I saw the TG doc today to follow up on my two and a fraction months on Lupron... Per the blood test I had last week, it has done what it's supposed to do, and according to her, my T is 'undetectable'... Given the description of how Lupron is supposed to kick in, I've presumably been at castrate levels for at least the last two months....

But I have not noticed ANY effects, physical or mental. My GF says she hasn't noticed any changes either... The TG doc was questioning whether it has had any effect on my libido or sex drive. It wasn't that huge to begin with, but I can't say that it has gone down / away much either.

She is very concerned about my bone health and the risk of blood clots, I think legitimately given my medical profile, and was wanting to take me off the Lupron and put me on SSRI's (probably Prozac). For various reasons, I have definite objections to 'psych meds', so this did not appeal at all...

She was TOTALLY unwilling to continue the Lupron without some form of bone health treatment, and not happy even with it. However given my objections to the psych meds, she was reluctantly persuaded to put me on a low-dose estrogen patch for two months. However she said she really didn't expect it to have much of the desired effect of 'eunuch calm'... She also said that if it wasn't giving the desired results, she would not be willing to continue the current treatment.

She does admit that as her first / only M-to-E patient that she is a bit on unfamiliar ground, so are we just expecting to see effects to soon?

I'm finding this frustrating but not sure what to do? Suggestions are welcome...

My current doc is moving out of state at the end of August, I actually have my next appointment on her last day at MGH, but she said that her replacement has excellent qualifications, and is likely to be of the same opinion about my treatment so it is hard to know if the change in docs will result in any other changes...

So what should I be thinking about doing?

WheelyCurious

Perhaps try to stop over thinking matters. You have your result. From experience, psychological results take a few months to materialise. You won’t notice them. Those around you will.

You are making great efforts and, it seemed to me, a little in a hurry, striving for a goal that is not entirely clear ...

I would pay more attention to your physical well-being, maintain a good mood, entertain yourself in some way (for example, reading fiction, watching movies and TV shows) and try not to lose heart.

Everything is fine, you don't owe anything to anyone .

The first effects I felt after obtaining castrate levels of T was weakness in my arms and upper body. These were the first noticeable things. I carried an item in the store that before I would never have a problem with. By the time I got to the cash register I was exhausted. This is how I knew something was changing. The desired sexual side effects, impotence, no libido, no night time erections came several weeks later. The thinning body hair, redistribution of fat and "eunuch calm" came months after that. You will also notice a difference in your own body odor...that was very interesting to me. It takes time. Your body has had since puberty to develop the effects of testosterone. It wont happen all at once. Do take care of your bones and mental health though. Depression is a very real concern. Even if you get back on T. I now take depression meds after telling myself I never would...they have made a world of difference. Be prepared for some hot flashes and sleepless nights as well. The hot flashes were the strangest thing, but they passed. Good Luck and be patient. It will all fall into place. Love.

Many thanks, I am not trying to be in a big hurry, but it seems the doc is putting me on a relatively short timeline. While I'd love to see instant results (who wouldn't) I totally understand that changes take time, and I'm just worried about what happens if I get to the end of the DOCTOR'S timeline before I get enough changes to keep her happy...

I do want to get surgery eventually, but presumably that depends on going through the SOC 8 'test drive' period and right now it feels like she isn't willing to give me that time...

I suppose that I could try to feed her the answers I think she is looking for, even if it isn't completely true...

At any rate I'm now on the E-patch, 0.1mg / day delivery, changed 2x week, and hopefully that will get things moving along a bit faster.

WheelyCurious

Well I don't know if it was just time for it to really start kicking in, or if the estrogen patch is doing stuff (or both) but something is definitely starting to happen...

I'm fairly steadily having something going on in my arms that is not unpleasant and is a hard sensation to describe, it has elements of feeling hot, and tingling, but isn't really either of those, more just an increased sense of their being there. Sometimes I get it in other parts of my body but not as consistently. I also have had several periods where I felt very hot, but wasn't particularly sweating. However our air conditioning isn't working right so I'm not certain they are 'hot flashes' as opposed to just being hot...

I might also be feeling a little more mellow, but that is even harder to be sure of...

WheelyCurious

The way I describe it is that my arms felt heavy. So did my fingers, hands and wrists. Hot flashes actually made me sweat when nobody else around me was sweating.

4everLimp (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:59 pm The way I describe it is that my arms felt heavy. So did my fingers, hands and wrists. Hot flashes actually made me sweat when nobody else around me was sweating.

That isn't inconsistent - I don't think good words exist to precisely describe the feeling, and heavy sort of fits, though again not the same as if I was picking up something heavy... Not to mention that people generally perceive things differently.

Sweating is also tricky when it really is hot out... I'd have a lot easier time saying that it was definitely a hot flash if it was happening in the winter when there is no other explanation....

Either way, so far it hasn't been a big deal, so far I've only had one short spell last night where I felt so hot it was unpleasant, and that only lasted a few minutes...

(Of course saying the above is now likely to make it a bunch worse....

WheelyCurious