Hi, I'm new here and I understand that there are policies about posting about hormone therapy and medications, so I am going to try to convey some questions I have, while still staying within the guidelines of this forum. I have been doing testosterone injections for about 14-16ish months now, generally pretty consistently. Without, revealing too much, it is no longer a viable/safe option for me to get my testosterone from the person I was getting it from, and I now have about 3 weeks worth of my normal dose left. I don't know how long it will be until I am able to get it again. My main issue is that I don't know what will happen if I stay off T for too long. I am at a point in my transition now where I pass about 95% of the time, and I'm generally happy with how the injections have been going. But if I go off of Testosterone, does anyone know how fast things will change back? I really could not deal with starting to look like a girl again, or getting a period. I don't know how long it takes for that stuff to change. Basically, I'm wondering how soon after I am no longer on testosterone, do I need to start getting it again before things start to reverse? I would really rather not get it from who I was getting it from before, but I will do what I need to do to continue to pass as a guy.
It is difficult to predict exactly how one persons body will react to going on or going off of hormones. A common expression on HRT effects is YMMV (your mileage may vary). Also there are not a lot of studies on exactly how HRT affects us and even fewer on stopping HRT. From my own experience. I was on estrogen for a bit longer than you have been on T and then stopped because of pressure from a partner. This was over 30 years ago so I cannot remember the exact timing but as I remember it I felt awful almost immediately but for the physical reversion to start took months. Going back on I started feeling better almost immediately. Of course I have gone the opposite direction than you and the effects may differ.
Like QuietPeace said, it varies from person to person. I know some guys who have come off T and have gotten shark week back within a month, others have waited 6 months and still not got it back. I think where testosterone differs to oestrogen will be mood. Low T will really mess with your mood, make you lethargic, decrease sex drive, more irritable, etc. so mitigating that would be my main priority. Regarding how you look and passing, a lot of the changes that happen on T tend to be non-reversible. So your hair growth will stay the same for a while, if you're off T for a while it might start to thin out but 14-16 months should mean some of it is terminal. Your voice should remain the same. Fat redistribution into a more 'feminine' figure may be an issue and your time on T would mean that fat redistribution wouldn't have happened fully yet either. Also the type of T you're on would make a difference about how quickly these changes happen. Sub-cut injections would speed things up as the T isn't in your body for long whereas IM are more long lasting and slow releasing. For your own health (mental and physical) I would really push to find a source of T again. Don't let this person have such a hold over your life! A silver lining may be that i dont think you will ever go back to looking like a girl, not in the short term anyway. Shark week I couldn't predict though. I really hope you manage to work things out mate.
