^ The title pretty much sums it up, though I'd also like to ask people how long they've been on them how happy they are with the results so far. As somebody who's starting hormones soon, this interests me greatly. Of course, I already look pretty androgynous, but it's always nice to see what other people have been through with this physical transition.
I started hormones in about June 2013. So I have been on them for a little over 3 years. It took a while for me to get to a point where I was happy with the results they gave. I think the lady I went to see really laid out what they can and can't do and gave me quite realistic expectations. I am sad my breasts aren't a little bit bigger, I'm saving up for implants currently so we'll see how that goes. At first I felt good knowing I was finally on hormones but I didn't really feel happy about any results until about a year later. It was a bit of a hellish year waiting for things to slowly happen. I hear T kind of works a lot faster, which is pretty cool! I have a timeline I whipped up a while back if anyone is curious. I think I may have counted the months wrong but it should be accurate enough. I really should go back and fix it sometime. Spoiler
I know you're FTM, but here's my experience as a recent MTF hormone taker: I started hormones in a staggered fashion and haven't been on them long. First, I went on spiro (26 May 2016) at a fairly low dose, then bumped up the dose after 2 weeks, and then on 18 July, I started estradiol (sublingual) and bumped up my spiro dose again. {FYI, EC policy says we can't talk about specific dosages here} The physical effects have not really kicked in yet, but I have noticed my skin becoming softer. I've been measuring my chest weekly and noticing some gains in the boob department but not sure if that's diet, water, or hormones. Emotionally... well, that's a different story. I love being on E. About 15 minutes after I take it, I feel warm and... right. Here's the analogy I told my parents, particularly my dad who is a car nut: imagine a diesel engine that has had its tank filled up with gas. It'll run for a while, but it'll be choppy, sputtery, and just won't run right. Now, imagine that same engine cleaned out and now with diesel in it. The difference is night and day. So, I've been running on the wrong mix all my life and I've finally got the right fuel with estrogen. Of course, I'm excited about growing boobs, my facial features softening, and body hair diminishing, but what I could have never really predicted was this feeling of being much happier in my body, even before those changes have fully occurred.
I've been on T since February 2015. Here's some photos showing my progress. Top Left: 2008 (Pre-T) Top Center: 2014 (Pre-T) Top Right: January 2016 (Almost 1 year on T) Bottom Left: March 2016 (13 Months on T) Bottom Right: July 2016 (Almost 1.5 years on T) As far as how I'm doing goes, I'm doing okay...I guess. I'm largely disappointed in how slow it feels like my changes are happening.
Interesting! o.o I think I'm going to take a picture of my face everyday once I start T, just so that I can look all the pictures up together into one huge picture-video to look at the changes. XD
I say go for it, and I hope your selfie skills are better than mine lol. A couple people on Youtube did that and made slideshow videos of showing how much they've changed while on T. Chase Ross is one of them, and I think he made one celebrating his 5th T-anniversary a few months ago.
^ Ah, I'm more of an Aydian Dowling fan but yeah, Chase seems chill. XD I always feel I can't relate to his transition as much though due to how much larger he was in terms of body fat from the start though. :/ His face also started out more feminine, so I've tried to look at trans guys who had masculine faces pre-T... There are quite a few... Still, it's very hard to compare people. Personally, between my masculine face and lack of feminine body shape, I think I have a lot more room to grow than most trans dudes, but ofc we can only wait and see. XD I had my second therapist appointment two days ago... I'm still not sure how I feel about her because of how slow she's taking everything, but I figure that after I sit through the weird breathing and meditation exercises next appointment, there really can't be any other things she can do to delay me starting exposure therapy. >_< My only fear is that she doesn't feel she's properly trained to monitor me practicing my exposure therapy or something stupid like that... Grrr, I am a little annoyed I'll be missing some of my classes to learn how to breathe properly, which is ofc something I already know how to do. >_>
I started T in June 2014 when I was 17, so I've been on T for two years. I'm quite happy with the results. No more bleeding, my voice is in a clearly male range, I have some facial hair here and there etc. What's not to love?