Hi All,

Well, here goes...

i am a 52 year old healthy average genetic male who believes she is definitely gender dysphoric.

This i have come to realise over the last 2 years after chatting with, discussing and interacting with others online. Actually i have know i have been like this since my teens, but struggled to fully recognise or accept it.

i live in the Uk about an hour or two west of London and am married and in full time work (office work).

For the last 10 years i have bene consistently dressing in lingerie every day and now have no male underwear whatsoever - actually i can not imagine wearing any EVER again.

In the last 2 years i have given a LOT of thought to gender and contemplated how hormones would probably help me - and nearly embarked on a careful 'trial' to see if it was truly what i want and need.

However, i did not have the courage, conviction or certainty to start.

Over the last 6 months or so that has subtly chasnged, and now after much research and reading and soul-searching, i am ready.....

i have ordered Estroderm patches (both 50 and 100 ) and 100mg Spiro tablets, which should arrive next week.

I am fully and patently aware of the risks and will be very careful how i self-administer. Yes i will seek proper medical supervision if i know it is something i must do , long term.

i must admit it almost feels like a relief, now the decision to start has beem made......

i plan to start off next week with 1 Spiro 100mg taken twice a day, and apply initially the 50 patch. i will maintain this for 1 week then carefully re-evaluate how i feel, any physiological or psychological changes that may have occurred, and then re-evaluate my dosage. Ohh and 75mg enteric coated aspirin daily as a slight blood thinner to combat any clotting effect

i would like to say i am so excited and full of anticipation ---- and am prepared to continue for 6 months.

The information here and the comraderie and feeling of 'belonging' for me is very strong, and i hope i can both gain and contribute to the eunuch archive

If anyone has any further comment and or advice i will be very very happy to recieve it

Yorus,

charlene

Welcome Charlene and here's wishing you best on your journey. There is a wealth of information to be had here in various posts.

One comment I would add is in response to "

charlenebrown (imported) wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2009 1:14 am i plan to start off next week with 1 Spiro 100mg taken twice a day, and apply initially the 50 patch. i will maintain this for 1 week then carefully re-evaluate how i feel

"

Spiro will take at least 2-3 weeks , if not longer, before really showing it's effects so keep that in mind before deciding to up the dosage or the likes.

Cheers

ron

Thanks for the pointer ron, i will now wait for 4 weeks before making any changes - unless of course i 'feel' something is awry

Thank you so much for your warm welcome too, that made me smile and gave me a huge amount of encouragement.

Though, as many have said, i am 99.9% sure of my actions.

i look forward to a long and happy association with the group.

charlene

Welcome to the zoo! --FLO--

Welcome Charlene, I'm from Ohio in the US, MtF, 57 years old and been in transition 14 months.

My advise is start out by breaking a 100mg. Spiro pill in half thus taking 50mg in the morning and 50mg. in the evening, do this for a month or so then if you don't see any side effects like low blood pressure, light headedness when you get up etc then up it to 100mg. in the morning and 100mg. in the evening, 200mg a day should keep the testosterone low but this is going to take a few months. Be aware curb your potassium intake and if you crave salty foods eat them and drink plenty of water if not you will get leg cramps and be prepared to get up to pee lots at night, at 14 months I'm back to normal and sleep thru the night.

The 50mcg patch is a good starting point, do this for a month or so also then go to the 100mcg patch, my Endo had me on Estraderm 100mcg. patches but i was allergic to the adhesive, watch for that, he switched me to Estradiol pills 4mg divided dose a day and I'm doing great.

You can email me anytime at paulault55@yahoo.com

Paula

Thanks Paula,

That is very good to know, and thanks for the advice aqnd offer of mail contact, that is so kind.

Hopefully i can start on Monday, if they arrive....

after you started how long before you stsarted to be aware of

1), physiological changes,

2), psychological changes?

charlene

If you self administer aspirin therapy, you have to be consistent with it and not stop abruptly or you could set yourself up for clot. Also, make sure you stay with the 81 mg/day dose and not a regular aspirin.

Thanks Ramses,

i will make sure i keep it stable and level, and only use those reccomended for this purpose

charlene

Welcome and good luck on your journey!

Spiro is not a very strong anti-androgen and is not really administered as a primary drug for that purpose. So be aware that whatever dosage of it that you settle on, it will probably not lower your testosterone level by a quantum amount. Here would be another example that you should get an initial testosterone test done in your natural state before starting the Spiro and then again after maybe two months of doing it so you have some real objective measure of how your T level has changed and if further reductions are feasible.

My experience: I was on 100 mg of Spiro for over 2 1/2 years but was also taking monthly injections of Depo Provera which is a much stronger anti-androgen. That combination was enough to drop my testosterone from 280 to 95. I added androcur after that when I wanted to go lower and got it down to 44 before I was castrated. I felt like it was really low at 95 but there was a noticable difference when it dropped to 44. I am playing with my level right now to get it slightly above the 95 but hopefully lower than 150 with TRT. I had a test done last week and it cost just over $22 so it is not a horribly expensive lab test to have done.

Good luck with your experiment.

Sam