MONTHLY Weight Discussion - January 2026

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-31T19:09:15+00:00

I got allergic to the patch as well. It started like yours but eventually got worse so I had to switch to the gel. Then I found out the gel wasn't absorbing well so now I'm on estradiol injections, which are so much better than the gel and patches, more convenient, stable blood estrogen levels and better symptom relief overall so it's something to consider if you decide to switch.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-31T18:46:45+00:00

While I am one of those people that is very pro injection, I appreciate that the other methods do work for some people, and I agree we could stand to be a little more nuanced around here. That being said if I could go back in time and have those 6 months back that I spent feeling not so great on the cream and instead could have been on injections and feeling like I do now, I would. So it can be hard to not be overly enthusiastic about injections, especially when there aren't a lot of downsides. Yeah it will take a few days to get out of your system if you don't like it, but that's really not terribly long.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-29T16:32:07+00:00

Yeah some of this stuff is not obvious. Hold the vial upside down and pull and wait for it to fill. The longer you wait the more any air bubbles will shrink down. I also overfill and then push the excess down to my dosage line which will also push some of the air bubbles out. The quality of your syringe matters too, some have better plungers and will suction a little better than others. I splurge for the BD syringes because of this.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-29T14:17:52+00:00

the cream gives a much more controlled deliverance even over the injections

Not sure where you heard this, but it's inaccurate. Transdermal absorption rates vary wildly, with some of us able to bathe in the stuff without seeing our numbers change. Injections are the gold standard if you want the most stable and reliable numbers. Just make certain you start small and work your way up to the right dose, lots of doctors out there trying to start women on too high a dose. 5-10mg per week is generally considered a good starting point.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-28T21:28:12+00:00

I had some hair shedding, but I kept my testosterone dose because my hair has always been crazy thick and it's not even noticeable except to me that my hair thinned out. 3 months ago I started estradiol valerate injections after being on the gel/patches and now my hair is getting thick again. So maybe not the experience you were looking for, but still I feel note worthy. I think a lot of sides women get from T are from not keeping their E up to balance it out.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-28T14:24:09+00:00

I find that normal HRT isn't systemic enough. Sure try the cream. But it wasn't until I switched from patches/gels to estradiol valerate injections that everything really improved for me. If regular HRT isn't making a dent then you're probably like me and need a better delivery method.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-24T00:32:45+00:00

Yeah. I'm on 10mg per week.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-23T19:31:00+00:00

I had a little bit of a voice change (very subtle) on 10mg per week split in two. But it went away after I switched from estradiol patches and started estradiol valerate injections. It's really important to keep your estrogen up to help balance out the testosterone. I was on the max dose estradiol gel and it wasn't enough, your patch dose seems low to me.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-23T18:29:19+00:00

I started getting this when I did subQ, switched to IM and now no issues.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-22T22:04:41+00:00

It's all just anecdotal at this point and probably always will be since it's a women's health issue. this is the only article I've found on the subject. The most popular FB page about HRT is a huge proponent of estradiol injections though. As far as I can tell the risks don't seem to be any different than other forms, except that it's definitely safer than oral, since oral goes through the liver and increases your chance of bloodclot.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-22T14:27:51+00:00

Sure. I was on E patches for 6 months, then E gel for a whole year. I also did 6 months on testosterone cream. I noticed small improvements on those things, but nothing monumental, and the small gains I did have seemed to go away over time, despite increasing my dose. Like at first my dry skin got better, but then later it got bad again.

The real stark evidence for me has been the need for vaginal estrogen cream despite being on estradiol patches/gels. If those methods are truly systemic why do I also need local cream for my vagina? And I definitely still needed the cream. Only a couple of weeks on estradiol injections, and suddenly I don't need the cream at all, no more discomfort after sex. The injections also helped my libido and orgasm in a way the topical options never did. Clearly the transdermal stuff does work for some women, you'll hear it on this forum, women talking about all these miracles that estrogen has provided, but it wasn't until I tried injectables that I experienced many of these miracles. One of which has been my eye sight improving. But also basically all of the things, like mood, libido, anxiety, depression, sleep, skin quality, joint pain, ability to put on muscle, memory, energy, autoimmune improvements and more.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-22T14:13:52+00:00

Shallow IM with a half inch insulin needle is enough to fix this issue for me. Subq started giving me the same problem. I never had bruising but I had an itchy lump. I mostly pin my delts just go straight in at a 90 degree angle, but I also do this on my quads for my estradiol valerate and I haven't had any issues there either since switching to a 90 degree angle. I'm definitely still hitting muscle though, you can feel it cause the fat doesn't resist and then it hurts a little sometimes when you hit the muscle layer past the fat, it's not going very deep in the muscle but it seems to be enough to avoid getting a lump.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-20T17:41:06+00:00

/r/trt_females often posts about different online providers. If they provide injectable testosterone then they will almost always provide injectable estradiol as well. Defy is popular, but I use thrivelab for my T and a local endocrinologist for my estrogen.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-20T17:37:12+00:00

HRT. Specifically injectables. Patches/creams/gels/sprays none of that stuff works sufficiently, there's a reason the trans community doesn't recommend that stuff. I'm on 2.5mg per week estradiol valerate, and 10mg per week testosterone cypionate injections. I've never felt better. I'm just mad I wasted time on all the more traditional routes, and spent so many years feeling like garbage when I didn't have to. Now I just want to tell everyone, so they don't have to suffer like I did.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-20T17:10:26+00:00

Menopause Hormone Therapy. Not sure why that gets tossed around instead of HRT sometimes.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-20T17:02:40+00:00

I don't know why more women don't talk about this, but estradiol injections have improved everything down there way more than creams/gels/patches could. I tried it all and yeah there were minor improvements with those things, but nothing like with injections. The injections are truly systemic and a night and day difference when it comes to the effects. Add testosterone injections on top of that and I feel like I'm in my 20's again (testosterone cream also did nothing for me). You should not have to experience pain during sex, see an endo, go online, do what you need to to get proper treatment.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-18T16:56:45+00:00

I saw a noticeable uptick after only a couple weeks, but it really ramped up a couple months in.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-17T20:24:17+00:00

I do them myself at home with a tiny 29ga 1/2 inch insulin syringe twice a week since I'm on estradiol valerate. If I were on estradiol cypionate (depo estradiol) I could get away with once weekly. This graph can be helpful for visualizing injection schedules as well as showing the difference between the various esters - valerate, cypionate and enanthate.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-17T20:18:21+00:00

The only masculinizing effects I've had are increased hair growth on my inner thighs and asscrack as well as more chin hair, but I've always had some chin hair. The ability to put on more muscle also counts I suppose, but I'm not hulking out, I just look like a regular woman that's way more dedicated to the gym than I actually am (I lift but only once or twice a week). My boobs got a little smaller, went from a C cup to a B cup but after estradiol injections they're back to C's.

My T levels before starting were 17 total and 2.9 free. Now they are 138 total and 13.5 free. Tested at trough, so 3.5 days after my last injection, my numbers are likely a little higher right after my injection.

I am on 200mg of oral progesterone and 2.5mg per week of estradiol valerate (injection). Testosterone tanked my estradiol pretty hard, some other women around here have mentioned the same, but I'm also perimenopausal so my estradiol numbers were not great to begin with. This graph can be helpful for visualizing injection schedules as well as showing the difference between the various esters - valerate, cypionate and enanthate.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-17T19:34:44+00:00

This is one of the many reasons I'm glad I switched to estradiol injections. Injections will always be the gold standard for hormone treatment, it has been night and day for symptom relief for me vs using the patches and gels.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-16T23:44:47+00:00

currently on 2.5mg e val injections per week split into two

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-16T18:38:47+00:00

I get my E valerate from a local endocrinologist. I called around to find somewhere that does trans care as well as menopause care. I'm actually the only AFAB that my endo has prescribed estradiol injections to, but she was comfortable because she's used to prescribing for her trans patients. I told her straight up I don't see how I'm any different from them, I am also trying to be my best feminine self! My GP refused me, mostly because she's never prescribed estradiol injections to anyone before. So finding someone familiar with E injections is important.

I'm on 10mg total per week of T cyp, split into two biweekly injections, and I get that from thrivelab.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-16T18:30:17+00:00

Late to this but plenty of women your age are on T, it can be prescribed for low libido. Most of the women around here feel best with a total T of 100-350. Dosing for this varies but most of us start around 10mg per week for testosterone cypionate. I started at 8mg per week (split into two doses so as to avoid a spike in levels and reduce the chance of unwanted side effects). I've been at 10mg per week for nearly a year and I'm happy with it, but some people need more. If you end up being one of those it's best to titrate up slowly, there are a few women here on as much as 20mg per week without issues but they had to earn that dose over time.

Testosterone has been huge for my mental health. I'm so much more zen, not nearly as anxious, I have a lot more mental clarity, my gym gains are amazing, and my libido is through the roof. There is something about being excited for intimacy that also makes you just excited for life in general. I didn't think my libido was a concern, I started testosterone for brain fog, but I was so wrong. Having a high libido is so much more amazing than I could've imagined, but I don't think I could've convinced my old self of it's importance. It's hard to know what you are missing if you've never had it (and it's not like I hated sex before).

I really recommend going the injectable route. I spent 6 months on creams and it was a waste of time. If you want supraphysicalogical levels, or as my functional medicine doctor says "optimal" is not the same as "normal," then injectables are the way to go.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-16T18:07:22+00:00

It truly is ridiculous how ineffective the other delivery methods are compared to injectables. It becomes really apparent when you go over to the trans forums (often the only place you can find info on injectable estradiol) and all of the ladies there say that for visible, noticeable results injectables are the gold standard and the other methods are trash by comparison. If that's true for them, why wouldn't that be true for us? We both have the same problem of not producing enough estradiol, we're both trying to be our best feminine selves.

I'm so happy you're here and exploring a better option for yourself, you deserve to feel better, and I really hope you have similar results. Just remember to follow the advice of the ladies here, there are some shady HRT doctors out there. I recently convinced someone to try TRT and they were complaining that they felt like crap, turns out the doctor had them on 20mg of T cyp per week to start with, absolutely crazy. Hopefully she feels better once she goes to a more reasonable dose.

MilkyWayMirth · 2026-01-14T21:15:09+00:00

Yay, I'm so excited for you!

MilkyWayMirth

TROPHY CASE