I started Spiro and estrogen in 2018 along with methadone after 2 years iv been suffering from fluid retention iv been off HRT now 6 mths is there any i can do to start HRT again without it effecting my health im still getting fluid retention and on methadone i just want to be happy i was diagnosed with gender dysphoria since an early age around 5 or 7 years old
Thank you for your comments. You will want to talk with your doctor about methadone and fluid retention. It is possible that spironolactone - because it is a diurectic and makes you urinate more - may help with the fluid retention. Unfortunately, I cannot answer what is/is not safe for you personally. I hope you can discuss this in detail with your own healthcare provider. Good luck. Linda
Greetings, the answer depends on a number of factors. If you stop hormones, you might notice certain changes: possibly hair growth, skin changes. None of your surgical changes would reverse, of course. I always recommend that people who are not on hormones get their hormone levels checked - and get a DEXA scan to see how your bone density is doing. Bone density is improved with estrogen or testosterone. And decreased bone density can lead to osteoporosis and fractures. But you would clearly want to discuss this with your healthcare provider. Good luck. Linda
This was very interesting. It reminded me of the time in my twenties when I put my semen on a slide and looked at it under my microscope. There were so few visible sperm that it suggested to me that I was close to being infertile. The sperm could be clearly seen so it was not a focus issue or improper use of the microscope. In my mind I am transfeminine. I have ADHD and low oxytocin. I had premature birth, delayed puberty, underdeveloped male genitalia and hormonal resistant issues. I have blue eyes and a very rare blood type. My eye color helped me notice an interesting coincidence. The sample was small of course. But in watching videos of transgender women and men the great majority of them had blue or gray eye color rather than brown. So that did seem rather interesting. Just recently I started reading about different problems or medical issues that transgender people have and it was interesting to see that they can have many issues in common. Just this week I recalled the time when I was very young. About 3 and 1/2 years old. I was dressed in a little suit so I looked like my dad. At the time I remember being happy because I wanted to be like my father. But even at that young age I felt inauthentic dressing like him. I never felt that I was a girl back then. But I felt like I was partially molded clay that the artist started to mold but never finished. I guess a saving grace was that my body was slim hairless,. genitals small and often I was perceived as being feminine. That helped ward off general feeling of being dysphoric. My main dysphoria was a feeling that my female breasts should have developed and they never did. I do feel some minor level of stress all the time. But I perceive it as not dysphoria due to brain body mismatch. But I attribute it to the fact that I know I will never be 100% accepted for who I am. I can happily say that I have achieved a level of peace despite my condition and live a generally happy life.
@lindagromkomd In my haste of making my original comment I forgot to add that my body finally started producing body hair between the ages of 26 and 30, but there was no further maturation of the genitals. For that reason I suspect my chromosomes are likely normal. And all my issues are hormone related. The chromosomal testing is a good idea and I thank you for the idea. What is a strange concept to me though is how your body can be producing all the necessary hormones but be partially resistant to them which I'm sure is what is happening in my case. I did have a particular blood test a long time ago. I also have two lesbian cousins from my mother's side which suggests to me hormonal issues in the womb for them as well. Just recently I found the word gynosexual. I never heard of the word before. The reason I found it was I was looking up the reasons why seemingly straight males were attracted to me often in a sexual manner . This happened as early as in the 9th grade and continued on to my late twenties. Having males attracted to me was very confusing because I didn't identify as gay. But now I realize they were attracted to my femininity or what they perceived as feminine. A friend suggested blood work too. But to me I don't see much sense in it due to the lineage cessation that will happen with our family line. It's like we came to the country just in time to fight world War II. But now that we are not needed we'll leave as quickly as we came.
How small can the pe*is shrink? What's an extreme case? Also, what would be an extreme case of hip and bre*st enlargement? What would be considered the "outer limits" of these changes?
Hello. I think it would be fair to say that penile and prostate shrinkage that occurs on estradiol is subtle - not dramatic. But I think it's fair to warn patients about this. In my experience, hip changes are subtle also. Breast increase with estradiol varies considerably. I remember one woman who was developing so quickly she worried she'd be outed, fired, and lose her pension. (Everything worked out well!) Clearly, body shape changes are most dramatic with body contouring or augmentation surgery. Linda
A lot of the shrinkage isn't really shrinkage in a classic sense in regard to the penis. What often happens as I describe it is the penis goes into a very relaxed state and retracts into your body. So your flaccid penis can look like it lost an inch in length. The testicle shrinkage can vary really widely. For example some might have noticed their testicles only lost a quarter of their volume, while another person may have lost 1/2 of their volume.
Thank you for sharing this info!!!
You are so welcome!
I am 6 months on HRT. This is exactly what I have experienced so far.
I hope you are having a positive experience. lg
I started Spiro and estrogen in 2018 along with methadone after 2 years iv been suffering from fluid retention iv been off HRT now 6 mths is there any i can do to start HRT again without it effecting my health im still getting fluid retention and on methadone i just want to be happy i was diagnosed with gender dysphoria since an early age around 5 or 7 years old
Thank you for your comments. You will want to talk with your doctor about methadone and fluid retention. It is possible that spironolactone - because it is a diurectic and makes you urinate more - may help with the fluid retention. Unfortunately, I cannot answer what is/is not safe for you personally. I hope you can discuss this in detail with your own healthcare provider. Good luck. Linda
Im post op srs surgery ive been on estrogen for many years what would happen if I stop taking estrogen
Greetings, the answer depends on a number of factors. If you stop hormones, you might notice certain changes: possibly hair growth, skin changes. None of your surgical changes would reverse, of course. I always recommend that people who are not on hormones get their hormone levels checked - and get a DEXA scan to see how your bone density is doing. Bone density is improved with estrogen or testosterone. And decreased bone density can lead to osteoporosis and fractures. But you would clearly want to discuss this with your healthcare provider. Good luck. Linda
This was very interesting. It reminded me of the time in my twenties when I put my semen on a slide and looked at it under my microscope. There were so few visible sperm that it suggested to me that I was close to being infertile. The sperm could be clearly seen so it was not a focus issue or improper use of the microscope.
In my mind I am transfeminine. I have ADHD and low oxytocin. I had premature birth, delayed puberty, underdeveloped male genitalia and hormonal resistant issues.
I have blue eyes and a very rare blood type. My eye color helped me notice an interesting coincidence. The sample was small of course. But in watching videos of transgender women and men the great majority of them had blue or gray eye color rather than brown. So that did seem rather interesting.
Just recently I started reading about different problems or medical issues that transgender people have and it was interesting to see that they can have many issues in common.
Just this week I recalled the time when I was very young. About 3 and 1/2 years old. I was dressed in a little suit so I looked like my dad. At the time I remember being happy because I wanted to be like my father. But even at that young age I felt inauthentic dressing like him. I never felt that I was a girl back then. But I felt like I was partially molded clay that the artist started to mold but never finished.
I guess a saving grace was that my body was slim hairless,. genitals small and often I was perceived as being feminine. That helped ward off general feeling of being dysphoric. My main dysphoria was a feeling that my female breasts should have developed and they never did. I do feel some minor level of stress all the time. But I perceive it as not dysphoria due to brain body mismatch. But I attribute it to the fact that I know I will never be 100% accepted for who I am.
I can happily say that I have achieved a level of peace despite my condition and live a generally happy life.
Interesting comments. Some people with a similar story have considered getting chromosomal testing. Good luck and thank you for writing in. Linda
@lindagromkomd In my haste of making my original comment I forgot to add that my body finally started producing body hair between the ages of 26 and 30, but there was no further maturation of the genitals. For that reason I suspect my chromosomes are likely normal. And all my issues are hormone related.
The chromosomal testing is a good idea and I thank you for the idea.
What is a strange concept to me though is how your body can be producing all the necessary hormones but be partially resistant to them which I'm sure is what is happening in my case. I did have a particular blood test a long time ago. I also have two lesbian cousins from my mother's side which suggests to me hormonal issues in the womb for them as well.
Just recently I found the word gynosexual. I never heard of the word before. The reason I found it was I was looking up the reasons why seemingly straight males were attracted to me often in a sexual manner . This happened as early as in the 9th grade and continued on to my late twenties.
Having males attracted to me was very confusing because I didn't identify as gay. But now I realize they were attracted to my femininity or what they perceived as feminine.
A friend suggested blood work too. But to me I don't see much sense in it due to the lineage cessation that will happen with our family line. It's like we came to the country just in time to fight world War II. But now that we are not needed we'll leave as quickly as we came.
How small can the pe*is shrink? What's an extreme case? Also, what would be an extreme case of hip and bre*st enlargement? What would be considered the "outer limits" of these changes?
Hello. I think it would be fair to say that penile and prostate shrinkage that occurs on estradiol is subtle - not dramatic. But I think it's fair to warn patients about this. In my experience, hip changes are subtle also. Breast increase with estradiol varies considerably. I remember one woman who was developing so quickly she worried she'd be outed, fired, and lose her pension. (Everything worked out well!) Clearly, body shape changes are most dramatic with body contouring or augmentation surgery. Linda
A lot of the shrinkage isn't really shrinkage in a classic sense in regard to the penis. What often happens as I describe it is the penis goes into a very relaxed state and retracts into your body. So your flaccid penis can look like it lost an inch in length.
The testicle shrinkage can vary really widely. For example some might have noticed their testicles only lost a quarter of their volume, while another person may have lost 1/2 of their volume.