One week on testosterone update

Hello, friends! I wasn’t originally planning to post a one week on T update, but since some effects are already taking place that were quite surprising to me (in a good way), I thought I’d share.

If you’re like me, you don’t expect medicine–save fast-acting medicines, like ibuprofen or antihistamines–to have many effects before 4-6 weeks’ time. That is not the case with testosterone, and I’m sure the same can be said about other sex hormones (like estrogen or progesterone).

Here are some of the changes that I noticed almost immediately after administering my first shot:

1. Body temperature: mine has consistently been 1–2 degrees higher than normal, and it varies throughout the day. I’ve been getting sporadic hot flashes, but nothing too crazy yet.
2. Voice: this whole week my voice has felt the same way that it does when you have a cold: hoarse, quieter and slightly deeper. This has been an interesting development to work through… especially during the work day.
3. Body odor: I never used to notice that I had a smell. Now I do, and I’m starting to smell like a man (or perhaps “teenage boy” is more accurate at this time) 😂
4. Energy fluctuations: especially for the first few days after my shot, I had difficulty sleeping and odd spikes in energy throughout the day.
5. Motivation to exercise: I’m guessing that this one is mostly related to the mental effects of *knowing* that I’m on T, but I’ve had significantly more appetite for strength training and exercising in the past week. My runs feel different and more satisfying; for the first mile, I feel denser than I used to, which translates to a slower pace. But once I warm up, I find I can go longer, faster. My runs are also more satisfying in part because I’m sweating more, which doesn’t mean I’m actually working harder but does generate a degree of pride.

I did notice more obvious effects during the first three-ish days than the last four. Apparently this experience is common during the first few weeks of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and it fluctuates much less once you’re a few months in.

My next T update will be at the one month mark; until then I’ve got a couple of other blog posts lined up. Stay tuned and talk soon.

-Jude

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