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[GIA LOVES RON]

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[justatransgirl]

GIA - DO NOT TAKE "PERLUTAL"

IT IS A FEMALE CONTRACEPTIVE AND IS NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF HORMONE FOR TRANSSEXUALS.

FASTER IS NOT BETTER.

No matter what you do it's going to take you about 3 years to see most development, and up to 6 or 7 years total. JUST LIKE A GIRL. A girl goes into puberty when she's around 11 and has full development around age 18-20.

That's the rule of evolution period, end of story nothing you do will change it and too much too soon will only cause your body to reject the changes.

I know this is so hard to hear when you first start out and want so bad to have it all right now, and the old gals tell you to be patient.

Well my partner Jessica is 2 1/2 years on hormones and TS's can't tell she's trans. So PLEASE BE PATIENT.

Yes, I know permarin and estrodiol are also used for contraception but they are for hormone REPLACEMENT and are the usual hormones used for transsexual development of secondary female characteristicts (boobs). There are all kinds of screwball drugs out there that people take, but if you stick to the tested regiemes you won't usually go too far wrong.

Are you under the care of an endocrinologist? I know many of the girls on here go it alone - with little or no information other than they glean from the internet or other girls. This is the wrong way to go.

If you are near a big city there may be low cost clinics available to assist. Here in San Diego there is a hormone clinic that charges $20 for an appointment vs an average $100-150 for a private doctor.

To take female hormones safely and effectively it's best if you can do a kidney and liver function and test to establish a baseline, then monitor levels once or twice a year. Without monitoring blood levels (estrogen, prolactin, testosterone) there is no way to know whether you are getting the right amount of hormones. Also sprio causes potasium to build up and that needs to be monitored yearly.

If you are taking too little you are wasting your time, if you take too much you are wasting your money and possibly harming your body. the only way to know for sure is to look at the numbers.

There are counterfit hormones out there - and unless you monitor blood levels you may just think they aren't working.

I take:
200mg spiro
2.5 mg Premarin
and 10 mg of Estradiol Valerate IM weekly (40mg.mo)

My body seems to like Premarin, but for someone else to take Premarin plus another estrogen is possibly a waste of money. Either take the premarin or take the estrogen, not both.

In your case dear you may be better off to take 5 mg Premarin and that's it.

Jessica takes
200mg spiro
6 mg Estrofem orally (Estrodiol) daily.

What works for us may not work for you. Without a blood test you will not know. Also - don't make regieme changes any quicker than once every 3 months. And don't change more than one drug at a time or you won't know what is going on for sure.

Please be safe if you self medicate, and remember the kidneys you destroy today you may need in 20 years...

Hugs,
TS Jamie

[GIA LOVES RON]

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[tsntx]

taking birth control and too many hormones at once will do NOTHING for you... your body will just pee it out... if youre really seeing a dr. then ask him your questions... he will know better then the self-medicating women here and the girls you may know in person or elsewhere that say "take this" or "take that"

not talking about jamie or anyone else in particular im just saying she should talk to a dr. vs. assuming what one person does will work for her.

[SarahG]

Also, just because a doctor is a doctor doesn't mean they know what they are doing. I have met alot of doctors who would write me a slip for just about anything I wanted so long it wasn't like a painkiller that people abuse/sell/etc.

Don't be afraid to get second opinions if you feel the urge to do so or question your doctor's abilities. You should always feel comfortable and confident with your doctors!

[justatransgirl]

Hi Gia

It sounds like you are doing things right. I understand the desire to hurry things up. The first year totaly sucks, especially the first 3- 6 months. You want boobies so bad, and it just seems to take forever.

1) OK, my story. I "experimented" with hormones without supervision several times in the 10 years proceeding my transition. I probably didn't do my body any good. I took premarin from TJ for a couple of months on several occasions. My boobies would begin to develop and would get sensitive. I'd feel a little tissue behind my nipple and get scared someone would find out and I'd quit after a month or two.

When I finally transitioned permenantly 3 years ago. My breasts never really got painfull, though they are sensitive to impact. Jessica's however are still very sensitive. The initial growth pain will generally go away after about 6 months, but they will be sensitive to touch and impact.

It affects each person differently. If they hurt you know they are growing! No pain no gain! :-)

You should see growth begin with 3 months, it should be well underway by 6 months (this doesn't mean you will have DD's by then...) and between 18 and 24 months you will probably notice better definition, a rounding of the breasts, as well as other changes.

If you want implants I think the general consensus is to wait about 2 years. I know it seems like forever. Hang in there.

2) Oh absolutely. My skin is soften and thinner. As a younger person you probably won't notice any thinning. Your facial features will soften. The difference in my face before and now is amazing. And especially Jessica.

3) Premarin dosage. I was originally taking 5 mg and 2 mg of Estradiol orally per day. But after about 6 months my first doctor suggested I switch to only Estardiol Valerate IM. It's cheaper and many drs consider it the best way to go. But I felt my breasts were shrinking so after 6 months she put me back on Premarin at 2.5 mg just to give a little boost.

It seems to work since I'm a large B, almost pushing into a C now. Far more than I ever expected at my age.

If you were going to add hormones I would say go up to 5mg / dy of Premarin. BUT - as I said before you want to match what your blood tsts say. If you only need 3.5 to maintain a Prolactin level of around 13 -15 and Estradiol around 150-250 AND you are getting acceptable results, save the money. Some people need more some need less.

4) I'm sorry, Jessica has been taking 2.5 also. But we are actually getting a new blood test this week, and based upon that we may both once again either reduce or stop Premarin entirely, as between us it costs us like $100 a month and I don't really think it's good for our bodies long term.

Your doctor is probably starting you off at a 3.5mg to 1) be sure you don't have an adverse reaction, some people do. And 2) to be able to get a bell curve on the blood levels. He will probably do another blood test in 3 to 6 months then adjust you accordingly.

Just watch your body, and like flying an airplane at night, trust the instruments (and your doctor) listen to your body.

Hugs,
TS Jamie

[justatransgirl]

PS Girls - "tsntx" is correct in her comments - what I take or what other web sites recommend is not necessairly what someone else should take.

My partner and I do have an Endo, possibly my posts didn't clarify that. For one thing to take Estrodiol Valerate (my preference) you have to have a prescription. It is only available thru compounding pharmacies which will make it specifially for you. You can't get it on the internet, and what you can get is the wrong stuff.

Now that we are going on 3 years on hormones we only see the Endo once a year to renew prescriptions. We used to take blood test every 3 months, now we do it about every 6 months. We are due, it's been about 7 or 8 months now. We do ours in Tijuana because it's cheaper, plus the lab e-mails our results the same or next day. Can't get that in the states!

I can read the values, so as long as nothing is highly out of whack there's no reason to incurr an Endo bill other than once a year.

But - do as I say, not as I do....

Hugs,
TS Jamie

[GIA LOVES RON]

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[Vicki Richter]

I just recently started my hormone therapy. I have been doing it for almost two months and few weeks now. I am currently taking PREMARIN in (3.75mg) dosage per day and (150mg) spironolactone per day as well. But now, I want to add an injectable hormone named "PERLUTAL" with the current medication that I am on. Now here's my question, do you think it is safe for me to add the injectable ones with the ones that I am already taking??? Or is it just useless for me to do that? or probably it is just a way for me to please myself by thinking that if I add another kind of hormone, I would think that it would give me results faster...FELLOW TRANSEXUAL WOMEN OUT THERE, please help me with my decision.

From my experience, injectables shouldn't interfere negatively with the oral meds in any way. You are taking a nice, relatively low dose of Premarin and a very good spiro dose which will be very effective. Really, only oral pills damage your internals significantly. I am not familiar with Perlutal, but I know many girls who only take injectable hormones and no pills with great results.

[Vicki Richter]

Also, just because a doctor is a doctor doesn't mean they know what they are doing. I have met alot of doctors who would write me a slip for just about anything I wanted so long it wasn't like a painkiller that people abuse/sell/etc.

Don't be afraid to get second opinions if you feel the urge to do so or question your doctor's abilities. You should always feel comfortable and confident with your doctors!

This is 100% true. My doctor gives me anything I ask for when it comes to HRT. I make him very uncomfortable.

There isn't a hormone specialist in every single city for TS women. There are some who may claim to be, but then why do their prescriptions vary so dramatically with no research. Yes I said dramatically because the doses and drugs can be significantly different from doctor to doctor. I am sorry, but I believe that advice from other transsexual women is way better than anything you would get from a doctors office.

There are TS women who have been taking hormones for years with regular check ups and they know the levels that are dangerous, etc... TS typically do research on this topic much more than your typical doctor. I have had 3-4 doctors and not one has said, "Oh let me check with some people and get back to you".

I have taken pills now for over 7 years... Not too smart really, but I have felt them necessary. If I had it to do over again, I would probably not change too much... perhaps get an orchi a few years ago. Perhaps switch to all injectables a few years a go.

[tsntx]

PS Girls - "tsntx" is correct in her comments - what I take or what other web sites recommend is not necessairly what someone else should take.

My partner and I do have an Endo, possibly my posts didn't clarify that. For one thing to take Estrodiol Valerate (my preference) you have to have a prescription. It is only available thru compounding pharmacies which will make it specifially for you. You can't get it on the internet, and what you can get is the wrong stuff.

Now that we are going on 3 years on hormones we only see the Endo once a year to renew prescriptions. We used to take blood test every 3 months, now we do it about every 6 months. We are due, it's been about 7 or 8 months now. We do ours in Tijuana because it's cheaper, plus the lab e-mails our results the same or next day. Can't get that in the states!

I can read the values, so as long as nothing is highly out of whack there's no reason to incurr an Endo bill other than once a year.

But - do as I say, not as I do....

Hugs,
TS Jamie

just to reitterate... i wasnt singling you out and i felt it was clear you were seeing an endo... i was more referring to girls on here that have never seen a doctor and have never had the blood work done and get some tranny friend to shoot 'em full of birth control... hormones can really really mess you up if you dont know what youre doing or the person giving them doesnt either... and sarah is totally right about doctors not always knowing... the first endo i went to asked me "so what would you like?" i simply replied "a doctor that knows what hes doing" and i left.

[Caleigh]

i've used a few doctors in a few different cities over the years and the one common factor was that the ones that seemed to know what they were doing didn't just prescribe something and leave it at that. they waited a few months for my blood chemistry to stabilize and then they did a new set of tests aiming for my blood to have similar hormone makeup to a woman of my age etc. it seems to me that the greatest variation is in how much spiro you need to counter your androgen production and how many estrogen receptors you have on your cells, which determines how well you will "absorb" estrogens. i have been on 100mg spiro since the beginning and was on premarin earlier but am now on estradiol .8mg knowledge is power, do some research yourself and also look yourself at your test results, most labs will have indicated on the test results what is normal range.

best of luck and congratulations :)

[whatislove]

It's hard to overestimate how much variability there is on how different people will respond with HRT. (cue speech about unique little snowflake)

You can ask transgirls what works for them, but without an identical twin, you really don't know what will be best for you.

Just in general, I wouldn't do anything without having baseline bloodtesting before HRT.

(not trans but that's basic solid advice)

[SarahG]

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[GIA LOVES RON]

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[GIA LOVES RON]

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[GIA LOVES RON]

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[mbf]

I am sorry, but I believe that advice from other transsexual women is way better than anything you would get from a doctors office.

There are TS women who have been taking hormones for years with regular check ups and they know the levels that are dangerous, etc... TS typically do research on this topic much more than your typical doctor. I have had 3-4 doctors and not one has said, "Oh let me check with some people and get back to you".

I completely agree. Granted I wasn't on DIY for very long (maybe half a year) but I must have been doing something correct as I haven't had to have my dosages adjusted at all over the years. My gps have me do bloodwork at least once a year and my levels have been perfect since day1.

I know some boards more than others are especially "anti-diy" but I think its a viable option for people willing to do their homework about it. And just because someone is diy doesn't mean they're not getting bloodwork done. I know girls that pay out of pocket to have labs do the work for them and know enough to tell if things need to be adjusted from there.

What is DIY? sorry I dont what that means?

D: Do
I: it
Y: yourself

an expression used in many fields of human activity for everything done by oneself

[SarahG]

I am sorry, but I believe that advice from other transsexual women is way better than anything you would get from a doctors office.

There are TS women who have been taking hormones for years with regular check ups and they know the levels that are dangerous, etc... TS typically do research on this topic much more than your typical doctor. I have had 3-4 doctors and not one has said, "Oh let me check with some people and get back to you".

I completely agree. Granted I wasn't on DIY for very long (maybe half a year) but I must have been doing something correct as I haven't had to have my dosages adjusted at all over the years. My gps have me do bloodwork at least once a year and my levels have been perfect since day1.

I know some boards more than others are especially "anti-diy" but I think its a viable option for people willing to do their homework about it. And just because someone is diy doesn't mean they're not getting bloodwork done. I know girls that pay out of pocket to have labs do the work for them and know enough to tell if things need to be adjusted from there.

What is DIY? sorry I dont what that means?

D: Do
I: it
Y: yourself

an expression used in many fields of human activity for everything done by oneself

Exactly.

Basically it is when you get your drugs either online, from the blackmarket, whatever and control how much you take, when you take it, etc without necessarily any doctors being part of the picture.

The newest SoC allows for hrt prescriptions after at least 3 months of DIY

[GIA LOVES RON]

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[GIA LOVES RON]

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[Vicki Richter]

Thank you very much Vicky for sharing your knowledge about this things. I am just starting my transition so that's why I ask so many questions about how to go by my HRT. Hearing this facts from transsexuals who have been in hormone therapy for quite sometime just like yourself is a very big deal to me since you know what's your pros and cons. As for me I am still very ignorant about this things but I do research about hormone therapy in the internet especially the HARRY BENJAMIN STANDARDS OF CARE. So I think little things here and there can actually give me more knowledge about this stuff. Eventhough I am under the proper care of my hormone therapist, I just don't think they know about how a transexual feel about this sensitive matter. Because if I am going to transition, I strongly do want to transition the right and the most safest way. Because in the long run, eventhough I feel beautiful from the outside, medically I could have complications with it in long term use. So do you think it would be wise for me to ask my therapist to put me in an injection way of acquring hormones or just stick with the pills?

But thank you for your wonderful insight about this situation of mine.
God Bless.

Sincerely,
GIA :D

Yes I would absolutely ask your therapist about injections. At least get the breakdown, costs, etc. I don't think there are a lot of downside to the injectables.