#low dose testosterone

[disappointeddyke]

1 month on T today

[bog-dwelling-butch]

Hopefully going back on a low dose of T soon, and hopefully I can over long chunks of time make a pattern of going off T and starting back up...

I just want to live as a shapeshifter, is that too much to ask?

[nikiiverma]

fem boi

[halleycomets]

actually LOVE twink death. pre-t (21) vs two years (29)!

(he/they)

[let-there-be-tboys]

PRE-T STATS!!!!

hi! my T is coming next week and i am going to update regularly on the changes i experience as i am taking it. i hope this provides a good gauge of where i started vs what is changing and when!!!

disclaimer: the hrt process is completely different for everybody, and x change happening at x time for me doesn’t mean everyone else will have the same experience

dosage: i believe will be starting on 25mg per week for the first few weeks, then dropping down to a low (lower) dose of 20mg per week indefinitely. this may change!

voice: i have an incredibly high, lilting voice. it’s sweet and feminine. basically, i hate it. BUT—i’m also a singer, and my sweet soprano coloratura is my entire life and soul. i also have a musical theatre belt in a strong alto, but with a very limited range compared to my head voice.

my music is EVERYTHING TO ME. i am terrified to lose it. i know there are people on T who have kept their high range, and/or shifted to a tenor. i’m hoping to shift to a strong tenor belt while keeping my high falsetto.

my range: Eb3 to E6. i think i would die if i couldn’t sing queen of the night. but dysphoria will kill me more surely than being a baritone would, so it’s worth the gamble. i have faith that music is what i was made for and that my voice will be guided into exactly what it needs to be.

physical changes: very excited to see, but probably won’t start for a while :-( i’m midsized and 5’5”. not a very masculine build, but not very feminine either. i’ve been told before i could pass well if it weren’t for my voice

orientation stuff?: i’ve identified as a gay man for over 4 years and it’s kinda a huge part of my identity, but i have liked a few women in the past. i’m probably bi. T doesn’t change your orientation, but it does bring out some more hidden or repressed parts of it. so i’m probably gonna turn more bi-ish. not too concerned about this!

what i AM concerned about—i’m asexual. i have never felt sexual attraction to a person. i have the slightest hint of a libido, like, once in a blue moon i think? and if you asked me what it felt like i could not remember or know how to tell you. i am super ace. i’m also generally sex repulsed, but i don’t know how much of that is asexuality and how much of that is dysphoria, since i lean more neutral when it comes to doing things to someone else. just the thought of things being done to ME has always made me want to DIE. because of that i am terrified of seeing an increase in libido or attraction due to T. i guess only time will tell!

if there’s anything i’ve missed that i should be updating on, please ask/tell me :-) i know this blog probably won’t get too big anyway, but i can hope!

[genderfuckpirate]

still not over that time I told a (trans) acquaintance that I had been on T for over 6 months and they looked confused and were like "when do you think you'll start noticing changes?". like, rude...

[sam-the-pancake]

Being on T and having a sore throat like "is this my voice now? 🤷"

[imstillhere-butallislost]

10 months on low dose Androgel timeline

I think the last one I did of these was at 7 months, oops. I started on 1 pump of 1% androgel, which has 12.5 mg of testosterone in each pump. Since December, I have been on 2 pumps a day. I have yet to have any blood work done, so i don’t know my levels. 

This is a timeline of the most recent, biggest changes. I have other posts about my earlier timeline in my Testosterone gel tag.

The *biggest* change these past few months have been my voice. It’s changed drastically from February to now, but I think it’s actually sort of levelled out recently. It was hard to speak loudly for a most of February and March, because my voice would try to go higher but I just didn’t have that range anymore, so it would crack or just, make no sound at all. I think, for the most part, that is over. I think this was just one voice drop and im sure more will come (I still sound androgynous too, but that could be because of speaking mannerisms rather than voice) but I’ve learned how to talk with my lower voice now, and can speak loudly without the problems i used to have. 

i went from my lowest, median, and highest of my voice being 176hz, 215hz, and 255hz respectively, to 96hz lowest, 137hz median, and 179hz highest, but those numbers do fluctuate a bit depending on day which is normal. It’s strange to see what used to be the lowest my voice went when talking is now the highest it goes. It’s been really great. 

I will say, that I am now at the point where i cannot play it off like im sick or anything when people ask about my voice. I have been specifically asked if i’m on testosterone, and people I haven’t seen in a while are shocked at my voice now. If you are someone thinking about low dose T to hide changes for as ling as you can from unsupportive people, I only got 10 months, and many people get less. you cannot guarentee when you will get what changed.

on to things besides voice. 

My arm and hand veins are,, extremely prominent when I get warm. It’s really interesting, gives me huge euphoria, but is also really weird to look at. 

My period hasn’t stopped yet, still gotten a lot lighter though which has been great.

My face has definitely changed, but in a way where it’s hard to tell what exactly has changed. i just know i look different. I just can’t really place how. My eyebrows are thicker, my skin looks different, but there’s something bigger that is just hard to see. 

I still don’t really pass in public, long hair androgynous voice and no binder will do that, but i’m really liking how everything is going so far. Genuinely I think going on T has just cured my depression??????? I’m only normal sad like once a month, not thinking about offing myself once a day. I didn’t think testosterone would change so much about how I feel, but it’s made me feel so much more calm and rational. I have a good grasp on my emotions, and they don’t consume me anymore. I’m able to think past them and make good decisions without letting my depression or anxiety or anger rule out my rational brain. That won’t be the experience for everyone, but it is mine. and it has been great. 

Also maybe expect a trans tape review soon idk, I’m getting some because my binder fits me on paper, but irritates my arms sooo much that it’s hard to wear. 

Feel free to ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer

[operationmantis]

greetings tumblr i started a low dose of testosterone today

[thunderstorm-skald]

if i had as much hair on my face as i do my lower legs, ambrose burnside himself would cower before me

[hyperkittten-blog]

Testosterone Day 53

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

TODAY I TOLD ONE OF MY COWORKERS THAT I HAD STARTED ON T AND SHE SAID SHE HAD NOTICED

APPARENTLY MY VOICE HAS GOTTEN A LITTLE DEEPER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

IT’S HAPPENING YALL THIS IS NOT A DRILL

[disappointeddyke]

It’s really weird finally feeling even just a tiny smidge more of gender euphoria and comfort in your own body after starting T. I feel like I’ve missed out on so much time where I could’ve felt this. Like I obviously didn’t feel good before starting it but I didn’t fully know how much that dysphoria weighed down on me until getting some relief.

[callings]

anyone got advice about low dose Testosterone, I have an appointment at an lgbt focused place and like they are gonna give me a referral but they said they could answer questions, and like who knows with the state of things here but I'd be eager to talk to someone who's done low dose (・ω・)

[nikiiverma]

The t peach fuzz 🥰

[waytoomuchanalysis]

Got through my second t shot! I was doing topical for a while but stopped and switched to see if subq would make me less depressed lol. My friend must be using a slightly different kind than me because he’s always complaining about how viscous the liquid is and how it makes him use a larger needle gauge but I literally used an insulin needle and had no issues

[genderfuckpirate]

hey, i don't know if you're like are open to questions and all that here, no worries or anything if not, but i was wondering about, in your experience, if being genderqueer/nonbinary made it harder to get testosterone? i've been thinking a ton about t but something im kind of concerned about the doctors/conservative medical system in my area and maybe if just letting them assume im a binary trans man would be easier? yeah if you have any like insight on that or anything that'd be really really great

(hi!! firstly sorry for never responding to this >_> I mostly use tumblr on my phone and i swear it doesn't actually notify you when someone sends an ask... i hope this finds you!)

OK, the short answer: I basically had no issues with getting on Testosterone as a genderqueer person ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The long answer: where I live has informed consent and I purposely chose a trans friendly medical clinic and doctor that's known to approve HRT. I had been seeing the doctor for quite a while, so they already knew that: I had socially transitioned, that I was seeing a psychologist, and that I don't have any health conditions that would clash with T. I basically asked about it during a check up and left with a form to get bloodwork done and an info pack. I got the bloodwork done and by the next appointment I was given a script.

My advice: Obviously the process is going to be super different for different places, but I did a fuck ton of research before I even asked about HRT and I think it helped. Here's what I would recommend:

Get recommendations for specific doctors / clinics from local trans people. Whether it's people you know or just from asking on your local subreddit - you should be hearing first hand experiences about these places. Places might advertise themselves as "queer friendly" but might not actually be trans friendly. Similarly, your state / country might have informed consent but that doesn't mean that every doctor is going to have experience with approving HRT. Also, if you're in an area where it's going to be best to just pretend your a binary trans man, here's where you're going to hear it.

Have some sort of clear goal for why you're going on HRT. I think this one's really important for genderqueer folks because your goal might not be to simply 'pass' as a different gender. I didn't fully know what I wanted out of T but I showed up to the appointment saying that I was specifically seeking a deeper voice and more body hair, which helped the doctor to understand my overall gender goals and see that T was right for me.

Do you research and show that you've done your research. Being informed is a huge part of informed consent. I asked my doctor about low dose Testosterone immediately and I brought a list of specific questions and concerns (things like "I know Testosterone can raise blood pressure and I already take X, would that be problem?" and "I see that it can affect Y and I have a family history of Z, how would impact me?"). I think this really helped to reassure my doctor that I knew what I was getting myself into.

I am super, super lucky that I live in a country that has informed consent, affordable doctors, free bloodwork and government subsided medication so obviously experience is NOT universal in any way but I hope that this still helps! :) Good luck with your journey anon!