TLDR: I am on gel and had a longer than usual time between applications yesterday. I am wondering if it might have caused a mental breakdown.

Hello y'all, I have been on E gel for 2 weeks now spread twice a day, one in the morning and one before bed.

Yesterday I woke up early so I applied it around 8:30 and went to an event in the evening. It lasted a while and I ended up grabbing food and talking with a friend after so I only got home at around 3:00 so I went about 20hrs between my 2 doses.

During the evening I started being emotionally unstable. I was having a great time but the tiniest of details would make me breakdown :/

My question is whether you think this could have been from taking too long between applications?

I posted a "vent" post in another forum recently, but it's starting to become an issue. I may need actual advice.

I am 45. Been on HRT just over a year now. (That egg had a dummy thicc shell, y'all.) Happy with my progress so far. I'm in my second week of prog now (100 mg oral daily). Hoping for some of the boob rounding-out effects some people report. As can happen for those of us starting HRT late in life, my boobs do face outward a bit. Glad to have them at all! But having them fill out in the middle a little would be welcome. But hey, we get what we get!

And sure enough, since starting prog, I've felt the tenderness and aching that tends to happen when I'm in a growth phase. Maybe that's the prog, maybe I was just due for growth. They've been awfully sensitive, though.

The thing is, I don't know if it's the prog or some recent life stress or what, but I have been bursting into tears or occasionally just having mini freakouts over things that should be minor annoyances. And the brain fog is getting pretty bad. I've always had to fight my ADHD - finding workarounds, figuring out tricks to improve my focus when I needed to, etc. But lately it's just been like trying to run in beach sand, you know? A lot more effort to keep up the same pace.

It's not out of control or anything. It hasn't gotten in the way of work or caused any problems at home. But dang, it's making getting through the day a bit harder. I just feel like I'm having a lot more trouble regulating my emotions and concentrating.

And that's something that going on E actually helped for me. I mean, I have been more able to cry in general on E, but overall, I have felt more in control of myself than before I started. Maybe that was the T to E switch or maybe it was just the relief of finally doing something I knew I needed to do. But either way, this has been rough.

Do I just need to wait this out and give myself time to adjust to a new hormone. Am I just going through another weird puberty thing or something?

Oh, and speaking of puberty... That other prog side effect is apparently a thing for me, at least. Without letting this get into NSFW territory, yes, I'm also getting weirdly horny now. If I'm honest, that part isn't the worst thing. Maybe a little distracting, but...

Well, that's the thing! I'm basically sad or horny or overwhelmed or foggy-brained or some combination of the four pretty much all the time and being trans is hard sometimes!

OK. Real talk: Is this the prog? I really, really want to give prog a fair shake. I've been looking forward to trying it for a while. Glad my insurance is playing ball. My doc and I were both comfortable giving it a try at the one year mark. I'll definitely message my doc if things actually become a serious problem.

And if anyone has any advice or experience on adjusting to progesterone, please lay it on me!

ok, i guess im writing this to ask a question that realistically i know the answer to.

long story short, ive been transitioning for a little over a year using estradiol valerate injections and progesterone.

last night was injection day and i drew up the last bit of medicine of one of my vials into my syringe. i noticed it was low, and without thinking i opened a new vial and stuck the *same syringe* in to draw up the rest of my meds. i pulled slightly extra and then squee the excess into the vial.

as soon as i did it i realized i fucked up. transferring meds from one vial to the other is like a biiiggggg no no and i am scared i just wasted a fresh new vial. i feel so stupid and anxious now that i’m down one vial in a conservative state. i need to check when i can refill my prescription.

should i just throw the vial away and cut my losses? that’s what im leaning towards.

Been noticing the lymph nodes in my neck have been tender to the touch, despite not being sick. Wondering if it's a common side effect of fluid retention (like breast tenderness) or not.

Anyone else experience this? I inject 0.1mL of EEn (40mg bottle concentration) weekly.

Hello! I've been nearly 3 years in E, first 2 and a half were inyections and now I switched to pills.

I'm currently on 2mg e pills twice a day and 50mg espiro twice a day (4mg e and 100mg espiro in total)

So, my main question here is, what time should I take my bloodwork? When I was doing inyections it was right before my next dose, is it the same when taking pills? Thanks! Have a good day

What will be affected, what physical things will change? Will height be affected?
Will it affect your mental state? Will it make you experience things differently? Will it make some body parts feel different? How may it change your face/body shape? Are there any ways to roughly estimate what about your face may change?

okay first off i want to say thanks for the support on my last post, since then ive managed to get hrt and have been on it for about 2 months now. its been going great but the last few days ive been getting extremely anxious. my breast buds are seemingly forming and they’re very sore and since that started happening ive been getting more and more scared of what will happen in the future. i have no idea what my parents will think so i dont know how to come out, and im scared that if i need to i wont be able to hide it from them. im also really scared im having doubts if i should be doing this. ive been thinking about it for ages but im suddenly having thoughts im some sort of fraud or i dont really want this while also feeling like i do. im also really scared for what my future will look like even if i know im a girl actually becoming one is a little scary. is this normal? any advice is greatly appreciated

ps i didn’t re-read this so it may be terribly written and i apologize if thats the case

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Hi, i received my blood test results after approximately one month of HRT via gel applied scrotally, 4mg per day (2mg every 12 or so hours). This was taken on 9th october right after my first morning dose of the day, and i started hrt on 12th of september. Should I increase my dosage? Because these levels don't look good.

Value Unit Min Max

E 241 pmol/L 43.3 146

T 7.5 nmol/L 5.72 26.1

So, I was doing my estrogen injection. I am still fairly new, this was supposed to be my 9th injection. Anyway. When I was filling up my dose, I always go a little extra to try to account for air bubbles. I didn’t see any, so I pushed the syringe up, and lined up my dose. Then I injected it. It occurred to me after, is it possible the tip of the needle was above the liquid in the vial, and that’s why I didn’t see air bubbles? If I injected straight air and zero liquid, what should I do? How can I tell? Ugh, so upset I wasn’t thinking on the fly, I literally just thought my technique was getting better. 🥺😅

Heya! I am very excited to start HRT the next yearbook rn i am a bit worried about well... boobs!

Im trying to plan how i will hide them since where I live in a hot day it can reach up to 36°c so hoodies wont work most of the days sadly....

Since I've heard that binders n tape can hurt the development im trying to figure out a way to hide them while they develop and after they are fully grown but thats for later, rn all i really got planned is to get compression tanktops that tuck the belly and boobs a bit so I can use them under my t-shirts but what if they dont work? I could use a sport bra but the issue is that I get hugged a lot and ppl rub my back so they will feel and ask questions...

You girls got any tips? Im aware ill update my wardrobe but... what should I get? How can I hide a bra if they hug me? Is my plan even going to work?

as the title suggests, I'm looking into dydrogesterone as a potential substitute for prog. I've taken 200 mg rectal per night, as well as 100mg currently as 200 was out of stock when I ordered, and I'm fairly certain it's being converted to dht through the backdoor pathway. whenever i go on it i notice facial and body hair grows in thicker. And I just anecdotally feel a little more masculinized. I've had my blood tested before but i only had t and e2 levels at a time i also wasn't on progesterone, which were all in female range but that was a while ago.

From what Ive researched, as far as synthetic progestins go, dydrogesterone is the most similar to bioidentical prog, and doesn't seem to have much if any of the same negative side affects associated with synthetics in cis women for menopausal hrt. its more potent, and doesnt have the same androgen associated pathways and downstream metabolitesl

I am struggling however to find any dosage recommendations for feminizing hormone therapy, as this seems to be more of a niche route to take. Id much prefer to not take any anti-androgens or 5a-reductase inhibitors due to side affects, and added expense. has anyone here had experience with dydrogesterone? If so i'd love to hear about daily dosing or if you noticed downsized or upsized affects as compared to prog

I will be getting my dht, prog, e2, and free and total testosterone tested relatively soon to determine if anything is amiss, this is more just for planning potential next steps

thanks you!

Hello, I'm a trans girl from Italy, 26. I'd started DIY monotherapy with 2-4mg daily in estradiol pills and after they ran out a friend gave me her gel packets. The gel is called Sandrena, and online the closest similar one I could find is Divigel for the US and Oestrogel for the UK. Now, the recommended dose for Sandrena WITH T-Blockers is 0-5/1mg daily. I'm not taking T-blockers, of course, so I would like to know if you have recommended quantities for monotherapy. Rn I'm taking 4 gel packets a day (4mg) but my mammaries feel less hard and sensitive than before, and at the same time I feel soreness in my thighs. So I'm afraid I might be taking too much gel for my vasculatory system (I'm deathly afraid of trombosis, perhaps irrationally?) and at the same time too little for monotherapy. What are your thoughts?

It's been grey and rainy the last few days and this kind of weather never really bothered me that much. I'm ADHD and generally very happy and in the past I couldn't care less what the weather was doing, it never affected my mood at all. But since being on HRT for two months I'm starting to wonder if the bleak weather is affecting my emotional mood a little these days?

Has anyone else found this?

Hi! So I recently got on my universities' health care plan, and spoke with a doctor about transferring my gender affirming care with them and switching to injections. The thing is, with my preexisting MediCal insurance, I get my patches and spiro for free, and still have several refills left on my prescription.

My question is, what should I do with the leftover patches? I know it may be legally dubious, but is it possible to find someone looking to start hrt and give them whats left? Is it wise to simply hold onto them incase of emergency for myself? Just looking for advice :)

About a year ago, I started experimenting with estrogen as a trial run. I started with 4 mg daily sublingually, and I ended up feeling significantly better physiologically than I had in years.

My skin improved, my hair seemed healthier, and I felt less socially awkward and hypervigilant. I felt calmer and more comfortable in my own skin. I didn't notice any significant body changes during that initial period.

Eventually, I switched to subcutaneous estradiol valerate injections. Within about a month, my testosterone was fully suppressed, and breast buds developed surprisingly quickly. Around the same time, I started experiencing extreme emotional volatility and intense crying spells. It was overwhelming enough that I got scared and stopped taking estrogen for two months.

As my testosterone returned to nearly its previous levels, I started feeling absolutely terrible again. I eventually went back on estrogen injections: estradiol valerate 20 mg/mL, injecting 0.2 mL subcutaneously.

Here's where things get complicated: I've come to realize that I identify socially as a cisgender heterosexual man. I want to live my life as a man, and I'm not looking to transition socially or live as a woman.

At the same time, my feelings about the physical changes from estrogen aren't entirely negative. Some of those changes actually give me a degree of euphoria. I don't necessarily hate them, and part of me genuinely enjoys them. But they also make me uncomfortable socially, particularly when I think about how others might perceive me. It's a strange contradiction because I can appreciate certain changes in private while feeling conflicted about what they mean for my life socially.

Meanwhile, estrogen seems to alleviate several physiological problems that have made my life miserable for years.

I've now been off injections for about two weeks, and I'm already noticing my skin becoming oily again, along with what feels like a rapid deterioration in my hair texture and renewed hair loss. Finasteride has done absolutely nothing noticeable for my hair.

I'm stuck between two options that both seem to make me miserable in different ways. On estrogen, I experience emotional effects and physical changes that create some social discomfort, even though I genuinely enjoy aspects of those changes. Off estrogen, the skin and hair problems return, and I feel significantly worse physiologically.

I realize my experience isn't necessarily typical, and I don't want to make assumptions about what's causing every symptom. I'm trying to understand why my body seems to function so much better in certain respects on estrogen, despite the other difficulties it creates.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

progestorone was helping with my breast development and depression but all the ones available to me are made with peanut oil and I cant get them.

Also i know some people arent allergic to oils but the pharmacy will no longer give me the med so i started taking medroxyprogestorone.

im wondering if the risks of synthetic progestorone arent worth it though

Is there a difference between brands of progesterone i have to different ones one is bio the other is xir. I have only taken the xir have not started the bio yet both are 100 mg the xir is like a white color the bio is a yellow color

Is 200mg spironolactone split into morning and evening and 2 pumps of oestrogel (scrotal application) split into morning and evening and 2mg progynova (under the tounge) in the morning high? In total is it enough?

Reduce or increase or keep?

I’m on DIY since I don’t have access to medical stuff, I’m 19 days in and only got less libido and better skin.

Q in title. Been on injections for a few years now, just got my annual labs back and T is up to 23.1ng/dL. Back when I was on pills + spiro it never got higher than 9.

I know I’m in normal range but just curious. E is at 382pg/mL trough if that has any bearing.

Hormone Levels
^Screenshots of hormone level graphs

I’m really hoping I can get patches to work for me, I’m very squeamish about needles and don’t want to have to take one every week for the rest of my life but my Estrogen levels just will not go up. I’m currently at 300mcg/day 2x weekly Estradot patches. I change them on fridays and mondays, i put them on my butt, spaced ~1/2 inch apart and swap cheeks each time, no issues with them staying on for 3-4 days. I make sure the skin is clean and dry before applying.

I really thought with this dosage increase Id see SOME increase in estrogen levels but it’s been over a year and im still stuck at about 1/3 of the female range. My testosterone keeps going down which im happy with but I just want my estrogen to go up. Testing is always on day 4 of wearing the patches, before I change my patch in the evening.

Should i try changing the placement? Should I try putting them on my stomach?

Units are correct, unless the lab is misreporting them which I guess is possible but I doubt.

Hi, I've met a few people in my life that are genderfluid or nonbinary in some way and want both aspects of feminization and masculinization and the psychological feelings of having those at different moments, and was surprised to find out some of them do "alternating" routines, like taking E for a few months, then take T for a few months when they want to feel masculinization, etcetera.

I haven't seen any research around this , so i wanted to know if anyone has anedoctes or knowledge about this, since I've met a total of 3 people now doing these alternating schedules of hormones

I am a femboy who's interested in using HRT as a tool for reducing body hair. I have a lot of body hair, and it is extremely tedious to have to repeatedly shave my body to keep the smooth skin that I like to have.

Is HRT an effective way to reduce body hair? and if so; please share your experience of what kind of impact HRT has made for you in terms of your body hair/facial hair growth.

Supposedly, some side effects look similar whether the dose is too low and too high, so I’m not sure how to distinguish them. For context, I hover around 410 pg/ml on mono (at through), which is quite high, but every time I lower it a bit, it feels like T is not suppressed enough

Feeling spooked! 29yo girl, 6 months on DIY HRT due to insurance issues -- current injection of 0.1mL of EEn (40mg/mL vial) every 7 days. Never fluctuated the dosage or method.

My 1mo blood work was 94pg/mL and now at 6mo it's shot up 550, both of which were taken at the trough. This seems way too high? I've only seen accepted ranges extend up to like 200.

What are some resources I can read to learn more about what I should do? Do I cut back the dose? Go to every 10 days? Ahhh!

• Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well. I’m asking everyone—
• cis or trans—who uses hormones or is knowledgeable about them: I’ve been on HRT for exactly 8 months. Twenty-one days ago, I added 200 mg of oral progesterone to my regimen. During this three-week period, the first week caused drowsiness—it had a calming effect—but the following two weeks triggered a strong increase in sexual desire. (My libido was already high before progesterone, though it was psychological, as my blood tests showed testosterone levels below 20.) It increased so much that I find myself involuntarily thinking about sexual matters while studying or doing daily tasks, and I’ve started experiencing some skin oiliness on my face. I don't get morning erections, but for the last two weeks, if I masturbate, I get an erection the moment I touch myself. I hadn't paid much attention to it—thinking it might be nothing—until today. When I masturbated today—the last time was five days ago, and everything was normal then (clear, slightly viscous, just one drop)—a significant amount came out this time: about 5–6 drops. It was slightly white and thick, very similar to how it was before I started hormones eight months ago. I’m very worried now; could the progesterone have raised my DHT or testosterone levels? I plan to get a blood test next week. Let's say it *did* raise them—should I stop taking it, or should I combine it with Avodart (dutasteride)? By the way, during the first 2 or 3 months of HRT, I took 25 mg of Androcur daily, but for the past 5 months, I’ve been taking 12.5 mg. Also, when I squeeze my breasts, about two drops of white fluid come out of both of them.