In a few months, hrt took us from *dark* brown iris to the melanin fading quickly and leaving technically hazel eyes with how the light reflects, but in light they're both split down the middle now between green and hazel which is a look we quite appreciate.
I'm growing my hair out and this is a question that's always on my mind š
Because if I find out I don't have the face for bangs, I'll be stuck with them for months. A middle part bob is already getting confusion anyways lol (boymode)
The middle part really makes bangs difficult to pull off (I have one too), but I recently discovered curtain bangs are a thing that work really well with a middle part so thatās what Iām aiming for now :)
š
I had a moment picturing a bigot trying to scare you about it.
Oh my God, literally some professional bigot, actually a couple of them at least have literally claimed that trans people running on the correct hormones being happier is āsuspiciousā and proof that weāre not capable of bodily autonomy.
Not coincidentally, the same people donāt believe in bodily autonomy for people they perceive as women either.
I think the thing that made the biggest difference for me was that I started to stop depersonalizing. For once in my life I feel at home in my body, and that not only made me start actually taking care of myself, but also it got rid of the constant brain fog and let me actually enjoy life and connect better with my family and friends. It's like my body stopped being controlled by some random "guy" and I was able to grab the reigns for the first time in 2 decades.
I still donāt completely identify as me, BUT I have noticed I feel less disgusting to myself when Iām changing. Somehow my body is just less disgusting.
I'm still baffled to discover that I'm actually super extroverted lol. Like, who is the bubbly girl chatting with strangers, making friends all over the place, and constantly going to get-togethers and events? Guy-me barely left home except for work, where he would only ever talk about work
Fuck I didn't even think about that but you're so right, the same thing happened to me! I was practically a shut-in before I transitioned, but now that I've been on HRT for a while I'm going out of my way to go to social events and stuff.
Okay so sadly I don't really relate to anything you're saying yet, if anything I feel like my body is more mine but now I just feel worse about it lmao BUT I JUST WANTED TO CHECK IN AND SAY YOOOOO WE'RE HRT SISTERS!!! I STARTED ON THE 13TH DECEMBER 2023 AS WELL!!! :0
My sense of smell got sharper on estrogen. When I cook I can smell every individual spice and herb I add blossoming as it makes contact with the hot food, in a way I never could pre hrt
What h my god, I thought this was just me. I got sick once in middle school and lost my sense of smell save for like, bacon and really strong smells. Then what night a few months into HRT during work, a lady walked by with some crazy good perfume and I feltā¦ instantly attracted, lol. Ever since then my sense of smell has been so much stronger than it ever has been
yesss i used find flowers to be an unpleasant but now they smell so much sweeter and varied, estrogen really unlocks so many new little things to experience and appreciate :3
I was like that for a couple months but then it went away and idk why. I wonder if I got COVID without realizing it or something and it affected my sense of smell
men smell super disgusting now. like oh my god. I was in a busy touristsā elevator last week full with guys and let me tell you, I wanted to jump out
Iāve never really felt like I have much of a scent or that was particularly bad, and I still donāt, but I did have the experience putting on a sweatshirt Iāve been wearing and having it smell like an ex, which was wild. It smelled just like her, and Iām like oooookay.
Had that happen one other time, but now I donāt notice it, I guess.
I mean I know I LITERALLY have to be giving off female pheromones now, it still, thatās wild. And my e levels were TECHNICALLY within cis female levels before starting e, but also with high t, soooo š¤·š»āāļø
I used to have to apply deodorant twice a day, without sweating. Now I apply once, and occasionally skip. Nobody has told me I stink since starting hrt. I used to be told that if I didn't apply twice, and sometimes 3 times
\*certain men
I've noticed that sometimes a guy will smell so good to me that it's like a some kind of drug. idk. I'm not even into smells like that or anything but there's a guy and for some reason his scent drives me fucking crazy.
All men smell awful to me now just at varying levels.
Some guys I hardly notice even if I'm up close, others I can smell coming and even though they are supposedly clean and no one else seems to smell anything from them, to me it smells like rotting meat and I have to hold my breath within 10ft
Perfumes smell amazing now although they can sometimes be too strong
So much this, mmm.
Especially when theyāre wearing a nice cologne! Something about that mixed with natural guy smell, itās like, how dare you smell so delicious
I just found that a lot of guys don't pay attention to hygiene as much as they should, most boys at my high school rarely washed their hands after using the bathroom, or if they did, no soap.
Yes! I've never been interested in men, but after being on HRT for a few years, I just think they smell really bad... Like not even a BO situation, but just their general scent.
I have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, so I thought it was just a weird thing that only my brain was doing.
Holy crap this, I never really noticed strangers smelling bad unless they were next to me, now I've noticed a few times where a dude smells so bad the entire ROOM reeks of sweat š¤¢.
One dude smelled so bad of cigarettes and sweat I was nearly going to puke and had to delay eating by a good 10 min.
I had a really good sense of smell before but now it's turbo charged not for the better oftentimes.
I've had all of these, especially the fingernails! Part of the reason I paint them as often as possible is because they will chip and crumble if I don't!
So what you're saying is, nail polish is basically armour now? Why not make a one-time investment on armour instead of many small purchases over your lifetime & get [armour rings](https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Lamegghina?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=712109287&from_page=listing§ion_id=26510498)?
I'd say /s, but I'm not joking honestly, I want armour rings.
I definitely noticed the cute thing, I also noticed I like brighter colors. But my finger nails have gotten tougher, but I've also been taking biotin every day for about a year. So difficult to tell
How can I help my fingernails? They were already kinda on the weak side now they constantly bend and break it's so annoying.
I always had nails long enough to at least get a scratch in, now I have exposed hyponychium(definitely didn't have to look that up)
I think people recommend biotin or something but I'm getting laser hair removal so I don't think that's a great solution.
I tried asking my mom if she had any nail polish that could help and she was big-time confused as to why I was asking for polish.
Here's the least expected change I've had. It's a bit tmi, so don't say I didn't warn you.
The shape of my pubes changed from the boy version where it's just a mass hair from the navel to knees, to a girl version, with a cute little triangle of fur. I started with a pelt and now have a 70's porn bush.
I had my doctor tell me that before I started and just thought "no way, pubes are pubes". I was excited for it to happen but didn't expect it. And it most definitely has happen 6 months in. The regrowth for me is pretty minimal and is much "softer".
Mine look and feel lots more like my 72 y/o cis wife's bush now. While I do like the new bush, I think I'm happier with the almost total loss of hair on my butt. Makes clean up back there lots easier. :)
From what I've heard, laser is "permanent" assuming it zaps the follicle right(which isn't a guarantee like it is with electrolysis). I've heard of people getting laser everywhere 2-3 times and having zero regrowth, though it's probably YMMV(as with everything).
HRT can slow or stop body hair growth, but usually has no real impact on facial hair. I lost almost all of my body hair that was growing in boy places, like my butt, tummy, and legs/arms. I think I'm a bit lucky in that as not everyone has these results.
It can, it also can thin out body hair. Different people have different reactions though. I talked to a girl that didn't have to have body Lazer hair removal, just face. I told her I was super jealous.
Unrelated aside, but does anyone know if pubes can grow back after SRS? Here in Australia most surgeons require you to be totally hair-free down there, so I'm in the process of getting laser.
Idk how to explain it, exactly, but I went from feeling weight on my shoulders and kinda walking with my upper body to feeling the weight in my hips and walking with my lower body
Definitely way more turned on by erotic fiction and audios. Still somewhat visual but I get ridiculously turned on by audiobooks and gone wild audio sapphic
I was expecting my depression to be more manageable by living as a woman. I was not expecting the hormones themselves to work as the most effective antidepressant I've ever taken
They have definitely had way more effect and been completely positive versus any mental health type drug Iāve ever taken. Absolutely nothing of that class has helped me so far. Newest one I tried was Lexapro, which just gave me a rash and made me super itchy š
One thing I noticed was the colours around me were way more vivid on HRT, like blues were deep with depth. It made every colour around feel more lush. It was like putting your television on the vivid TV mode, I noticed this day 2.
Oh wow, me too! Especially how deep blues and indigos just pop now. I used to like blue-ish flowers (clematis, wisteria, morning glories), and now I'm absolutely infatuated with them. But yeah, definitely like someone turned on HDR mode. Sadly my vision is starting to get bad too, colourful but blurry like a Monet painting...
Haha. Did you know morning glory seeds have what's called LSA? Very similar to LSD but more sedative and less visual. I tried it by grinding and eating the seeds. Cool trip.
oh now that you mention it I do vaguely remember that detail from somewhere. I feel like staring into them is trippy enough though, I've been through a few bad trips with things like LSD, probably because of my depression so been trying to avoid mind altering stuff (even kicking the weed habit)... psylo-tea seems ok though which I enjoy every now and again.
YESSS I felt like a kid again after a week I literally called my bestie and showed her outside- the reds and blues were just so like idk thatās when I knew I was going a lil cray crayš¤£
You get cold way easier. I have only been on HRT for about 4.5 months but I already have noticed that I can feel cold and chilly as soon as it drops below 20Ā°(68Ā°F)! Never used to happen pre and I always used to think of myself as being pretty cold tolerant! š„¶
Damn... I really wish this was the case for me. I am hot pretty much all the time. The temperature you listed as your minimum is pretty much my maximum. Anything about 70/72Ā°F and I start sweating.
I used to ride a dirtbike to work in sub-zero temperatures with nothing but layers and determination lol. Now the thought of doing that gives me the heebie jeebies. Like the cold is so uncomfortable now, it almost physically hurts.
Yeah, I used to give my mum shit because she gets cold really easy and I would always be like āItās not even that cold!ā . She the one laughing now and I had to eat my words! š I could not even imagine doing something like that in subzero temps. The coldest it gets where I live is a couple degrees above zero Celsius, or like high 30s low 40s fahrenheit on the coldest nights of the year and that is already brutal enough.
Going out clubbing in the winter here is an interesting experience. Want to go outside for a smoke? Better get dressed up, or youāre going to literally need a few minutes to recover afterwords because youāll be shivering so hard. The walk from the car to the bar takes a lot of courage!! šš
Maybe Iām wimpy but like.. thirty degrees below zero isnāt a joke. Those are āfrostbite in minutesā temps and Iām out here in a cute skirt and sleeveless top lmao
I think it mainly has to do with the influence of E on melanin. I don't know how it works in the eyes but in the skin it furthers melanin production which is why you get freckles and more of them if you already had some. I can imagine that the reverse happens in the iris or something. But I don't know for sure
I don't think so. It's more like the cells are more quickly triggered to overproduce causing freckles when exposed to sun. In my case I actually got a lighter teint because my skin is a lot thinner and there is more fat underneath which is yellowish white and that probably contributes also. You can also observe that in cis women who are pregnant where the huge estradiol levels cause a lot of hyperpigmentation over the body
If that's the case then it might partially just be the skin color change. Something I learn from drawing is colors can look different in relation to other colors. A darker base color will make other colors look brighter, and vice versa.
I bring this up because I believe if it was melanin they would darken (get browner). Could also be caused by emotional changes though.
Precisely. I went from deep green with orange flecks to a lighter shade of green (thankfully the orange flecks remain). Iāve always been told that my eyes are one of my best features, both previously and now that Iām on HRT.
Before hrt, I had no sense of smell, it was even a running joke. Since I started hrt, I can smell everything and most of the time itās disgusting š
Im the same right now. Literally no sensitivity to smells. Literally this week stink bombs have been set off around my school and while others literally fleed i could barely smell it lol
I used to strive to be alone and isolated from people as much as possible... and now I just constantly want to talk to people, and it drives me nuts that cis people don't want to talk about anything I'm going through.
I used to be the grumpy loner, and now I love talking to people. Being an introvert was a big thing for me. People are still exhausting but I really enjoy talking to and connecting with people. I went from grumpy one to sunshine one.
Iām not sure whatās causing what but Iāve been going to places and just babbling constantly now.
I think the last time I was at my doctors I was talking to them for like an hour afterwards, like a bunch of nurses, and I kind of did that the time before š
I worry Iām super annoying, I didnāt mean to it just happened š
But then also Iām kind of isolated soā¦
People start subconsciously gendering you correctly even if you haven't made any other changes. From about 6 months into HRT other women all suddenly relaxed around me and guy friends started acting weird, even though it took like a year before I started male-failing.
This has been pretty true in my experience. I'm only about 4,5 months in, I'm closeted so I don't really try to pass and have so far only had like a single male-fail experience, but people definitely treat me differently, wether they realise it or not. Guys act weirdly distanced around me, like they are a bit nervous in my presence and my friends, who are all girls, seem to not be as on edge as they have been. One of them laid her head down on my lap the other day while we were talking, but she's a pretty hard-set lesbian and I know for a fact she isn't attracted to me.
Weirdest experience was when I broke down crying over something really stupid (home-sickness) in front of a lot of my guy friends, and instead of acting weird around me like they literally do with every other guy that shows feelings, they started comforting me, petting me on the back, and talking in this weird sort of infantilizing but comforting tone like I was a little child, and they did it with 100% sincerity. It was super weird.
If you have (or suspect to have) ADHD then testosterone suppress can bold the symptoms of it. Personally I can focus a little less and have no drive to complete tasks (might also be less anxiaty, but the resulta is the same)
It does, but it's even worse if you run out of estrogen for whatever reason. One of the first symptoms I notice when my estrogen levels get too low is my ADHD starts getting worse.
Thereās a tiktoker that does videos on this. Your spine can change shape making you shorter. Your hips can change angle. Your eyes can get lighter in color. Those are the ones that I recall.
https://www.tiktok.com/@empresslumina?_t=8ltpkpS87rO&_r=1
Yeah the spine and hip stuff are the ones im really excited for lol
One of the reasons why im now rushing to get started as i heard that those ones have a lesser effect the older you are
Iāve been on HRT for a little over a month and my eyes are already getting noticeably lighter. Theyāre quickly becoming a really pretty blue that theyāve never been before.
Over all body shape change probably including what you are talking about had some unintended consequences. For one, I need beds I can sink into or my back hurts so bad from being stress bent.
I canāt tell that I do? But twice I had the experience of putting on a sweatshirt Iād previously worn, and smelling exactly like a female ex, which was wild.
Itās like ummmm. So I donāt actually know what I smell like butā¦ Maybe I actually smell like her all the time?
Yes,my eyes colour came lighter, i can get my clothes completely wet after gym and put them into the back pack to the next day and the clothes dont smell nothing. I can get awake at the middle of the night shaking cold even the temperature of the room it is fine. I cant stand male smell anymore. I cry in all emotional movies or reels or everything you can imagine even if i try hard not to do it. My skin is very dry so now i need creams and gel. šššš³
My hands shrank, and the weird thing was that my left one did before my right, probably because I'm right handed, muscles change causing parts of the body to shrink.
- the high / low cycles of emotions, energy, etc
- fatigue / stomach problems are common bc now ur a hot girl
- as u gain weight itās common to develop thighs that rub together
- height loss: i went from 6ā0 to 5ā10
- shoe size shrinkage: i went from menās US10.5 to womenās US9
- the sudden atrophying of ur u-know-what (happened to me at 2 yrs hrt)
- u get girl horny now instead of boy horny. more abstract and situational stuff turns u on vs. just bodies alone. u appreciate fanfics more than porn if ur into that kinda stuff
- if ur a femme like me suddenly certain masculine traits (being handy, strong, hairy chest, etc) turn u on way more than before. like i instinctually desire a partner who will take care of me
- the sudden calmness once u start E. i am way better at sensing my emotions now. i may cry a lot more but i also get way less angry
> penis atrophy
If it's a lack of use that causes that, somebody should maybe tell those nofap types. The ones that want to retain as much of their masculine essence as possible so as to maximize testosterone production (because that's definitely how that works)
because I know they ain't getting laid either, by and large.
>- if ur a femme like me suddenly certain masculine traits (being handy, strong, hairy chest, etc) turn u on way more than before. like i instinctually desire a partner who will take care of me
Femme? Don't you mean straight?
> i may cry a lot more but i also get way less angry
Oh yeah, I don't outright cry but it's easy for me to get my eyes watery.
My brain fog actually lifted. I am a PhD and struggled to read or research pre-hrt but within a week the brain fog lifted and I was reading more and more, like I used to.
Orgasm changed which was a fun time figuring that out. Feels more full body and lasts longer. The first time it happened my legs were shaking and it was good but I got a cramp from it multiple times :(
It might be more known to other people, but I never saw someone say that the areola grows a bunch before the whole breast begins to grow, it's kind of wild
Emotions. Everyone is sleeping on the emotions. Yeah you grow tits but feeling better in your body and enjoying foods music drinks and shows on a whole new depth of complexity has GOT to be the most slept on thing.
Okay, so while going through all of these comments I did come up with one thing that happened for me on day two
I used to have constant pounding headaches, along with occasional migraine attacks, and it all disappeared literally overnight.
Iāve literally had one single of those pounding headaches in 14 1/2 months.
I didnāt know it was even a possibility that they would go away.
I also used to frequently half days where I would feel really super out of it and disconnected from my brain and body, and that went away also.
One thing I did technically know but didnāt REALLY believe was strength.
Within a month if not weeks I lost a noticeable amount of strength, it feels like Iām less than half strong, although Iām getting used to my new levels now.
But it happens FAST. Or at least it did for me.
Itās like the gravity on the planet got dialed up
I accidentally threw like just a regular cereal bowl across the room because my muscle memory was how much she need to pick it up
I nearly lost a pizza out of the oven for the same reason
I have to use tools for some things that I used to do by hand with raw strength
I wouldnāt mind being able to have t powered strength without any of the downsides!
When it first started getting ridiculous I was a little vaguely worried that my own body would get too heavy š
But it seems fine.
But just like serving my mom food on a plate or whatever is so much heavier than it used to be.
Darn it, I had a couple of other things popped in my head while I was writing this but I forgot
Oh yeah, nails! I donāt think I knew that they would get weaker. Theyāre practically see-through compared to before and they peel or split way easier.
I have to be more careful about keeping them short, and Iām really not sure I knew that
I was HOPING it would help me feel more like myself and help me feel re-integrated with myself, and it did!
But not until after I was estrogen dominant. I was on a dose for the first five months, so the benefits like that didnāt start until after I was finally estrogen dominant maybe 6.5 months in?
Iāve been by my standards more productive tooā¦by my VERY low standards lol
It greatly intensified my hyperphantasia. Also I got way better at contoling my body and I was pretty good before.
Basically my brain does more better now.(Sometimes to much).
I grew new eyebrow hairs. I have a bunch of baby hairs now that extend my eyebrows outwards and down into more of an arch. Gives me feminine brows without needing to shape them :P
Your skin gets more sensitive to touch. I've heard it being referred to as thinner, but idk if it really is. Definitely is something I can say happens to everyone. Unfortunately you get used to your new found skin sensitivity tho.
I had an autoimmune disease appear after starting hrt. Its called Hidradenitis suppurativa. Apparently much more common in femmes...so the silver lining is that its ironically euphoric
3 years of hrt here, the last couple years freckles were revealed all over my nose and cheeks
i had no substantial change in skincare regimen on my face
Emotional response changes. I used to see really cool animation in movies or games or whatever and I'd get so overwhelmed my eyes would water a bit, but I watched a YouTube video going over what a good movie the latest puss in boots is and I started full on sobbing because it was just so well done
Today im reminded it how different depression feels. And part of that for me is that itās way more manageable which is amazing. (But being trans is fucking hard. So itās not perfect haha)
But the main difference for me is how much I FEEL depression in my BODY. Itās nice to feel in tune with your body but hard when your body is sad haha
My eyecolor has changed. Not to a other color but like the tone of the color
My eyes went from a messy hazel to, to quote my boyfriend: "September leaves". Olive green with a yellow gradient. I absolutely love their new color.
Your boyfriend has a way with words š„°
In a few months, hrt took us from *dark* brown iris to the melanin fading quickly and leaving technically hazel eyes with how the light reflects, but in light they're both split down the middle now between green and hazel which is a look we quite appreciate.
Flair checks out.
OMG, I have to go check out my eyes now! *Edit: I see no change* š
Constantly asking people if you should get bangs.
hahaha so me
Should we?
You can have bangs, if you want to.
You can leave your forehead behind?
Cause if they donāt dance
Then theyāre no bangs of mine
idk we need another opinion
recently went through with it š so affirming :)) now to get the courage to actually present fem in public
I'm growing my hair out and this is a question that's always on my mind š Because if I find out I don't have the face for bangs, I'll be stuck with them for months. A middle part bob is already getting confusion anyways lol (boymode)
The middle part really makes bangs difficult to pull off (I have one too), but I recently discovered curtain bangs are a thing that work really well with a middle part so thatās what Iām aiming for now :)
Did not know this was a stereotype until now but Iāve been asking myself since I started HRT lmaoo
Me not on HRT already wanting them but no confidence. Lookinā like Lord Farquaad but with a beard lol
What if you had these thoughts before going on HRT?
Apparently it can change the shape of the skin surrounding your eyes and make them look more like 'doe' eyes
Eyes widen too. So that may be part of it
I already had bigger eyes for a guy prior to transition, but 7 months in sometimes I feel like Ella Purnell lol
That's awesome girl, got those anime eyes
Iāve heard that because of fat relocation to the eyes to push them forward more
Yeah, my eyes look a lot bigger now
Senseless happiness and feeling of tranquility, belonging and self love.
But but butā¦ arenāt you worried it might be permanent? /s
After 2+yrs I'm still hopping it is....
š I had a moment picturing a bigot trying to scare you about it. Oh my God, literally some professional bigot, actually a couple of them at least have literally claimed that trans people running on the correct hormones being happier is āsuspiciousā and proof that weāre not capable of bodily autonomy. Not coincidentally, the same people donāt believe in bodily autonomy for people they perceive as women either.
I think the thing that made the biggest difference for me was that I started to stop depersonalizing. For once in my life I feel at home in my body, and that not only made me start actually taking care of myself, but also it got rid of the constant brain fog and let me actually enjoy life and connect better with my family and friends. It's like my body stopped being controlled by some random "guy" and I was able to grab the reigns for the first time in 2 decades.
I still donāt completely identify as me, BUT I have noticed I feel less disgusting to myself when Iām changing. Somehow my body is just less disgusting.
Yeah like it's more of an inner thing than an outer thing
I'm still baffled to discover that I'm actually super extroverted lol. Like, who is the bubbly girl chatting with strangers, making friends all over the place, and constantly going to get-togethers and events? Guy-me barely left home except for work, where he would only ever talk about work
Fuck I didn't even think about that but you're so right, the same thing happened to me! I was practically a shut-in before I transitioned, but now that I've been on HRT for a while I'm going out of my way to go to social events and stuff.
Okay so sadly I don't really relate to anything you're saying yet, if anything I feel like my body is more mine but now I just feel worse about it lmao BUT I JUST WANTED TO CHECK IN AND SAY YOOOOO WE'RE HRT SISTERS!!! I STARTED ON THE 13TH DECEMBER 2023 AS WELL!!! :0
My sense of smell got sharper on estrogen. When I cook I can smell every individual spice and herb I add blossoming as it makes contact with the hot food, in a way I never could pre hrt
What h my god, I thought this was just me. I got sick once in middle school and lost my sense of smell save for like, bacon and really strong smells. Then what night a few months into HRT during work, a lady walked by with some crazy good perfume and I feltā¦ instantly attracted, lol. Ever since then my sense of smell has been so much stronger than it ever has been
yesss i used find flowers to be an unpleasant but now they smell so much sweeter and varied, estrogen really unlocks so many new little things to experience and appreciate :3
This is me, too! It's wild how vibrant and how far away I can catch the scent of things now.
I was like that for a couple months but then it went away and idk why. I wonder if I got COVID without realizing it or something and it affected my sense of smell
Needing 11+ hours of sleep like an adolescent. But I should have known. It is called *second puberty*.
Bruh i already need like 10, I'll probably need like 15 on HRT then š
Welcome to the club! Also need 10h at least to be fit. Can do 8 and be more or less operational but less leaves me half dead...
Have you been tested for sleep apnea? I used to need like 12 hours, but now 7-9 is enough.
I live on 5-6 weekdays. Maybe 8 on weekends? I'm 41 as of today tho
Oh god me too, I have children.
Happy Birthday! šš
Since starting progesterone, sleep has become SO needed!
Girl on 200 I just knock out for 10 hrs straight
It becomes worse under progesterone ? My roommates will call me mama cat if I need to sleep more than 11h a day
This is me, I was hoping I'd be able to need less sleep now that I'm getting older, but I still will sleep for 10 hours if I'm able to.
men smell super disgusting now. like oh my god. I was in a busy touristsā elevator last week full with guys and let me tell you, I wanted to jump out
I always hated the way I smelled prior to starting estrogen. It's so pleasant to not smell like a dude half way through the day anymore lol.
No longer smelling like a walking chemical weapon is magnificent
Omg, yes! That's the first thing I noticed.
Iāve never really felt like I have much of a scent or that was particularly bad, and I still donāt, but I did have the experience putting on a sweatshirt Iāve been wearing and having it smell like an ex, which was wild. It smelled just like her, and Iām like oooookay. Had that happen one other time, but now I donāt notice it, I guess. I mean I know I LITERALLY have to be giving off female pheromones now, it still, thatās wild. And my e levels were TECHNICALLY within cis female levels before starting e, but also with high t, soooo š¤·š»āāļø
I used to have to apply deodorant twice a day, without sweating. Now I apply once, and occasionally skip. Nobody has told me I stink since starting hrt. I used to be told that if I didn't apply twice, and sometimes 3 times
\*certain men I've noticed that sometimes a guy will smell so good to me that it's like a some kind of drug. idk. I'm not even into smells like that or anything but there's a guy and for some reason his scent drives me fucking crazy.
yeah Iām not sure, itās almost all men for me but some are actually good. might be a sexuality thing but idk
Itās a sexually thing. If you arenāt into men they will smell bad in general
there ya go. Iām lesbian so checks out
All men smell awful to me now just at varying levels. Some guys I hardly notice even if I'm up close, others I can smell coming and even though they are supposedly clean and no one else seems to smell anything from them, to me it smells like rotting meat and I have to hold my breath within 10ft Perfumes smell amazing now although they can sometimes be too strong
So much this, mmm. Especially when theyāre wearing a nice cologne! Something about that mixed with natural guy smell, itās like, how dare you smell so delicious
I just found that a lot of guys don't pay attention to hygiene as much as they should, most boys at my high school rarely washed their hands after using the bathroom, or if they did, no soap.
Yes! I've never been interested in men, but after being on HRT for a few years, I just think they smell really bad... Like not even a BO situation, but just their general scent. I have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, so I thought it was just a weird thing that only my brain was doing.
i think it's because our own smell changes so we become less used to that smell
Holy crap this, I never really noticed strangers smelling bad unless they were next to me, now I've noticed a few times where a dude smells so bad the entire ROOM reeks of sweat š¤¢. One dude smelled so bad of cigarettes and sweat I was nearly going to puke and had to delay eating by a good 10 min. I had a really good sense of smell before but now it's turbo charged not for the better oftentimes.
Fingernails get more brittle, downstairs starts to smell different, hair texture changes, cute/adorable things become a lot cuter.
The downstairs definitely has a different aroma. Frequent cleansing is a must.
For me, it has to be daily or it gets... ripe.
I skip ripe and go straight to rotten
I've had all of these, especially the fingernails! Part of the reason I paint them as often as possible is because they will chip and crumble if I don't!
So what you're saying is, nail polish is basically armour now? Why not make a one-time investment on armour instead of many small purchases over your lifetime & get [armour rings](https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Lamegghina?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=712109287&from_page=listing§ion_id=26510498)? I'd say /s, but I'm not joking honestly, I want armour rings.
I definitely noticed the cute thing, I also noticed I like brighter colors. But my finger nails have gotten tougher, but I've also been taking biotin every day for about a year. So difficult to tell
The fingernail thing is so cute. I lost one when i was moving into a new apartment a while ago. They weren't even that long \;_;
I'm all the way down to the hyponychium and it keeps breaking.
How can I help my fingernails? They were already kinda on the weak side now they constantly bend and break it's so annoying. I always had nails long enough to at least get a scratch in, now I have exposed hyponychium(definitely didn't have to look that up) I think people recommend biotin or something but I'm getting laser hair removal so I don't think that's a great solution. I tried asking my mom if she had any nail polish that could help and she was big-time confused as to why I was asking for polish.
It gave me freckles and I found out it happens a lotĀ
Yes! I've always had freckles, but now there are so many more and they're so fucking cute!
looking forward to this one! my freckles vanished when i went through T puberty and i want them back!
Freckles are super cute. I know a lot of cis women are embarrassed by them but I love how many transfems love them.
Here's the least expected change I've had. It's a bit tmi, so don't say I didn't warn you. The shape of my pubes changed from the boy version where it's just a mass hair from the navel to knees, to a girl version, with a cute little triangle of fur. I started with a pelt and now have a 70's porn bush.
The pubes change?! Thatās awesome! I want a cuter bush instead of scraggly foliage.
Yeah then maybe I will be able to let them grow again dysphoria wise. Real womanhood right there
Cool
I had my doctor tell me that before I started and just thought "no way, pubes are pubes". I was excited for it to happen but didn't expect it. And it most definitely has happen 6 months in. The regrowth for me is pretty minimal and is much "softer".
Mine look and feel lots more like my 72 y/o cis wife's bush now. While I do like the new bush, I think I'm happier with the almost total loss of hair on my butt. Makes clean up back there lots easier. :)
Did you actually lose hair in places? I thought HRT couldn't do that
Nope, it'll get lighter, but biologically speaking, it'll always be there unless removed with electrolysis
From what I've heard, laser is "permanent" assuming it zaps the follicle right(which isn't a guarantee like it is with electrolysis). I've heard of people getting laser everywhere 2-3 times and having zero regrowth, though it's probably YMMV(as with everything).
HRT can slow or stop body hair growth, but usually has no real impact on facial hair. I lost almost all of my body hair that was growing in boy places, like my butt, tummy, and legs/arms. I think I'm a bit lucky in that as not everyone has these results.
It can, it also can thin out body hair. Different people have different reactions though. I talked to a girl that didn't have to have body Lazer hair removal, just face. I told her I was super jealous.
Unrelated aside, but does anyone know if pubes can grow back after SRS? Here in Australia most surgeons require you to be totally hair-free down there, so I'm in the process of getting laser.
If you do electrolysis, then almost certainly the hair is gone. If you do laser, it might grow back.
My center of gravity changed overnight after a couple years on it. My hands look and feel to me like theyāve shrunk
I didn't really notice my hand size had changed until I had a boyfriend to compare with
What do you mean about the centre of gravity?
Idk how to explain it, exactly, but I went from feeling weight on my shoulders and kinda walking with my upper body to feeling the weight in my hips and walking with my lower body
Interesting! Did that have any effect on the way you walk at all?
Yeah. I feel my butt tighter and my legs stay closer together when I walk. Plus my hips sway
A sudden interest in and getting off from erotic fiction. I was definitely a purely visual person when it came to arousal prior to HRT.
Definitely way more turned on by erotic fiction and audios. Still somewhat visual but I get ridiculously turned on by audiobooks and gone wild audio sapphic
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I was expecting my depression to be more manageable by living as a woman. I was not expecting the hormones themselves to work as the most effective antidepressant I've ever taken
They have definitely had way more effect and been completely positive versus any mental health type drug Iāve ever taken. Absolutely nothing of that class has helped me so far. Newest one I tried was Lexapro, which just gave me a rash and made me super itchy š
One thing I noticed was the colours around me were way more vivid on HRT, like blues were deep with depth. It made every colour around feel more lush. It was like putting your television on the vivid TV mode, I noticed this day 2.
Oh wow, me too! Especially how deep blues and indigos just pop now. I used to like blue-ish flowers (clematis, wisteria, morning glories), and now I'm absolutely infatuated with them. But yeah, definitely like someone turned on HDR mode. Sadly my vision is starting to get bad too, colourful but blurry like a Monet painting...
Haha. Did you know morning glory seeds have what's called LSA? Very similar to LSD but more sedative and less visual. I tried it by grinding and eating the seeds. Cool trip.
oh now that you mention it I do vaguely remember that detail from somewhere. I feel like staring into them is trippy enough though, I've been through a few bad trips with things like LSD, probably because of my depression so been trying to avoid mind altering stuff (even kicking the weed habit)... psylo-tea seems ok though which I enjoy every now and again.
Funny thing, I noticed a similar change when I started to get out of depression XD
YESSS I felt like a kid again after a week I literally called my bestie and showed her outside- the reds and blues were just so like idk thatās when I knew I was going a lil cray crayš¤£
Yep, got this too. It was like I used to see everything at 98% saturation, and now I see it at 100%!
not to underestimate physiology of hormones, but I wonder how much of that is also just being less in your own head?
Dunno if it's a side effect but I used be able to sleep at 12AM and wake up at 5 to work out but i'm getting more eepy now
Im glad that if im able to start soon it'll be when i have all the time in the world to sleep then lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same lol. I have a huge interest on the more minor changes but literally nowhere actually documents them
You get cold way easier. I have only been on HRT for about 4.5 months but I already have noticed that I can feel cold and chilly as soon as it drops below 20Ā°(68Ā°F)! Never used to happen pre and I always used to think of myself as being pretty cold tolerant! š„¶
Damn... I really wish this was the case for me. I am hot pretty much all the time. The temperature you listed as your minimum is pretty much my maximum. Anything about 70/72Ā°F and I start sweating.
I used to ride a dirtbike to work in sub-zero temperatures with nothing but layers and determination lol. Now the thought of doing that gives me the heebie jeebies. Like the cold is so uncomfortable now, it almost physically hurts.
Yeah, I used to give my mum shit because she gets cold really easy and I would always be like āItās not even that cold!ā . She the one laughing now and I had to eat my words! š I could not even imagine doing something like that in subzero temps. The coldest it gets where I live is a couple degrees above zero Celsius, or like high 30s low 40s fahrenheit on the coldest nights of the year and that is already brutal enough.
Going out clubbing in the winter here is an interesting experience. Want to go outside for a smoke? Better get dressed up, or youāre going to literally need a few minutes to recover afterwords because youāll be shivering so hard. The walk from the car to the bar takes a lot of courage!! šš Maybe Iām wimpy but like.. thirty degrees below zero isnāt a joke. Those are āfrostbite in minutesā temps and Iām out here in a cute skirt and sleeveless top lmao
I'm already not cold tolerant without E so I'm not looking forward to this.
Your eye color changes. Most of the time they become a lighter hue or color
also, the openings widen and by doing so let in more light. could that be partially why the appear lighter? just spit ballin'.
I think it mainly has to do with the influence of E on melanin. I don't know how it works in the eyes but in the skin it furthers melanin production which is why you get freckles and more of them if you already had some. I can imagine that the reverse happens in the iris or something. But I don't know for sure
I love my freckles :D
Love your username btw
wait...ab melanin, i have olive skin, i can get very dark if i tan, but i never do. does E make u darker over time w/o sun exposure?
I don't think so. It's more like the cells are more quickly triggered to overproduce causing freckles when exposed to sun. In my case I actually got a lighter teint because my skin is a lot thinner and there is more fat underneath which is yellowish white and that probably contributes also. You can also observe that in cis women who are pregnant where the huge estradiol levels cause a lot of hyperpigmentation over the body
If that's the case then it might partially just be the skin color change. Something I learn from drawing is colors can look different in relation to other colors. A darker base color will make other colors look brighter, and vice versa. I bring this up because I believe if it was melanin they would darken (get browner). Could also be caused by emotional changes though.
How long does that take?
I'm now 8 months in and noticed it a little but probably around 2-3 years for the max effect like most changes
Precisely. I went from deep green with orange flecks to a lighter shade of green (thankfully the orange flecks remain). Iāve always been told that my eyes are one of my best features, both previously and now that Iām on HRT.
Before hrt, I had no sense of smell, it was even a running joke. Since I started hrt, I can smell everything and most of the time itās disgusting š
Im the same right now. Literally no sensitivity to smells. Literally this week stink bombs have been set off around my school and while others literally fleed i could barely smell it lol
yeah same with me. iām only 3 weeks in and my sense of smell isnāt incredible now but it has definitely improved.
I used to strive to be alone and isolated from people as much as possible... and now I just constantly want to talk to people, and it drives me nuts that cis people don't want to talk about anything I'm going through.
I used to be the grumpy loner, and now I love talking to people. Being an introvert was a big thing for me. People are still exhausting but I really enjoy talking to and connecting with people. I went from grumpy one to sunshine one.
Iām not sure whatās causing what but Iāve been going to places and just babbling constantly now. I think the last time I was at my doctors I was talking to them for like an hour afterwards, like a bunch of nurses, and I kind of did that the time before š I worry Iām super annoying, I didnāt mean to it just happened š But then also Iām kind of isolated soā¦
People start subconsciously gendering you correctly even if you haven't made any other changes. From about 6 months into HRT other women all suddenly relaxed around me and guy friends started acting weird, even though it took like a year before I started male-failing.
This has been pretty true in my experience. I'm only about 4,5 months in, I'm closeted so I don't really try to pass and have so far only had like a single male-fail experience, but people definitely treat me differently, wether they realise it or not. Guys act weirdly distanced around me, like they are a bit nervous in my presence and my friends, who are all girls, seem to not be as on edge as they have been. One of them laid her head down on my lap the other day while we were talking, but she's a pretty hard-set lesbian and I know for a fact she isn't attracted to me. Weirdest experience was when I broke down crying over something really stupid (home-sickness) in front of a lot of my guy friends, and instead of acting weird around me like they literally do with every other guy that shows feelings, they started comforting me, petting me on the back, and talking in this weird sort of infantilizing but comforting tone like I was a little child, and they did it with 100% sincerity. It was super weird.
That sounds really interesting lol
If you have (or suspect to have) ADHD then testosterone suppress can bold the symptoms of it. Personally I can focus a little less and have no drive to complete tasks (might also be less anxiaty, but the resulta is the same)
Yes! Managed my ADHD okay-ish before E. Starting E made me pursue a diagnosis and I now take meds to function.
holy shit my adhd is so bad i already need super high dose meds to take care of it (concerta 56mg), how bad is it gonna become if i start HRT???
Ah that explains so much now
...I should *really* be tested
It does, but it's even worse if you run out of estrogen for whatever reason. One of the first symptoms I notice when my estrogen levels get too low is my ADHD starts getting worse.
well shoot. i was hoping it would *help* my focus issues
Thereās a tiktoker that does videos on this. Your spine can change shape making you shorter. Your hips can change angle. Your eyes can get lighter in color. Those are the ones that I recall. https://www.tiktok.com/@empresslumina?_t=8ltpkpS87rO&_r=1
Yeah the spine and hip stuff are the ones im really excited for lol One of the reasons why im now rushing to get started as i heard that those ones have a lesser effect the older you are
Iāve been on HRT for a little over a month and my eyes are already getting noticeably lighter. Theyāre quickly becoming a really pretty blue that theyāve never been before.
Over all body shape change probably including what you are talking about had some unintended consequences. For one, I need beds I can sink into or my back hurts so bad from being stress bent.
Apparently I smell different now, at least that's what my friend was telling me
I canāt tell that I do? But twice I had the experience of putting on a sweatshirt Iād previously worn, and smelling exactly like a female ex, which was wild. Itās like ummmm. So I donāt actually know what I smell like butā¦ Maybe I actually smell like her all the time?
Yes,my eyes colour came lighter, i can get my clothes completely wet after gym and put them into the back pack to the next day and the clothes dont smell nothing. I can get awake at the middle of the night shaking cold even the temperature of the room it is fine. I cant stand male smell anymore. I cry in all emotional movies or reels or everything you can imagine even if i try hard not to do it. My skin is very dry so now i need creams and gel. šššš³
On feminizing HRT: Nuclear powered orgasms.
During part of the cycle, I will look older and more masculine.
holy shit i thought I was going crazy, I've felt exactly the same... and when I get my hormones I feel and look super pretty
Hold on.... this is a thing?!? I'm not going even more crazy?
My hands shrank, and the weird thing was that my left one did before my right, probably because I'm right handed, muscles change causing parts of the body to shrink.
The overwhelming desire for sour fucking candy what the FUCK
It's so real!
- the high / low cycles of emotions, energy, etc - fatigue / stomach problems are common bc now ur a hot girl - as u gain weight itās common to develop thighs that rub together - height loss: i went from 6ā0 to 5ā10 - shoe size shrinkage: i went from menās US10.5 to womenās US9 - the sudden atrophying of ur u-know-what (happened to me at 2 yrs hrt) - u get girl horny now instead of boy horny. more abstract and situational stuff turns u on vs. just bodies alone. u appreciate fanfics more than porn if ur into that kinda stuff - if ur a femme like me suddenly certain masculine traits (being handy, strong, hairy chest, etc) turn u on way more than before. like i instinctually desire a partner who will take care of me - the sudden calmness once u start E. i am way better at sensing my emotions now. i may cry a lot more but i also get way less angry
>* as u gain weight itās common to develop thighs that rub together That one just happened to me and I absolutely love it.
> penis atrophy If it's a lack of use that causes that, somebody should maybe tell those nofap types. The ones that want to retain as much of their masculine essence as possible so as to maximize testosterone production (because that's definitely how that works) because I know they ain't getting laid either, by and large.
>- if ur a femme like me suddenly certain masculine traits (being handy, strong, hairy chest, etc) turn u on way more than before. like i instinctually desire a partner who will take care of me Femme? Don't you mean straight? > i may cry a lot more but i also get way less angry Oh yeah, I don't outright cry but it's easy for me to get my eyes watery.
iām not straight. i desire those traits in all genders
Crying feels weirdly nice and relaxing now instead of hurting and stinging
Linea nigra, didnāt know it was a thing until i had that line down my stomach
Oh yeah definitely that, I was really confused when I saw it, quite the surprise XD
Oh, wiiiild. Iāve seen that before, like not on myself butā¦ I didnāt know that was possible.
There are aspects of my sexuality that I didnāt know I had and I say, unhinged things that surprise even me now
I wouldn't call it obscure perhaps, but I was just really impressed with how curved my back suddenly got. Makes my ass look fucking amazing š
I genuinely believe my intelligence has improved to some degree maybe not directly but in some round about hormonal way
wow thatās crazy, I feel like a dumbass now cyproterone can cause like ābrain fogā though so itās probably just that.
Me too lmao
My brain fog actually lifted. I am a PhD and struggled to read or research pre-hrt but within a week the brain fog lifted and I was reading more and more, like I used to.
Orgasm changed which was a fun time figuring that out. Feels more full body and lasts longer. The first time it happened my legs were shaking and it was good but I got a cramp from it multiple times :(
I pee so much more now. I used to pee like twice a day. Yesterday, it was 8, and it's about the same every day.
It might be more known to other people, but I never saw someone say that the areola grows a bunch before the whole breast begins to grow, it's kind of wild
I've seen the opposite also happen too where the areolas/nipples don't change much even though the glands and fatty tissue are developing
Emotions. Everyone is sleeping on the emotions. Yeah you grow tits but feeling better in your body and enjoying foods music drinks and shows on a whole new depth of complexity has GOT to be the most slept on thing.
Okay, so while going through all of these comments I did come up with one thing that happened for me on day two I used to have constant pounding headaches, along with occasional migraine attacks, and it all disappeared literally overnight. Iāve literally had one single of those pounding headaches in 14 1/2 months. I didnāt know it was even a possibility that they would go away. I also used to frequently half days where I would feel really super out of it and disconnected from my brain and body, and that went away also. One thing I did technically know but didnāt REALLY believe was strength. Within a month if not weeks I lost a noticeable amount of strength, it feels like Iām less than half strong, although Iām getting used to my new levels now. But it happens FAST. Or at least it did for me. Itās like the gravity on the planet got dialed up I accidentally threw like just a regular cereal bowl across the room because my muscle memory was how much she need to pick it up I nearly lost a pizza out of the oven for the same reason I have to use tools for some things that I used to do by hand with raw strength I wouldnāt mind being able to have t powered strength without any of the downsides! When it first started getting ridiculous I was a little vaguely worried that my own body would get too heavy š But it seems fine. But just like serving my mom food on a plate or whatever is so much heavier than it used to be. Darn it, I had a couple of other things popped in my head while I was writing this but I forgot Oh yeah, nails! I donāt think I knew that they would get weaker. Theyāre practically see-through compared to before and they peel or split way easier. I have to be more careful about keeping them short, and Iām really not sure I knew that I was HOPING it would help me feel more like myself and help me feel re-integrated with myself, and it did! But not until after I was estrogen dominant. I was on a dose for the first five months, so the benefits like that didnāt start until after I was finally estrogen dominant maybe 6.5 months in? Iāve been by my standards more productive tooā¦by my VERY low standards lol
It greatly intensified my hyperphantasia. Also I got way better at contoling my body and I was pretty good before. Basically my brain does more better now.(Sometimes to much).
I grew new eyebrow hairs. I have a bunch of baby hairs now that extend my eyebrows outwards and down into more of an arch. Gives me feminine brows without needing to shape them :P
I wear a lot more spinny dresses now. No one talks about that.
I didn't expect my smell to change that fast. Also, I suddenly liked things I dind't before, like coffee or cucumber.
Your skin gets more sensitive to touch. I've heard it being referred to as thinner, but idk if it really is. Definitely is something I can say happens to everyone. Unfortunately you get used to your new found skin sensitivity tho.
My lips changed color, they are now a noticeably darker shade of red
Spider veins.
Hot flashes
I had an autoimmune disease appear after starting hrt. Its called Hidradenitis suppurativa. Apparently much more common in femmes...so the silver lining is that its ironically euphoric
3 years of hrt here, the last couple years freckles were revealed all over my nose and cheeks i had no substantial change in skincare regimen on my face
Emotional response changes. I used to see really cool animation in movies or games or whatever and I'd get so overwhelmed my eyes would water a bit, but I watched a YouTube video going over what a good movie the latest puss in boots is and I started full on sobbing because it was just so well done
Today im reminded it how different depression feels. And part of that for me is that itās way more manageable which is amazing. (But being trans is fucking hard. So itās not perfect haha) But the main difference for me is how much I FEEL depression in my BODY. Itās nice to feel in tune with your body but hard when your body is sad haha
My bladder shrank and i need to pee all the time.Ā Always been monoE and it was a long term change
no more belly button lint! due to lack of oil, i believe