From: an6163@anon.penet.fi (Steel Dancer)
Subject: Re: FYI and F(My)I
Organization: Anonymous contact service
X-Anonymously-To: alt.transgendered
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 15:59:56 GMT


Hey Marie (and everyone else)...lemme try some of those questions...

1) How does female hormone therapy affect male pattern baldness?

Well, the official position is, not at all.  I do have first-hand accounts
of Premarin (estrogen) therapy bringing some of that lost hair back;
however, the two people who claim this that I know personally still wear
either wigs or clever hairstyles.  You decide.  =)
I do believe it will stop further hair loss, though.  So you won't lose
what you got, but you won't get any back (from what I've seen).

3) About how long, after the beginning of hormone therapy, do female 
secondary sexual characteristics become evident???  

This depends wildly on the type of hormones being taken, the dose, and how
well your body responds to the hormones.  
As an example, I (22 y/o, undamaged liver, 5'9" & 165 lbs) have been on
Premarin (2.5 mg/day) for a year, and I have got about 3 inches of bust.
A friend (30 or so, undamaged liver, 6'1" and 180+ lbs) had about the same
amount of development in 3 months that I do in a year; same pills, same
dose.  *sigh*

> physical??? emotional?? psychological???

Well, I can give only my own experiences here...
About three years ago, I started on Premarin, 1.25 mg/day.
The first two months, I gained 10 pounds.  This is because I was hungry ALL
the time.  This is a common side effect.  Go with it if it happens; your
body wants that extra fat for a reason.  =)
4 months after starting, I noticed nodules under the breast, and pain when=
ever they were touched.  This means that they had started to grow.
in 12 months (1 year) my hips had expanded 4 inches, my thighs seemed to 
have also gotten larger, and my bust was still basically undeveloped.
In 24 months, my breasts had stopped hurting (which meant that they were
no longer growing), and I doubled my dose, to 2.5 mg per day.  I also began
Androcur (a testosterone blocker), at 5 mg/day.  This is when my bust "took
off", and when they really started to grow.  Not that it's very large, yet,
but it's quite a bit larger than it was....
Sometime in the first two years, the fat on my face changed shape.  I no 
longer look like I did four years ago; this has been confirmed by EVERYONE
I have asked, as well as pictures.  I'm not sure what changed; most people
think my jaw became less prominent, and I think my cheekbones have gotten
sharper.
Emotionally/psychologically, I did notice an increased tendency to 
depression (though not a whole lot more).  The Androcur REALLY changed
my psyche (the way I can tell if I missed a dose is that I start acting
as aggressively as I used to); the Premarion did not.

I dunno if this is a typical pattern of response.... I do know that I have
a fairly efficient liver, and therefore my body probably disposes of the 
hormones fairly efficiently (it does alcohol, and both of them are removed
by the liver).

Hope this helps....

Hugs&Roses,
Laurie! , etc
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