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HRT History

On this page I’m tracking my HRT doses and blood tests. All of this is provided “as is”, with no implication that someone else should do things as I did.

Doses

I am currently taking 3 mg (4 pumps) of Estradiol once per day as a gel and one 11.25 mg Triptorelin as an intra-muscular injection once every roughly 12 weeks. I am so far happy with this dose and it has been confirmed as reasonable by one bloodtest that I took after I started it.

Full History of my HRT regiment
Date Estradiol Route Product Other Reason
2024-02-04 3 × 1 mg sublingual Estrofem Initial start with pills of a friend.
2024-02-14 2.25 mg transdermal Oestrogel 5 mg Finasteride (oral, 1∕d) Order of transdermal Estradiol and Finasteride arrives, starting with GenderGP recommendation
2024-02-29 3 mg transdermal Oestrogel 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Switch to DIY following bad experiences with GenderGP, using a dose based on community recommendations
2024-04-24 4.5 mg transdermal Oestrogel 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Increasing dose after being denied blood test to ensure sufficient Estradiol in any case.
2024-07-09 ≈ 4 mg transdermal Felicitas 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Switch to Homebrew-Estrogen due to price; Following recommended 2 pump dose.
2024-08-19 ≈ 12 mg transdermal Felicitas 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Dose increase after low E2 values in self-payed blood test (E2 cheaper than further tests).
2024-10-11 ≈ 6 mg transdermal Felicitas 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Dose decrease towards official starting dose (still higher to make drop less sudden).
2024-10-14 2 × 2.25 mg transdermal Oestrogel 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d) Start with official HRT after receiving gel.
2024-10-17 2 × 2.25 mg transdermal Oestrogel 12.5 mg Cyproterone Acetate (oral, 1∕d),
11.25 Triptorelin (IM 1∕12 W)
First Triptorelin injection. Initially keeping CPA to prevent the Testosterone flare.
2024-11-10 2 × 2.25 mg transdermal Oestrogel 11.25 mg Triptorelin (IM 1∕12 W) Stopped taking CPA due to (seemingly justified) expectation that Triptorelin flare is over.
2025-03-07 3 mg transdermal Oestrogel 11.25 mg Triptorelin (IM 1∕12 W) Reduce dose because of high Estradiol levels in blood tests; lower dose in exchange for only once daily.
2025-12-24 3 mg transdermal Oestrogel 11.25 mg Triptorelin (IM 1∕12 W)
200 mg Progesteron (oral, 1∕d)
Start Progesterone

Oestrogel here refers to Besins’ gel containing 0.6 mg Es­tra­di­ol (in the form of Es­tra­di­ol Hemihydrate) per 1 g of gel and dispenses 1.25 g of gel per pump, no matter the specific name they were marketed under. Felicitas’s gel is Homebrew-Estrogen.

I dosed accoring to claimed concentration and claimed dispensed amount, but the bottles were clearly not very reliable in producing fully consistent amounts, which usually meant less E than desired, often requiring multiple pumps to get an amount that visually matched the produced E at the start and might explain the low levels of E below. When I started the second bottle, it seemed to produce more which might have increased the dose.

Blood tests

Date Estradiol Testosterone SHBG Prolactin
2024-08-15 209 pmol∕l 1.40 nmol∕l 25.9 nmol∕l 56 µg∕l
2024-10-04 3324 pmol∕l 1.11 nmol∕l 32.5 nmol∕l 30 μg∕l
2025-03-05 1414 pmol∕l 1.79 nmol∕l 56.8 nmol∕l
2025-07-11 375 pmol∕l 1.10 nmol∕l 70.8 nmol∕l 16 μg∕l
2025-12-19 547 pmol∕l 0.84 nmol∕l 63.9 nmol∕l 18 μg∕l

(Conversion from Maasstad’s “U∕l” into μg∕l, done by multiplication with 1 000μg21.2U\frac{1000~\mathrm{μg}}{21.2~\mathrm{U}} and rounding. It’s really annoying that they don’t use SI-units themselves…)

2024/04/24

This was the first time when I requested a blood test from my then GP, who refused to provide it.

2024/07/10

After talking with my genderclinic (Psytrans), and them trying to talk sense into my then GP, I requested a blood test again and was refused again.

I filed a malpractice complaint afterwards and considered myself to not have a GP since then, until I much later managed to find another one.

2024/08/15

After still not being able to receive a blood test from the healthcare system, I purchased a rather minimalist one privately for > 140 €.

The results here are for a low trough level, in that the blood draw was a bit more than 24 h after my previous dose.

Value Level low high Unit
Estradiol 208.5 pmol∕l
Prolactin 56.4 4.79  23.3 µg∕l
Testosterone 1.4  0.29  1.67 nmol∕l
SHBG 25.9  32.4  128.0 nmol∕l

The Estradiol reference levels were as follows:

Phase low high Unit
Follicular phase 98.0 572.5 pmol∕l
Ovulation 48.1 314.0 pmol∕l
Luteal Phase 121.5 1093.7 pmol∕l
Menopause 18.4 183.1 pmol∕l

2024/10/04

Maasstad Ziekenhuis, (unexpected, thus peak value few hours after gel application on the site of the draw). The reference values here are clearly masculine, which makes them pretty useless, but I’m including them for completeness. 🙄

Value Level low high Unit
Estradiol 3324  41.4  159 pmol∕l
Prolactin 0.63  0.09 0.32 U∕l
Testosterone 1.11  8.64 29 nmol∕l
SHBG 32.5  16.5  55.9 nmol∕l
LH < 1.0  1.7  8.6 U∕l
FSH < 1.0  1.5  12.4 U∕l
PLN, post PEG 0.53 0.06 0.25
Free Testosterone 20.0  198.0  619.0 pmol∕l
Vitamin D 26 50  150 nmol∕l

2025/03/05

Maasstad Ziekenhuis, (again unexpected, thus peak value few hours after gel application on the site of the draw).

Value Level low high Unit
Estradiol 1414 pmol∕l
Testosterone 1.79 0.101 1.42 nmol∕l
SHBG 56.8 24.6 122.0 nmol∕l
LH < 1.0 U∕l
Free Testosterone 23.1 3.0 33.0 pmol∕l

For completeness sake, the cycle-dependent referene ranges are as follows, though they famously don’t really apply to trans women, and that the intended value for LH and FSH are “below detectable” to begin with (as they should be in my case):

Hormone Phase low high Unit
Estradiol Follicular phase 0.114 332 pmol∕l
Estradiol Ovulation 222 1959 pmol∕l
Estradiol Luteal Phase 222 854 pmol∕l
Estradiol Menopause < 18.4 505 pmol∕l
Estradiol 1st Trimester 563 11902 pmol∕l
Estradiol 2nd Trimester 5729 78098 pmol∕l
Estradiol 3rd Trimester 31287 > 110100 pmol∕l
Luteinizing hormone Follicular phase 2.4 12.6 U∕l
Luteinizing hormone Ovulation 13.0 95.6 U∕l
Luteinizing hormone Luteal Phase 1.0 11.4 U∕l
Luteinizing hormone Menopause 7.7 58.8 U∕l

2025/07/11

Maasstad Ziekenhuis (this time deep trough values, since last dose was administered a bit more than 24 hours previously.)

Value Level low high Unit
Estradiol 375 pmol∕l
Prolactin 0.34 —   0.86 U∕l
Testosterone 1.10 0.101 1.42 nmol∕l
SHBG 70.8 24.6 122.0 nmol∕l
LH < 1.0 U∕l
FSH < 1.0 1.7 21.5 U∕l
Free Testosterone 12.1 3.0 33.0 pmol∕l
Vitamin D 48 50 150 nmol∕l

The reference ranges are all as before, so check the table in the previous section for the cycle-dependent reference ranges.

2025/12/19

Maasstad Ziekenhuis (again deep trough).

Value Level low high Unit
Estradiol 547 pmol∕l
Prolactin 0.39 —   0.86 U∕l
Testosterone 0.835 0.101 1.42 nmol∕l
SHBG 63.9 24.6 122.0 nmol∕l
LH < 1.0 U∕l
FSH < 1.0 1.7 21.5 U∕l
Free Testosterone 9.9 3.0 33.0 pmol∕l
Vitamin D 26 50 150 nmol∕l

The reference ranges are all as before, so check the table in the previous section for the cycle-dependent reference ranges.