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What estrogen will do:
- Estrogen will cause your breasts to grow. How large your breasts
will get depends on what you’ve inherited from your family. Your breasts
will probably not be as large those of your female relatives.
- It may cause fat to migrate away from the waist and toward the hips
and buttocks.
- It may cause your skin to become softer.
- It may change the way your body smells.
What estrogen won’t do:
Estrogen will not make your facial or body hair disappear. You will
need to get electrolysis if you wish to remove this hair. If you have
male pattern baldness it will not cause your hair to grow back. It may
slow down how fast you are losing your hair.
- Estrogen won’t make your penis go away. It can cause your testicles
(and your prostate) to shrink.
It will not change your voice. You may wish to take voice lessons to
change the tone and speech patterns you use. |
- Will not make your Adam’s apple or the bones in your face any
smaller.
Don’t expect to change overnight. Hormones will take a while to take
effect and the changes will come slowly. If you take more estrogen than
your health care provider recommends, your body may convert it into
testosterone, which could slow the feminizing effects you maybe trying
to achieve.
The possible side effects and health risks of taking estrogen:
If you experience hives swelling, vomiting, call your health care
provider
- Taking hormones can cause problems with your liver.
- Estrogen can increase your risk of getting blood clots. This can
cause serious or fatal conditions such as stroke. Your risk of blood
clots is much worse if you smoke or are over 35 years old.
- Taking estrogen can increase your risk of getting breast cancer. You
should examine your breasts regularly. Your health care provider can
show you how to perform self-examinations.
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- Taking estrogen can cause nausea and vomiting. This is like morning
sickness.
- Taking estrogen can cause a skin condition that looks like vericose
veins. These can appear on your face and other places on your
body.
- It may decrease your sex drive. You may not be able to get or
maintain erections. If you get erections, they may not be hard enough
for sexual intercourse.
- The amount and quality of your ejaculate (cum ) may decrease. Keep
in mind that your ejaculate may still contain sperm! If you are having
unprotected sex with someone who can become pregnant, you may be able to
cause pregnancy. You should also know that taking estrogen may make it
impossible to get someone pregnant in the future even if you have
stopped taking the hormone
- It can cause depression and mood swings. If you already are
depressed it can make your depression worse. Let your health care
provider know if you have had any problems with depression to explore
what treatments are available
- If you have migraines, estrogen can cause these to happen more
often.
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Whom can I talk to if I have problems or questions?
The clinic staff can refer you to ……?
You may also want to check out some of the groups listed on the
transgender resource sheet.
How will the effects and side effects of hormones affect my emotional
state?
The way hormones effect people can be very different. Some people feel
that they become depressed and moody when taking estrogen, while other
people feel that it makes them very happy.
Changing your schedule of hormones may cause mood swings and
irritability (crankiness). Try to be consistent in taking your
hormones.
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Why do some TG youth prefer not to take hormones?
There are many reasons to decide not to take hormones, if you are not
sure you want to change your body, if you’re happy with what your body is
like now, if you have health concerns or if you want to have children.
There are many transgendererd people who decide to on the "NoHO, NoOp"
option (no hormones no operation).
Hormones will not make you any more or less of a "real" transsexual or
man or woman. |
Some TG youth should not receive hormonal
treatment.
You should not use hormones if:
You are still exploring
You smoke cigarettes
You have certain blood clotting conditions |
