When I start on hormones, the doctor informed me of the risks of taking the hormones, which are an increased risk of breast cancer, of blood clots, of gallbladder disease, and of heart attack or stroke. I understood what was involved when I started hormones and accepted the increased risk.
But there were some other minor side effects of hormones that I never knew about and I think most other trans-people didn’t know about. The first effect that manifested was what it is called a “pregnancy mask” or Melasma which a darkening of the skin. I have it on my arms, it kind of scared me when I first noticed it, it kind of looks like I have patches of dirt on my arm. I showed to my sister-in-law who is a nurse and she told me it was a pregnancy mask and was later confirmed by my dermatologist. The next thing I found was what is called “skin tag” little flaps of skin. I didn’t know it might be caused by hormones until I was googling them (which lead to the post), I have a one on my neck, which might be related to the hormones.. You can find a list of some of the common side of hormones here.
One of the side effects that I did know about was weight gain. I was hit with a triple whammy, I started hormones, I was getting older and I retired. I went from being active at work all day to just sitting in the classroom for a couple of hours a day. I turned sixty and your body starts to burn less calories. Then when you start on hormones you lose muscle mass and because muscle burn calories just because they muscles, your metabolism decreased. As a result, I put on the pounds and they are very hard to take off.
I have been on hormones for going on six years, what are the long-term effects of cross-gender hormones? Well no one really knows; the use of cross-gender hormones is an off-label use of them and therefore there is no research, we are the guinea pigs.
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