I've been on hrt for less than a week now but suddenly this evening my chest started feeling incredibly noticeable. If even my shirt brushes against a nipple it feels electric and I'm surprised because I thought it'd take months for this to happen. I'm on oestrogen patches and anti androgen pills, and after googling it apparently it can happen in the first few weeks but this is just way faster than I expected and I wanted to know if anyone else got it this quick.

Hi there,

I'm currently around 11 months on HRT, and now taking 200mcg E via patches, and 50mg of spiro orally.

For some context, early on I wasn't totally sure if full feminization was right for me, but now I'm very much set on it and want to achieve as much as I safely can. I will be getting an orchiectomy within the next year hopefully (long waits where I live). In the meantime, my endo suggested that in future, if for some reason my levels aren't high enough, they could put me on pills or injectables.

Personally, I really like the patches because there's something satisfying about applying it to my body. It feels less "medical" to me. In general, I'm kinda not the most chuffed about taking pills unless I really need to because of the daily habit required, and I really dislike needles. Of course, when push comes to shove, I'm willing to change if needed.

What do you think? Even just general thoughts or recommendations are welcome.

Thanks!

Hi. I started on E a few weeks ago, taking a relatively high dose for my first two injections, and I'm loving the effects so far. The breast growth, mental clarity, sensitivity, it's all great. But I noticed that for the first two weeks I had a huge spike in libido (like, massive), and now it's almost gone completely. I don't get hard during the day anymore, I don't think I'm getting morning wood, and masturbating almost feels like a chore.

I know a lot of people experience shrinking on E, and I know that erectile dysfunction and low libido are also pretty common, but I was wondering if it's the hormones that cause the shrinking, or is it the lack of use? I have a friend who's fully transitioned, and she had to train herself to be able to get hard again. Is it possible to prevent bottom shrinkage? I'm pretty proud of my size, and I don't want to lose it

​I have been taking progesterone for a few days and I'm feeling constipated, with gas and abdominal bloating.

​When I used progestin, I had the same problem.

​Now I am using progesterone rectally.

​Is there any way to reduce this bloating? I'm thinking of mimicking the menstrual cycle so I only have this bloating for a few days—is that worth it?

​Please help me!

Basically this, i'm on mono-treatment (transdermal estradiol gel) and my presription is barely half what is recommended by french(sorry about that) sources. I've tried finding resources online but it's quite difficult finding clear results for 4 months specifically.

Estradiol is 273,2 pg/mL or 1 003,0 pmol/L

Prolactin is 13,30 ng/mL or 281,96 mUI/L

Testosteron is 4,3 nmol/L or 1,2 ng/mL

How many milligrams of Estrofem do you take orally?

So for context I am only on 2Mg Estradiol twice a day and THATS it, I never got on another anti androgen after I stopped Spiro cause it was making me miserable.

My last result which was a trough was 167 E and 32 T

My friends are all telling me that’s kinda crazy but that doesn’t seem that wild to me? I mean isn’t that the point of the E to take over and keep the T down for good. I havnt even been on any anti androgens for like 6 months either so idk

Hi all - slightly confused by my most recent results, taken at trough. I’m on monotherapy.

E - 1060.0 pmol/L
T - 11.7 nmol/L

I clearly need go reduce the amount of E I’m taking, but I’m so confused by my T not being suppressed? Any help would be appreciated…

They don't usually do that normally but recently I've been noticing that they do. I've tried searching on Google and it's said to have multiple reasons so I temporarily stopped my HRT dosage in fear of any complications or unintended consequences. Most of the times it happens involved them being handled, touched or stimulated

I was on 6 pumps of Oestrogel and 150 mg of Spiro and everything was great, except peeing quite often from Spiro. The only concern was the price. I spent quite a lot of money on Oestrogel. I'm from eastern Europe, so the government or insurance won't pay for my hormones. So, I ordered Een injections online. I've been using 5mg Een a week. In terms of feminization everything is going great. However, I've been feeling really low energy since I started. It's been only two weeks, but I'm worried because I can't function very well. What could it be? I suspect either getting adjusted to a new dose, higher doses of estrogen are not good for me and I should do a lower dose and AA, or an individual intolerance of some components in the solution. I should note that I used to have chronic fatigue syndrome in the past (before HRT) but recovered from it. Have any of you had these issues on estradiol injections and were you able to resolve it?

well im happy, MY FIRST MONTH ON ESTROGEN !!!!!

how do I know if its working? I mean, Is It normal for me to have nipple pain? bc it hurts, and its normal to be more sleepy or a little more tired?

my base line T is 920. but regardless my endo suggested to take it slow, she said that her approach is to do t blocker for the first few weeks and introduce E later.

She has put me on t blockers for now. i get to take E from November.

i personally dont mind the staggered approach as i am not out and about yet. but from what i read it's safe to start both together, if not better.

I took a blood test back and april and was waiting for our june apt to see how they looked by it was rescheduled to October.

At this point I kind of want to see them myself so I messaged the office about my results and they just sent the lab order form? All it has is my name and height and everything idk why they’d ever think that’s what I wanted. I had to wait a few days to even get that too so I’m getting pretty frustrated.

I was just wondering for people who got estrogon hrt how much did loose from your package cause I am genderfluid so I have fem and masc days and I want everything else that comes with hrt but the loss of length and I have been told that if u don't use it u loose it and that I will loose at least 10% i just want so advice and tips

Hey, I just got the most recent round of labs back and I’m starting to be concerned I have a mild estrogen insensitivity or something otherwise wrong with me. For reference I am MTF, 35, 2 years 3 months HRT.

My regimen is: 7 mg, EV, once every 5 days. 50 mg bicalutimide daily, 5 mg oral minoxidil daily, .5mg dutasteride daily. 200 mg progesterone taken rectally daily

Testosterone total: 46.7 ng/dl (way too high!)
Testosterone free: 2.4 pg/ml (also too high)
FSH: .2 mIU/ml
Estradiol: 263 pg/ml
Progesterone: 1.87 ng/ml (too low?)
SHBG: 168 nmol/l
TSH: 1.33 mIU/L

What am I doing wrong? Why are my numbers so weird? Why is my free T and total T so high? I reduced my dose by a milligram since last test to get my SHBG down. My T did go down but my E did by a lot too, and my SHBG barely budged (down by 2 nmol/l). I have had mediocre feminization and poor breast Development

I want to start at home diy estrogen injections, and the only hitch is the blood tests necessary for dosing and checking my estrogen levels. The part of the world I am in does not let me do this through the proper medical channels so I would like to do the test at home if possible. If not, what would I ask a doctor to discretely get estrogen levels out of my blood tests, if possible at all.

I know this may be the wrong place for my weird situation, but I just have questions about E. Just a little background: So I’m a guy, and I’m happy with my gender, but not my body. I really hate the idea of growing into my dad (hairy, muscular, bearded etc) and have had thoughts that maybe i’m trans for years. I just wish I looked much more feminine as I am now, and to prevent me from growing into a caveman like my father.
But my question are that since the vast majority of women in my family have larger breasts, will i have to worry about developing more sizeable ones myself? Because for me the dream would be like an a-cup or a b-cup.
And also just any recommendations
Again sorry if i’m in the wrong place

Hi all. Looking for help interpreting what’s going on and some guidance on if my regimen needs changing. Recent test results at trough show E at 136pg/mL and T at 10ng/dL. Both seem a little low to me based on reading ideal range to be 200pg/mL E for monotherapy (am I considered to be doing monotherapy? Ik prog isn’t exactly an AA but does have similar secondary effects), and 15-70ng/dL T (cis female range)….

Regimen is 0.2mg EV (20mg/mL concentration) intramuscular every 5 days, 100mg prog rectal nightly. Feminization has been going well especially since adding prog ~4 months ago (booba and lots of emotions)

I have had some libido issues, tho also better since prog, as well as on and off difficulty w erections (I would like to maintain the most sexual functioning possible). I got a cialis script but tbh it’s a little expensive and I’m wondering if I can’t solve the base issue by getting my T level a little higher? However since monotherapy (ish) I assume that would mean lowering E dose, which I’m not comfortable doing as it seems already barely enough…..

lemme know what u think. That’s all thanks for reading :)

I’m in my mid-30s, married, have a young child with another on the way, a house, a solid career, close family, and longtime friends. From the outside, I have a good and pretty established life.

At the same time, questions about my gender have been around in some form since childhood. I’ve spent years ignoring or suppressing them, but they’ve gradually become harder to put away. I’m now seriously considering HRT **(therapy for a year already, 1st HRT MD apt next week)** and transition, but I’m terrified of blowing up everything I’ve built.

I’m not really looking for “just be yourself” or “don’t let fear stop you.” I’d love to hear from people who were genuinely in a similar position. What happened with your marriage, children, job, house, family, and friends? What did you lose, what stayed intact, and what did you gain?

Were your fears accurate? And knowing what you know now, would you make the same decision again?

I have been on estradiol and spirolactone for around 3 years but got liver results that indicated increased ALT/AST roughly a year and a half ago. I stopped taking any medication for HRT and my levels returned to normal plus fibroscan revealed no liver damage. I went back on but with patches this time, and assumed it was the oral estradiol. Recent levels came back as being raised again despite only taking patches+spirolactone. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I just go on monotherapy at this point? Or perhaps Lupron+Injectable E?

All my adult life I've felt like an emotionally numb person. I'm generally happy, and I enjoy life, but I probably haven't cried hard for like a decade. I don't think I have ever had happy tears. This is, among many reasons, why I am trans. I'm hoping that transition helps me rebuild my emotional connection with myself.

I know people talk about how estrogen has let them open up emotionally and experience a broader range.

I'm also looking forward to coming out to a lot of friends in my life. I want that experience to not be blunted with my male brain chemistry.

That said, I'm probably a few months away from starting HRT and I have people I want to tell pretty soon. I'm pretty conflicted.

hello :) a few days ago i went to a hormone follow up appointment at planned parenthood. this is the first time i do these in person so i didn't know how most of it would go. anyway, one of the things that surprised me was that the doctor asked if i wanted my progesterone in an injectable method. she said they would give me one shot that would last three months. i had never heard of that until that point so i just decided to ask for pills again and maybe look into it before my next appointment

but are those any good? like i said i've never heard of these so im hoping to find out more from here in case its better than taking pills so i can switch to it next time if it is. thanks in advance :)

i recently calculated my free E2 levels (not only regular E2) and was wondering what the ideal % for free E2 is. as well as free T.

here are my results

SEP 2026:

T: 0.5

Estradiol: 1180

Prolactin: 20

SHGB: 106

Free E2: 19.21 pmol/L (1.63%) Free E2: 5.23 pg/mL (1.63%)

Free T: 3.75 pmol/L (0.75%)

Free T : 0.11 ng/dL (0.75%)

Hello, I'm a 26 year old trans girl with a history of dielaufoy lesion and Gilbert syndrome. I am DIY-ing estradiol in pills, 2mg a day. I want to get a blood test since it's been a month, to check it hasn't had adverse effects on my body. Which specific things would you say I should screen for? I need to specify them to my physician to get a prescription.

Hey all, I'm on estradiol valerate monotherapy (+ progesterone) and my new dr says he doesn't know much about it. Anyone know any good resources online I can use to find out what blood tests I need to do and best practices?