rest of your life. Depending on the person Vagioplasty may or may not be important. It is expensive and requires effort to maintain and is not the perfect solution some think it is. In many cases an orchiectomy will remove the T in a satisfactory way.

Gen

[AngharadD]

Our male bodies will never produce estrogen on its own - surgery or not. Surgery will end the production of testosterone. YOu will no longer need T-blockers but Estrogen supplement will be needed for the rest of your life.

*cough* actually everyone produces all three (four if you count dht separately)

Also, for the OP, there is a lot of FUD being put out about HRT - as with secondary effects for any set of meds, the side-effects listed are always whatever has happened during tests no matter how unlikely (or that the person had starting health risks, as is often the case with hrt studies).

Surgery provides imperfect options and requires finances/willingness to go through patient abuse I may never have (other issues regarding surgery for me would be a lenghthy and boring piece), would not have reduced the fluff on my body, would not have changed my body shape, would not have changed my skin tone, would not have reduced the unsightly shoulder and neck muscles, would not have helped make the fun nerves more sensitive (and more nerves fun), would not have restored my libido to its teen levels...

(Ohaithar, btw)

[Genifer Teal]

*cough* actually everyone produces all three (four if you count dht separately)


Why say it so small? I almost missed it. Thanks for the correction. I guess I more correctly should have said we (a male) would never produce enough estrogen on our own without supplement?

Gen

[Valeria]

I guess I more correctly should have said we (a male) would never produce enough estrogen on our own without supplement?
Well, I wouldn't personally go with that phrasing either, seeing as how I'm not male.

I'd just say that a woman born without ovaries isn't going to produce enough estrogen without supplementation. In fact, a female (or male) who does not (for whatever reason) have an organ to produce a primary sex hormone is likely to be short on at least one of the major sex hormones. As a female with no ovaries, I require estradiol (estrogen), progesterone, *and* testosterone supplementation to achieve ideal levels.

[Genifer Teal]

Well, I wouldn't personally go with that phrasing either, seeing as how I'm not male.

That is not the point in question. Say it however you want.

[Cai]

That is not the point in question. Say it however you want.

Well, Kehleyr's making a good point. She's not male. I may be female-bodied, and produce the respective hormones, but I'm certainly not female.

[Genifer Teal]

So my question to the ladies who are currently on HRT, why didn't you opt for surgery instead? What does HRT provide that surgery doesn't?

I get what you are saying. I didn't mean to step on any toes. We could write a book (or at least another thread) about what gender we truely are.

I think the point relative to this discussion is that male or female perhaps we produce similar hormones just in different levels. Surgery may reduce the production of some but probably not increase the production of others. Therefore, some form of HRT will be rquired even with surgery. The surgery should however eliminate the need for blockers.

Gen

[helenr]

Excellent topic as it has generated thoughtful remarks. I hesitate to disagree with anything Sharon says as clearly she is extremely knowledgeable, if a bit sharp at times. I have personally observed the benefits of daily spiro (anti androgen) medication. When Sharon says, to wit, that hormones have no effect on how you perceive yourself-I would comment that if testosterone in its many complex forms has been a trigger to lead to sex preoccupation,time wasted on crossdressing, etc. the anti androgen definitely quiets this drive.Kind of takes the 'fun' associated with fetish behavior, but there are always tradeoffs. I would love to hear how an anti androgen drug works to calm this behavior and not, I understand, rob one of the physical health benefits of T. I think Spiro helps with prostate issues, but I don't know this for sure.
While I would love to have an orchi to rid my body of T, I sense that it would need to be replaced with estrogen to keep healthy bones. For those of us who aren't prepared to present as women, this poses a dilemma. While nothing dramatic, my tubular breasts courtesy , I believe, of the spiro present a slight social problem (we've all heard the crude remark about 'tits on a bull'), I fear no T and E Rx would grow breasts that would be hard to conceal. I don't want osteoporisis and everyone should fear this risk.
So, a moderate (200 mg of Spiro a day) dose for someone in good health (I am 61 and in excellent health) keeps my blood pressure at a desired level, I am not thinking about sex , I feel calmer, see some modest de-masculination-less body hair, less apparent male body odor,etc. I think I feel more 'female like' in my perception of matters with less T affecting my brain. if I may dare to claim any knowledge of what a woman feels. That is just my experience. Sorry for the long reply. good luck to all. helen

[valenstein]

I would love to hear how an anti androgen drug works to calm this behavior and not, I understand, rob one of the physical health benefits of T. I think Spiro helps with prostate issues, but I don't know this for sure.


I am curious also. I do not take hormones, but I've been thinking about taking Propecia to stop a hairline that's starting to march off. I'm wondering if it will affect my crossdressing, sex drive, mindset? I am often asked if I am transsexual, saying yes implies one thing, saying I'm a crossdresser implies another. I almost want to say, yes I am transsexual, even though I have no plans on taking hormones or having surgery. My head says I'm female, but since I don't judge another person's gender by their "parts", there's no reason I can't have the body I have and be female. Or maybe I'm completely male, but just don't dig a lot of stuff that males are 'supposed" to like.