What does transgender hormone therapy involve?

In this article below, Mr Syed Haris Ahmed, a highly experienced consultant endocrinologist, details what transgender hormone therapy is, what it involves exactly, and reveals how long patients can expect to have to wait before feeling the full effect of the therapy. 

What is transgender hormone therapy?

Transgender hormone therapy (THT) is a form of hormone therapy in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender men, women, and non-binary individuals, for the purpose of more closely aligning their secondary sexual characteristics with their gender identity. 

What does transgender hormone therapy involve?

Feminising hormone therapy involves taking medicine to block the action of the hormone testosterone. It also includes taking the hormone oestrogen. Oestrogen lowers the amount of testosterone the body makes, and also triggers the development of feminine secondary sex characteristics. 

Masculinising hormone therapy involves taking the male hormone testosterone. It stops menstrual cycles and decreases the ovaries' ability to make oestrogen. 

How long does it take for hormone replacement therapy to work?

It can take up to three months to feel the full effects of hormone replacement therapy, and people might need their dose and type of THT to be tweaked or changed. Most experts recommend starting THT when people first get menopausal symptoms. While some patients notice the effects of treatment relatively quickly, improvements are typically noticed over the course of a few weeks, or in some cases, a few months. 

What are some of the side effects of hormone replacement therapy?

The main side effects of taking oestrogen include bloating, breast tenderness or swelling, swelling in other parts of the body, feeling sick, leg cramps, headaches, indigestion, and vaginal bleeding. These side effects, however, will often pass after a few weeks.

The main side effects of taking progestogen include breast tenderness, swelling in other parts of the body, headaches or migraines, mood swings, depression, acne, tummy pain, back pain, and vaginal bleeding. These side effects will also pass after a few weeks.

The main side effects associated with testosterone therapy includes weight gain, mood changes, increased blood pressure, polycythaemia, skin reaction with topical preparations, prostate enlargement, and hot flushes. Many of the effect will pass after a few weeks but for some of them temporary cessation of therapy or a change in the preparation is advised.

To book a consultation with Dr Syed Haris Ahmed, simply head on over to his Top Doctors profile today.