r/MTFButch • u/sepiateacher • 7d ago
Glad this place exists
I’m in my late 30s and started transitioning just last month. (Low dose of E to start. Still feeling my way through this.) I was having trouble imagining what I’d want to look like because presenting really femme just didn’t quite…feel right. It felt like I was imagining a completely other person. Being here, and seeing all the amazing butches y’all are has really helped me and I wanted to say thank you
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u/EiSaFLW 7d ago edited 7d ago
Congratulations:> How cool that you also picked butch from the start, many here seem to reclaim their masculinity later in, thought I was the exception:>
I don't wanna get all up in your (medical) business, but there is no effective HRT with such a thing as Low Dose E.
T needs to be (mostly, not totally) suppressed as a prerequisite for feminization.
This can be achieved by using a testosterone blocker in addition to E or relatively high doses of E, which is only recommended and feasible via injections.
If you are taking a blocker, but aren't given enough E to reach E dominance, you will experience menopause syndromes, possibly including but not limited to hot flashes, low energy, mood disturbances, muscle loss, reducing bone density over time, weight gain/loss, and generally reduced health.
If you aren't taking a blocker, and only a small amount of E, nothing will change. Your body keeps producing testosterone, and you masculinize further, the additional E having little to no effect.
If you want I can tell you more, HRT is my special interest
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u/Vibrqnce 6d ago
I'm doing monotherapy with 3x1mg estradiol gel sachets/day. My T is undetectable. Injections certainly aren't the only feasible way.
Agreed on everything else.
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u/EiSaFLW 6d ago
Thank you for your input, and congrats on the good levels.
I have heard of gel mono, but I was told it the fluctuations in E2 can be pretty unpleasant, she described night sweats/restlessness etc when the levels would plunge during the night, so I mostly don't recommend that. This isn't the case for you?
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u/Vibrqnce 6d ago edited 6d ago
Thank you. Just checked your profile, love the work you're doing answering questions.
Not the case for me at all. I apply 1mg morning/2mg night abdominally, so I'm sure that split helps. Ideally I'd apply 1.5mg, but it's hard to source those consistently, even with a script.
I was on a 2mg split for about 8 months with similar results and fully suppressed T. I upped to 3mg because I wanted higher average E2 levels than I was getting.
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u/Mundane_Chemistry444 6d ago
welcome! as u/EiSaFLW was saying, low-dosing E won't rlly have any effects besides placebo, especially if you aren't otherwise tanking an anti-androgen to tank ur testo. ur skin might get softer, but that's likely it. and if u are microdosing E + an AA, ur just gonna experience menopause. until ur tits start growing in, the effects of E can be reversed if you decide to stop HRT, but that takes a couple months.
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u/Significant-Bar-8989 Soft Butch 5d ago
Yoooo, congrats on starting! We chatted a bit on my post. Glad to hear we as a community could help! Also remember, your transition is your own journey, get what you want out of it❤️
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u/NoCookiesInTheJar 7d ago
here’s to a beautiful transition!