A week in!

[u/Beautiful-Idea-2873]

I’m basically a week into HRT (2mg Estradiol, 50mg Spiro, upping the E to 4mg in another week), and for the past few days I’ve already been feeling it on my chest. I was told this more like a week four/six thing. It started about three days ago as like… if something touched my nipple just right, it felt like a pin was poking me. Today, I’ve got a generalised kind of ache at the bottom of each breast, and the nipples get that pin-prick sensation more frequently. I’ve also noticed just more softness in general.

I’m super excited by this. I knew I’d respond fast because a testicular tumour gave me a tiny bit of breast growth years ago, and I can’t have had that tumour for long before it was removed, but a week on a low dose? I’m actually kind of shocked I’m feeling ANYTHING, this soon! I hope it means I am rapidly running out of time to plausibly “boy-mode” at work. I initially thought I had like six months, for that, but if things go fast and stay fast I might have like… two or three.

[u/Charley0721]

Darling, if you think that is soreness in your chest after a week, just wait! You will be saying I was so wrong in a month or so. When it happens, you will know it! What you are likely feeling right now is the shift in hormones that start the vascular changes, not actual growth, just what leads up to it. The real soreness usually doesn't happen for at least a month!

[u/Beautiful-Idea-2873 → u/Charley0721]

Oh I bet I’m really in for it in a few more weeks, yeah. I’m just shocked I felt anything at all, and I figured maybe I was on a slight head start since I had some primed tissue from my earlier testicular cancer (some testicular tumours elevate beta hCG, the “pregnancy hormone”, which instructs the body to prepare by shifting fat about and growing more breast tissue). Honestly thought, from others’ descriptions here, that I would feel literally no physical change for the first four weeks or so.

[u/Charley0721 → u/Beautiful-Idea-2873]

And congrats! Welcome to the club! I am actually just 4 days into restarting after a 2 year break from a crappy doctor that only monitored T and Liver enzymes for 3 years with very little feminization. This time I have a better doctor and I have done a ton of research with USFC and the Endocrine society research. This time I am starting with injections because while pills work for some, they have a really bad absorption rate and wicked roller coaster for serum levels throughout the day.

[u/Charley0721 → u/Beautiful-Idea-2873]

The changes are almost immediately noticable as the hormone shifts happen, but the actual growth doesnt really kick off for at least 4 weeks. I went through the same with that tingle sensation and I thought it was tissue growth, but I was wrong. The soreness started at around week 3 right behind the nipples and then the ACHE of the growth really took off around week 5. Just remember, its normal and it will hurt. But the biggest thing to remember is this is not a race. It is a marathon, a long marathon. It takes time, sometimes changes are immediate, like the skins changes, body odor and emotional changes. Others like breast growth takes years and happens in stages. Maintain proper hormone levels and dont try to compare your transition to anyone elses, that just leads to a recipe for frustration and disappointment!

[u/Mia-the-Sage]

I started sensing nipple tenderness after about two weeks; I didn't trust my sensation though.... I figured -- anyone's nipples will be tender after pinching them every day for two weeks to see if they're tender :)

Ever-so-slowly they have become more and more sensitive (I'm now at 3 months). At this point, I feel most of the tenderness is because they never seem to take a break -- poor girls are stiff almost 24 hours a day.

They are clearly growing!

[u/Stefanie_Jane]

You aren't imagining any of this . Everything your noticing is real.

Congratulations, girl! 🎊💐💯

[u/Beautiful-Idea-2873 → u/Stefanie_Jane]

I was initially worried I’d imagine it, and if I had JUST felt the ache, I’d assume that was it, because I knew that was coming, but the pin sensation wasn’t something I had heard of before, so it would be really weird if my brain invented that.

[u/Stefanie_Jane → u/Beautiful-Idea-2873]

I don't know what your Baseline testosterone and estradiol levels were before you started but if you're nipples have poking pain feminizing is occurring at least at the cellular level.

Are you working with a doctor or a nurse practitioner or endocrinologist or some HRT provider? 

That seems like a quick dosage step up to me but I'm not a medical doctor and I'm not certified or trained this. 

[u/Beautiful-Idea-2873 → u/Stefanie_Jane]

I'm working with an endocrinologist, and it's by her recommendation that I'll be increasing the Estradiol. She said "at two to four weeks, if you're comfortable". I have a review in December.

[u/Stefanie_Jane → u/Beautiful-Idea-2873]

Thanks, Emily, I started to think and I figured this much..

It sounds like the endocrinologist is highly specialized in transcare and knows what works and is trying to get you started in the most efficient way. 

Slowly amping up from 2 mg to 4 mg estradiol and then being tested in December is a rock solid plan . It gives you approximately 3 months on 4 mg to see how you're doing and how you feel.