Saturday 24 April 2021

Maintenance of Gender Dysphoria via Estrogen

 I have often felt that I use estrogen as a way of keeping the feelings of GD (gender dysphoria) at bay. The initial approach was the hormones without transition idea, so I could simply feel better about myself and accept a measure of feminisation to keep my GD in check. A  maintenance of my body chemistry so as I could feel normal. This has worked well for me in most ways pushing the nasty nagging 'noise' of GD out of the way, so as I can get on with life. Naturally over time even with a low dose you WILL feminise. But this is what you want anyway, what you have been longing and desiring for as long as you can remember.

We hear a lot about GD  as being a feeling of not feeling at ease with your own physical gender and or gender role within our society.  

So what are these feelings actually like for me? If I don't use estrogen I slowly build up a level of GD which simply becomes intolerable. Serious obsessional thoughts, pretty much night and day regarding wanting to be female, wanting to go back on estrogen for its mental effects, wanting the physical effects of estrogen. Feelings of intense jealousy of women, of wanting to be like them. Intense sadness of the realisation of being a male. Living your life for the expectations of others and not your own wishes. Repression of femininity expression leading to fantasies of being female through your own sexuality, as a symptom of GD. 

Taking estrogen the plus points:

- Feeling of at easy and calm within yourself.

- All of the obsessional thoughts, and the 'noise' of GD is greatly reduced by 80% or more

- Happy not being so sexually driven, being in control.

- Feeling good about the  physical feminizing effects 

- Liking what you see in the mirror

- A more colourful and meaningful sexuality

As estrogen makes me feel much more like 'me' does this mean I have the necessary estrogen receptors in my brain to make me feel good? Perhaps responding positively to estogen is indeed a physical test to determine who should seriously consider partial or full transition. We are told that if a regular guy were to take estrogens he would certainly not feel happy about himself, even if this were done as a blind test.

I have been on and off hormones for many years. The GD clears up nicely on hormones to the point were you often feel 'cured' but stopping the treatment soon brings back all of the problems you had before. So I am coming to the conclusion that taking estrogen is really what my body demands now to feel normal and happy. 

Feminisation is so very much desired but it is also feared, as you have to worry about how others will see you and how you're going to fit into the society. I often think that feminisation is so desired by me, like someone who desires power or gold to the extent that the desire itself should be forbidden. A sense of guilt about having the need which can cause you to try your best to try and return to being a regular male again. 

A feeling that I should 'pull myself together', and abandon the trans feelings. This is always done out of fear. This has occued many times to me, but each time I go back to estrogen to save me from the darkness of GD. Of course I have push myself futher down the line of transition each time I have done this.


I still live as a male, but when on estrogen, when it kicks in, I may get called madame when shopping or out and about. Even if I am trying to present as male. I have grown my hair long and wear a ponytail, I would not want to have my hair short ever again, I am happy with  my body and the changes and don't regret what estrogen has done, yet I fear going past a certain point. We see ourselves differently to the way other see us and I am  often surprised if I'm taken as female.


When I do present as female I simply feel so good about myself, but there is often the forbidden guilt inside of me. Maybe I have feminized myself and I have achieved what I wanted, but I desire more.

The temptation to increase the estrogen dose is so very strong. 

Do you think dear reader the effects of estrogen are a good thing if you're much happier as a person? There have been times when I have felt that estrogen has simply been pushing me harder and harder to actually be female. Perhaps estrogen is making my situation worse rather that balancing and maintaining the GD levels. However part of me loves what is happening to me. A guilty pleasure where I so want it but I am frightened too. I am happy and do want to be further feminized. If I was not taking estrogen the obsessional thoughts about being female would become disabling. You can't win and you have to accept all what comes from taking estrogen.



I appreciate that this posting my sound very mixed up. I find writing about such feelings actually very confusing. It's like the ultimate puzzle I have been given which I feel can be solved but not sure how.

I welcome all your thoughts, readers comments are approved before being accepted.

Love you all

Cheryl xx

WORRIED ABOUT YOUR GENDER? 

Are you affected by crossdressing? Do you have cross gender feelings that you find difficult to talk about? Why not try Cross Dream Life at http://crossdreamlife.lefora.com




13 comments:

  1. Cheryl, i, like you, have been doing much the same. i have been on estrogen for 4 years. at 39, i don't have the luxury of fully transitioning. I'm in a marriage for 18 years and i have 3 beautiful children. estrogen has done its thing. for me it's 90% subsided the GD. i find that the jealousy from looking at beautiful women in ads or women with excellent figures in general triggers my GD the most. 2nd is idle time in bed, so depression is a bad looping state if i enter it. i keep myself busy and functional. 3 kids depend on me. so you could say I'm living for others, but what parent doesn't "live for their kids anyway"? I'll let the estrogen do its thing and maybe I'll go further socially when the kids are old enough. for now i forge onward.

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    1. So what dose are you on? Is this via your doctor? Have you found there has been a desire to increase the dose over the 4 year period?

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    2. all legit from my endocrinologist. he's sympathetic to my plight and allows me to dictate how this will proceed provided all blood tests are positive which they always seem to be. i started on 2mg estradiol sublingually. and then about 3 months in i began ramping up spironolactone from 50 to 100 to 150mg. once my T levels got in check. around the time i got to 100mg spiro i upped the Estradiol to 4mg. i stayed at 150 spiro for less than 3 months as it made me feel wonky. my T levels dropped to upper female range at 60 to 80ng/dl. i dialed spiro down to 50mg and thats where I've been for 2+ years - 4mg E sublingually and 50mg Spiro daily. I'm content with the effects over that stable two year period. i have medium sized breasts and very soft skin. i attribute much of what i have to a medium transition dose that is taken ssublingually.it feels very akin to a natural puberty that is meant to take 2 to 3 years.


      i continue the man role indefinitely for the sake of my kids. it has truly knocked out 90% of the GD. whereas is used to increase and announce itself all day, now I'm generally happy and the GD shows up in punctuated moments as described in my first post. mostly through idle time or visual triggers of beautiful women.

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  2. Actually, you're not alone. Your article reflects my feelings too. That is, estrogen seems to be a short-term cure for GD, but it's also a long-term feminizer, drawing you deeper and deeper into femininity the longer you take it and/or the higher the dose. Your observations are spot on!

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  3. This was a very insightful read. Thank you! I've often wondered what it would be like to take estrogen. However, for me, I'm not sure I experience GD. TG fiction etc. is a big part of my sexuality, however.

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  4. Hi Cheryl - a well written and thought out post. On my blog I do not discuss my estrogen path for fear that it may encourage some to make inappropriate decisions. Your post covered all the base.

    I have been taking estrogen on and off for 40 years (73 now). Mostly on for the last 20 years. The best decision I have ever made. I have always self-regulated knowing how much was to much and drew back. Listening to your body is critical as you do.

    We have much in common - I would love to discuss this further - I can be contacted through rhondasescape.com or Google "Rhonda's Escape".

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    1. Thank you so much for your input. There are man out there like us I suspect x

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  5. You have done exaclty what I have been doing. I have been struggling with the fact that I hardly can pull off guy mode. The estrogen has provided me what I always wanted but I have literally moved just a bit too far over. I gives my bad anxiety but it is a need that I really need.

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    1. Many thanks for your input. I suspect there are many out there who are like us. Has your dose of E been low or have you increased the dose over time?

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    2. Is your anxiety due to the changes and struggling to pass as male?

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  6. This is something I have been struggling with myself, but knowing that there is always a crossdressing/transgender site out there with tips and advice always helps. Thank you Cheryl for taking the time to craft these posts.

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  7. Click Here For Why T-Girls Are Better Than XY
    Look at it like this, if you feel better on E than you probably are better on E. Males die sooner than XX females. Is it the testosterone? Probably not. It is dealing with the Amber Heards of the world. probably. I propose that if the the ratio of males to females was 40% male to 60% female (trans and cis) the cis would step up their game because of the competition. Men will probably gravitate towards XY girls for the better dispositions, respect, emotional stability, no PMS, no menstruation and can't get knocked up. When you look at it pragmatically and logically XY female are the best choice.

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  8. About 20 years ago, my wife was diagnosed with cancer.. and I think in retrospect that this additional stress caused me to try and reduce it in the one area i could - namely - treating my GD
    After 4 sessions with a psychiatrist, he prescribed a course of low dosage female hormones (ethinyl estradiol). He said that the tablets would, in his words, “calm me down”. He said these were the same strength (50mcg) as those that were commonly prescribed for menopausal women and, in answer to my immediate question, he assured me that there would be no physical side effects. As much as I’d have liked – if I’m being absolutely honest - to have some side effects, such as breasts for example, in the context of my marriage this would clearly have been a non-starter.
    On the basis of that, I decided to go ahead down this route. I’m not sure that I was thinking straight at this point. I was desperate to find a solution to my inner confusion, I felt at my wits’ end and I think the additional massive stress caused by my wife’s illness, on top of the stress I was already under, was more than I could bear and it caused me to seek a solution – any solution. I think I was clutching at straws. The way I was thinking, I needed a solution for part of that stress.
    I first had to take a liver function test prior to starting the course of hormone treatment. Once I had a satisfactory test result, he gave me a prescription for a month’s supply of the hormone pills. I handed the prescription in at a large dispensing chemists in town and returned ½hr later to collect them. I’d had far worse nerves buying items of female clothing. This time? No problem - I was simply collecting medicine that had been prescribed for me.
    Back in my car, I placed one of the little white tablets in my mouth and swallowed it with a gulp of water. It’s strange how something that looks so insignificant can have the potential to have such a profound effect on our bodies and our lives. I remember looking at women as they walked by and thinking that finally I shared something in common with them now. I felt part of the ‘sisterhood’ – even though I’d only been a member of the club for 2 minutes! I desperately wanted to be on their side of the ‘divide’.
    As the days and weeks progressed, I convinced myself that my skin was becoming thinner and more sensitive but, looking back, I’m not sure now if this wasn’t merely wishful thinking. I felt myself becoming withdrawn and slightly depressed as time went on. I think this was as a result of guilt I’d been feeling due to the fact I was hiding something as major as this from my dear wife. I had to return to the psychiatrist each month to report on how I was doing and also for him to write me a repeat prescription. When I told him that I was feeling depressed, he suggested that I double the dose. This seemed counter-intuitive to me and so, after taking them for 4 months, I decided to stop.
    I haven't bought a single item of womens' clothing in 15 years.. but not a day goes by that i don't fantasise about what I'd do if I was on my own. I know that I'd start living as a woman behind closed doors and I also know that I'd be tempted to go out.. and therein lies the impossible dilemma that we all find ourselves in. I'm well over 6 ft tall and the idea that I could 'pass' outside is just fantasy world.
    I'm stuck - and it's not a good place to be.

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