It's been eight months since I started taking hormones and thought I was handling things pretty damn well. At a couple months in I thought my emotional changes had begun as I found myself seeing something funny and laughing with abandon, something that never happened before. But after a few of those (bordering on changing to tears) I leveled off again and figured I was seeing the new normal. Another 5 or 6 months pass and I'm in a groove. My E and T levels are where the doc wants them at this point, the weather is becoming beautiful and I'm getting out to enjoy life from time to time.

Yesterday I ran into a friend at my nail appointment and she says "Are you okay? You look a little haggard." Of course she was right.

This last week has had me crying on a regular basis, puffy red eyes, sniffles, feeling lonely, lost and tired of so many of those things that have been part of my life for years. To be honest, nothing has really changed in my world, except I'm going through a lot more tissues. Externally, life is the same this week as it was the week before and the week before that. I'm guessing it just took longer than I expected for the hormones to slowly grind away the shell I've built around my emotional core over the last 50+ years in an effort to protect that tender spot. If that's the case my questions revolve around what to expect now. Is this the new normal or will this new version of puberty eventually level off? Or will I only find out as it goes along since we are, as we all know, individuals and unique?

Is my best choice to just buckle up and keep my head, arms and heart in the ride at all times?