So I'm wondering if I might have klinefelter's (XXY chromosomes) or if I'm just very receptive to estrogen because the effects of HRT happened to me way faster than I've heard other people say it happened to them.
I've seen charts like these and I am a bit dubious of them because my timeline doesn't match up at all.
I don't know if my experience is actually normal or not, but when I started estrogen about a little over a year ago, it only took a few days for me to notice my skin being softer, and then literally the next day I woke up with breast buds and about 2 to 3 weeks later I had noticeable breasts that were big enough that it was difficult for me to boymode at work. I'm pretty sure I got to Tanner stage 3 in like half the time that's expected.
From what I've heard from others is that they didn't get breast buds until at least 3 months in and that made me question why mine happened so quickly.
I've also always been pathetically weak and it's also always been difficult for me to gain muscle. Which makes me think I had low testosterone even before I started spiro. I remember when I had my 3 month follow up, my t was at 89 ng/dL and I remember my doctor commenting that that was lower than he expected, although I have zero idea if that is actually lower than normal for 3 months on 100mg spiro.
I'm curious if any of you also experienced a similar timeline to me, or if your timeline fits the charts that I've seen. I know my timeline is quite fast and that it might be hard to believe (idk if my experience is normal or not), but I swear it is my genuine experience with HRT.
Did you get baseline blood-work to know your hormone levels (estrogen and testosterone) before starting HRT? That's what my endo did.
I thought I might have had XXY as well (I had a much delayed puberty, relatively large breasts, very little body hair, etc.) and had my karyotype tested but I did not have XXY, so ... I now wonder if I might have a mild androgen insensitivity syndrome, maybe caused e.g. by long CAG repeats on the AR gene which is a commonly genetic mutation in trans women and would impact the functioning of the androgen-receptor.
Either way, it seems there is a huge amount of variation in the ways people respond to HRT, some trans women actually have worsened gender dysphoria related to their body when they take estrogen. To make matters more complicated, the routes of administrations, whether people take anti-androgens, whether people take progestins or progesterone, and so many other factors in how HRT is administered create even more variables.
FYI I think I was at tanner stage 3 around 6 - 8 months of subq EV injections.
I wanted to get tested to see my starting levels, but my endo said it wasn't necessary so I didn't get one.
I really appreciate the information about androgen insensitivity syndrome, this my first time hearing of it, and I think it's quite possible that I could have it.
I usually hear about Complete Androgen Insensitivity (CAIS) like the intersex activist Alicia Weigel who has CAIS.
I don't see as much discussion about Mild (MAIS) and Partial (PAIS) versions. I suspect I could have MAIS, though that's entirely speculative, grasping for explanations that could just be as simple as "normal variation".
I would like to get genetic testing to find out if my AR gene is one of these common variants found in trans women or not.
There are many ways to get to the same outcomes, biology is wildly complex.