I’ve only been undergoing an HRT-driven gender transition for the past four months. My starting testosterone levels were rather low, just below the range for healthy adult males (300–1,000 ng/dL for ages 20 to 39; 252–916 ng/dL for ages 40 to 49) at around 240 ng/dL. Four months of just estradiol valerate and finasteride (for hair restoration) were enough to send my T levels crashing down to about 15 ng/dL and my boost my E levels to about 95 pg/mL during my trough. The trough is the lowest point of hormone levels during a week, which is the day before HRT is taken. Trans people taking HRT have hormone levels that fluctuate weekly. Highest on the first day or two after taking HRT and lowest on the day before taking HRT.
I am making no active efforts to present myself effeminately to ‘pass.’ I’m basically just ‘boymoding’ right now. My entire transition has started in my late 30’s, and I lost a lot of the foundation for an earlier transition. The two primary concerns are pre-existing hair loss and weight gain. Here are some YouTube uploads of personal videos from 2013 (mid-20’s) and a video from 2018 (early 30’s) for what I lost.
There were already some signs of hair loss by 2018, which I overlooked. I didn’t notice the hair thinning until 2020, and I took no active measures to stop it or reverse it, even after it started to progress rapidly after 2020.
My actual face hasn’t changed by much. There aren’t many clear signs of aging. During my misguided recent 18-month attempt at US Navy enlistment, with the goal of becoming a commissioned officer, people often clocked me in my mid-20’s. I was the type of person for which people would ask my age, after they had been privately trying to guess my age with each other.
Despite the thinning hair of my crown and a slightly receded hairline, and despite the body hair that hasn’t been touched by laser hair removal yet, it still seems like I get my appearance evaluated as a female when I’m clean-shaven or close to clean-shaven. I’m not even actively attempting to look like a woman, but there’s enough androgyny for some people to assume that I’m attempting to be a trans woman.
Like, I’ve got more work to do. Four months of HRT hasn’t accomplished much. Neither has four months of hair restoration. I’ve only had laser hair removal for my torso. I’m carrying about 70 pounds of extra weight that was distributed across my body while it was still testosterone dominant, though I do admit that I carry the weight rather well. A lot of it is subcutaneous rather than visceral, and a lot of it is distributed across my rear and thighs. I started HRT as a bit bottom heavy.
A bit bottom heavy and relatively athletic. I passed the Official Physical Fitness Assessment (OPFA) in boot camp, though the 1.5 mile run was a bit close. I failed the Body Composition Assessment (BCA) and Physical Readiness Test (PRT) about a year later, with the exception of alternate cardio for the exercise bike, but six months in the Fitness Enhancement Program (FEP) was enough for me to pass a mock-BCA and a mock-PRT right before my separation.
A fairly healthy starting foundation for HRT, just more heavy and with more hair loss than I’d prefer.
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