[Sue55]

In the world where mental health is now at the front and centre of everything we do, I ask how many members have at some stage had problems whilst growing breasts.

This past few weeks since I started the new method of HRT I have had a couple of down days, wondering have I done the right thing, when will things happen, when I was taking PM and nearly died, (see other thread) I wondered if my goal would ever transpire.

A few days ago I was very low and I must admit I was looking into a very dark hole, I have a dear friend who sorts my joints out, (I am partially disabled) she is lovely and a very good listener, I for some unknown reason openend up to her and wow what a difference that made.

Fortunately I was her last client and 3 hours later YES 3 HOURS during which I must admit I shed a few tears, I came away feeling a lot better.

I sat at home and thought why do men not want to open up and allow their feeling to come out, is it a macho trait men have, is it they don't want to come across as weak, soft, hey I feel tons better having let everything go.

Mental Health is not to be scoffed at, it will lead you into a very deep lonely place,  as Yoda (star wars) said use the force, fear leads to the dark side, those 3 hours with my friend certainly paid dividends for me.

[Drew]

Absolutely, it's nothing to be scoffed at.

Will hormones alter a person's mental state? To a degree I think that's a possibility as would almost any type of medication or drug. I can only speak from my own experience but I changed what I was doing and had a short spell on pharma that a managed to get hold of, that didn't go too well.

I had a meltdown right here on this site, for a few weeks I was being nasty to everybody, attacking then crying then being bitchy again, I was awful to everybody and especially to myself.

I blamed the hormones however its all too easy to place the blame for bad behaviour on something else.

But! That was on a different account I lost my password to so can't get in anymore but maybe some here will guess?

There are many variables that may contribute towards depression or moodiness and pinning how you are feeling down to one single thing may be inadequate I do suspect that my hormones yes, the were a major contribution to the way I was feeling but in hindsight it was not only the hormones that screwed me up there were other issues but the hormones didn't help. But im just guessing that as I'm in no way qualified to analyse anybody or especially analyse myself.

If you think something you are taking may be effecting your health then try something else and tackle those other contributing issues too. Easier said than done...I know.

[Jamie-May]

Hm, so for me it far improved my mental health state. Now I did also change diet, exercised, and accepted myself as trangender, which of course had a hand in feeling better, but before I even started dieting and exercise I saw a massive improvement. Everyone will be different I assume.

For me, before HRT, I had terrible panic attacks, anxiety, paranoia, was almost always nauseous, would get severe tummy pains a couple days a month or so that were so violent I'd moan and writhe in pain while sweating up a storm, depression I didn't realize the extent of, headaches and head pressure in my left temple almost constantly, and really just wonder every morning if I even wanted to wake up since the day was either going to be bad or terrible depending on the severity of my symptoms. Overall I was a shut-in who couldn't function in society due to how bad things were for me as soon as I'd step outside.

That all may sound like a bunch of silly overzealous descriptions but it was true, and in my mid to late 20s when it was the worst was the first years in my life I thought being dead must be a better option, but I never got to a self-harm stage or attempted suicide. I probably would have, had things gotten worse as they had every year prior, but when I started estrogen, literally all those symptoms either lessened to manageable levels or completely disappeared.

No doctors could ever find anything wrong with me, there was never any gallstones, signs of ulcers as I was already on acid reflux meds anyway, or anything that should have caused even half those issues. I even had cameras run down my throat and up my rear end and I was only in my 20s, but they never found a thing bodily wise. And yet somehow these terrible troubles were gone when I started HRT.

Did estrogen fix all that? Was it just me accepting who I was and being on the right hormones that helped my brain get rid of all these problems invented or otherwise? I don't know, but that's how it went for me. Later I would completely be rid of every problem I had with cutting out sugar, losing weight, and all that, but all the mental side and the headaches that I assume were from stress had all went poof before I ever began those things.

Now as for other mental side effects. Well, mood wise I do of course cry a lot easier. I cry at things I never would have before, and I can cry tears of joy which I never experienced in my life. I also had dysphoria hit me way harder after HRT than I did before starting, which is sort of odd to me but I guess it's not uncommon. You fix one problem, then other things start poking out. But honestly I've never been happier even if I can have some mood swings from time to time, and crying and being more open with my emotions has helped me get through a lot.