I am still on half a dose of Primoteston Depot 250 (injection) every 2-3 weeks.
Please note some of the content may not be suitable for individuals under 18 years of age.
Voice:
I noticed a few months ago that my voice was no longer my own. I was watching an old Youtube clip from 2010 (pre-T) and then listeed to an audio clip I recorded on my phone recently and was shocked and perhaps a little scared of how I sounded. My voice has ‘dropped’ but I still manage to make it sound more feminine when I am at work (providing telephone counselling) and get ‘read’ as female. At the same time I can reach my lower range but have lost the upper and cannot sing along (in-tune) while I am listening to music in the car. I wish I had taken more note at the beginning of my voice changing, like when did it exactly happen?
I spoke to a trans* man from interstate recently who spoke about the damage that T and trans* guys do to their voice. He suggested looking at alternatives like speech/voice therapy and/or Alexander Technique.
Emotions:
I am very happy to report I can still cry, not all the time or during that-time-of-the-month, but enough to make me feel I haven’t lost that part of me. I don’t seem to dwell on negative emotions as much, no wait let me rephrase that, I seem unable to become emotional like I used to but I still feel upset but it’s more like a tennis ball caught in my throat with a heaviness in my chest.
My emotions seem still my own, as in I react to things the same, but I also feel a little calmer and stable and don’t have as many ‘extreams’. In a way I feel I am a little more rational and quick to want to just sort things out or just drop the issue, whereas in the past I would be trying to analyze and go around it until I am an anxious ball ready to burt out crying.
Metabolism:
I’m never sure if my increase in hunger is due to T or my under-active thyroid, but to simply put it I do feel hungrier. However at the start of taking T my appetite didn’t change much. I don’t crave as much sweet foods and now long for savory – although nothing can split me off from my cup of tea or chai latte addiction!
Hair:
I started off with a few random hairs on my chin when I started T and then over several months I realized that my upper lip was darker and my sideburns were slowly making their way down my cheeks. I left the hair grow, perhaps out of amusement or indifference, until yesterday when I shaved them off with a no 1 of my buzz cutter – so now I am fuzzy!
My hair is frizzier than ever and I am a little worried about hy hairline receeding. It’s always been a little spare around the sides but I think I might have to analyze some older photos to see if there’s been any change. With the dryness of my hair I find that I have to make sure I condition it to keep it soft, especially as I dye my fringe and am sure the bleach doesn’t help the situation.
Hair gowth on my legs is a little more noticeable, but then again I’ve always had hairy legs. What I didn’t expect, even though I should have, was the amount of hair gowing on and inisde my butt cheeks, lower back and groin spreading down my inner thigh. My underarms are still very much the same but my shoulders and upper back have had a few hairs that I am not so happy about.
Acne:
I’ve been lucky not to has as much trouble as some other friends and it may be due to my low dose and being on Primoteston. I get oily skin and pimples but I’ve been managing them ok and have found an organic peppermint soap that’s helped. I think a lot of it is also due to if it’s hot or cold, and as it’s currently winter my skin has dried out a little better. Being without facial hair also helps as a few of my pimples were due to hair follicles or ingrown hairs.
Cycles:
My period stopped about three-months into me taking T and apart from some cramps every now and again (which freaked me out the first time) I’ve been period free. I’m going to keep up my yearly Pap Smears as I’ve had abnormal results in the past and want to keep on top of this. Also a few other friends who’ve been on T longer have either spoken about a hysto or are in the process of getting one. I don’t have much information about what the health risks are on T in regards to the need for a hysto or not, but it something I worry about for the future.
Downstairs:
A a day later after my first shot of T I felt something downstairs, some sort of growth. I was suprised at the change on such a low dose of T, something I was apprehensive about to begin with, but now have grown used to. In the beginng of this ‘change’ everything down there felt quite sensitive, to the point where I needed to start wearing different underwear and found tight jeans and pants a little uncomfortable. I’ve slowly settled into my new ‘growth’ and I think things downstairs have settled down a little as I’ve noticed nothing new.
All these changes also meant a new way to ‘get off’, to be turned on and how I am no longer able to have multiple orgasms (while other trans* guys said T helped them increase multiple orgasms) andthey’ve been replaced by intense and quick ones.