Transfem
A community for transfeminine people and experiences.
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Some helpful links:
- The Gender Dysphoria Bible // In depth explanation of the different types of gender dysphoria.
- Trans Voice Help // A community here on blahaj.zone for voice training.
- LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory // A directory of LGBTQ+ accepting Healthcare providers.
- Trans Resistance Network // A US-based mutual aid organization to help trans people facing state violence and legal discrimination.
- TLDEF's Trans Health Project // Advice about insurance claims for gender affirming healthcare and procedures.
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- LGBT Youthline.ca // A Canadian LGBT hotline support service with phone call and web chat support. (4pm - 9:30pm EST)
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hmm, I personally would wait a year (I ended up starting around the 8 month mark), but I would take that advice with a grain of salt given there are people who start prog from day 1 and have excellent breast growth - at the very least it's not true that prog from day 1 will absolutely prevent normal or sufficient breast growth.
That said, it's sorta hard to know what all is in play because people don't always say what dose or route of administration they are taking. For example, taking prog orally does not sufficiently increase progesterone blood levels, and the liver basically absorbs >90% of the dose. So, would taking it rectally from day 1 cause the problems with breast growth people talk about, but taking it orally doesn't due to the liver filtering it?
For those reasons, I would be cautious and wait a year, and then take it rectally. (Just knowing this is an area where there isn't a lot of clarity, so that advice is liable to change as more evidence emerges.)
One reason to take prog, though, is that it does act as an anti-androgen, and that motivated me to start it a little early at the 8 month mark, to help me as I entered the final months before my orchi (which for insurance requirement reasons was only authorized after 12 months of supervised HRT).
Also, when doing monotherapy E injections, my E levels when high made it harder for me to sleep as long, so prog enabled me to sleep longer when I had those higher E doses.
What's with e levels and sleep ? Since i reached high levels I've had trouble sleeping too
yep, just makes it harder for me to sleep as long - doesn't seem to make me more tired or anything, but I just don't stay asleep as long.
Taking 100 mg prog rectally fixed that for me, it allows me to sleep my normal amount.
It does alter my sleep, though. (I cycle prog every week, I start it after my injection and then stop mid-cycle so I have maybe 3 - 4 nights with prog and then 3 - 4 nights without it.) When I start and stop prog, I notice a difference in terms of how much I dream, etc.
Oh thanks ! You're cycling prog just for the dreams ? It's pretty neat imo !
oh, no - I cycle prog because there is no other way to build up a backstock otherwise, and to match the monthly hormonal cycles we see in cis women. And also because I primarily use prog for sleep, not anything else, and that's only relevant when my E levels are high, which is only during part of my cycle.
Most people probably take it for breast growth; I wasn't motivated by breast growth (my boobs are big enough, even if they seem small on my frame) and I'm not 100% sure prog actually ever resulted in more breast growth for me anyway.
I started it as an anti-androgen mostly, and as a way to help me sleep when my E levels were elevated when I did monotherapy.
Now I guess I can technically live without it (when I travel sometimes I just forget to take it and it's fine), but I do get better sleep at the height of my cycle if I take prog, so that's what I use it for now.
I have read about taking it replicate the menstrual cycle but on a monthly basis, and I have thought about it. Surely it will ease the regular mood cycle we go through. It's starting to get to me...
I guess I'll see when I get there since I'm still under a year of hrt
it's hard to follow a monthly basis when my actual hormone changes are on a weekly cycle, it's based on the pharmacokinetics of estradiol valerate, when a half life is around 3.5 days and I inject once a week, I have a cycle then that has highs and lows over a weekly period (not a monthly period).
So, the week is like a compressed month - I have highs and lows and in a monthly cycle, progesterone levels rise when estradiol levels rise, so I just roughly do something similar by taking prog when my E levels are gaining and peaking, and then stopping as my E levels drop and then bottom out before my next injection.
regarding mood, I didn't really solve the mood issues until I had an orchi - my mental health got much better after that. Before then I was doing monotherapy and I struggled to sufficiently block T production even with very high levels of E (like >500 pg / mL at trough, which is really too high for long-term levels).