“It’s about what makes you happy — finding that piece of authentic happiness inside and holding onto it.”
We asked trans and gender-nonconforming members of the BuzzFeed Community what they wish they had known before beginning hormone replacement therapy, which can be a wild and confusing ride.
Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT, is the process of taking hormones either orally or by injection. The act of replacing hormones that your body is no longer producing sufficiently, or adding hormones that your body does not produce at all, is a treatment used for many medical issues (most commonly, for treating menopause in older women).
For trans and gender-nonconforming people, it's often the first medical step to affirming one's gender identity. The supplementing of sex hormones — like estrogen, anti-androgens, or testosterone — allows an individual to develop physical characteristics that better match the gender they identify as.
For this post, Buzzfeed LGBT got some extra input from Dr. Meera Shah of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and Dr. Asa Radix, MPH, senior director of research and education at Callen-Lorde.
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Let's talk about testosterone therapy (we'll cover feminizing hormones over here). Testosterone, often referred to as simply "T", increases muscle mass, facial hair, and deepens your voice.
According to Shah, the full effects of testosterone usually take one or two years to develop. "While HRT may not be part of everyone's transition, for those who include it, it is considered medically necessary," She adds.
Here's what BuzzFeed Community members had to say about starting T:
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Not everyone who goes on T has the same goal for how "masculine" they want to look.
"After starting testosterone, I tried to be extremely masculine. I stopped wearing makeup, dyed my hair a dark color, and started wearing baggy boy clothes. All I did was make myself a different kind of miserable. Clothing and makeup do not have a gender. I'm still valid in anything I want to put on. I look and feel best when I'm just me."
— Jess Winter, Facebook (pictured above)
Testosterone can also affect your mood and temperament.
"A lot of people think the hormones will only bring fun things like facial hair, fat redistribution, self-confidence, etc — but it can also disrupt the peace in your own head and surroundings. I wish I could have better prepared my girlfriend, and myself, for this shift in my behavior and personality."
— Kelsey Lagman, Facebook
According to Radix, starting on hormone therapy induces the same physical and emotional changes that go along with puberty — so mood swings can be fairly common. One way to fight the highs and lows of T levels is to try transdermal testosterone (topical gels) which are less likely to cause such exaggerated mood swings.
"Another option is to have your medical provider prescribe a lower dose of the injectable testosterone weekly instead of every two weeks to keep the T levels more stable," says Radix.