Hello you lovely transfems,

tomorrow will be my one month mark of being on HRT. Since I decided to go the monotherapy route (only estradiol, no testosterone blockers) and didn’t find many reports when I was researching the topic, I thought I might write my own for other people’s guidance.

Disclaimer: It’s HRT, your mileage may vary. I’m also by no means an expert, just recounting personal experience.

edit: some paragraphs about crotch zone changes, so I’m marking as NSFW.

edit2: I’m now constantly 20-30% happier than I was before starting and somehow forgot to write that xD

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First injection: March 25th

When I first received that sacred vial of Estradiol Enanthate, I didn’t yet have my first blood test results back. But I couldn’t sit around watching my hairline recede by the day anymore. So I got started that same day.

My first dose was 6mg injected into my right thigh at 6:30 pm that day. (I track all injections in a spreadsheet)

Initial euphoria

While that often-described initial relief did hit me within the first hour, I’d really attribute it to placebo and the psychosomatic effect of just knowing where I will be headed from there on out. It did still feel good.

One day in, I was feeling more talkative and supporting of people even at work where I tend to mostly stick to myself and do my thing. I also wanted to talk all the time to everyone.

Physical effects in week one

Within 48 hours, I was basically not having any random erections anymore. I didn’t have many of those even before though, so it just finally tipped the scale mentally (maybe I’m asexual, I don’t know yet).

However, my estrogen level wasn’t up anywhere near female ranges yet, but my T was equally starting to be suppressed below male ranges. This resulted in a span of two to three days were I was experiencing the textbook symptoms of low sex hormones in general. Mainly incredible lethargy & irritability. (Must’ve slept like 16 hours on day three)

Although I didn’t read about this anywhere else, my areoli pretty much immediately starting ‘bubbling’ - like they grew a 1mm wide and high bulge at the base of my nipples over the span of the first two weeks.

My awful pre-HRT blood test results

The last thing that happened in the first week was that I finally got my blood test results from before starting. Opening that mail and seeing them was the most dysphoria I ever felt in my entire life.

Turns out I was going at around 1000ng/dl testosterone - slightly above even male ranges.

Let’s just say a panic attack ensued and I slept horribly that night.

Second injection: April 1st

Given my test results and general dosing recommendations, I decided to up my injections to 6.875mg for the second week and stay at that level for the next seven weeks.

Although maybe not much had changed physically, my skin did start to feel distinctly different in the second week (ie. softer).

Food is my friend now

The second major change that persists until today is HUNGER. Looking back, I always had some kind of eating disorder that was strongly linked to dysphoria I think.

Like I didn’t want to bulk up, but stay thin and twinky so I wouldn’t show any male fat distribution patterns. (59kgs at 5’10").

Now there wasn’t really any reason to do that anymore, so I began enjoying food a lot and have put on 2.5kgs in my first month.

(This is also where I would say some of the facial changes I see are coming from I think: Less hollow cheeks, cleft chin not as pronounced)

Apart from that, I started getting some mood swings especially towards the end of my injection cycle, but I also started laughing uncontrollably sometimes.

Third injection: April 8th

Although still very early, a noticeable amount of mental changes started happening week three. I’m honestly not surprised as my metabolism has always operated on supersonic speeds and I didn’t think it would take me a long time to adjust.

The most prominent change was that the placebo effect started to subside and I got less euphoric in general. Taking naps feels nice, y’know… taking it slow - not depressed, but also not as amped up as I used to be on T.

I also started noticing emotional downswings a lot stronger. But the way I was working through them is a lot different now:

I used to dissect problems purely logically / rationally and didn’t know any other way to deal with them. On E, I discovered that I could just let the feeling be and think about how emotions made me feel and what they actually are. This allows me to work through them much quicker.

Once or twice a day, I also started to have increased sensation in my nipples - just feeling my clothes rubbing on them was new, but not irritating (yet).

Fourth injection: April 15th

Week 4 on HRT did elicit some further physical changes, but nothing dramatic.

The aforementioned sensation in my nipples increased in frequency and began to feel irritating at times. It was the first time I felt like I need at least a sports bra and didn’t want to go topless without it AT ALL.

Since I shave my arm every few days, I noticed that the hair regrowth has become basically invisible unless viewed up close in most areas. I also noticed that I hadn’t shaved my armpits in more than two weeks and the hairs were only like a few millimeters long - so yay to that!

Fifth injection: April 22nd

Not much has happened since then. Most of the changes are from my continued weight gain I think. I think I got some more fat in my breasts, but it’s honestly not that visible and not yet budding I think.

Nonetheless, I did notice that my arms are wayyy less veiny though and have probably less muscle definition. I also get imprints from stuff I’m resting my arm / legs on all the time. (Like after sleeping the little wrinkles from the bedding that dissapear quickly)

Le fin

Overall, I would say that I’m pretty happy that stuff seems to be happening, but I have yet to await my next blood test in a few weeks to see where my levels are truly at.

I’m basically not producing any sperm now (only a LOT of prostate fluid) - so there’s definitely some T supression happening, but I don’t know if it’s enough yet.

After the initial (psychosomatic) euphoria settled down, I still have a hard time dealing with how long everything will take.

I also didn’t see any noticeable hair regrowth up until now and keep finding short, thin hairs when I comb through my temple area with my hands. My father went bald at like 17 and I’m happy I made it this far without much loss (23 now), but it’s showing and I’m just praying to the estrogen goddess that I at least stay where I’m currently at with my hair loss.

On a positive note, I’ll have my first laser session tomorrow and during the initial consultation they told me I basically have perfect skin for the treament (dark, thick hair on very fair skin) - keeping my fingers crossed for this to be the case!

Have a lovely day :)