So a lot of the changes that are introduced by taking estrogen sound pretty cool. Kinda goes without saying in this community, but I’ll say it anyway, and you can’t stop me.
- Softer skin (fuck yeah)
- Bodyhair growing thinner (fuck yeah)
- New bodyfat gets placed where other women have it too (actual shape-shifting, how cool is that)
- Reduction in testicular volume (does that mean they won’t be in the way all the time anymore? Sounds great, actually. Fuckers only exist to get squished when I want to sleep on my side. Absolute design flaw.)
What I’m not quite understanding yet is the effects on muscle mass.
Do you lose existing muscle mass?
Do you decrease the potential for future muscle growth?
Or is it both, even?
Either way, I guess I’ll shift more focus to lower-body excercises to counter-act my shoulders. The Glutes are by far some of the most important muscles in the history of humankind, after all.
So anyway, I hope you’re all doing good, and have a nice weekend
Transfem here, on estrogen monotherapy since early 2021. Super low T level; average or above estradiol. I do take a DHT blocker (finasteride). Added progesterone 2 months ago.
This is all very much YMMV.
What I can almost guarantee unless you have a very unusual endocrine system, are softer skin and breast growth. You’ll notice sore nips in a month or so, then thinner/softer skin after 6mo to a year (it’s constant but takes a while to appreciate).
HRT has not prevented me gaining or maintaining muscle. I was skinny and not super strong before, but the physical nature of my warehouse job has actually built muscle. My glutes and thighs are like steel. Added bonus, upper body strength has increased and rounded out my breast size <3 highly recommend staying fit while transitioning.
I don’t weightlift, I just lift a lot of things, move constantly… and work my ass off. Ultimately I think it will come down to “use it or lose it”. Same with the noodle. It will absolutely atrophy if you don’t actively use it.
Fat redistribution… not really seen this. Altho I’m skinny so that may play a role. It’s very very subtle if anything has changed shrugs probably most overrated and underwhelming aspect of HRT for me personally.
Testicles have shrunk noticeably. Makes sense as they are literally useless now xD mine aren’t super tiny, they still get in the way and hurt. It’s easier to tuck when they shrink, a lot of times they find their way up there naturally. Getting them snipped ASAP.
any other questions, ask away <3
So I was looking through old posts on my old account, and there it is:
A helpful comment I haven’t replied to. Unacceptable.
So let me thank you now, better late than never. I appreciate all of you so, so much <3