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  • sneak100 [she/her, they/them]
    ·
    7 days ago

    I had been dreading opening my blood test results for over a month. I finally did just now and all the dread seems to have been justified... My T levels are 6 times higher than where I want them and my E is at half the level I want... I guess it's nice to know that there's a reason for me being so depressed and dysfunctional, but I'm also very tired of hrt not working, I've been struggling to get my levels right for like ~18 months at this point torment

    I guess the 200mg of spiro a day isn't cutting it, but I'm also very hesitant to take more spiro monke-beepboop I think it's gonna have to happen though at least in the short term

    • SuperZutsuki [they/them, any]
      ·
      7 days ago

      You could try other anti-androgens. This is written by an enby who didn't want breast growth but spiro wasn't doing anything for them either.

      • rtstragedy [she/her]
        ·
        7 days ago

        i'm not an expert but i'm on 300 (blech) at the suggestion of my doctor, too afraid to change it, of course body weight/height/individual tolerances probably matter a lot

      • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
        ·
        7 days ago

        I've seen up to 400 mg (for people taking it as a diuretic, not for HRT). I guess you just have to be more careful about your potassium

          • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
            ·
            7 days ago

            Spironolactone is a potassium-sparing diuretic that works by telling your kidneys to excrete more water, it works on a specific part of the little tubes in your kidneys that reabsorbs potassium (I dunno why they're so ridiculous, you got parts that toss out electrolytes, parts that absorb some of them, parts that throw it out again, all along the same tube lol). Spiro ALSO has a nice amti-androgen effect that we take advantage of off-lable for feminizing HRT, it's mainly used by cis people for the diuretic effect. Just a nice side discovery that when cis men were on it for a while to help manage blood pressure they ended up getting boobs lol.

            You have to be mindful of your potassium because your body is retaining more potassium than usual when you're on spiro, the more spiro the more it'll retain. So long as you eat healthy and your otherwise pretty healthy, taking spiro shouldn't do anything harmful - you should still get a lytes panel after getting spiro increased just to make sure your still in the right zone for potassium levels. Potassium is used for a bunch of cell signaling stuff all over your body, one of the big ones is in your heart - too high potassium can lead to heart issues (but it usually has to be really super high before anything noticeable).

      • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@lemmy.today
        ·
        7 days ago

        When you're playing Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. /j

        Anyways, from my understanding, spiro doesn't lower T. It prevents T from binding to receptors (so T levels are less relevant). E is what lowers T if you are going the spiro route, but idk if sublingal/oral is that effective at it.

        • sneak100 [she/her, they/them]
          ·
          7 days ago

          spiro doesn't lower T. It prevents T from binding to receptors

          I thought that was bicalutamide, I used to take that and also failed to get my E up during that period

          • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@lemmy.today
            ·
            7 days ago

            https://transfemscience.org/articles/spiro-testosterone/

            These findings suggest that spironolactone has inconsistent and limited effects on testosterone levels. Moreover, these data, as well as studies of estradiol alone, indicate that estradiol is mainly responsible for lowered testosterone levels when the combination of estradiol and spironolactone is used for hormone therapy in transfeminine people. Besides testosterone suppression, spironolactone also acts as a direct antagonist of the androgen receptor, and this importantly contributes to its antiandrogenic efficacy as well. However, studies in cisgender women suggest that spironolactone is a relatively weak androgen receptor antagonist, and is likely best-suited for blocking relatively low testosterone levels.

            • sneak100 [she/her, they/them]
              ·
              7 days ago

              Thanks for sharing this & helping out

              thonk I'll need to get a different antiandrogen eventually, but I'll go through what stock I have for now at a bit of a higher rate than before and hope for the best. Until the next blood test

              • comrade_rain [she/her]
                ·
                7 days ago
                subcutaneous injections, nsfw

                I'm doing subcutaneous injections without an antiandrogen.

                Within a week my ejaculation was clear.

                Seven weeks in my testicles are back to pre-puberty size. This may have happened sooner but I noticed just last week.

                Libido is much less frustrating. Aggression in check. Boobs growing.

                I haven't had my levels checked but so far the results are way better than I expected.

                Other people's timelines will of course be differet. But if you can handle injections it might be another option rather than bumping or switching antiandrogens.

                A lady I know was having issues and so she had her testicles removed. That helped her a lot too.

              • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@lemmy.today
                ·
                7 days ago

                Its an annoy game of small tweaks and hoping things work while waiting months between tests and lots of YMMV. Feels like the science could be better too, but I don't read primary literature in the field, so idk.