r/AskMtFHRT

I'm gonna start off with two things, firstly, I don't exactly know if this is the right subredit for this, and secondly, I am on an alt account since I don't want this to be tied to my main account.

Okay, so long story short, I've been debating wanting to start with HRT for a few months now and I keep on debating on it every now and then, and each time I get closer and closer to wanting to actually start HRT, but the thing is, I've been searching for as much information about it as I can, and my 2 main concerns is just how to minimize the size loss of my penis in any way (I'm already a little self conscious about the size, and the size is important to both me and my girlfriend), then there's the fertility part since me and my girlfriend do want to have a kid naturally and actually going through the process of conceiving a kid.

I do know that it's possible to freeze viable sperm, and I'd do that if I plan to start HRT as a last resort if I end up not getting back viable sperm after stopping HRT for that.

But yeah, I made this post to hopefully get some information from other people on HRT who could give me more information, or just as much information as possible, and I have been searching online and "researching" the effects that HRT causes, but as I said I just want some information that would in a sense be from first hand experience with it.

One last thing, I do really hope that the answers/ advice I do get from this post won't be enough to make me not want to start HRT because of the things I mentioned or other things, because I've been struggling quite a bit with choosing, but also wanting to start HRT, and yeah, I was debating starting HRT last night which is why I'm making this post.

Hi. I'm a 26 yo trans girl wanting to start DIY. A friend offered me spiro & estradiol yesterday & I took it. if you had a Dieulafoy lesion (artery exploding out of yourgut lining) removed (as has happened to me) & then take 50 mg spiro once, do I need to take a blood test? The web seems to say no but I wanna be 200% sure. Thank you!

I likely won't be able to do my usual IM shots due to 3 weeks of chemo and staying at the hospital. I have leukemia and the IV drugs will raise my clot risk and since estrogen also does that they don't want to raise it more 😞 I asked if we could switch me to oral/sublingual 2mg E per day with 50mg Spiro as well. They're talking to the endo in the hospital now.

Any advice y'all?? Thanks 🥰

Hi, her estrogen is 40 pg/mL (150 pmol/L) and she's nearly 8 months hrt. Her testosterone is suppressed fine (GNRH agonist)

Her boobs don't have the pointy early-transfem shape, they are floppy (is that more like gynecomastia?) She's only just started to get nipple pain, and not much. She's had no changes to her face (of course)

She can't go diy because she has other health problems and her doctors for that need to know she's seeing a "proper" endo for her transition. I managed to talk her into taking extra estrogen between endo blood tests, dropping to the endo dose 1 week before them so that they could see they still weren't giving her enough

But her endo blood results were exactly the same as her results on extra estrogen (she did a private blood test when she was on it). Maybe endos use some kind of proxy to discern current E level, and that proxy takes a while to reflect current level?.. or maybe she never took the extra estrogen at all, i don't know. She seems strangely reluctant to get into the WPATH range for estrogen (100-200 pg/mL 350-700 pmol/L)

When the results came back the same, i figured that the half-diy thing was too complicated and told her to just get a different endo, but she doesn't want to. I don't understand her really, she seems more interested in getting into 3d printing than in her hormonal transition (?)

At this point I'm just thinking "you do you".. I tried to help and she doesn't want it. But will a long period way below the WPATH range affect her transition long term, or will she develop normally once her levels are in range? The floppy boobs are lowkey worrying but i haven't mentioned them

(At her endo's current rate of increase she won't be in range until after the 1y hrt mark)

I just got my blood test back, and these are my levels. Context I do take weekly SubQ injections, and the blood was taken 2 days after injection. My levels seem to be high, even with the understanding that E levels spike for a few days post injection. I have no negative s/e, just curious what everyone thinks.

I take 0.4 ml of Estradiol Valerate (20mg/mL), and will be increasing my dose to 0.8 ml. The ranges listed below are just copy pasted from my test, and aren't indicative of any prescriptive beliefs I have.

Estradiol:

Value 1,003

Estradiol Adult Reference Ranges:

Follicular: 12-233 pg/mL

Ovulation: 1-398 pg/mL

Luteal: 22-341 pg/mL

Postmenopausal: <139 pg/mL

Pregnancy (1st Trimester): 154-3243 pg/mL

Pregnancy (2nd Trimester): 1561-21280 pg/mL

Pregnancy (3rd Trimester): >8525 pg/mL

I restarted my HRT again with EEN by monotherapy and the only things I want in my life now is

* EAT A FUCKING LOT

* WALK IN WET SAND IN THE BEACH

* EAT VANILLA ICE CREAM

* GET NAKED

* GET KISSED AND HUGGED by a masculine strong man

*SMOKE A LOT OF WEED AND CRY LISTENING TO LANA DEL REY MUSIC

Well, thanks estrogen!!

Hello, I’m planning to ask my doctor all these questions as well, but my next appointment isn’t for a little while so I wanted to ask them here first.

Currently my dosage is 2mL once a week, at 20 mg/mL, and I’m doing intramuscular. I started out with the pills, but they weren’t raising my levels high enough so I switched to injections. My doctor has also said we’ll probably continue to raise my dosage, but it needs to be raised slowly. About 4-5 days after I do my injection I start to feel worse emotionally, and start to feel normal again a bit after I do my injection.

So my first question is: Does doing subcutaneous injections result in more stable hormone levels overall? I’ve seen some information that says that doing subcutaneous injections allows the estrogen to be absorbed by your body at a slower rate. So I was wondering if that means it might result in more stable emotions?

My second question is: is it common for people to do their injections more frequently than once a week, and can that be done to help with these symptoms? I’ve seen some people say that they take a slightly lower dose at a more frequent interval.

As in the title, my doctor (who has been amazing so far, I don’t want to rag on them at all) has found that I have higher testosterone levels than average, and has prescribed me 50mg Spironolactone for 6 weeks to manage my testosterone levels before starting on Estradiol. The way they explained it to me was basically that we need to lower my testosterone levels to something more manageable before adding estrogen into the mix (I will be getting labs the day before my next visit to check them).

They’ve been amazing so far, and specialize in LGBTQ+ care. They also took it upon themself to get trained to diagnose gender dysphoria to allow their transgender patients to skip the whole referral to a psychologist to get a diagnosis debacle, which was great.

I’m starting HRT over a decade later than I wanted to due to factors outside of my control, and it’s been killing me for pretty much my entire life (just my luck I’ve ended up with completely naturally occurring high testosterone, of course). Needless to say, I’m pretty anxious to get started. I guess I am mostly just curious to know if anyone else has had to deal with this specific circumstance, and how their doctor handled it?

So as of last month, I hit two years of HRT. I feel like I was supposed to be happy about that and proud of myself, but I really just haven't been able to. My results have been pretty poor for that amount of time, and while friends and family who know who I am respect who I am and tell me I look feminine, I run into pretty much zero people in daily life who do that. It makes it hard to feel like I've really made much progress. These things used to not bother me because I could just say "I'm only 3/6/9/12 months in, so it takes time!" but at two years I really look like I did at 1 year with longer hair. Its been really getting to me since I just feel like I sacrificed a lot to end up with nothing. I started at 33, so I wasn't expecting the world, but where I'm at now was my worst-case nightmare scenario, and it's been awful.

But on the flip side, those 2 years have not really been consistent with HRT. My first doc was a moron who measured total estrogens instead of estradiol for the first three months until I switched to injections, so I was never even in the triple digits for estrogen levels, and my T wasn't suppressed at all. Then I was crazy overdosed with 12mg a week of EV which made my moods a roller coaster. I finally got them to test my SHBG cause I was worried the dose was stopping progress, and it was over 200 at the one-year mark. We tried lowering my dose over the next few months but couldn't get my E2 levels or SHBG under control at all. T was finally gone though.

So then I switched docs and she had me try pills again. Felt awful and E2 was in the low 100s with still high SHBG. I switched to Estradiol Cypionate since I wanted to stop the roller coaster of EV so I did a low dose since even 4mg EV had me at 500pg/ml E2 after 7 days so we figured I was a strong responder. Felt level but kinda crappy for 3 more months then I finally get another test and my SHBG is finally under control but my E2 is back to double digits! Turns out I can't tolerate EV injections, which my doc and any search I've done shows I might be the only person who metabolizes it strangely. Increased to a normal dose of EC and gonna see how that goes now.

So I spent 3 months underdosed and with high T, then 18 months at insanely high levels and high SHBG, then another 4 months underdosed again. I guess what I'm asking is I don't know how I should consider what my actual timeline has been. If I just think about it like I'm at year 2 of HRT, I'm depressed because it's going awful for that timeframe, but when I think about it, I don't really know how long I've been on effective HRT!

Maybe someone could help me reframe this in a way that makes me less depressed about it, since I'm trying, but I just keep feeling awful that things have gone so poorly. I feel like my social transition has been making huge progress, and I worked hard at that, but my body has just let me down at every opportunity, so it's been hard to keep myself motivated to do all of it.

I live in the uk 19 MTF given my curcimstances (dad dying young(46 i think<never too vlose tbh>) ,unhealthy/fat 18 stone (trying hella hard to eat healthier),bad headaches<like sometimes enough to stop me from doing anything,could also be my autism or add wich makes it feel 100x worse>) i was told patches are my/reccomened option,i dont like the patches...its been 2 days ive gone through 4 (only supposed to use 1 every 3 days) and they kinda stress me out.im gonna ask for pills but was just wondering if theres anyone else gone through simlar stuff...been on patches and now asking for pills instead? Is that even possible given my/family circumstances)

spoke to doctor today and found out i've basically been underdosed for 4 years. i was on 4 pumps of estrogel a day which is equivalent to 3mg and my estrogen levels at trough are 71.4 pg/ml. he said i should be on 6mg a day by this point he said he's going to increase my dose to 4mg and then to 6mg after 3 months. he said i can continue with gel and add 2 more pumps or switch to patches. i said patches because i think i don't absorb gel very well but i've looked it up and apparently a 100mcg patch is equivalent to around 2mg of estrogen which is lower than my gel dose and he made it sound like i was only going to be using 1 patch every 3.5 days? am i not just being underdosed again???? i'm really exhausted honestly feel like the last 4 years have been a waste of time and i've seen little progress. someone please give me advice idk what to do

My endocrinologist only wants me to start on estrogen Monotherapy patches 0.1mg a day 2x week, due to less risks with patches & side effects from a blocker and I did say I was scared of blockers (particularly Spiro) but I just don’t know how I’m supposed to eventually suppress T since most state this dosage isn’t enough.

My endo did ask me if I had bottom dysphoria and because I don’t they said it would be best to start off with this to avoid those effects as well but I stated my concerns with t not being suppressed but also not fond of injections since I don’t have anyone nor do I trust myself to administer them.

I just don’t understand how they ever want me to actually see change. This is a lgbt clinic btw (USA based) Also I don’t understand how I’m supposed to push forward and get a feminine body if this doesn’t work. Like I just feel stuck and scared since if this likely won’t do anything, I’m just gonna have the next 3 months of feeling unstable with both hormones in my body and I just don’t think that can be healthy for the body.

Basically title. I imagine consistency of when in ur cycle u test is most important just so you have standard comparisons. I usually try to get my levels taken the day before my next dose, however this week I messed up my cycle by a day and have an appointment :(

5 day cycle so shot day was supposed to be Monday and get tested on Friday (day before next shot on Saturday). Just took it now (Tuesday morning).

What I want to know is will this test still be helpful or should I reschedule cause it will not really be my trough level…….. any input is appreciated thanks!

EDT: also worth noting I’m currently more interested in seeing what my t levels are (if too suppressed or ok) than my E, as femeninization is going great but having libido concerns…. Does t level vary thru cycle similarly to e? Or is it more consistent and easier to get a picture of how suppressed it is? (Additional q: what is ideal t range to avoid re-masculinization/ continue feminizing but maintain sexual function??)

Like mosquito bite tiny. I’m almost ashamed of them.. I’m 22MtF and have been on HRT since October of 2024. I’ve been on and off progesterone since starting. They still look terrible. I know it takes time but I keep seeing others saying theirs are much larger with less time on HRT. Did I do something wrong? I’m probably gonna need implants cause my chest looks fucking gross

Just got prescribed estradiol valerate! My doctor said I can start at .15ml weekly injections. No anti androgen. Is this a good starting amount? So excited to begin 🫶

I’m 18 and had a late male puberty which only just finished in January after starting at 15. My dysphoria got worse and worse progressively through puberty, so I decided that I am starting HRT this year (hopefully in the next couple months if I can get my enanthate soon).

I always thought that HRT just gave you breasts like a cis person would have, but then I saw studies that said that trans women’s breasts are significantly smaller than cis women’s. I looked further into the study and it had a median age of 28 with ages varying from 18 to 69 years 286 participants. That’s very different to my personal circumstances, but I’m still worried.

Is thinking that one day I might be able to have c cups crazy? Aside from maintaining a calorie surplus and a healthy body weight what can I do to ensure optimal growth?

I’m sorry if the questions weird, I’ve just suddenly had a lot of worries about what HRT can actually do for me. I’m lucky enough that I have a feminine body shape currently and objectively in a good starting place, but I’m still so scared and worried.

I am a 20 year old trans woman who has been on HRT for about 4-5 months so far. Current doses are 4mg estradiol, 100mg progesterone, 150mg spironolactone, each QD p.o. I am 5' 6.5", and 103lbs.

My anorexia has gotten much worse in the last 2 months, and I am worried about what this will do in terms of fat distribution. When I am able to convince myself to gain weight again, I want it to be in my chest, hips, butt, etc., but I have heard that fat redistribution stops after a certain point. If I don't gain weight until this point, will I have gone too far to get feminine fat distribution?

I'm also worried that if I bring this up with my ND she might take me off HRT or lower my doses, which idk if I could handle mentally. Any advice would help greatly <3

gonna hate doing this because of dysphoria but i wanna get my levels up and my thighs and arms aren't absorbing well so i was thinking about applying 2 pumps of gel there a day and also another two on my thighs, so 2 pumps spaced out every 12 hours. my current regimen is 2 on thighs and 2 on arms and it's just not working. i've read about how gel is 10x more effective applied scrotally. does anyone have experience with this method? did it work for you?

heyyy, I’m back lol.

Last month I started taking bicaludamide and upped my estrodiol pills from 4 to 6 mg. Since then my E raised from 85 to 86 pg/mL… and my T went from 935 to 1246 ng/dl. I do know that it is expected to raise a little but not be active, but my doc is concerned since the numbers are high so I’m assuming she might want me to do something else. Then I am wondering if I should be doing something else. In general since I started may 2025, my T (and E slightly) has been raising every time we tested except for once, which I was on 2mg of estradiol and 1mg finasteride then. I might just go back to that while I figure out how I wanna precede again. Being on 5mg of fin is what caused my t to raise to the 935.

I’ve been avoiding spiro bc I have Orthostatic Hypotension already and I know myself enough that I won’t be able to do my own ejection, plus currently dont have someone else to do them for me.

Also my doc said she’ll do whatever long enough it seems safe.

Hey gals, I need a quick tip, i have been on 12,5mg cipro every other day and on 4 mg estradiol daily, but my testosterone levels are at 18 ng/dl and estrogen is at a 5,2 ng/dl.

Should I take less blockers to try and get into the 50s testo again and should I take a higher dose of estradiol? Or is it going to keep rising even on this dose? Im 5 months on hormones and am 21 years old.