[wee2er]

Hi CM213,

Don't let the b@@@@rs grind you down...

I have been mixing women's & men's clothing since my teen years (oh my seems like a life time ago LOL). My words of wisdom is go for stretchy material which you can get in all styles - leggings, skirts, tops, jumpers etc. It took me years and lots of errors to realise what best fits me are:
Bottoms - UK12 (leggings UK10)
Tops, shirts, blouses etc - UK16 (& some makes like H&M UK18)
T-shirts (semi stretchy / lose) - UK16

It's really a bit of trial and error I'm afraid as all the manufacturers have different ideas of what x-size is.

I'd try Gap / Old Navy, I'm sure I've read somewhere that they extended / larger sizes, then I'd try thrift stores, you never know what gems you find

Hope that helps and good luck xx

[CM213]

Thanks for the advice.

[CM213]

My wife and I had a talk last night. I expressed that I wanted to start the estrogen and see how it goes.

I feel like we're both in limbo until I start actually trying things and seeing how they help or dont help me. See agreed, but still has her concerns and reservations about her husband taking female hormones (which is completely understandable)

It wasn't a bad conversation at all, calm and collected. Didn't turn into an argument or anything.

It's just difficult as I'm sure you all know and have your own stories and experiences dealing with your spouse/family. Her and I both hate that it's looking like a choice of self discovery and figuring out who I really am and potentially losing her and our family and life (depending on how far I feel I need to transition) or not and just go back in the closet and try to live as close to a "normal" life as we can.

She understands my point of view, and I understand hers. She fully supports me in anything I feel I need to do, but depending on what it is and how far I feel I need to go she will still support me but no longer as my wife, and just a friend. So once again she has pointed out that she can't go on this journey with me as my spouse depending on how far I feel I need to go.

All that being said, after our talk we decided and agreed that the sooner I start estrogen the sooner we will have more of an idea of what direction our future will go.

I will start and take my first dose of estrogen the first week of Dec. I will finish out the month of November on Spiro alone and then add in Spiro sometime during the first week of Dec.

To be continued...

[CM213]

As the day is getting closer and closer for me to take my first dose of estrogen i find myself getting anxious and excited about finally trying it.

Realistically I know there probably won't be much of a difference from taking the first dose of estrogen (but who knows).

What can I expect from my first shot of estrogen?

I honestly expect it will be like any other day. Nothing crazy or spectacular what so ever. Just the hassle of administering a shot of estrogen on myself, and being relieved once it's over and it went smooth (as in muscle didn't cramp up or not hitting a knot in the muscle etc lol), but other than the physical act of taking a shot I don't foresee anything special or feeling/noticing anything different. 

I know physical changes won't happen quickly, I don't individuals who have been on prescription t blockers for a year prob would not see any much from their first dose. 

I know I may or may not have mental changes from the first dose (mood, attitude, etc), however I know there can be a sense of relief for finally taking that step, but I don't feel that would be a direct effect from the estrogen just the act itself.

I don't really have any expectations other than the needle will pinch and I might be sore in the injection spot afterwards. Lol.

Even when I was using testosterone I usually didn't notice anything for at least a week or two specifically for mood, attitude, shorter temper and mental changes.

Are there any adverse reactions I should be looking for that would suggest my body and estrogen don't like interacting with one another lol..like an allergic reaction to the medication? I have heard some people (rare) have had almost life threatening issues from starting HRT (again rare)

If you can remember the time when you took your very first dose of estrogen, how you felt, if you noticed anything from it the same day, next day, with in the first week etc. 

I will be starting at 10mg of EV every other week. I will have been on Spiro for a month at 100mg a day. 

I plan to cease all NBE once I start E to let hrt do it's thing on it's own till we find the optimal dose for me, which I will then re introduce nbe slowly, and prob won't go to what is concerned the normal doses for nbe.

[Csquared]

What can I expect from my first shot of estrogen?

Instant relief.  The "first" anything is the beginning or start.  So the anticipation and buildup of fear, dread, anxiety....all the negative emotional responses that occur when you have to wait, they are gone in that moment.  Not to say you won't have plenty of other emotions to replace those with, lol!  But you will have some relief, however temporary, from simply starting.


If you can remember the time when you took your very first dose of estrogen, how you felt, if you noticed anything from it the same day, next day, with in the first week etc. 

A couple of weeks, maybe longer, and you will notice very subtle changes to everything.  Emotions, behaviors, attitude, SMELL????!!!!!, being tired, etc....  They are very small incremental changes.  What's more easily noticed, IMHO, is what happens if you miss a shot or have to stop for some reason.  You will absolutely crave E, kinda like a junkie.  LOL.  Other than that my boobs were very tender after my second injection, and despite minimal growth, are still very tender months later.

Other than that, you probably won't experience too much and the amount of spiro you're on is pretty standard.  Same dosage for me.  So, congrats to you!!!!  

[wee2er]

My first time sticking a needle in my buttocks was the initial OMG I'm going to stick a needle in me, to oh was that it!
Basically, a non-issue LOL
I didnt feel anything was happening for the first few weeks, I understand it takes about a month to kick in.
Good luck with the injections.

[CM213]

I figured I would take my measurements again before starting estrogen. My starting stats are (taken aug 31st 2024):

Height 5"8

Weight 193.8

Waist (1 inch above bellybutton) 33.7in

Waist (where my pants normal sit) 34.5

Bust 44in

Under bust 40in

Hips (across my hip bone) 35in

Hips (around fullest part to include my butt) 38.5

Thighs/quads 22in

Calves 14.5 in

Shoulders (measured around outside of my shoulder chest and back, Not across the front shoulder to shoulder. ) 51in

Biceps 16in

Fore
arms 11 in

Neck 15.5 in

My current stats are :

Height 5"8

Weight 189.9 lbs

Waist (1 inch above bellybutton) 35

Waist (where my pants normal sit) 36

Bust 45

Under bust 41

Hips (across my hip bone) 37

Hips (around fullest part to include my butt) 40

Thighs/quads 22.5

Calves 14.5 in

Shoulders (measured around outside of my shoulder chest and back, Not across the front shoulder to shoulder. ) 51.5

Biceps 16.5

Forearms 11 in

Neck 15.5 in


So I have increased in my waist, hips while actually losing weight. The half an inch increase here or there I am not really counting since it could just be a fluctuation from day to day.  I'm kind of dumbfounded that I gained 3 inches around my butt and 2 inches around my waist while actually loosing weight. Not sure how since I'm pretty strict on my meal prep and I'm getting 40-60 min of cardio on the stair Master 5 days a week. So the bo is def changing my lower body. I have not seen or felt any changes in terms of breast growth so far. 

These are all from only being on b.o, Reshi, MSM, and spiro.

Soon I will be adding in estrogen, so I will be stopping all NBE for the time being until my DR and I find the right dose and frequency of hrt for me. Then I will add things back in slowly if I feel I need or want them. I may keep Reshi and msm in the mix but at the rec dose on the bottle for general health reasons not nbe goals.

[Heaven's Night]

You're really thorough with measurements, that's awesome, keep at it, you'll thank yourself later. Another great idea is to start a diary in which you'll mark down every HRT dose, every NBE item and everything you've done with your transition. Believe me, this will come in handy endless times later down the road. One of the best things I did with transition was to start a diary to mark down every tiniest detail of it all.

[CM213]

That's a great idea. I figured that was something I should def start doing, as well as progress pictures. But I'm hesitant about recording everything as well especially with my wife and her lack of privacy towards me and this topic, I'd just be giving her things to fight with me about if she found and went through it all.

[CM213]

I'm just surprised as to my waist and hips have gained 2 inches, and im trying to stay to a strict meal prep plan and trying to increase my cardio length and intensity each week. All while slowly losing weight. 

I'm torn between staying on Bo while starting E, or stopping and letting the HRT do its thing and then re introduce nbe later. 

I'm not sure if this is from Bo or just not being on male hormones since April and my body metabolism has changed. Who knows... 

It's weird bc I gained two inches on my waist and hips, but my pants are looser around my waist and about the same around my butt/hips. So I don't know. And I'm still in the same size pants as I would normally wear.