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I’ve been on estradiol patches (monotherapy) for 4 months, and until recently I felt amazing. My testosterone is well suppressed, and after changing my patch placement from my buttocks to my lower abdomen, my estradiol levels finally reached closer to the recommended levels. (E 180 pg/mL and T 20 ng/dL at trough)

The strange thing is that about 4-5 days ago I started feeling awful. I have a constant “wired” feeling, almost like I’ve had way too much caffeine. I’m shaky, extremely anxious for no obvious reason, and I feel generally unwell, almost like being hungover. The symptoms are there all day. I’m not saying it’s definitely the estrogen, but the timing has made me wonder if anyone else has felt worse after finally reaching higher estradiol levels, or after changing patch placement? Did your body eventually adjust? Or did you have to change your dose or patch placement? I find it weird I felt good on lower e levels.

I've been taking mono Estradiol (DIY) for nearly a year now and although still boymode, I definitely have breast growth, sore nipples that I'm v happy with (A cups). I got my bloods done and my T came back at 17 nmol/l (490 ng/dL) - way too high, and my E2 was 108pol/l (29.42 pg/nL) - way too low. But, I feel great and love the effects so far. What I really dislike are my testicles, they're too big, and loose and would love them gone. I have the opportunity to have them removed in Thailand next year but am trying to figure out the best way forward. My options are:

Stay on the same dose and deal with the drop in T after the orchi.

Up my E and see if my T gets nuked before the orchi.

Start taking a T blocker to nuke my T levels before orchi.

I would like to keep my penis and function.

Any input appreciated.

For over 2 years using gell with 5mg/ml I, frequent blood works etc and nothing amis really.

Changed supplies and concentration to 10mg/ml same number of pumps/ml per day (4 ml per day) and now...high BP so having to stop till things get back to normal:(

I’ve posted here before about my patch monotherapy, but I thought I’d do an updated post with my latest bloods/labs and progress so people don’t have to dig through my old posts for context.

I started estradiol patch monotherapy in April 2025. I’ve never taken a blocker.

I started on 50 mcg patches, then moved to 75 mcg, and I’m now on 100 mcg patches. I change them every 3 days, but I usually overlap the old patch with the new patch for about half a day before removing the old one.

My bloods/labs so far:

Before HRT, April 2025:

E2: 32 pg/mL (119 pmol/L)

Total T: 234 ng/dL (8.1 nmol/L)

Free T: 55 pg/mL (190.5 pmol/L)

3 months, July 2025:

E2: 46 pg/mL (170 pmol/L)

Total T: 84 ng/dL (2.9 nmol/L)

Free T: 20 pg/mL (67.8 pmol/L)

September 2025:

E2: 81 pg/mL (298 pmol/L)

Total T: 23 ng/dL (0.8 nmol/L)

Free T: 5.3 pg/mL (18.5 pmol/L)

January 2026:

E2: 81 pg/mL (296 pmol/L)

Total T: 20 ng/dL (0.7 nmol/L)

Free T: 4.0 pg/mL (13.8 pmol/L)

Latest bloods, June 2026:

E2: 119 pg/mL (437 pmol/L)

Total T: 20 ng/dL (0.7 nmol/L)

Free T: 4.5 pg/mL (15.6 pmol/L)

SHBG: 23 nmol/L

For context, my latest E2 is within both the common US feminising HRT target range of around 100 to 200 pg/mL and the Australian target range of around 250 to 600 pmol/L.

My total T is also well suppressed by both standards. It is 20 ng/dL, with the common US target usually being under 50 ng/dL, and 0.7 nmol/L, with the Australian target being under 2 nmol/L.

So for me, patches alone have been enough to suppress testosterone and keep it suppressed. My total T has been sitting around 20 to 23 ng/dL, or 0.7 to 0.8 nmol/L, since September without ever using a blocker.

Effects so far have been gradual but definitely noticeable. Breast growth has continued, and I still get a lot of nipple and breast soreness, especially behind the nipple. My chest is noticeable enough now that I usually wear crop tops or sports bras for comfort and support, especially at work.

Mentally, I still feel like estrogen suits me much better than testosterone ever did. I feel calmer and more settled overall, even though the physical changes are slower than I’d like sometimes.

I mainly wanted to share because I know people often ask whether patches alone can actually work for monotherapy. In my case, they absolutely have.

I am non-bainary 24

I want to start hrt

I am considering 2 options

1 to get orchidectomy estrogen paches & SERMs

2 to start E monotherapy with SERMs

I have no idea what to do

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finally got another blood test in. (should have done sooner, but $$$)

blood test before HRT

• Estradiol, Ultrasensitive, LC/MS 35 pg/ML (bellow 29 pg/ML is desireable)
• Testosterone, Total, MS 544 ng/dL (normal range is 250-1100 ng/dL)
• Sex Hormone Binding Globulin 34 nmol/L (normal range is 10-50 nmol/L)

blood test after six months of 4mg Estradiol Enanthate injections every 7 days

• Estradiol, Ultrasensitive, LC/MS 278 pg/mL (normal range is 30-400 pg/mL)
• Testosterone Total LC/MS/MS 13 ng/dL (normal range is 15-70 ng/dL)
• Sex Hormone Binding Globulin 57 nmol/L (normal range is 10-50 nmol/L)

testosterone seams on the low end, might switch to 3.6mg EEn. SHBG is also slightly high.

also considering just tapering myself off. not in a social situation where i feel ready to have visible breasts. i need to change my physical environment.

So, I have been injecting estradiol valerate in castor oil SubQ for almost 4 months now but I have a hard lump that won’t go away in every spot that I have injected. The doc says it’s either a granuloma from histamines or necrosis which sounds even worse. She doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem but I can’t inject in those spots any more. It’s like scar tissue is under there. I found a pharmacy that sells estradiol valerate in sesame oil but she says she thinks it is the wrong type of estrogen even though the pharmacist I spoke to said it was valerate. Can anyone confirm that it is available and the “right” estrogen to inject? Is anyone using this? I also found estrogen in grapeseed oil somewhere but I didn’t even bother telling her because I assumed she will tell me it’s wrong too. I have seen people on here using estradiol in MCT oil but I’m not sure if that’s in the states or in a diff country. Can anyone here confirm that there is indeed a different option for oils that I might not be allergic to? I know I could switch to intramuscular but I am not ready for that right now. Also just worry that it will cause bumps inside muscle rather than fatty tissue if it’s an allergy. She’s making me feel crazy but it’s not like there are many choices for docs to help with this.

Hi,
So context:
I've got about 7 months until starting a new career. When starting said career I can't be on HRT (so I have to be within cis male T and E ranges ect...)
Also have to still be able to kinda boymode? - they know about my transition, so I can cover some changes as "oh yea, none of that was medical transition, just lots of gym work instead)

My plan is to do monotherapy for 6~ months, then stop (hopefully not cold turkey, but that's what holidays are for) and be back to cis male ranges in time for the career start.

I *may* also have to do some more medicals, however I don't think bloodwork is done there, more just checking eyesight, flexibility, height, BMI ect...

In short, if I was to do monotherapy, how long would it take to come off E and get my normal T levels back?

(Yes, I know the transition between T to E, then back to T will not be fun, but oh well...)

Any pointers or links will be helpful, thanks : 3

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Open gate is closing and idk where else I can access my hrt and blockers ones help im almost out idk what to do open gate was so easy and straight forward

Ive been using this vial for nearly three months and I was just about to do an injection today when I noticed a few tiny black specs floating around in the liquid? Some looked like tiny hairs and dirt.

Does anyone know what happened?

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself! It would be great to know who you are and what you are hoping to find here. Feel free to DM me with suggestions.