Look I can't recall off the top of my head and I very recently dumped the extra pumps that I had because they were wildly out of date.
The manufacturer of testosterone replacement therapy Testogel (1% transdermal testosterone gel) has confirmed that stock levels of its widely prescribed sachet presentation will return to normal by 1 August [SPONSORED]
medicalrepublic.com.au
This is the exact medication though. So whatever that doseage is, 4 pumps a day.
I am pretty sure my natural T is quite high for a trans man (someone assigned female at birth) as I was often made fun of for being manly in high school, and I had an androgynous voice. Before I started HRT I passed I'd say around 50% of the time, and within around 3 months of being on HRT I essentially stopped being misgendered 99.9 times out of 100.
Like, I have more body hair than almost every cisgender man I know, my legs are super dense, my arms are covered, my chest is a bit. I have a full beard. I didn't end up with the 'trans guy voice' which is this stereotypical kind of nasally feminine voice a lot of trans guys get because their voice just can't break that deep. I'm a low bass. I play competitive social sport with men successfully and have since I started taking HRT, and I've won plenty of awards. I'm as fast or faster than most of the other guys I play with.
When I was lifting at the gym with a friend, I was deadlifting (without much training) 150kg, squatting 130kg, and benching (my weakest) 65kg. That was only after around a month of heavy lifting. Meanwhile he maxxed out at 40 deadlifting, 50 squatting, and 40 bench pressing. And he was a much bigger guy than me and used to be in the army.
Like I dunno, my body has just responded fantastically well to hormones, seeing a picture of me you would never pick me as trans in your life. I compete with men, and I can do everything an average man can do. Do I need to take hormones to do it? Sure, but only to get to the same level everyone else is at. The rest is just my own hard work.
Different testosterones have felt and worked different. I was on primoteston (3 weekly shots) initially (2015) and the changes were rapid. Instantaneous voice breaking, became smellier, hungrier, changes in body (fat distribution, face shape change). Then eventually I swapped to 8 weekly shots. Facial hair sort of started to only just develop, this was in 2018. More voice breaking and muscular development with body hair increasing substantially. 2019 I went on the gel as my levels got too high on the shots. Everything sort of slowed down on this. Things stated pretty much the same as they had and were moving slowly. 2021 went back on 10 weekly shots and my facial hair went bonkers. I went from growing a really patchy beard to something that I can actually have out in public and my muscle development has peaked again now that my levels are right. When my numbers were off, I was having periods again and I honestly wanted to kill myself since it had legitimately been around 6 years. If I ever was unsure I made the right choice, that happening made me certain.
Clearly there is a huge difference between cis men cycling and trans men taking HRT but the single thing we have in common is that we are both taking a substance which creates massive changes in your body. And you really need to treat that with the respect it deserves. I was stupid when I went 8 months without a blood test. If my levels go too high I can have a fucking stroke or a heart attack. It's not a game.
Monitoring your health is super important with hormones. It is super risky otherwise.
