hormone therapy

[Francene]

As I posted earlier. I started crossdressing when i wore my sister's prom gown and since then i was into it. I admit that I am not gay. but rather I'm a straight guy who just love to dress. My sister is always there for any assistance, especially when we went out of town. lately, i entertain thoughts of having hormone therapy just to give a more enhance figure for me, but not necessarily a total change. I mean I could still be the same guy but i could have a good feminine figure if i wanto go out dressed. any advice? is there any hormone that is temporary in effect?

[Allena]

Do a web search on hormone therapy, or HRT.

There's herbal and there's HRT with prescription drugs.

Herbal is touted by some and dismissed by others.
If herbal works, it is the least potent of the two.
I tried herbs for a few months and didn't see any signs of change.
I'm not sure yet about internal changes.
I've been off them for a few weeks now.
I wasn't expecting anything happening that I could notice for several more months, but now I won't know unless I start back up again and stick with it.

I suspect a person's testosterone level may have a major part in it also.
If the T isn't blocked somehow, I suspect results won't show.
I don't believe my T was being blocked by the herbs I was taking.
I was not using someone's 'program', I searched for all the information I could find and developed my own.

The general consensus is that taking hormones for 6 months or longer will cause sterilization and possible physical changes that will be permanent to some degree.
This is a VERY general statement.

Do a LOT of research and take it slowly if you do try it.
Follow a doctor's advice if you're taking prescription meds.
I was planning on getting my hormone levels checked soon if I had stayed on the herbs.
I wanted to know if they were doing anything at all.

[Carolynn]

Hi Francene. T-blockers like Spirolactone might give you enough of a change, and it's effects are largely temporary over the short term. Be advised that it can greatly reduce your ability to have sex or even desire sex while you are taking them, and you may not be able to regain your normal activities or stamina for a month or so as it sorta builds up over time. Spiro is used as a dirutic to treat mild hypertension in lower doses, but to act as a T-blocker it is prescribed in spilt doses anywhere from 100 to 400 mg/day. The lower doses are usually used by M2F TS who are early in transition and married, and need to be able to sustain some male sexual function to maintain their relationship with their wife.

I do not know this for a fact, but I have been told that 1,000 units of black cohosh once or twice a day (an herbal that has estrogen like effects) can soften skin, make hair more fine, and cause a slight redistribution of wt. from the waist to the hips when taken over a year or so. But like I said, I don't know this for a fact, and herbals can be very dangerous and expensive in large amounts. You would likely still need a Drs. advice before starting that. Avoid any OTC or mail order offer that contains glandular powders as a major ingredient.

As far a Estrogen goes, don't even fantasize about taking that without being under a Dr.s supervision. It is not a recreational drug. Blood clots and stroke, liver damage, depression and suicidal thoughts can be the greatest dangers while taking estrogens like estridiol, but after anywhere from 3 to 6 months, effects are likely to be at least semi-permanent and that includes sterility. Don't forget, its called hormone replacement therapy, and a change in hormones (including T-blockers) can affect your perspective on lots of things. If you happen to be TS, it can be the very thing that helps align your mind and body image, and it can eliminate confusion and smooth things out. As a side effect, it kicks off a modified female puberty including gradual breast growth and body fat redistribution (and increases that body fat if you don't keep your excercise level up!). But you are not in control of how much breast tissue you grow, and you can find yourself with the same problem that a female to male TS has in trying to hide them. If you are not TS, then depression and other mental effects as well as the physical downside may make it not worth it. If its better cleavage you want, then maybe you need to look at small implants, good skin care including sun screen, and permanent hair removal instead.

There are several people on the board that have experience with partial transformation, and hopefully they will respond.

My best wishes, Carolynn

[Beauty]

Hi Francine,

Carolynn is right on target.

I'm taking a t-blocker called Androcur. I have to rely on the customs inspectors each time I order it. If they decide no, then I don't get it because it's not approved by the FDA. It's quite expensive if they were to allow it through to me.

Please listen to Carolynn's advice about estrogen and please make sure that you're under a doctor's supervision if you ever decide to take any hormones.

Beauty

[Virginia]

Please, make sure that this is the road that you wish to take!! Do the research that is necessary! There are no "over-night fixes." Diet, exercise, lots of sit-ups and a padded girdle can do wonders, but if that does not meet your requirements and you really feel that "something is missing." As Beauty said there are Doctors out there that are empathetic toward our "plight" and will be willing to guide you on your chosen path. Please keep us posted as you make this decision.
Love,
Virginia

[Absaroka]

A drug that can change the shape of your body can do an awful lot more. They are continually finding out more about how the body works and how much we don't know, and this lack of knowledge can extend to herbal medicine as well. People will say but it is natural but so is arsenic.

Have you seen any of the ads for hormones women take at menopause? They have all these serious side effects like cancer and heart disease. Hot flashes must be really awful before GGs take them......

Personally if you want a more girlish figure I would go for exercise (which makes you more attractive as a guy also and is good for your health) and padding. Silicone forms are expensive but a lot less than drugs and you can take them out of your bra whenever you want. Maybe you can do some of the "girly" exercises-most male weightlifters have bigger breasts than normal although it is mostly muscle.

Andrea

[Francene]

thanks for the advises. at least now i have siome little "enlightenments". the only reason i want to try them is that, i just want to try on wearing swimsuits, like two-piece bikinis when i go out swimming the next time. As well as to avoid the hassles of wearing too many add-ons like corsets or waist cinchers, which in countries like ours may sometimes be uncomfortable underneath a girl's dress.

[Sally]

Hi Francene,

Maybe I can pass on some of my personal experiences I've had with female hormones (Femtran patches) and spironolactone which I take daily in the form of the commercial product Aldactone.

I would cocur with what Carolynn has said, adding that my experience with herbal products is that they weren't worth the money spent and I personally know many who have tried them over the years and nobody I know has reported any marked success with them, and yes, they can be just as dangerous as any other drug if taken in the incorrect dosages. As with any of the estrogen products, more will not produce any greater or quicker effects, there is a correct dosage individually which needs to be prescribed by a qualified physician, who will then monitor progress and the need to vary the dosage according to any ill effects produced along the way.

It's not a path for everyone and also there is limited noticeable changes which result from hormone therapy. I suppose the greatest effect we experience with taking the female hormone estrogen is breast growth, but there are a lot of myths going around about what we can expect to achieve and a good guide is that the earliest we commence the therapy after completion to puberty then the greater the noticeable results.

I've read some amazing claims by people of what they've achieved in the way of bodily changes from male to female with female hormones but from my personal experience of many years with T people and from my own experience of being on a M/F hormone program for a number of years, is that apart from the breast browth there is a very limited amount of physical change which can be noticed by others. You have to be prepared for inhibited sexual activity and spontaneous erections would be a thing of the past. I'm not suggesting that the ability to obtain an erection disappears completely but the abilty to hold an erection for any sustainable length of time diminishes as this is dependable on normal testosterone levels being intact. Other physical changes which I personally experiened were very soft skin, more vigorous head hair growth, loss of the very little body hair I had, nails became very brittle and skin became very dry due to the reduction in sebaceous activity with the anti-androgens( no wonder women spend millions of dollars a year on skin creams ), breast growth which borders on B depending on my weight at the given time. I would venture to say that the psychological changes had more effect on me and those around me in the first few months after commencing the program. Some good, some not so very good. I also experienced severe leg cramps until my medics adjusted the medication and those cramps were so severe they used to drop me to the ground.

There is no superior estrogen but there is a variance in the best way to absorb the drug. If a person is over 40 years of age then the suggested preferred method is by the transdermal method (skin patches or capsule implants). This is the most expensive method but the safest as the drug is absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream thereby by-passing the liver. If taken orally the drug can effect the liver metabolism which some medics suggest heightens the chances of blood clotting. I personally haven't experienced anyone who has suffered blood clots due to hormone therapy but there is written documentation of such cases. Plus orally taking the drug can result in the liver metabolisation dispensing up to 80% of the drug from the body, thereby greatly lessening the dose acquired.

My limited advice to anyone considering commencing taking opposite sex hormones is to seek the best advice available from the best qualified people. Life is short and we only get one chance at it and although the death rate may not be high from people taking opposite sex hormones, there is plenty of documentation in medical journals of negative results, life effecting changes and unwanted outcomes experienced by people who took the hormones unsupervised by qualified people. I'm not suggesting that this is the outcome you would experience as many people don't suffer any long lasting negative effects, but what can seem wonderful now can at a later stage turn out to be the opposite. By this I mean as an example, that should you take estrogen and Spiro for an extended length of time up to 2/3/4 years then you would develop breast growth to a degree depending on your age and individual physical make up and that breast growth may at the time be most welcomed by you, but in years down the track you might change your mind due to some change in your life, but you would be stuck with around 80% of that breast growth for life even after you ceased taking the drugs.

I found that the psychological changes were much harder to deal with than the physical changes and those pyschological changes effected those around me who loved me and sometimes life was very difficult for all of us. If I hadn't been under qualified medical supervision then I wouldn't have been able to make the adjustments needed, both with the dosages and being able to cope with the changes.

If I may, I'd suggest that if you're just looking for a better feminine figure when you go out, then maybe it's better for you to cosmetically make those changes with padding, make up, clothing etc, because opposite sex hormones really are only for those committed to necessary life long changes and for reasons much more than just a temporary physical appearance, it goes much, much deeper than that, believe me.

I wish you well.

Kind Regards,

Sally.

[DonnaT]

My breasts will hang like that too, but I've never taken any hormones. It is just the fat.

Birth control pills (oral contraceptives) do not have enough estrogen (between 35 and 50 micrograms (0.035-0.050 milligrams) in them to overcome the effects of your natural testosterone.

Oral contraceptives (OCs) may contain combinations of estrogen and progestin or progestin alone. Combinations of estrogen and progestin prevent pregnancy by inhibiting the release of the hormones LH and FSH from the pituitary gland in the brain. LH and FSH play key roles in the development of the egg and preparation of the lining of the uterus for implantation of the embryo. Progestin also makes the uterine mucus that surrounds the egg more difficult for sperm to penetrate and, therefore, for fertilization to take place. In some women, progestin inhibits ovulation (release of the egg).

The liver has a filtering function and works to filter the estrogens from the pills, thus there is a possibility of liver disease being caused by taking these types of pills.

Additionally, estrogens increase the liver's ability to manufacture clotting factors. Because of this, there is a risk of stroke and/or heart attack.

The dangers of taking nonprescribed meds, such as OCs, far outweigh any benifits.