[Boris]

having been taking PM for 3 years I had a break, slowly over a period of months my body shape began reverting to a male shape with fat loss on lower body and shrinking chest. Worst of all was that old feeling inside returning which could be suppressed for a while by dressing in female clothing.
not happy with the see-saw ride I found myself back on I decided the time had come to resume PM or something similar. So after much indecision I finally settled on hormones rather than herbals as the way forward for me for several reasons, as this would be a lifetime decision the biggest of which were taking a known substance and availability of medical support / monitoring.
So it's coming up to 2 months now, physical changes are moving almost frighteningly (at times) fast but the emotional transformation has, for me, been dramatic. Within days I was feeling "me" (more so than when taking PM). Although it's really early days, so far that settled feeling has been constant, the need to wear feminine clothes to "feel right" has gone and I can dress each morning in the way that suits.

While I would not wish to influence others to either follow or avoid the path I have chosen a I just wanted to add my thoughts.

[julieTG]

Boris

keep us informed as all valuable input

Julie

x

[WendyA]

So after much indecision I finally settled on hormones rather than herbals as the way forward for me for several reasons, as this would be a lifetime decision the biggest of which were taking a known substance and availability of medical support / monitoring.

I made the same decision for mostly the same reason. I didn't like the thought of not knowing exactly what was in the herbals or what kind of stress it caused my organs.

the emotional transformation has, for me, been dramatic. Within days I was feeling "me" (more so than when taking PM). Although it's really early days, so far that settled feeling has been constant, the need to wear feminine clothes to "feel right" has gone and I can dress each morning in the way that suits.

I too experienced this change almost immediately. It has now been 7 months. I am on 1mg of Estradiol 3 times a day. Since I'm not concerned with transitioning I stopped taking any spironolactone about 6 weeks back. The salt cravings were driving me nuts. I wanted to see if it was needed to get the mental effects I desired. So far so good.

My next appointment is the beginning of November. I anticipate either staying at 3mg E or going up to 4mg E. It is too early to tell. Right now I feel 1mg every 6 hours would be a better fit than 1mg every 8 hours. But that is 5 months away. It is also too early to tell if I will go back on spironolactone in the future, I'll see how things progress.

I lost 100 lbs and kept that off for a year prior to starting HRT. Right now I'm just concentrating on losing the last 15-20lbs and getting down into the 165-170 lb range. At 72.5 inches I think this would be a fair goal to reach and easily maintain.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[jannet.duff]

Welcome back Boris.
Yes, the craving to dress does seem to disapear significantly. ( I still like to dress, but the feeling I need to dress to feel "me" has gone.) How do you feel about the Spiro? I'm on 150mg daily, and to be honest it makes me feel sick, for an hour or so.

[Boris]

Hi All
Good to know I'm not alone.
Interesting point about the spiro, when I was researching older info I found it seemed to lean towards estrogen plus spiro but more recent info swung towards estradiol alone as it is a much stronger human form of estrogen and does the job of spiro as well.
I did plenty of reading on the TS self med yahoo group along with other sites and settled on taking 2mg estradiol twice daily.
I have not had bloods taken since starting so am unable to refute or support this, however I would say that morning errections (thankfully) became history within days. Body fat seems to be redistributed almost constantly and emotional side seems fine, so for now I'll stick with current program until doctors appointment.
Not sure about the clothes thing Janet, but like you I seem to be happier being me rather than dressing either way just trying to feel "right"

[jannet.duff]

Hi All
Good to know I'm not alone.
Interesting point about the spiro, when I was researching older info I found it seemed to lean towards estrogen plus spiro but more recent info swung towards estradiol alone as it is a much stronger human form of estrogen and does the job of spiro as well.
I did plenty of reading on the TS self med yahoo group along with other sites and settled on taking 2mg estradiol twice daily.
I have not had bloods taken since starting so am unable to refute or support this, however I would say that morning errections (thankfully) became history within days. Body fat seems to be redistributed almost constantly and emotional side seems fine, so for now I'll stick with current program until doctors appointment.
Not sure about the clothes thing Janet, but like you I seem to be happier being me rather than dressing either way just trying to feel "right"

In Canada, getting medication without a script is almost impossible. So I am down to my Dr's mercy. As usual they do not want to deviate from the text book dose. I have talked to her about upping my "E" and stopping Spiro, she almost had a heart attack, Then tells me I can do whatever I want, on my own.
At least I am on patches, equivalent to 2.5mg a day, changed every 3.5 days ... ( yeah, right. I leave them on for 7 days, so for a few days in the middle I am at 5mg, I would assume even after 7 days they are still supplying some "E". ) strangely enough, in the 5mg days, I feel like I am on a high.

[Boris]

Pretty much the same here in UK Jannet, I bought a few months supply while living in Rome without prescription.
Now I have the Italian packs taking a part pack of pills local doctors will issue a repeat prescription without fuss, but would prefer to get my own doctor on board if possible and change over to the patches like you. General opinion seems to indicate they may be a little safer.

[WendyA]

How do you feel about the Spiro? I'm on 150mg daily, and to be honest it makes me feel sick, for an hour or so.

I was up to 150mg (50mg 3 times a day) but never took it all at once. So I never had that issue. My only major side effect was an uncontrollable craving for salt items. I'm not looking to transition so my doc had no problem with me stopping spiro. Still, even if looking to fully transition they have found that 50-60% of the folks E only is enough to suppress testosterone.

[jannet.duff]

Still, even if looking to fully transition they have found that 50-60% of the folks E only is enough to suppress testosterone.

I don't suppose you could point me towards where you read that ?

[Katie]

Fascinating posts! but they make me feel almost a bit More freakish than I did before reading them as I don`t recognise much of the stuff myself.

I`m on Spiro, Fin, and SP, as well as 4mg of Estradiol Valerate (sublingual) each day for the last 3.5 months.

the anti androgens don`t make me feel bad, I loved salt anyway so that`s no biggy, and the E is just Wonderfull (and way better than any herbals I tried), but my Dressing if anything has become More Fem than ever now.
in fact I`v not been in 100% male clothes for a good couple of months, I go between Androgenous or full femme, with no all male (or even Mostly male) ever now.
and the Strange part is that I really couldn`t care less anymore (it was a Huge issue before).

when I read about folks losing their desire to dress en femme, and yet I`m more inclined to do that now, I can`t help but feel there`s some sort of diisconnect, and that there`s something wrong with me in that case?