I’m sorry to be a buzzkill, but I worry about the risk of misinformation from jokes like this.
For transfeminine folks, too much estrogen can be a bad thing. This is because estrogen and testosterone can be converted between each other in the body. Too much estrogen can lead to more testosterone.
This isn’t me saying don’t DIY your HRT. Honestly, some DIY hrt communities that I’ve seen are so impressively on-it that there are probably things that the trans community knows about how to do HRT that specialist doctors don’t (in an ideal world, we would be able to combine these knowledge sources, but alas, they are pretty siloed). Getting occasional blood work done to check your estrogen levels can be super useful, if you’re able to access that. Aforementioned DIY communities often have resources for how to go about doing that.
Even besides that risk, going to too high a level of estrogen too quickly can also affect things like breast development.
I am not trans, so I don’t have any direct advice or experience, but I have seen how community resources can allow folk to do a proper HRT regime, even if it’s DIY. I’m not going to say that DIY HRT is safe to do, because I reckon it’s probably not. That being said, going without treatment is often also not safe, as is existing as a trans person in the current world. Things are shit, but building and relying on community resources and support is the best way to do harm reduction.
(Lmk if you would like any links to such resources. Doesn’t feel safe to share on a public comment, but DM me if you would like some. I don’t think I have much US-specific resources, but a lot of the most useful information is on the sciencey side of things, imo)
For transfeminine folks, too much estrogen can be a bad thing. This is because estrogen and testosterone can be converted between each other in the body. Too much estrogen can lead to more testosterone.
hey there, I was hoping you could edit your comment to remove this misinformation, only testostetrone can be converted to estrogen through aromatization (basically this enzyme aromatase converts the excess T into E). Excess estrogen does not convert to testosterone in the body.
Notice testosterone can convert to DHT (Dihydrotestosterone, which causes baldness), and estradiol (estrogen), but there is no pathway from estradiol back to testosterone.
My understanding was that it wouldn’t convert to T, but it will suppress its own effects and be less feminizing than a lower dose. This lines up with my experience where it felt like my progress stalled without reverting. E is much safer than T in that you can have much higher levels without causing serious complications, but you still want to be in a sweet spot.
I’m sorry to be a buzzkill, but I worry about the risk of misinformation from jokes like this.
For transfeminine folks, too much estrogen can be a bad thing. This is because estrogen and testosterone can be converted between each other in the body. Too much estrogen can lead to more testosterone.
This isn’t me saying don’t DIY your HRT. Honestly, some DIY hrt communities that I’ve seen are so impressively on-it that there are probably things that the trans community knows about how to do HRT that specialist doctors don’t (in an ideal world, we would be able to combine these knowledge sources, but alas, they are pretty siloed). Getting occasional blood work done to check your estrogen levels can be super useful, if you’re able to access that. Aforementioned DIY communities often have resources for how to go about doing that.
Even besides that risk, going to too high a level of estrogen too quickly can also affect things like breast development.
I am not trans, so I don’t have any direct advice or experience, but I have seen how community resources can allow folk to do a proper HRT regime, even if it’s DIY. I’m not going to say that DIY HRT is safe to do, because I reckon it’s probably not. That being said, going without treatment is often also not safe, as is existing as a trans person in the current world. Things are shit, but building and relying on community resources and support is the best way to do harm reduction.
(Lmk if you would like any links to such resources. Doesn’t feel safe to share on a public comment, but DM me if you would like some. I don’t think I have much US-specific resources, but a lot of the most useful information is on the sciencey side of things, imo)
hey there, I was hoping you could edit your comment to remove this misinformation, only testostetrone can be converted to estrogen through aromatization (basically this enzyme aromatase converts the excess T into E). Excess estrogen does not convert to testosterone in the body.
here’s a chart showing the sex steroid pathways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_hormone#/media/File:Steroidogenesis.svg
Notice testosterone can convert to DHT (Dihydrotestosterone, which causes baldness), and estradiol (estrogen), but there is no pathway from estradiol back to testosterone.
Yes, to be clear, this is a joke! I don’t think you’re a buzzkill, thank you for sharing good and useful information :)
this is bullshit, estrogen doesn’t convert into testosterone. people often make this assumption because it’s true for the T to E pathway
My understanding was that it wouldn’t convert to T, but it will suppress its own effects and be less feminizing than a lower dose. This lines up with my experience where it felt like my progress stalled without reverting. E is much safer than T in that you can have much higher levels without causing serious complications, but you still want to be in a sweet spot.