Trying hard to trust the process, and while I have seen other expected changes in skin, hair, and mood, I am getting anxious that nothing is happening under my shirt. I had some minor sensitivity within the first two weeks, but never anything painful.

This Friday will be 6 weeks on HRT. 2mg Est, 4mg Prog, 200mg Spiro daily.

Edit: thanks for talking me off the cliff everyone, I’m much less anxious now 😅

  • flashpanda@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    3 months ago

    This stuff comes in waves. I have been on hrt for close to five years at this point and I remember the first year, almost no breast growth. Year two, bit of a boom. Then very little growth but year 4 has been like 2-3 cups. Everyone’s body is different. I would definitely make sure your doc is checking on your blood work cause I know for me, my T didn’t get to an appropriate level till I hit the year and a half mark. And that T level can really slow down your progress.

    • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      oof, your T suppression should not have taken a year and a half to occur. With sufficient estrogen levels it should happen rather rapidly. My testosterone and estrogen were both in cis-female levels by the time I did my next blood work two months later.

      I wonder what your E levels were as your T failed to reduce (I’m going to guess they were too low) 🤔 Were you on spiro?

      • flashpanda@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        My T levels started really high (my T levels were higher than that of a teenager while I was 26), by the time I got my T levels to a proper level I was up to 300mg of Spiro (and on estrogen patches) and went into a sodium deficiency. After that I actually got to switch to Lupron which was great. Now I’m back on Spiro but only 50mg and my T levels are still at an appropriate level. I am also on injectable estrogen which I have found to be much better than patches. My doctors didn’t want to put me on pill form estrogen due to concerns for liver health.

        • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          Just so you know, spiro does not meaningfully change blood T levels, it is a weak androgen receptor antagonist, so it (rather poorly / partially) blocks androgen receptors in your body from using the T in your blood.

          The main thing that would be stopping your body from producing T is having enough estrogen in your body, which tells your brain you have enough sex hormones and it can stop producing T.

          Lupron basically does this more directly: it tells the brain to stop sex hormone production.

          Lupron is really great, it should be covered for all pre-op trans people, even adults. It’s a safer and more direct medicine, and the only reason it isn’t used for adults is because insurance companies don’t want to pay for it.

          So Lupron would definitely tank your T levels, but I suspect the injectable estrogen was much better at keeping your blood E levels elevated, which is probably why your T levels haven’t come back.

          Patches are better than oral in terms of increasing blood E levels, but you still don’t absorb a lot of it, and it can be uneven especially compared to injections.

          So thank goodness you got Lupron and switched to injections!