First: Welcome to the sister/siblinghood.

Navigating bullshittery around women’s health is a great intro to this side of the gender divide.

Disclaimer: I’m a cis woman. I acknowledge trans women’s health info is lacking. You know your body best.

There have been significant studies over the last hundred years or so that go against colloquial theories about women and hormones, especially around menstruation. As far as we know, women don’t experience significant mood changes associated with their menstrual cycle outside of disorders or the psychological impact of outside factors. Some even found that symptoms vary drastically from one culture to the next, based on prevalent ideas about menstruation. The truth is everyone’s hormones are changing all the time and women don’t experience more fluctuations than men. Sleep, food exercise, weight gain, sex and drugs all affect hormones much more than the menstrual cycle.

Going through second puberty is probably an emotional beast in itself, you should for sure be writing a mood journal to figure out when/what makes you trip up, journaling is good for mental health in itself. Then, if you notice a significant pattern, that could indicate a disorder and be something to point to when you talk to your doc.

Some links for fun:

Obligatory shout out to my favorite women’s health resource for ALL kinds of women: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/

Some info on PMDD: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd

An article on trans people’s lived experience around periods and menstrual cycles: https://periodaisle.com/blogs/all/6-transgender-women-talk-menstruation

Yup, transwomen cycle. You just don’t dump the uterine lining. But you absolutely can cycle.

I had it as well two months ago. I’m currently 8 months on estrogen, so it was around 180 days when it started. Have had two so far, should be getting the next one soon then…

When I upped my dose of E, and had forgotten a dose a few days after, I had mild cramps (though not in the uterus since I sadly lack one). They felt like stomach’s nausea but somehow more down there. The nausea and cramped feeling though, I had to stay in bed for the rest of the day. But god, was it affirming. What helped me was a warm water bottle, with a towel wrapped around it, and then putting it on my crotch when I was in bed.

I have somewhat low libido as well, don’t have antidepressants (nor need them). I fluctuate with E sometimes, but almost never skipped a day.

The wanting to feel to connect with people, in a more cuddly sense, yeah I have that too due to HRT. It’s so liberating, less of a feel like “OMG Girls hot, need to fuck”, and more of a “OMG, Girls hot, but relaxed”. It’s as if I got the control back over part of my body’s inner desires rather than the opposite.

Edit (4 hrs later): aaand yep, mine did come just now. Thankfully not too bad, but did have to stay cosy in bed for longer with a water bottle.

Yep, absolutely a period! I recommend trying some chocolate when you’re feeling down

Definitely see if the mood fluctuations and cramping keeps happening on a schedule. It can help a bit knowing you’re moody because of hormones. I’ve always been irregular, so sometimes I’ll get my period and realize what was going on with my mood the last couple days.

My mood swings were way worse during puberty, so it’s likely your body will adjust eventually. Lots of people also have periods that they need help through, as well, so you might end up needing (pharmaceutical) help through yours once enough time has passed that the initial intensity should have settled a bit.

I remember as a teen just really needing to cry sometimes, so I had some books that I’d read at those times and when I was done crying, I’d feel more even. Try stuff out. If one month it’s an angrier feeling, listen to loud angry music or punch a pillow. Finding healthy ways to feel and express intense emotions during these times seemed to help ride it out for me.

I’ve just started hrt, I was afab, and I’ve mostly stayed that way, kinda. But I’ve hit an age where my hormones have almost entirely run out. I can definitely relate to a lot of what you write, a huge amount of what you feel, I feel too. I am in the process of an adhd diagnosis, and I can’t be left alone with my thoughts, either. I have so much anxiety, I’m really struggling to talk to people. For me I think that’s because I’m burnt out, I’m running on full speed caring for kids with disabilities with little to no help. I want a week alone, where I don’t have to speak to anyone, just one week.

I can definitely relate to the emotions you speak of, I get hit with those feels super hard when I’m pregnant but also, randomly, too, I’ll cry at adds on the TV, or random things, I can’t cope with hearing about distressing things, because I feel it as if it’s happening right now and doesn’t stop, or slow for months, sometimes.

I have been working on seeing my emotions as an entity separate to myself that lives with me, and is just trying to communicate with me. Because it kinda is like that, you are the entity that observes, you aren’t your thoughts or your emotions. Emotions are like a warning system, similarly to how you put your hand in the shower to test it’s hotness levels, your emotions read the environment you’re in, and similarly evoke reactions if they’re feeling like there’s something “too hot” or needs attention in some way. If you feel like your emotions are getting really big and overwhelming, try sitting with them as they come up, sometimes they get really loud if they feel unheard, and sometimes just sitting with them and making them feel heard, acknowledging and validating, goes a long way to helping them be a little more quiet. Don’t worry about the why, or the cause, just notice how you feel, that’s it. Just sit with it. Breathe in deep focus inwards and say to yourself “I feel " X”". When I get phases of big emotions, I tend to just go with this kinda approach to them. I take it easy and lower my exposure to things that set me off. Because it might be a sweet emotional response, deep feelings for others emotional connections, but it’s also evoking cortisol and if you flood your system with too much cortisol, well, it’s bad. So I go into lock down with what I can control, at those times. Like I wouldn’t watch a very emotional movie, when I’m feeling like that, for a couple of months, or sometimes it’s just for that week. You’ll figure out your rhythm.

A thing I learned about the racing thoughts is that sometimes it’s just habit. Someone said it in a really great way, and I forget what it was, but it made things click for me and silenced the racing thoughts almost immediately. I am on a pathway to find that exact sentence again, because saying “just habit” doesn’t encompass the original way I heard it. My brain tends to just summarise everything, and then I forget the original but I don’t forget the summary.

I’ve also heard (and am currently trying out) that you need to have creative outlet for your brain to focus on, or it turns on you and starts picking you apart, because it’s essentially locked in a room with nothing else to do, kinda. So you give it outlets of creativity to focus on, rather than you. I’m hopeful that encourages less of my brain hyper analysing everything I do.

I always mean to journal, so I can track all my feelings and thoughts and how the strategies work, but I never remember to. Apparently that helps, but I couldn’t tell you, personally, if it does.

I have no great advice, not knowing basically anything about trans health, but can I just say that it’s a super raw deal that you don’t have a uterus but you still have to deal with PMS! Bodies, man.

Anyway, as a ciswoman, I agree that it’s worth tracking. It’s all pretty mystical and very individual generally so tracking is really the only way I can think of that would give you insight. People can tell you stuff on the internet and give you some ideas; some will ring true and others won’t. So tracking can help you see patterns for your own experience.

I have PMDD and my beloved hormonal IUD has all but eliminated my cycle, making me a much more functional person. When I did have periods, the sensitivity and mood swings were real. Yes, you can end up being extra sensitive and crying over minor things. I would also get myself into cycles of self-doubt and procrastination, leading to more self-doubt and anxiety when I came out of it. It can be difficult, to say the least. Hopefully you can find ways to treat yourself well when you’re feeling extra sensitive.

Been on E for 9 years. Met dozens of trans women and befriended a lot of them. I never experienced or heard of anyone experiencing anything close to a “monthly cycle”. And some cycle their HRT, some mix it up.

Might be placebo. I only read this stuff online so far.

Dumb question, but why not switch to weekly injections of estradiol valerate, or estradiol cypionate, and daily micronized progesterone? That should even out your hormone levels a bit, since the valerate/cypionate esters slow the release of the estradiol, and taking the medication parenterally improves availability.

Maybe the dose needs adjustments?