hi! do you think you could talk more about the more important side effects of taking hormones? or things you should know about it before deciding to? i'm not sure whether i want to or not, mostly because the whole infertile thing kind of scares me
If you’re asking about like, negative side effects, there’s really not that many. The most notable one for some people is, like you say, that you’re very likely to end up sterile after a bit. It turns out if you pull all the testosterone out of that particular system it tends to not work so well. There’s always the option of freezing sperm for if you wish to use it in the future, but I’m told it’s quite expensive (I didn’t bother with it so I dunno exactly how much).
Along with that there’s a chance that your overall sexual function will decrease somewhat. You may find it slightly more difficult to get and maintain an erection, although the chances of things completely not working are pretty slim.
People will tell you a lot that your libido will likely decrease but I’m gonna be totally honest if that’s ever happened to anyone I haven’t met them. If anything it seems more likely that it might increase as you get more comfortable with yourself.
This one I’m still not sure about but I’ve heard a lot of women corroborate it and my own experience seems to line up: there’s a possibility you start to experience some of the symptoms of PMS. Obviously you’re not gonna have an actual period, but a lot of the side effects of that process are hormone dependent, so you might find yourself going through a few days of discomfort every month. The types and severity of symptoms you experience depends on the person; even in afab folks there’s a pretty big variation from person to person. Personally I tend to get pretty nasty mood swings, fatigue, and really sore breasts.
Speaking of breasts, they’re not gonna go away even if you stop estrogen, but usually that’s part of the appeal so that’s probably not a problem. They will ache and be ridiculously sensitive pretty much constantly when they start coming in though, so I’d recommend investing in some really soft sports bras and some painkillers, and if you have habit of flopping down on your front break that now, cuz you’re gonna regret it sooooooo much the first time you do it after this starts.
If you have a family history of migraines but you don’t get them now there’s a chance you might be a little more susceptible after. I get them every now and then whereas before I think I’d had like two.
There’s a small chance you may shrink an inch or two, because your pelvis is gonna rotate forward a bit. It may also widen a bit depending on how young you are when you start. This I’ve gathered just from my own reading so I’m not 100% confident that’s entirely true, but it does seem to make sense, and would explain why I spent a few weeks with a significant amount of pain around my hips around the six month mark. Seriously, that was definitely the least enjoyable part of this whole experience.
Specifically about the medication, you’re gonna spend a few days being incredibly nauseous while your body adjusts right after you start, but that’ll pass. Spironolactone also makes you have to pee constantly for a few hours after you take it, and reduces your sodium levels quite a lot. You’ll have to make sure you drink plenty of fluids to avoid being dehydrated, and you’re gonna crave salty food, which you should eat plenty of to offset the medication. This is where the whole “trans girls love pickles” thing comes from.
Finally, there’s a few health things that your doctor is likely gonna bring up pretty often. Your chances for blood clots and breast cancer will increase, BUT what may not be entirely obvious from whatever info they give you is that that increase is still TINY. Blood clots aren’t very likely unless you’re predisposed already, and your chances of getting breast cancer are only slightly higher than a cis man’s (it can still happen tho, so learn how to do a self exam!). What they also likely won’t mention is that your chances of prostate cancer drop SIGNIFICANTLY. Again, you’re still gonna want to get checked once you’ve reached the age for that, but while it’s pretty common in cis men, it’s very rare in trans women.
And that’s pretty much everything I can think of. But if you think that sounds like a lot, the list of benefits has to be like, twenty times longer. It’s really insane how much changes; I don’t think I can put it all in one post.
