[UK] 18 y/o unsure where to start

Most trans girls start on 2 mg estradiol, swallowed orally, maybe for 6 months, so as to gauge the body's response to it. Bodily response can be measured in too ways 1) with blood tests and 2) from actual bodily changes, such as altered sexual response/functioning, initial breast budding, skin softening, etc.

To properly measure things via blood tests, there really needs to be two of them - with the first one, done before any meds are started - and the second one - done some time after taking the meds (maybe 1 or 2 months after).

So a really good start would be to organise such an initial blood test (whether privately or through your GP). Blood tests also provide a degree of safety as they can confirm that the liver, kidneys and blood are all in balance, and subsequently that they are all handling the hrt well.

The sidebar on the right lists sources who supply hrt meds.

Because you asked a very general and wide-ranging question, it's not clear, if you already aware of the two aspects of MtF hrt, which are - 1) Estradiol, which is a form of estrogen (often written as E2) - and 2) Suppressing testosterone (via an anti-androgen, usually termed an AA). Actually, E2 on it's own can often bring down T significantly, hence the reason many trans girls start out by only taking a low dose of E2 for quite a number of months.

One other benefit of an initial blood test is it will indicate if you're high or low T - and this in turn will help you make a decision about if you need to take an anti-androgen (AA). Anti-androgens are serious and powerful medications and you would only be doing right by yourself in learning about the different options, the risks and their side-effects. If one wants to be safe (and as responsible as is possible) then when taking an AA, blood tests should be considered as essential.

I hope this is useful for you, and that it will encourage you to read through some of the posts in this reddit and ask more questions so that you fully understand what is involved and so can make your own informed decisions about what hrt you consider is right for you. For example, here is a recent post from a trans girl showing her baseline hormone blood test results (in the first 11 lines of the report) followed by her second blood test results a month later. [To note, as well as the individual hormone levels the blood tests should also include a liver function text (LFT), a complete blood count test (CBC) and an electrolytes test. These are the basic tests which can confirm that hrt is being handled okay by an individuals body.]

You can't ask too many questions here. There's many girls who will be pleased to help you understand your options and what things mean.

/r/TransDIY Thread Parent