[Intro music]
Chase: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Trans 101 series.
Today I am going to be talking about Hormone Replacement Therapy. Or as some people like to refer to HRT.
So basically Hormone Replacement Therapy, and I'm going to talk about it in a mostly female-to-male hormone replacement way.
Um, but this could also be applied for trans women, male-to-female trans individuals. Who go on hormones as well.
So when you are FTM, female-to-male like me, you go on Testosterone. So I'm going to talk a little bit about
the changes of Testosterone and getting Testosterone and all of these other things related to hormones.
So when you're ready to take hormones and you've gone to therapy, and the therapist have given you a letter and you're able to get your hormones
you're going to get your hormones in front of you. Okay.
Okay. Right before you get your hormones injected, you have to get a blood test. Now the blood test is going to
check your total Testosterone and your bioavailable Testosterone and your Estrogen levels. They also check
like your Cholesterol and stuff like that to make sure you're healthy enough to go on hormones.
Now yes there are some people who have medical conditions that prevent them from going on hormones,
um, and that happens and that's rare but it could happen.
So usually if an Endocrinologist that prescribes you Testosterone, so basically what happens is after your
blood test, you're going to see your Endocrinologist, you're going to look at the results, and based on your
hormone levels on your Testosterone levels, they're going to prescribe you Testosterone.
Now, I'm going to say that usually in America and Canada, people usually start at the same dose.
Depending on your doctor. But usually almost everyone that I know all started, in Canada, was 0.25 and in
America it was 0.5, cause it's a different Testosterone. One of them is more concentrated.
Don't take my word for it, don't start injecting hormones right now at that level. I'm just saying that you need
to get your levels checked first. So you start injecting Testosterone.
So I'm going to talk a little bit about the changes and what happens.
And right before I do that I just I know I just said injecting Testosterone, but let me talk about the
methods of putting Testosterone in your body. Okay. So Hormone Replacement Therapy, you are replacing the
hormones that are in your body.
And right now, you have a lot of Estrogen in your body. So you kinda need to let the Estrogen go like down,
and put the Testosterone up. That's what you need. Because we all have Testosterone in our bodies anyways.
But we need to increase it, so we can get the secondary sex characteristics, and the facial hair, and stuff like
that of...
Umm what
you know, men in society look like.
So the way to take Testosterone is the most common way is injections. So inter-muscular injections usually
done in the leg, or you can do subcutaneous injections in the fat, usually in the stomach.
That's what usually everyone starts on. I started on that but I don't like injections so I stopped, and now I do
a different type of administering my Testosterone. I use a gel. And I'm not going to say the name of the gel
because this video will get flagged. Mmh. But it's a gel that I apply every single day on my arm, and that's it.
That's it. Everyday I put it on my arm and that's how I put it. There are other ways as well. There is a patch that you
can use, alright. And there's a deodorant, which is basically the gel that you use, you just put it and you
kinda put it under your armpits, and there are other ways that you can do it, like creams and stuff like that.
But really the most common one is injections. Now,
do injections and the gel, um, have different side effects or do they work differently or less than the other? No.
A lot of huge misconceptions about the gel is that it doesn't work as well as the injections. And that's not true.
Some people cannot absorb the gel as other people, that is 100 percent true. And that does happen, but for the
most part you are going to get the same changes even if you start on the gel then if you start on injections.
Also injections are usually done weekly or bi-weekly or I know that in the U.K. they are done um,
monthly, or by three months. Umm,
Yeah.
It's a different type of Testosterone that you can take that you you it's like 10 weeks or something that you
can take it between shots. So it really depends on where you are in the world and what kind of Testosterone is available to you.
And I also can't tell you the price of Testosterone. I live in Québec, Canada umm the price of Testosterone for me
will be different than somebody who lives in Ontario, than somebody who lives in the States, than somebody
who lives in like Sweden for example.
So what are the changes that you get when you're on hormones? Well,
So I'm going to give you a broad overview, there are more changes obviously than what I'm going to talk
about, but I'm going to talk about the main ones. So basically you're going to get some facial hair.
Alright, facial hair does happen, it doesn't happen as fast for someone as it might for someone else. Though
some people never get facial hair, even 7 years, they just get like little. Other people who have been 7 years on T
look like this. I've been on T for 7 years, this is what my beard looks like.
You're also going to get some body hair. So I have hair on my arms here, on my back, my stomach, uh the hair
on your legs does get darker and the hair on your arms as well. Your smell starts to change, you start smelling
more "manly" so like, more sweaty and odor. Um, and your urine starts smelling differently. And I know that
that's weird but if you ever walk into a men's bathroom, and you're like "ooh what's that smell?" It's the urine.
The urine. It smells, different.
You're going to get really hungry at first okay. Just think of it this way, you're going through another puberty.
You're going through the puberty that you were suppose to have originally so phew, you are going to be hungry.
I use to have to eat like 3 dinners, umm, which was a little much. And some people do gain weight when they
start taking Testosterone because their appetite is so much higher. Your fat with re-distribute okay. So the fat
around your hips kinda goes up and kinda tries to make you have a more uh, like straight roun- sorry not round,
straight boxy body. That doesn't happen for everyone and don't expect miracles. It doesn't
it doesn't like act right away. It takes a couple of months, but the fat does re-distribute away from your hips.
and kinda moves. A little bit moves to your stomach, honestly, but yeah.
Your sex drive will increase and uh just a warning for anyone, especially parents who are watching this,
I'm going to be using words that might not be comfortable with people but I will just for the sake of clarity.
Umm, the clitoris will grow. So it's
umm, I can't give you an estimate of how much it grows, but some people grows a lot, and some people grows
not that much, or not at all. So
it's not going to grow into like a 9 inch weiner okay. Usually it can grow like up to here, like that. But
remember that you still ligaments that are kind of attached to it, so doesn't really poke out that much,
it just kinda stays a bit lower, but it can get hard just like a cis uh, weiner can.
Your periods will stop, usually that happens within like 1-4 months. Um, some people it lasts longer, some
people still have spotting when they're on Testosterone. But usually it stops after a couple of months of being on Testosterone.
Your voice will get deeper, how did I not mention that first? That's like one of the first things that you notice,
is that your um, your your your junk becomes very sensitive because it's growing and that your voice starts
to deepen. So your- it could take a couple of years for your voice to get to the the range that it can get to.
But uh, for most people it's within the first year that your voice drops and it just kinda stays the same.
So what Testosterone won't do. It won't make you taller. If you've already gone through puberty, and you're
starting Testosterone later on, you're not going to grow taller. Some people have said that they have grown
taller, that's great. But there's no medical science or research done that says that it makes you taller.
Um, 2 it won't grow your feet. Yes some people says that it grows your feet, but um I believe that it's actually the
cartilage that grows because your nose cartilage for some reason, also grows. My nose looks different than
it did before. Um so your feet could get bigger, but normally your feet stay the same. Yes you will start
losing your hair. Um you start to shed your hair so hair comes out more. Um it doesn't mean that you're gonna
go bald right away, but it does, male pattern baldness is a thing. It is going to happen because it is driven by Testosterone.
And a high level of Testosterone in one's body. Will you lose your breasts? No. Yes, the fat will redistribute so it
kinda moves um, other places and and tries to make you more boxy um, and you will lose a little bit of fat in your
chest but it is not enough to completely have a flat chest. For some people it is because they have
really really small chest, but for other people um usually it doesn't really happen, umm with the chest.
So, that, I mean that's disappointing for a lot of people but Testosterone is not a miracle drug. It doesn't solve
all of your problems. It does just make you appear more masculine and gives you the physical body of what
you know, men, which is really great for some people but it just sucks that we can't pick and choose the changes that we want.
So if would be great if we couldn't have a chest anymore, and if we didn't go bald, and we just had a voice that we
wanted exactly how deep it is. But you know, we we we- you can't really pick what you want, yaknow.
And the thing I forgot to mention about Testosterone is that it does increase your red blood cells. So that means
that you are going to be a little more um, not active, but like when you run you can run a little longer. Like you can
endurance, like you can have more endurance. Um I use to walk up the hill to where I live and I use to like
[struggled breathing] die. And then I started Testosterone like 3 years later, and I've actually lived on
this street for like 7 years. And like run up that hill now with like no problems. So
It does help with the endurance part of...
life? Oh my god, that's weird. I don't know what I'm saying. Exercise and stuff like that. You can go longer.
And you can go faster. So that is basically it for the Testosterone. Now there are different changes obviously for Estrogen.
It's not completely different for Estrogen, for trans-women, um that take Estrogen or do transition.
Um, like the voice doesn't usually lower but your hair um start- stops receding after a while, which is great.
Your skin becomes softer, um and uh the for some people the libido drops. Other people the libido actually
increases. So there's a lot of changes um and because I'm trans-man and I'm not a trans-woman, I want to give
you information from what I know personally, and the things that I've done. So if you want information on
Estrogen and trans-women and that, I will put the link in the description below. And I will also link you to some
Youtubers who have talked about Hormone Replacement Therapy if you are a trans-woman. Taking Estrogen.
So you do have to go on Hormones for the rest of your life. When I was younger and there wasn't that many
information online, I thought you only had to take it for 5 years and your body kinda like knew, and kinda took over
and just it's own natural Testosterone. Unfortunately that does not happen. I wish it did, but it doesn't.
Because you still have ovaries that produce Estrogen, you're still going to have Estrogen in your body.
And even if you get a hysterectomy and get those removed, you're still not going to have something that
produces Testosterone naturally in your body. So you still need to administer Testosterone either by injection
or gel or all of the other ways that I said you can do it.
So it's a life-long thing that you take. Um, and the 5 year thing that I was talking about is because usually
all of the changes that you're going to get with Testosterone happen within the first 5 years. Now as
somebody who has been on hormones for over 7 years, I can tell you that things are still changing. But I think it's
just because I am growing up. So my hair is receding a little more, and um I just noticed a couple of other things
um, but that mostly the big changes happen within the first year and then within the first 5 years you kinda get
all of the, like what would happen, like the body hair kinda stops after 5 years. That's as much as you're going to get.
Anyways thank you so much for joining me, uh hopefully this was informational. I will put all the links in the
description below that I talked about.
And a little more, especially if I forgot something. Cause there's a lot to remember about hormones.
Um, but uh the next video that I'm talking about is the dangers of Hormone Replacement Therapy. So that's
why I have not even mentioned that in this video at all. Because a lot of people want to know, "what are the
dangers?" and the issues with like fertility and stuff like that. All those videos are coming up next in this playlist.
Um but for now, let's just...focus on the link that I gave you and I'll see you later. Have a great day, bye.
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