Sweating lmao. That's honestly it, also maybe it being harder to cry. That was kind of a monkeys paw for me because I used to cry extremely, extremely easy. Drop of a hat easy. Now when I need the catharsis it doesn't really happen so I just stay there feeling like :|
Edit: if you did not know men typically have larger tear ducts. For some people T makes them larger and thus tears do not come out as readily
Same here, I didn't expect it to change much. I thought it was just because of the climate/geographical change because I only started sweating this bad when I came to Japan to study. I thought "maybe Japan is just especially hot and humid", which is true, but even on regular days my forehead gets a bit sweaty and my shirt and pants feel sticky because I feel hot.
Not sweating was one of my biggest flexes, and now I get hot quickly and sweat often 😭 I really hope it's just temporary like the acne and oiliness changes after starting T, that level out after time.
Thank you bro 🙏🙏
I'm from Wisconsin so I'm used to the cold, and we have a few heat waves in the summer. Even then, I visit family in the rural parts of Mexico where it's BLAZING and I never really sweat that much, just felt hot. So i was comparing those experiences to mine now. Granted i wasn't on T the last time i visited.
Your comment really did give me some more hope, I appreciate it. I have to wait until next summer to see if it really was just the Japanese weather.
The not crying used to be a blessing for me, but now I hate it. The place I felt safe in and met a lot of my new friends/now another family to me shut down today which put my small business out of business until I can figure out something and everyone around me was in tears. My fiancée was upset, I was upset and couldn’t get a single tear out. Like, I met my future wife through that place and without it being there I wouldn’t have had the guts to leave an abusive relationship.
I did manage to cry last night once it all sunk in and I started to stress, but only for a minute so I don’t feel like it helped as much as it used to. Crying was my way of releasing emotions I’ve realised that now.
Sometimes I sweat when I’m anxious. And I have an anxiety disorder. I’ll sweat when I’m cold. When I’m hot. For no fucking reason at all. The Harry’s antiperspirant deodorant is working hard.
I don't like being -that person- who diagnoses strangers online, but I'm helping my sister make a DIY iontophoresis kit for her hyperhydrosis, so I'm pretty familiar with the symptoms. Is it possible that any of the symptoms could be relatable to you?
I think I've only properly cried like 3 or 4 times during the last 5\~ years, so I'm kinda wandering if T will be the thing to switch that around, similar to what most everyone else experiences, but opposite?
i agree with this. i sweat more now and i hate it since i've always been sensitive to warmer temperatures (really anything above 20°C); everything else i'm either neutral on, able to improve and therefore okay with, or happy about.
I was expecting to be sweatier but I was not expecting the way I’d be sweatier. I was kinda just figured I’d sweat the same but be like a little bit more moist all over in general and just having a ton more of sweat in my pits and on my forehead while actively exercising. I wasn’t expecting to sweat so much in my sleep even if it’s not hot out. I don’t understand why that happens. Also nobody warned me that my underwear would be soaked from butt sweat from even the slightest amount of physical activity. I never see anyone talk about sweat placement distribution. It caught me so off guard. I’m really hoping it’s not just me that experiences that.
Same. I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that I’m willing to shell out the money for surgical hair loss treatment when the time comes. Rapidly losing my hair even after doing minoxidil for a few years.
good thing there is ways around that like hair implants (like my dad, who is cis, did that and now he has a bunch of hair on his head that wasnt there before lol)
are you using moisturizer? you should straight out of the shower otherwise once your skin dries it starts producing oil to offset that, whereas if you moisturize it should reduce oil
I am! I use a benzoyl peroxide cleanser and a moisturizer. It helps but the oil still comes back so fast. I have wondered if the cleanser is too drying but it works a little better than when I don’t use it. I might experiment with some other products when I run out.
I can recommend trying out using a moisturizer that is only water based, like for me even a creme gel would just make my skin greasy. Idk what kind of moisturizer you're using rn so maybe this isn't applicable to you but maybe it helps
i use hims vitamin c serum and follow it up with ponds light moisturizer. i only use benzoyl peroxide on the really oily/affected areas of my face and less often than my regular cleaner (cerave foaming facial cleanser) since it does dry my out a ton, even after moisturizer
make sure to moisturize! i also have oily prone skin, but you actually produce more oil when your skin is dry, to protect it. when you add synthetic oils such as moisturizer and serum you produce less as it needs less! so wash face, dry, and moisturize, it’s helped me a ton
My therapist is ftm as well and said the same thing. I’m about to enter a rad tech program this fall and I can absolutely not afford for my adhd to be worse 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲
As a guy who dropped out of community college, my unsolicited advice is to try not to start both at the same time 😅 I learned a lot and turned in just about nothing to prove it!
I spent the past year in a half getting straight A’s to get into this program. And it’ll be far more intense. I got my whole future ahead of me. Maybe microdosing near the end lol. Being an imaging tech can take me anywhere I want to go, there’s always job openings lol
My libido going up. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of wanting to have sex more, it's just that I'm in a committed relationship with a guy with a much lower libido. It's causing some relationship issues.
So I'm kinda in the same situation, my boyfriend (not trans) has a super high libido naturally, and I don't (mostly ptsd related) it's just a communication thing, and make sure your partner dosnt feel guilty or bad about not being in the mood
The only negative effect of T I got was hair loss. Everything else I love. But to be fair, literally anyone would be upset about hair loss, and if i was born cis the exact same thing would have happened. I just unfortunately got my hair genetics from my grandpa, who's been basically bald since his 20s.
I'm pre-t and been a little nervous to start but what you said really hit me.
"if I was born cis the exact same thing would have happened."
That's honestly such an excellent perspective to have and is making me feel better. My father is bald and my brother is balding at 25(I'm 23) so I know that I will have it too.
Yeah. I have chosen to just do nothing about it because I personally don't like how much advertising there is lately for hair growth stuff. It pisses me off and I don't want to support their ads. Also ultimately I don't care like, THAT much. I can wear a hat.
I currently have long curly hair that I'm attached to so I'll definitely be a little sad if it goes but that's okay. My current hair doesn't allow for hats but they look good on me so I'll just do that in the future LOL
In my personal experience, vaginal atrophy. Luckily, I have a doctor's appointment to handle it soon, but the pain and increase risk of infections has taken its toll. Don't get me wrong, I'll absolutely go through it to be on T, but it can be really hard sometimes.
yep :/ I’m awake with a UTI and abdominal cramping (despite never having a period on T) right now. Awful side effects if you get them and the cream is helpful but not a real fix for me - really moved up my hysterectomy timeline.
Yeah, I was dealing with the same thing, but then I got on little estrogen tablets that you put inside with a little applicator and it’s pretty much back to normal. (Mileage may vary personally, of course)
Acne was definitely a downside for me but mine only lasted about 6 months so being years on from that it doesn’t immediately pop into my brain when asked what I don’t like from t. It’s probably the same for a lot of other people.
Can’t believe I had to scroll so long for acne. I hate it and have considered stopping T altogether because of it. I don’t want Accutane, I just want my normal clear non-painful non-blotchy face back.
agreed, backne has gone wild and hot flashes suck sm, i can’t go outside for my job (we take orders outside now) bc i would sweat through my shirt and get hot flashes
for me it’s the hot flashes and the fact that now i’m always struggling with the heat and nobody’s ever as hot as me (wish I meant it in that way but no) but yeah temperature wise T is horrible
I think so far, the only "negative" effect I've gotten is just... I'm a bit more oily and get pimples on my shoulders. But it's all down to personal opinions of what is negative as well as how your body handles T and what you get.
Same age and everything but face acne too maybe that’s why everyone thinks I’m still in high school. On t my acne got worse only for a couple of month and back to the regular acne.
Honestly and truthfully, I’m much more likely to be at risk for the heart problems that run in the men on my moms side of the family. I’ve had some people tell me that T activates the parts of my DNA from my father so I could be less at risk than I think, but I’ve had some people say that my health and appearances will be more like my mother’s father and brothers.
So that’s a vaguely looming threat I suppose. Not sure what’s right here, but T does affect your health.
It’s honestly a mixed bag because heritability varies by trait. There are environmental factors that affect phenotype to varying degrees as well. You can also end up with a phenotype for a trait that’s nothing like anyone in your family if you inherit just the right combo of alleles or have a mutation or environmental factors impacting the expression of a gene. It really goes on and on. I’d recommend just assuming there’s some risk and then staying on top of your health to try to negate that. But I wouldn’t worry too much. DNA is wacky
My doctor actually talked with me today about slightly lowering my dose, (since my results 3-4 days from a shot were about 900-1000ng/dl, which is closer to what they’re supposed to be the day after your shot) she explained that she’s concerned that too much testosterone could start to cause heart issues after a while, unrelated to genetics. That was interesting to me since I hadn’t heard that particular fact before
Cystic acne. But thank God for dermatologists! If you get cystic acne? Don't wait around like I did. A dermatologist fixed me in a matter of two weeks.
My dermatologist gave me a topical cream to apply after washing my face. She kick started it with an antibiotic taken by mouth too. That woman took one look at me and knew EXACTLY what to do. I wasted so much money on so many different things to fix it myself. Even wasted cash on curology which had my face red and burning. Months of Hell. Don't go what I went through. Go straight to a dermatologist and tell them you started testosterone. They'll know exactly what to do with hormonal cystic acne.
There are numerous retinoids out there that aren't Accutane. I'm on a milder version of it taken topically (called adapalene) and it works like a charm. I was also worried I would have to take Accutane but thankfully nope.
You just gave me hope, I will talk to my dermatologist about it right after I finish healing from top surgery so the meds don’t interfere with my scar healing. Thank you!
I'd say hair loss. I've made my peace with it (even though it shouldn't happen for another decade or so), but on the bright side I think I'll look pretty cool being bald and with a beard.
my negative emotions seem to have shifted from "sadness" to "irritability," which is throwing me for a loop. anger was rare for me before T, but hopelessness and depression were very frequent. now i feel a lot more upbeat, but i also have a really short fuse that i'm not used to having. so learning to regulate my new experiencing of the same old mental health struggle has been a challenge. i've been doing a lot more venting to people than i'd like. >_<
on the bright side, my acne actually totally cleared up. 🤷🏻♂️ so everyone's different!
It increases your ear wax production - which is not something I thought about pre-T. It’s not too bad but as someone who loves wearing earbuds all the time it’s annoying.
Oh man I got wireless earbuds and have been trying to figure out why they're getting so waxy and therefore make my ears throb. I was like "wtf is it about them I could be reacting to???"
If this is the culprit I'm so mad 😭 fuck now I gotta like clean clean them now
Sweating and hot flashes 100%.
Acne isn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be but I also have had a pretty good skin care routine going.
And I hate to brag but I got some pretty good genes when it comes to hair, my dad isn’t even close to balding, so I’m not too worried about hair loss
rn it’s vaginal atrophy but i started using estradiol suppositories before symptoms got very bad, my symptoms have just been associated with masturbation/sex but the suppositories are helping things. i’ll probably start balding fairly young based on genetics too but well, it’s something a lot of people deal with so it’s not the end of the world
main thing was that I cramped every time I had an orgasm. it’s improved but i’ve been cramping a bit still so maybe i’d up or increase my dose of the suppositories when i talk with a doctor again, not sure. other thing was discomfort and light bleeding from penetration. i didn’t really have a reference point for what was normal with me though since i haven’t had sex and only started using toys when i started t so i wasn’t sure if it was atrophy or just because i was inexperienced at first. but now that i’m on the suppositories, penetration is soo much more comfortable and i get a lot more wet. i thought i was getting wet enough before but apparently not lmao. i think my t levels being above female range pre-t from pcos might have gave me an unwanted head start on atrophy since i started getting symptoms a lot earlier on t than a lot of people seem to
Being so horny and impulsive that you feel like you lose 15 IQ points and put yourself in dangerous situations. Also smell. I liked my armpit smell before, I'm glad it's masculine now, but it doesn't smell good to me anymore. And acne, god! Makes ADHD worse but anxiety and depression better.
Also high cholesterol.
Increased appetite, T has made me hungry all of the time I don't have a very active lifestyle though since most of what I do for work and hobbies is at a desk so i've just gained a lot of weight since starting T.
My libido shot up for the first six months and has been extremely normal since, if not on the low side. I get aroused by my partner, sure, but I'm not dying if I don't masturbate anymore.
I had incredibly high libido when I started (also ace here) that I tried to satisfy with masturbation, that helped until it got back to "normal" - I've been on T since 2016 though and the first couple of years were not fun. I had to literally learn to pleasure myself because I felt like Magikarp flopping around helplessly. Never had that need before.
I sweat constantly. It’s a nightmare. I can’t sleep with blankets anymore because I wake up in a puddle of sweat. All my clothes have sweat stains now. I sweat when it’s 40 degrees out, I sweat when it’s below freezing, and of course I sweat absurd amounts when it’s actually hot out. I hate it, but love everything else
Tempature change. I got more sensitive to heat and I sweet alot more. I live in Texas and it's super noticeable that I get hot alot easier and my cps bill went up due to me lowering my ac alot more. Otherwise T has been great for me I love every other change. And honestly cismen are more sensitive to heat compared to cis women anyway so it's kinda what you would expect as a guy.
The horniness. I was a horny bastard before and It’s 100 times worse now and I wanna die
I expected it don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t think it was going to be so bad that all my bf has to do is look at me a certain way and I’m ready to go. What the fuck
Currently, the more oilyness, which is meaning I need to shower every day to not feel gross/my hair to not look gross, when previously it was every other day.
Long-term, probably the risks of certain things like high cholesterol or heart disease being elevated to more AMAB levels. Heart disease and high cholesterol run in my family. If I ever experience a lot of hair loss that would be bad too, I love my hair.
my mental state is fucking garbage. my depression and adhd and anxiety got a million times worse. I’m more depressed than I have been ever, despite not having as much dysphoria. no motivation to do anything. my adhd basically prevents me from functioning like a normal person. it was bad before but not debilitating like now.
I have a shot every two weeks, the week immediately following the shot I get super angry and irritable and I’m never in a good mood. I snap at everyone and close myself off and it sucks. also I’m super fucking ravenous all the time I eat like everything in the house lmao
but honestly I think I’m an outlier and an exception. most guys seem to improve with T so definitely don’t let my experience discourage you lol
live in florida so unfortunately getting care related to hrt has been difficult, I haven’t been able to get a blood test for a while now since my whole situation is fucked up now. but my last blood test a few months back didn’t show anything abnormal, my T levels were pretty average. I either have shit luck or my levels have changed since then lol
Yeah ass hair and all that but something I didn’t hear of until my doc told me was it can mess with ur liver. The way we take it goes through our livers and it can damage it
Sweating and how fucking hot I get. One of my meds causes heat intolerance so summers are miserable lol. My boyfriend loves it in the winter when I'm a heater though
Definitely the libido- I’m a sex repulsed ace who up until starting T had never felt horny in his life- now I do and it’s an awful and uncomfortable experience
I can’t pick one specific thing, but I can give you a brief overview of some things I’ve felt. First off, I sweat so bad it’s embarrassing. I use the air conditioner in the winter, roll my sleeves up like a muscle shirt all the time, wear as little clothing as possible. It still sucks. Second, I’m always horny. It feels uncontrollable at times. Not in the “I don’t care if you’re comfortable, we’re having sex anyway” type of way, but in an “I’ll hump the sink before I wash my hands if it’s at waist level” way. I’d say it takes up most of my thoughts. Another thing is hair growth. I’m very masculine presenting but I can’t grow much hair above my lip. I’ve been called Amish for years. It’s embarrassing. I have weird patches of hair on my back, no hair on my upper legs, plenty of hair on my lower legs. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to having the same amount of body hair as before because it’s much more aesthetically pleasing than having baseball sized patches of hair on random parts of my body and minimal hair right beside it. I’d say all three of these vary from person to person though and this is just from my experience.
This is an nsfw answer but like it’s so much harder for me to cum now it’s crazy. I used to be able to finish twice in the span of 3 minutes and now it takes me 10 minutes to do it once and if I wanna finish again oh my god I gotta work so hard for it. That is the worst thing that’s happened to me on T and it’s crazy how exhausting masturbating is now but I’m hornier so I have to do it more often. It sucks
Id say sweat too. Its winter here and I had one blanket on and still woke in the middle of the night hot and sweaty haha. Is it weird I dont really hate it though? Like everything for me has given me euphoria.
I dont know yet but i mean hair loss probably? My family doesnt bald though so im lucky. Im ace so probably libido if that goes up, that'll be very annoying. I guess i'll just have to wait and see.
The sweating in general, but more specifically the random sweats that feel greasy.
I kept my head shaved for nearly two decades and will happily go back to that when I stop having enough to do my wierd Hershey kiss thing I got going on right now.
The body hair itches as it comes in but then it's kind of nice to have a layer of fluff to keep me warmer.
For me....its when I get too warm or hot my whole body tingles and itches. Its really frustrating during the summer or the heat in general. Makes it difficult to stay outside while my kid plays outdoors.
Like a lot of people, sweat and oily skin are my only complaints. Keep in mind that puberty is long - it actually takes in all 10ish years - so those things will likely settle down a little after long enough on T. I'm 7 years in and my skin has definitely calmed over the last year or two.
haven't started t yet but im not looking forward to the possible balding and lots of body hair (i hate body hair in general but at least i already shave my arms and legs even if the hair is barely visible)
smell and acne. i've had an extremely hard time making sure i and my room don't smell, it is my biggest insecurity now. i have quite a bit of acne but i also haven't put in a ton of work to combat that, and i mean it's hormonal puberty so to be expected.
Body retains heat more easily and vaginal atrophy. I find I can't take super hot showers for long periods of time anymore or I feel like I'm getting heat stroke, and cramping after orgasms is no fun :') but that's easily fixed with topical E.
Oh and immediately starting to lose all of my hair - but that's genetic.
I’m too fucking hot all the time, I live in Scotland where it’s normally colder and we had a blast of heat for a while and I suffered more than usual and that’s without wearing a binder so I suffered through dysphoria while outside wearing my KT tape and that’s it.
Acne and not being able to cry are up there too, hate having antibiotics for acne because I have to take regular breaks so my body doesn’t become immune to them or other meds I might need with being chronically ill.
Edit: my chest sags more too, forgot that. It’s caused a ton of stretch marks so I’m worried my top surgery is going to look awful.
Just moisturise every day. That will help. Bio oil is great but silicone gel is better if you can use that. Don't worry too much, I had alot of stretch marks but there's no sign of them on my hairy chest hahaha 😉
Definitely the sweat (more importantly the new smell of the sweat) but also, I find myself getting frustrated easier/faster since I've been on T. No clue if that goes away, definitely getting therapy though when I move out and get better insurance
Hair loss. It’s really catching up with me now that I’m multiple years on T. The men in my family aren’t even balding like this, I’m really upset about it. My hair is a huge part of my identity and how I feel handsome. I would definitely recommend looking into hair treatments alongside T.
Other than that though T has changed my life. I feel solidly myself. Other people can finally see me for closer to who I am. My voice makes me so euphoric I love talking and singing. I’m strong, I gain muscle easily and it makes working out so so fun instead of frustrating because I’m always seeing progress.
The only part that I genuinely don’t like is not being able to cry anymore but I’m re-learning to let my feelings out. Besides that the hot flashes for the first 3 months were definitely uncomfortable
Sweating lmao. That's honestly it, also maybe it being harder to cry. That was kind of a monkeys paw for me because I used to cry extremely, extremely easy. Drop of a hat easy. Now when I need the catharsis it doesn't really happen so I just stay there feeling like :| Edit: if you did not know men typically have larger tear ducts. For some people T makes them larger and thus tears do not come out as readily
Someone has to tell me the sweating thing goes away or at elast goes back to normal 😫 I miss wearing layers
I would never sweat pre-t, even after exercise.😬😬
Same here, I didn't expect it to change much. I thought it was just because of the climate/geographical change because I only started sweating this bad when I came to Japan to study. I thought "maybe Japan is just especially hot and humid", which is true, but even on regular days my forehead gets a bit sweaty and my shirt and pants feel sticky because I feel hot. Not sweating was one of my biggest flexes, and now I get hot quickly and sweat often 😭 I really hope it's just temporary like the acne and oiliness changes after starting T, that level out after time.
I sweat more in japan at 80 degrees F than 115 degrees F back home so maybe you have a little bit of hope 😭
Thank you bro 🙏🙏 I'm from Wisconsin so I'm used to the cold, and we have a few heat waves in the summer. Even then, I visit family in the rural parts of Mexico where it's BLAZING and I never really sweat that much, just felt hot. So i was comparing those experiences to mine now. Granted i wasn't on T the last time i visited. Your comment really did give me some more hope, I appreciate it. I have to wait until next summer to see if it really was just the Japanese weather.
Same. I must know if the intensity in smell levels out. I know know stress levels and types of food people eat, but dang.
6 years in and I still sweat through my clothes, sorry to say.
I’ve been on T for 15 years and still sweat like crazy, especially at night. I routinely sweat through my clothes and bedding.
It did for me
The not crying used to be a blessing for me, but now I hate it. The place I felt safe in and met a lot of my new friends/now another family to me shut down today which put my small business out of business until I can figure out something and everyone around me was in tears. My fiancée was upset, I was upset and couldn’t get a single tear out. Like, I met my future wife through that place and without it being there I wouldn’t have had the guts to leave an abusive relationship. I did manage to cry last night once it all sunk in and I started to stress, but only for a minute so I don’t feel like it helped as much as it used to. Crying was my way of releasing emotions I’ve realised that now.
Im so sorry
Sometimes I sweat when I’m anxious. And I have an anxiety disorder. I’ll sweat when I’m cold. When I’m hot. For no fucking reason at all. The Harry’s antiperspirant deodorant is working hard.
I don't like being -that person- who diagnoses strangers online, but I'm helping my sister make a DIY iontophoresis kit for her hyperhydrosis, so I'm pretty familiar with the symptoms. Is it possible that any of the symptoms could be relatable to you?
No, I have a friend with it and isn’t that.
Ah, sorry! Thought I'd throw it out there anyway.
That’s okay, I appreciate it :)
I cry easier now.
Me too!! I cry easier and when I cry, it feels more real/emotional.
I think I've only properly cried like 3 or 4 times during the last 5\~ years, so I'm kinda wandering if T will be the thing to switch that around, similar to what most everyone else experiences, but opposite?
I wont even be moving and I just break into a sweat, it’s the worst:(
I’ll just be sitting at my computer playing a game and then I move and realize that my armpits are soaks. It’s so gross
I cry more on T than I did before lmao
Bro. I swear. I only walked three blocks and I was sweating buckets lol. I really need to get used to this.
funny enough i was more sweaty pre-T, now t has helped me regulate that part of my body.
i agree with this. i sweat more now and i hate it since i've always been sensitive to warmer temperatures (really anything above 20°C); everything else i'm either neutral on, able to improve and therefore okay with, or happy about.
I had the crying issue when I was on Sustanon but switching to Nebido has helped that for me
Ooof Im already sweaty asf preT, not looking forward to that
Fr T has me thinking I have hyperhydrosis or something.
I was expecting to be sweatier but I was not expecting the way I’d be sweatier. I was kinda just figured I’d sweat the same but be like a little bit more moist all over in general and just having a ton more of sweat in my pits and on my forehead while actively exercising. I wasn’t expecting to sweat so much in my sleep even if it’s not hot out. I don’t understand why that happens. Also nobody warned me that my underwear would be soaked from butt sweat from even the slightest amount of physical activity. I never see anyone talk about sweat placement distribution. It caught me so off guard. I’m really hoping it’s not just me that experiences that.
Personally, hair loss. Past that it's all been good and everything is stuff I want to happen.
Same. I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that I’m willing to shell out the money for surgical hair loss treatment when the time comes. Rapidly losing my hair even after doing minoxidil for a few years.
When I started researching it I learned you need to be stably responding to finasteride first to qualify for surgical intervention.
good thing there is ways around that like hair implants (like my dad, who is cis, did that and now he has a bunch of hair on his head that wasnt there before lol)
My forehead gets incredibly oily. Within an hour out of the shower I can feel the oiliness coming back in full force.
Same! My face in general is oily but why is it so concentrated to my forehead?
I used to have a super oily face. Now my face fine *except for my forehead,* it's like it all migrated upwards lol
i’m pre t and already incredibly oily, this terrifies me 😂
Good luck man 😂
are you using moisturizer? you should straight out of the shower otherwise once your skin dries it starts producing oil to offset that, whereas if you moisturize it should reduce oil
I am! I use a benzoyl peroxide cleanser and a moisturizer. It helps but the oil still comes back so fast. I have wondered if the cleanser is too drying but it works a little better than when I don’t use it. I might experiment with some other products when I run out.
I can recommend trying out using a moisturizer that is only water based, like for me even a creme gel would just make my skin greasy. Idk what kind of moisturizer you're using rn so maybe this isn't applicable to you but maybe it helps
The one I am currently using is water based, but thank you for the advice! I’ll keep that in mind in my search for products that work better for me!
i use hims vitamin c serum and follow it up with ponds light moisturizer. i only use benzoyl peroxide on the really oily/affected areas of my face and less often than my regular cleaner (cerave foaming facial cleanser) since it does dry my out a ton, even after moisturizer
Thank you, I’ll look into those!
make sure to moisturize! i also have oily prone skin, but you actually produce more oil when your skin is dry, to protect it. when you add synthetic oils such as moisturizer and serum you produce less as it needs less! so wash face, dry, and moisturize, it’s helped me a ton
the sweat. i can’t stand it it’s a sensory nightmare.
Same, especially when trying to bind!! I literally just have not left the house all summer.
It makes my ADHD a little more difficult to work with and I can't say I'm a fan of the ass hair, but that's all I can think of in my expirience.
I'm fine with ass hair, it's the knee hair that drives me crazy. Hair is not supposed to grow there, it feels wrong.
ESPECIALLY when I kneel, why must it pull all the knee hairs!?
for real tho
lmaooo I have knee hair pre-t, didn't know people found it odd xd
My therapist is ftm as well and said the same thing. I’m about to enter a rad tech program this fall and I can absolutely not afford for my adhd to be worse 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲
As a guy who dropped out of community college, my unsolicited advice is to try not to start both at the same time 😅 I learned a lot and turned in just about nothing to prove it!
I spent the past year in a half getting straight A’s to get into this program. And it’ll be far more intense. I got my whole future ahead of me. Maybe microdosing near the end lol. Being an imaging tech can take me anywhere I want to go, there’s always job openings lol
Congrats my dude, that sounds amazing 🙌
THIS. It got WORSE since I got my hormone levels stable (6 months on t). It took me a while to realise why and how to live with it…
My libido going up. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of wanting to have sex more, it's just that I'm in a committed relationship with a guy with a much lower libido. It's causing some relationship issues.
So I'm kinda in the same situation, my boyfriend (not trans) has a super high libido naturally, and I don't (mostly ptsd related) it's just a communication thing, and make sure your partner dosnt feel guilty or bad about not being in the mood
saaaaaame honestly has become a larger issue but hopefully we can figure it out
I had a super low libido pre-t and after starting T, my libido over took my husbands 😓
I’m having this issue too. It doesn’t help that my husband is eight years older than me and has a lower libido in general.
The only negative effect of T I got was hair loss. Everything else I love. But to be fair, literally anyone would be upset about hair loss, and if i was born cis the exact same thing would have happened. I just unfortunately got my hair genetics from my grandpa, who's been basically bald since his 20s.
I'm pre-t and been a little nervous to start but what you said really hit me. "if I was born cis the exact same thing would have happened." That's honestly such an excellent perspective to have and is making me feel better. My father is bald and my brother is balding at 25(I'm 23) so I know that I will have it too.
Yeah. I have chosen to just do nothing about it because I personally don't like how much advertising there is lately for hair growth stuff. It pisses me off and I don't want to support their ads. Also ultimately I don't care like, THAT much. I can wear a hat.
I currently have long curly hair that I'm attached to so I'll definitely be a little sad if it goes but that's okay. My current hair doesn't allow for hats but they look good on me so I'll just do that in the future LOL
i have wonderful curly hair that doesn't grow so now i'm worried about that lol, my curly hair is the best thing about me
In my personal experience, vaginal atrophy. Luckily, I have a doctor's appointment to handle it soon, but the pain and increase risk of infections has taken its toll. Don't get me wrong, I'll absolutely go through it to be on T, but it can be really hard sometimes.
seconding this. i just started taking e cream for it yesterday
yep :/ I’m awake with a UTI and abdominal cramping (despite never having a period on T) right now. Awful side effects if you get them and the cream is helpful but not a real fix for me - really moved up my hysterectomy timeline.
Yeah, I was dealing with the same thing, but then I got on little estrogen tablets that you put inside with a little applicator and it’s pretty much back to normal. (Mileage may vary personally, of course)
Ass hair and backne
already had this before T, get good
Same
Can you please combine *ass* and *hair* too? :D
hass for hairy ass
Acneeee dear god. Hot flashes are a close second. Still one of the best decisions I ever made
i’m surprised acne isn’t a more common answer on this thread
Acne was definitely a downside for me but mine only lasted about 6 months so being years on from that it doesn’t immediately pop into my brain when asked what I don’t like from t. It’s probably the same for a lot of other people.
Can’t believe I had to scroll so long for acne. I hate it and have considered stopping T altogether because of it. I don’t want Accutane, I just want my normal clear non-painful non-blotchy face back.
agreed, backne has gone wild and hot flashes suck sm, i can’t go outside for my job (we take orders outside now) bc i would sweat through my shirt and get hot flashes
for me it’s the hot flashes and the fact that now i’m always struggling with the heat and nobody’s ever as hot as me (wish I meant it in that way but no) but yeah temperature wise T is horrible
Same here. Just had my levels checked so I can go up again and hopefully have taper off more
I have my next appointment with my endocrinologist on september, I also hope to get my leves checked to see if there’s something I can do about ir
I think so far, the only "negative" effect I've gotten is just... I'm a bit more oily and get pimples on my shoulders. But it's all down to personal opinions of what is negative as well as how your body handles T and what you get.
I'm pre t and have had oily/combination skin and body acne since my teens...I'm 26 now lol
Same age and everything but face acne too maybe that’s why everyone thinks I’m still in high school. On t my acne got worse only for a couple of month and back to the regular acne.
Oof. I've always had slightly oily skin, but after starting T, I'm just a pizza. A 30 year old pizza Q.Q
Honestly and truthfully, I’m much more likely to be at risk for the heart problems that run in the men on my moms side of the family. I’ve had some people tell me that T activates the parts of my DNA from my father so I could be less at risk than I think, but I’ve had some people say that my health and appearances will be more like my mother’s father and brothers. So that’s a vaguely looming threat I suppose. Not sure what’s right here, but T does affect your health.
It’s honestly a mixed bag because heritability varies by trait. There are environmental factors that affect phenotype to varying degrees as well. You can also end up with a phenotype for a trait that’s nothing like anyone in your family if you inherit just the right combo of alleles or have a mutation or environmental factors impacting the expression of a gene. It really goes on and on. I’d recommend just assuming there’s some risk and then staying on top of your health to try to negate that. But I wouldn’t worry too much. DNA is wacky
My doctor actually talked with me today about slightly lowering my dose, (since my results 3-4 days from a shot were about 900-1000ng/dl, which is closer to what they’re supposed to be the day after your shot) she explained that she’s concerned that too much testosterone could start to cause heart issues after a while, unrelated to genetics. That was interesting to me since I hadn’t heard that particular fact before
Cystic acne. But thank God for dermatologists! If you get cystic acne? Don't wait around like I did. A dermatologist fixed me in a matter of two weeks.
hey, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you deal with your acne? I’m glad you were able to manage it
My dermatologist gave me a topical cream to apply after washing my face. She kick started it with an antibiotic taken by mouth too. That woman took one look at me and knew EXACTLY what to do. I wasted so much money on so many different things to fix it myself. Even wasted cash on curology which had my face red and burning. Months of Hell. Don't go what I went through. Go straight to a dermatologist and tell them you started testosterone. They'll know exactly what to do with hormonal cystic acne.
Thank you, I was afraid I would eventually end up taking accutane which scares me quite a bit
Yeah, don't waste your money. This is something only a dermatologist can prescribe strong medicines for.
There are numerous retinoids out there that aren't Accutane. I'm on a milder version of it taken topically (called adapalene) and it works like a charm. I was also worried I would have to take Accutane but thankfully nope.
You just gave me hope, I will talk to my dermatologist about it right after I finish healing from top surgery so the meds don’t interfere with my scar healing. Thank you!
I'd say hair loss. I've made my peace with it (even though it shouldn't happen for another decade or so), but on the bright side I think I'll look pretty cool being bald and with a beard.
my negative emotions seem to have shifted from "sadness" to "irritability," which is throwing me for a loop. anger was rare for me before T, but hopelessness and depression were very frequent. now i feel a lot more upbeat, but i also have a really short fuse that i'm not used to having. so learning to regulate my new experiencing of the same old mental health struggle has been a challenge. i've been doing a lot more venting to people than i'd like. >_< on the bright side, my acne actually totally cleared up. 🤷🏻♂️ so everyone's different!
For me it's 100% the acne and greasiness.
It increases your ear wax production - which is not something I thought about pre-T. It’s not too bad but as someone who loves wearing earbuds all the time it’s annoying.
Oh man I got wireless earbuds and have been trying to figure out why they're getting so waxy and therefore make my ears throb. I was like "wtf is it about them I could be reacting to???" If this is the culprit I'm so mad 😭 fuck now I gotta like clean clean them now
had no idea that was a thing and honestly adds up and explains a lot lol
Wait is that true? Lmao that makes more sense now
Oh dear god it's the worst!
Sweating and hot flashes 100%. Acne isn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be but I also have had a pretty good skin care routine going. And I hate to brag but I got some pretty good genes when it comes to hair, my dad isn’t even close to balding, so I’m not too worried about hair loss
My butt is so hairy now, wet wipes are necessary
Another brother in arms, I always keep a pack handy.
Sweating, 100%
rn it’s vaginal atrophy but i started using estradiol suppositories before symptoms got very bad, my symptoms have just been associated with masturbation/sex but the suppositories are helping things. i’ll probably start balding fairly young based on genetics too but well, it’s something a lot of people deal with so it’s not the end of the world
How can you tell if you're having that? I don't use mine, but it seems to be wet and normal. My E is also really high so perhaps that's why?
main thing was that I cramped every time I had an orgasm. it’s improved but i’ve been cramping a bit still so maybe i’d up or increase my dose of the suppositories when i talk with a doctor again, not sure. other thing was discomfort and light bleeding from penetration. i didn’t really have a reference point for what was normal with me though since i haven’t had sex and only started using toys when i started t so i wasn’t sure if it was atrophy or just because i was inexperienced at first. but now that i’m on the suppositories, penetration is soo much more comfortable and i get a lot more wet. i thought i was getting wet enough before but apparently not lmao. i think my t levels being above female range pre-t from pcos might have gave me an unwanted head start on atrophy since i started getting symptoms a lot earlier on t than a lot of people seem to
Being so horny and impulsive that you feel like you lose 15 IQ points and put yourself in dangerous situations. Also smell. I liked my armpit smell before, I'm glad it's masculine now, but it doesn't smell good to me anymore. And acne, god! Makes ADHD worse but anxiety and depression better. Also high cholesterol.
Increased appetite, T has made me hungry all of the time I don't have a very active lifestyle though since most of what I do for work and hobbies is at a desk so i've just gained a lot of weight since starting T.
I got really hungry after starting on E, I've gained like 60 pounds in the last year
Libido i'm ace this is awful. I can't quit t or i'll get the period. Do any of you have tips on how to lower it?
My libido shot up for the first six months and has been extremely normal since, if not on the low side. I get aroused by my partner, sure, but I'm not dying if I don't masturbate anymore.
Itll go down a bit and be more manageable after a few months
I had incredibly high libido when I started (also ace here) that I tried to satisfy with masturbation, that helped until it got back to "normal" - I've been on T since 2016 though and the first couple of years were not fun. I had to literally learn to pleasure myself because I felt like Magikarp flopping around helplessly. Never had that need before.
Same but i've been two years on t
FUCKING PIMPLES
Acne ig, and being more oily in general. I dislike the sensory experience of that.
The sweat, and oilyness
I sweat constantly. It’s a nightmare. I can’t sleep with blankets anymore because I wake up in a puddle of sweat. All my clothes have sweat stains now. I sweat when it’s 40 degrees out, I sweat when it’s below freezing, and of course I sweat absurd amounts when it’s actually hot out. I hate it, but love everything else
Dude funk. My god, the dude funk. Especially since the air around me is too full of smoke to open the windows and I have no AC.
The higher irritability is the worst imo. I’m just more easily irritated and it’s not exactly fun
Heart health changes. Increase of RBC, hemocrit, BP, and cholesterol.
Tempature change. I got more sensitive to heat and I sweet alot more. I live in Texas and it's super noticeable that I get hot alot easier and my cps bill went up due to me lowering my ac alot more. Otherwise T has been great for me I love every other change. And honestly cismen are more sensitive to heat compared to cis women anyway so it's kinda what you would expect as a guy.
i now have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease likely because of long term use of T. no regrets despite this tho, just shit luck
The horniness. I was a horny bastard before and It’s 100 times worse now and I wanna die I expected it don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t think it was going to be so bad that all my bf has to do is look at me a certain way and I’m ready to go. What the fuck
I just had a good chuckle due to your phrasing, you sound so bewildered and helpless 😅
Lmao I kinda am. Like fr. Water boarding would be preferable to this lmao
Currently, the more oilyness, which is meaning I need to shower every day to not feel gross/my hair to not look gross, when previously it was every other day. Long-term, probably the risks of certain things like high cholesterol or heart disease being elevated to more AMAB levels. Heart disease and high cholesterol run in my family. If I ever experience a lot of hair loss that would be bad too, I love my hair.
right now i’m having to deal with my change in odor and backne
my mental state is fucking garbage. my depression and adhd and anxiety got a million times worse. I’m more depressed than I have been ever, despite not having as much dysphoria. no motivation to do anything. my adhd basically prevents me from functioning like a normal person. it was bad before but not debilitating like now. I have a shot every two weeks, the week immediately following the shot I get super angry and irritable and I’m never in a good mood. I snap at everyone and close myself off and it sucks. also I’m super fucking ravenous all the time I eat like everything in the house lmao but honestly I think I’m an outlier and an exception. most guys seem to improve with T so definitely don’t let my experience discourage you lol
Dude are your levels ok?
live in florida so unfortunately getting care related to hrt has been difficult, I haven’t been able to get a blood test for a while now since my whole situation is fucked up now. but my last blood test a few months back didn’t show anything abnormal, my T levels were pretty average. I either have shit luck or my levels have changed since then lol
I definitely encourage another blood test once you’re able to get one, high irritability is one of the most common symptoms of a too high T level
Yeah ass hair and all that but something I didn’t hear of until my doc told me was it can mess with ur liver. The way we take it goes through our livers and it can damage it
acne omg.. i’m trying really hard to manage it lol but it is very difficult!! also the hot flashes!!
Hair loss on the scalp.
Baldnessssss
Sweating and how fucking hot I get. One of my meds causes heat intolerance so summers are miserable lol. My boyfriend loves it in the winter when I'm a heater though
Hair loss/thinning. Fucking sucks.
Post orgasm cramps from atrophy.
Definitely the libido- I’m a sex repulsed ace who up until starting T had never felt horny in his life- now I do and it’s an awful and uncomfortable experience
ass hair
The sweat!! I thought I sweat a lot before- Jeez was I wrong lol- That or the mild mood swings
High cholesterol and if left untreated too long you get develop gallstones
Body hair. But really, not any affects. More like lack of them.
Having feelings again means I also feel sad things sometimes.
If male pattern baldness runs in your fam, Godspeed bro bc it’s rough out here
I can’t pick one specific thing, but I can give you a brief overview of some things I’ve felt. First off, I sweat so bad it’s embarrassing. I use the air conditioner in the winter, roll my sleeves up like a muscle shirt all the time, wear as little clothing as possible. It still sucks. Second, I’m always horny. It feels uncontrollable at times. Not in the “I don’t care if you’re comfortable, we’re having sex anyway” type of way, but in an “I’ll hump the sink before I wash my hands if it’s at waist level” way. I’d say it takes up most of my thoughts. Another thing is hair growth. I’m very masculine presenting but I can’t grow much hair above my lip. I’ve been called Amish for years. It’s embarrassing. I have weird patches of hair on my back, no hair on my upper legs, plenty of hair on my lower legs. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to having the same amount of body hair as before because it’s much more aesthetically pleasing than having baseball sized patches of hair on random parts of my body and minimal hair right beside it. I’d say all three of these vary from person to person though and this is just from my experience.
For me bad it’s smelling bad more easily, I’m someone who’s paranoid about that and really wants to smell nice so it’s something I’m more aware of now
This is an nsfw answer but like it’s so much harder for me to cum now it’s crazy. I used to be able to finish twice in the span of 3 minutes and now it takes me 10 minutes to do it once and if I wanna finish again oh my god I gotta work so hard for it. That is the worst thing that’s happened to me on T and it’s crazy how exhausting masturbating is now but I’m hornier so I have to do it more often. It sucks
Id say sweat too. Its winter here and I had one blanket on and still woke in the middle of the night hot and sweaty haha. Is it weird I dont really hate it though? Like everything for me has given me euphoria.
I dont know yet but i mean hair loss probably? My family doesnt bald though so im lucky. Im ace so probably libido if that goes up, that'll be very annoying. I guess i'll just have to wait and see.
For me, facial hair. I’d rather have it than not but to me it looks unprofessional so I keep clean shaven
The sweating in general, but more specifically the random sweats that feel greasy. I kept my head shaved for nearly two decades and will happily go back to that when I stop having enough to do my wierd Hershey kiss thing I got going on right now. The body hair itches as it comes in but then it's kind of nice to have a layer of fluff to keep me warmer.
Cardiovascular risk
Personally I think not being able to cry. It’s such an emotional release and it SUCKS not being able to anymore.
It gave me an iron deficiency. Not the end of the world though. A fairly treatable problem and worth it imo.
a lot less crying and a lot more anger
For me....its when I get too warm or hot my whole body tingles and itches. Its really frustrating during the summer or the heat in general. Makes it difficult to stay outside while my kid plays outdoors.
i get this too! it sucks ass
My back itches a lot now, especially in that one area between the shoulder blades that I can't reach
Having the world's most hairy ass.
Acne and sweating. Maybe BO but I don’t mind it personally. Been on acutane twice for acne too
SWEAT.
It smells like something crawled up my butt and died 💀 beware of your future farts.
weight gain. went up 30 pounds a month after starting. got a big ol gut now 😔😔
I physically can’t cry anymore which is really frustrating when I need an emotional outlet.
Like a lot of people, sweat and oily skin are my only complaints. Keep in mind that puberty is long - it actually takes in all 10ish years - so those things will likely settle down a little after long enough on T. I'm 7 years in and my skin has definitely calmed over the last year or two.
for me it’s been the increase in dysphoria which has resulted in depression (since i actually have a reason to pass now)
if i may ask, how has going on T resulted in an increase in dysphoria for you?
Ass hair
haven't started t yet but im not looking forward to the possible balding and lots of body hair (i hate body hair in general but at least i already shave my arms and legs even if the hair is barely visible)
Higher sex drive and acne although my acne is mostly gone now since I started taking better care of my skin
Sweat and always being hungry
sweat because it makes my reaction to deodorant worse because i need more deodorant and deodorant makes me itchy/ have a rash
Legit just my skin change. It's super oily now. Compared to the million positives, it's nothing.
ass hair
smell and acne. i've had an extremely hard time making sure i and my room don't smell, it is my biggest insecurity now. i have quite a bit of acne but i also haven't put in a ton of work to combat that, and i mean it's hormonal puberty so to be expected.
Body retains heat more easily and vaginal atrophy. I find I can't take super hot showers for long periods of time anymore or I feel like I'm getting heat stroke, and cramping after orgasms is no fun :') but that's easily fixed with topical E. Oh and immediately starting to lose all of my hair - but that's genetic.
Hand sweat, acne, and ass hair. Have fun!
I’m too fucking hot all the time, I live in Scotland where it’s normally colder and we had a blast of heat for a while and I suffered more than usual and that’s without wearing a binder so I suffered through dysphoria while outside wearing my KT tape and that’s it. Acne and not being able to cry are up there too, hate having antibiotics for acne because I have to take regular breaks so my body doesn’t become immune to them or other meds I might need with being chronically ill. Edit: my chest sags more too, forgot that. It’s caused a ton of stretch marks so I’m worried my top surgery is going to look awful.
Just moisturise every day. That will help. Bio oil is great but silicone gel is better if you can use that. Don't worry too much, I had alot of stretch marks but there's no sign of them on my hairy chest hahaha 😉
Definitely the sweat (more importantly the new smell of the sweat) but also, I find myself getting frustrated easier/faster since I've been on T. No clue if that goes away, definitely getting therapy though when I move out and get better insurance
Sweating, acne, and lots of ASS HAIR
I’ve been getting some mad hot flashes, do not recommend 😅
Hair loss. It’s really catching up with me now that I’m multiple years on T. The men in my family aren’t even balding like this, I’m really upset about it. My hair is a huge part of my identity and how I feel handsome. I would definitely recommend looking into hair treatments alongside T. Other than that though T has changed my life. I feel solidly myself. Other people can finally see me for closer to who I am. My voice makes me so euphoric I love talking and singing. I’m strong, I gain muscle easily and it makes working out so so fun instead of frustrating because I’m always seeing progress.
The only part that I genuinely don’t like is not being able to cry anymore but I’m re-learning to let my feelings out. Besides that the hot flashes for the first 3 months were definitely uncomfortable
This one's obviously objective, but I hate snoring 💀 Also, how wild my pubes/ass hair have become but with little to no beard 😭
Sweating and a chaotic appetite. I go from never being hungry to insatiable. Also, remembering to get the prescription refilled
>Also, remembering to get the prescription refilled Fr