If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

Regrets? None

Would I have done it differently? Nope.

Five things I wish I knew before starting hormones as a trans person
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is, for many trans and non-binary people, a huge step in transitioning, but the process can be complex and confusing.
Pink News
By Amelia Hansford
December 10, 2023

While the goal of HRT is to help a person feel more comfortable in their body and help them express their true gender identity, the treatment can have lots of subtle side effects that might not be immediately apparent.

Speaking as a trans woman on hormones, the first few weeks can feel incredible but also like emotional whiplash. Hormones change the way you can handle certain emotions or feelings and fundamentally shift your perspective in interesting ways.

Here are just a few of the things I wish I had known before I started hormone replacement therapy.

Stop right there! We are not on HRT! We are on Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT)!

Picky, picky, picky! Yeah but… what happens when they are wheeling you in to the Emergency Room and you tell them you are on HRT? They will think you are taking way less hormones than you are taking. This is life or death folks! Tell the truth. I know most of us don’t like it but it does make a difference and it could mean a difference between life or death.

HRT is a process

If you’ve ever taken any long-term medication, you’ll know that it isn’t as simple as a one-time prescription, but involves plenty of follow-up sessions and frequent shifts in your dosage.

Hormones are no different. An integral part of HRT is keeping tabs on your hormone levels and seeing how your body responds. This is especially important to help prevent any internal liver damage.
Because HRT has much lower dosages than GAHT there is lass possibility of liver damage.
One of the most common things you’ll hear among trans people is how shocked they are at the effectiveness of HRT in how it feminises the body.

The kicker here is that, while emotional changes kick in surprisingly fast, physical changes can take longer to notice – your body needs time to change, after all!

Effects like body fat redistribution and skin softening can take several months to kick in and, even then, their effectiveness can vary from person to person.

According to Gender GP, physical changes such as breast growth, decreased testicular volume, decreased muscle mass and facial hair thinning can take anywhere from 3-6 months to fully get going, while their maximum effect can take years.

Once these changes kick in, they’re very noticeable and can be some of the most euphoric changes HRT offers, they just take time. Keep at it and, before you know it, you’ll notice the difference.

Next year will be my twentieth year on GAHT and the changes are still going on.

Despite wanting to go on hormones since coming out as trans, the truth is that I socially transitioned for years before taking my first dose. I was as valid then as I am now, and the same is true with anyone who decides whether or not hormones are right for them.

This is also just as true if you decide that hormones are not for you. Your decision in what you want to do with your body does not make you more or less valid in your gender identity, and hormones are not an inherent part of everybody’s journey as a trans person.

What is not mentioned in the article about Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy is that…
According to Mayo Clinic:

• Complications can include:
• Blood clots in a deep vein or in the lungs
• Heart problems
• High levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in the blood
• High levels of potassium in the blood
• High levels of the hormone prolactin in the blood
• Nipple discharge
• Weight gain
• Infertility
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Stroke

From GAHT I got: High levels of triglycerides, nipple discharge, weight gain, and Diabetes.

The scariest was nipple discharge. My doctor went over all the possible side effects  but this. I found out when I was in the Monday morning production meeting. I found this wet spot on my shirt… hmm. Then there were two very obvious wet spots.

When the meeting ended a short time later I went into the bathroom and looked. White liquid was coming out of my nipples!!!!

I went out to my car for privacy and called my Endo… “Oh yeah that happens to some patients.”

I do not know why we like to call it HRT instead Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy but just remember in a life or death situation it could mean the difference between life or death.

 

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WPATH Standard of Care v8