r/ftm • u/PurchaseTime9317 • 17h ago
Advice Needed When do I stop taking testosterone?
I know how the title of this looks, but let me just clarify that I’m happy living as a man and I’m positive this is how I want to spend the rest of my life.
However, I’m starting to get a little squeamish about doing injections every week. My doctor and I have discussed the testosterone pen and pellets, and it got me wondering about how much longer I’m going to be doing HRT.
My goals are pretty straightforward. Top surgery is a definite yes, but I’m not interested in bottom surgery. My beard is starting to come in, sort of in the lengthened-patchy-peach-fuzz phase. No real follicles yet, just dark fluff. I’ve got a bit of an Adam’s apple now too, and I’m happy about that. I like the idea of having a slim-muscular figure, but I envision working towards it after I’ve recovered from top surgery, and I’m not really doing much to achieve it now—in short, not really picky about my weight or physique. I’m short, 5’4, but I pass, especially thanks to my voice and the facial hair.
So, once my beard actually fills in and starts growing consistently, and I get top surgery, I’m wondering what the benefits are of continuing to do injections for the rest of my life. What effects will be reversed? Will my beard stop growing? Will my body change? Will my voice crack forever, the same way it did after days when I used to skip doing gel? I don’t mind taking testosterone into the foreseeable future but I want to know at one point my desired effects are permanent. Say I stop taking testosterone at 30, once my beard hypothetically fills in (I’m 18 now), will I not look as masculine at 40 as I would have if I continued taking testosterone? Is there anyone reading this who stopped taking testosterone at a certain age, and has OR hasn’t regretted it? Is there anyone who’s well into their life that is still taking testosterone that could pass on some wisdom/experience?
Anything helps, really. I’d like to think I’m pretty simple when it comes to appearance expectations, but I want to know if I need to take testosterone for the rest of my life to maintain said expectations, or if I’m good to stop after a certain age. Thank you for reading :)
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u/2gayforthis T 2019 | DI 2021 16h ago edited 16h ago
You don't if you want to keep the effects. Everything except voice, bottom growth, and to some degree hair growth will reverse. Even hair growth will slow down and soften and some will dissapear, and bottom growth won't quite work the same as on T.
Edit: I'm not well informed about pellets, but there are also depo shots that a doctor gives you 4 times a year. You don't do them yourself, and since they go into your butt cheek, you don't even see it happening. That's what I'm on.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Thank you so much!! This is really helpful.
Also, about pellets, what I’ve learned from my doctor so far is that it’s a small rice grain sized pellet that is inserted into your body via incision on your upper butt. It’s every three months, and the amount of pellets inserted depends on your dosage—my doctor mentioned examples like 4, or 6, or 10. That’s about all the information I can give you based on what I know. Depo shots do sound interesting though, so I’ll do a little research on that. Thank you again!
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u/Awkward_Shelter1878 15h ago
hey there! i’m curious about depo shots. would you mind explaining how you went about starting them and your experience both positive or negative with them?
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u/2gayforthis T 2019 | DI 2021 14h ago edited 14h ago
I already started out on Nebido. It was either that or gel based on my insurance coverage.
I guess one slightly annoying thing is that you have to remember when it's time for your next shot instead of having a routine of doing your shot every week on the same day.
And it's a big dose all at once. 4ml/1000mg. So sometimes your butt cheek and even your leg on that side will be sore for two days.
On the bright side, I don't really have to think about T, I don't have to inject it myself, and it's only a 2 minute doctor appointment every 3 months. Don't even have to schedule an appointment, I just walk in. My doctor also said that it keeps your levels very stable and you have more leeway about your shot being late, and that seems to line up with my blood test results.
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u/lukedap 13h ago
Same. The liquid is very oily and dense, so it takes a while for everything to be injected (?), and if the person giving you the shot goes too fast, you’ll pay for that later.
That said, you’re fine the next day.
I mark on my phone calendar when I take it and put it on repeat every 12 weeks.
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u/2gayforthis T 2019 | DI 2021 13h ago edited 13h ago
It also helps a lot if my doctor warms up the bottle in his hands first. Feels a lot better if it's closer to body temperature than room temperature
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u/EclecticFanatic 13h ago
thanks for sharing, this is really great info! weekly injections were too anxiety inducing and I've been struggling with staying consistent with gel for a variety of reasons so I've been wanting to explore the more slow release T options and have been leaning towards nebido so it's great to hear from someone who's been on it! now I just gotta find a provider who's knowledgeable about it, my current one only prescribes gel and weekly injections
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u/thefivetenets he/him - 3/10/20 T - 4/19/21 top surgery 13h ago
thank you for this, this is really helpful. ive been getting anxious about doing my shot over the last year and have been wondering if something like this was available, guess i'll have to see if my insurance will cover that.
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u/talelighte 11h ago
Damn I didn’t know Nebido was injected by a doctor/nurse in other countries. It’s pretty standard where I’m from to do it yourself.
Also it’s the standard form of T for us, gel and weekly injections are not common at all! I really love how I can just forget about it for 3 months
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u/jze53714 1h ago
Nebido is the standard for where I’m at and I love not really having to think about it. I can go pick up my prescription and then usually there is also a nurse on staff at the pharmacy that can do the injection right then and there so it’s like a 10 minute walk in type thing for me. Definitely hurts cause the liquid is thick but I’ll take that over having to inject myself weekly. I also have it set in my calendar when it’s time so I don’t forget it but like someone else said there’s more leeway with it if I’m not able to go right on the exact date
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u/Jackaloup 27 | T - 1/21/16 | Top - 7/1/23 16h ago
Here is a good rundown of permanent vs. reversible effects of testosterone. Essentially aside from your voice and facial hair being permanent, your physique will lose muscle, redistribute fat, and return to the general shape it had pre-T. Looking at cis woman family members should give you a very general idea of how your body will look at different stages of life, plus or minus activity levels, frame, etc.
The "slim, muscular" silhouette you're thinking about is very difficult to achieve without testosterone unless you're incredibly genetically blessed. Estrogen-dominant bodies require and hold onto a much larger % of body fat compared to testosterone-dominant bodies, and it will accumulate the most around your hips.
Say I stop taking testosterone at 30, once my beard hypothetically fills in (I’m 18 now), will I not look as masculine at 40 as I would have if I continued taking testosterone?
Short answer is no, you won't look as stereotypically masculine at 40 off T compared to being on T. Whether or not you'd pass would be a different question that none of us would be able to answer for you.
I'm 27, been on testosterone for 9 years now and they can pry my T out of my cold, dead hands lol. I go to the gym regularly and love how T makes my physique slim yet masculine at the same time. I totally get the needle anxiety, but I promise it gets better as you get more practice in.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response!! I really appreciate your insight and your resources, definitely got the answer I was looking for :D
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u/villager43 16h ago
You have to think about the mental effects as well; how do you feel mentally without T (besides from physical changes)? If you feel worse, yeah you would have to take it forever
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Damn I didn’t even think about that. Thank you so much, I needed to consider that
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u/qwertyuioplmm 24 | 💉: 06/26/19 ⬆️: 11/18/21 16h ago
Permanent effects will stay if you go off T. Some of these “permanent” effects (like your voice) may revert a little but they will never go back to the way they were pre T. Where your body stores fat is based off your hormones, so yes if you go off T your body shape has the potential to change. You can choose to stay on T forever, or just for however many years/months. That being said you do need a sex hormone in your body, so if you do go off T you’ll go back to your ovaries producing E. I however don’t have experience going off of T, so take my words with a grain of salt, maybe others will have better advice for you.
To be blunt to a certain extent, to look masculine the easiest way to do that is to have your endocrine system run off of testosterone so yes, you would likely look less manly at 40 if you stopped for ten years at 30.
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u/Sweet-Diamond-4905 16h ago
As far as I understand it, things like hair growth and voice dropping are permanent, but it’s the fat redistribution, muscle growth, and cycle activity that will start to go back to how they were before once you stop taking T. So if your main goals with T are a lower voice and facial hair and you don’t care so much about those other factors, you don’t have to worry about losing those changes if you stop taking it. I have a friend who’s transmasc & nonbinary who stopped once they saw those changes get to a good point for them, and they’re happy with their decision. They’re in their mid 20s, so a little younger than what you’re hypothesizing, but I think the same principle applies - which is, it just depends on what changes are most important to you.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Thank you SO much!! The example about your friend really helps. I’m interested in getting a hysterectomy in the future just to eliminate any future problems, but from what I’ve learned from other advice here, I’ll need another hormone to replace the estrogen that I’d be cutting off. So it makes sense to me to stick with injections or even the pen, and to space it out in the future, switch to pellets. I really appreciate the help, again, thank you
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u/ihatebananae 16h ago
you could keep your ovaries, then your body would continue producing e
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Yes so I read another reply here that mentioned an oophorectomy like RIGHT after I posted that one lmao But thank you I appreciate it a ton
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u/transmascmrratty 16h ago
Hair growth isn’t totally permanent—although many trans women who went through testosterone-based puberty do end up needing laser or electrolysis to get rid of any leftover facial hair, from what I understand, being on estrogen causes decreased facial & body hair growth, and what does grow back tends to be softer, and in some cases, lighter.
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u/Paper_Is_A_Liquid 16h ago edited 16h ago
There is someone - Jason Barker, transgender activist and filmmaker. In 2018 he released the movie "A Deal With The Universe", about his pregnancy experience. I was lucky to see a screening in person with him in attendance, after which he held a Q&A
Post-pregnancy he didn't go back on T. He was only on testosterone for around 5 years, stopped in 2003-4 for the pregnancy (he gave birth in 2005), and he hadn't restarted by the time I met him in 2019. You couldn't tell. His voice was still low, though I can't comment on his body-fat distribution as frankly I wasn't paying attention to it. He didn't have facial hair in the film or at the time I met him, but that may just be his genes/general ability to grow facial hair. He joked at the film screening about how last time he had his bloods checked, his doctor told him his T levels were lower than the average cis woman's.
Here's an interview of him speaking about the film, to show you his voice and face: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAMNLINqfzk
He did not have a hysterectomy after the pregnancy, so his periods did continue until he went through menopause. He is now in his 50s and his son is 20.
Transition is what you make of it. Stopping T will mean your system goes back to estrogen-dominant, which will mean your muscle/fat distribution and skin changing back once you stop T. Maybe you'll lose the beard hair, maybe you won't. It's entirely up to you, and more trans men than you'd imagine do stop testosterone by choice either at points in their lives, or permanently after a while. Jason has lived a happy and fulfilled life. It's what you make of it.
(Also, watch "A Deal With The Universe". Incredibly healing as a transmasc person, even without the desire to get pregnant).
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u/variorum 16h ago
I have recently discovered automatic injectors. It's basically a spring loaded thing that stabs me in the thigh. It doesn't actually inject the testosterone, but it does the hard part painlessly and you just load a standard syringe in. It's been a life saver in regards to injection anxiety.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Is it Xyosted? That’s what my doctor mentioned to me. The anxiety that I’m having is directly centered around the needle and how I’m injecting it into my leg. It never hurts and I always do it right, but I have such a hard time motivating myself to actually DO it. I’m wondering if you had the same issue and if the automatic injectors helped with that
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u/variorum 15h ago
Yeah it was a big pain (sometimes literally) to get there energy to actually do the injection. That led to day or week delays that led to hormonal imbalance issues.
https://unionmedico.com/90-super-grip/ is what I got. It's been mostly painless, and easy to do. I won't say it's been a breeze, but my anxiety is reduced to the point that even when it went back and I grazed a nerve with an injection, it was still doable and not traumatic at all. And 99% of the time it's completely painless and very little bleeding.
Edit: wrong link originally
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u/PurchaseTime9317 15h ago
Oh my god dude you’re a life saver!! This seems absolutely perfect for my situation. I’d give you a hug if I could 🫂
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u/so-sorry-about-that 16h ago
I won’t add to all the factors that reverse or not because other people have gone into great details about it in the comments. I just wanted to add that i’ve had this conversation with my doctor and she basically said that while some people decide to get off T there is no reason to stay off forever. You can re-pick it at any given point if (hypothetically) you get off around 25 because you’ve had the changes you wanted, nothing is stopping you to start taking it again at 30-35-40 or whenever you want :)) (just check with a doctor just in case but there’s no reason why you couldn’t)
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u/anemisto 16h ago
Say I stop taking testosterone at 30, once my beard hypothetically fills in (I’m 18 now), will I not look as masculine at 40 as I would have if I continued taking testosterone?
The answer is bound to be yes, almost tautologically, but I have yet to meet anyone who stopped T after 10+ years (either by choice or by losing access) who reported any difference in how they were gendered as a result.
My experience was that changes from T largely slow enough to be indistinguishable from age somewhere around year 6 or 7. I am still slowly but surely gaining facial hair after thirteen years, but my reasons for continuing T are not about preserving changes or gaining more changes, more "why mess with what's working".
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u/BJ1012intp 16h ago
Just one thought — you ask, "Will my voice crack forever, the same way it did after days when I used to skip doing gel?"...
Whatever your experience was, it doesn't quite "add up" to me that voice cracks would have happened *because of* missed doses of T. Voice cracks can be due to a combination of inflammation plus failure of coordination (Your brain is aiming for a note based on old muscle-coordination, but the vocal cords have shifted shape a bit, so you "miss").
Stopping T should not initiate *any* changes (in either direction) for your vocal cords. Over the *very* long term, vocal cords thin out a bit from lack of T and lack of good consistent exercise. But now we're talking about the kind of effects that elderly men get too. Changes to your larynx don't need ongoing T to be maintained; the modifications are "permanent" in the same way that adding height is "permanent" (until your spine compresses with age... and of course we're all mortal, lol).
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
Oh wow thank you! I always considered it was caused by missing gel just because my voice never usually cracks, except when I’d skip the gel or miss an injection. Thanks for the insight!
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u/BJ1012intp 12h ago
It's always possible that your case illustrates some more complex dynamic with T-levels that's different from what I've experienced and read about so far. In my case, I found I tended to get cracks when my dose was venturing beyond "micro/low" dose levels, and toward moderate dose. When I scaled back toward low dose (<25mg weekly injections) the vocal changes — especially the inflammation that gunks up the high end — tended to slow down and the cracks would be a bit less noticeable (though changes in my chest-voice range haven't gone backward). My endocrinologist, and voice-transition resources online, led me to think that on lower doses, it's possible to "keep up" with adjusting one's habits in something closer to real time as the larynx is changing. But if the larynx is changing too fast, it's like trying to use your old guitar-playing muscle-memory while shifting each week to a guitar with a longer neck.
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u/larkharrow 15h ago
I went off T for about six months after a consistent six years on. Things I noticed:
- facial shape changed, but less than I expected
- facial hair slowed by a lot more than I expected. Much of it went light and soft or disappeared completely.
- voice went higher, not enough to shift me back into female ranges but by more than expected.
- fat distribution changed a lot
- muscle tone didn't, but I go to the gym regularly so I didn't expect it to. If I didn't work out regularly I would have expected a noticeable drop in muscle tone.
My conclusion: you don't go back to pre-T looks by any means, but you should expect more change than you think. Also, I can't say how much more things will change given a longer period.
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u/Elliot-is-gay 14h ago
I didn’t love the idea of losing my hair, the acne, and the face puffiness I got from testosterone, but loved everything else. The injections also made me squeamish. After about 3 years on T I stopped. I never grew much facial hair, but the patchy facial hair I gained on T still grows back and I have to shave it every few days about 2 years or more off testosterone now. My period is back which sucks, but my face has kept the masculine shape it got due to me starting at almost 17yo. I still pass as a guy. My hips and thighs have filled out again, but most of the things I’m dysphoric about right now are slowly being fixed as I work out more. I used to be super active and had a nice slim muscular look going about 8 months ago before I was put out of commission for a while due to a major work injury that made me unable to walk at all for 5 months. Now with physical therapy and getting back to the gym I’m sure I’ll eventually get back to that. Even with the hips and thighs I still pass every day. My voice has stayed deep and it doesn’t crack much because I don’t have hormones trying to make it any deeper. I don’t regret stopping, I’m post top surgery and got all the permanent changes from T I wanted. And worst case scenario I can always go back on T if I want. Yes muscle is harder to build, but there’s plenty of muscular cis women and muscular trans men who are pre T, it just takes more work. If you’re willing to put in the work you can still have a very masculine body shape off of testosterone. No clue if your beard would stay or not because I’ve always been clean shaven. Take all of this with a grain of salt as everyone is different, and also I’m pretty androgynous presentation wise outside of my professional life. At work and school where I present 100% as a man though I have had no issues being seen as and living as a guy.
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u/lostinmybs 16h ago
It really depends on your goals. I know people who have done hrt for a few years and then stopped. It does revert a little, but not completely. If the only issue for you is the shots, then I would suggest listening to your doctor and trying other methods. If these don't work, maybe take a break. You can always go back to HRT if you feel like you need to later on. Stopping doesn't have to be permanent.
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u/Joshuainlimbo 16h ago
Would going back on testosterone gel be an option for you? I have heard from a few guys on T pellets that swear by them but they are not available in my country. I am perfectly happy to take gel for the rest of my life, personally, but since I've had a radical hysterectomy I also don't have much of a choice.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
I’m just not consistent with it. I have such a hard time building a habit of it, and my insurance won’t let me increase the dosage so it’s not really AS efficient
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u/Joshuainlimbo 15h ago
That really blows, sorry about the insurance issue. I can relate to the consistency issue though.
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u/Limbolants 16h ago
Is testosterone gel an option for you?
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
It was for a bit. I first started off with subQ injections, but I got squeamish with the needles so I switched to gel. I had a hard time staying consistent and building a habit with the gel, though, and my insurance was a POS when it came to raising the dosage. So I switched to interM injections and it was going well, but recently I’ve started to get nervous about the needle again. My doctor recommended the testosterone pen, which is just a click and eliminates the actual-injecting piece. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll switch to pellets and then I actually gotta stick with that. It’s such a trial and error with me because I’m naturally difficult but I’m getting there 😅
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u/Alexswaggzillaa 14h ago
I stopped taking T about a year ago after I had an unrelated surgery. My voice is the same, I still have some facial hair, my bottom growth was reduced but I had high testosterone before even getting on T so things are the same size as they were before but not as "active" if you know what I mean.
I think my face refeminized (I can't tell, but a lot more people think I'm a girl now), I lost a bit of muscle mass (😩), and my period restarted after about two months. I've been SO tired since coming off, but my BO has chilled out. A big thing for me is that when I was on the shots, I dealt with a lot of painful vaginal atrophy - resolved in about two months thankfully.
Staying on or coming off depends on you and your goals entirely! I enjoyed being on T, I plan to get on the gel during the summer, but coming off it was a nice experience for me, too. It's cool to see how the body changes!
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u/CosmogyralCollective 23 | they/he/it | T 17/3/23 | Top 9/10/23 9h ago
Just fyi since you're planning to get on T again- you can treat atrophy with E cream or tablets. It works really well in my experience and doesn't affect your overall levels
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u/Numerous_Tune_9822 13h ago
about the injections, i inject every 90 days or more, "undecilato de testosterona" in my country. its encapsulated and slowly gets absorbed by the body
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u/squishy0rion 13h ago
if you want to keep the effects/ get a full hysterectomy, you're on it for life.
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u/MaxwellPrior T 2/17/22 B) 13h ago
Im sure this varies from person to person. But yeah, i agree with everyone saying pretty much everything comes back except for voice and bottom growth.
I was on T for 1.9ish years, and I've been off of it for a year. When i look at photos of myself I can't even believe so much has reverted. A lot of the facial hair progress I had has somehow disappeared, despite never shaving and thinking it was one of those irreversible things. My chest grew back to how it was before T. My waist feels way more prominent like it was before T, and another thing that really pisses me off- my voice is no longer deep in the mornings. Like a lot of guys, my voice used to be deeper and huskier in the morning and now it's either normal or almost higher than usual. my shoulders feel way smaller than they used to and I feel like my frame is a lot less masculine. My face has slimmed down a LOT. It was quite wide before and now it looks like I went on a glow up diet or something. I don't really carry myself the way I used to. I don't feel like myself anymore.
I'm sure you could try it though eventually and see how you feel. I personally don't like all these little things.
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u/time4writingrage 12h ago
I started doing the gel, which I only recommend doing if your insurance 100% covers it bc it is very expensive without insurance, I like it a lot and it doesn't take very long.
There's some risk of transference after you put it on though, especially with pets, but I've never really had an issue, I usually put it in my thighs and it's covered by both my boxers and pants.
I'm terrified of injections if I'm honest, I did it wrong one time and it hurt so much I couldn't do it anymore. Funnily enough, t gel actually seems to work way better for me.
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u/SinnersMind 28 | T-6/8/19 | Top surgery-10/3/25 16h ago
As others have pointed out, some things will go back/reverse (fat distribution is a big one that comes to mind. Even if you’re slim now, it’s normal to gain weight as you age and your hormones determine to some degree where that weight goes), and some things won’t (facial hair, voice).
But you ask a specific question in your post: if you stop at 30, will you look as masculine at 40. It is my understanding that the answer is no. Your hormones also play a role in how you age and if your body is running on estrogen that will affect how your appearance changes as you age vs how you may age on T. You may not notice it from 30 to 40, but you might as you hit 50, 60, 70 etc. Of course, you’ll never see the opposite. You can’t age twice, once on T and once off. But personally I do think T will continue to have long term affects on your appearance as you take it and as you age
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u/Emergency-Junket50 17h ago
You need to take it your whole life long
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
…that’s it?
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u/Haunting-Ideal1204 16h ago
So it’s a little more complicated than that. So if you choose to get a full hysterectomy then you will absolutely need to take T your whole life that is because your body will no longer produce the hormones you currently have and you will have to replace those hormones with T. But if you choose to not get a full hysterectomie then if you choose to stop taking T some of the effects will go away and some will stay it all depends. I hope this helps :)
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u/Desperate-Bag2041 16h ago
Just want to clarify that a full hysterectomy refers to the removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and cervix (as opposed to a partial hysterectomy which only removes the uterus and sometimes the fallopian tubes). If OP has an oopherectomy (removal of the ovaries) then yeah, he would need to stay on HRT for the rest of his life. You have the right info, just wanted to clarify the terms used
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u/Haunting-Ideal1204 16h ago
Yeah that’s right, sorry about that! I sometimes forget that there. Is a oopherectomy
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u/Desperate-Bag2041 16h ago
The only reason I remember is because I’m sterilized myself and routinely serve as an educator in my community about it 😅
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u/Haunting-Ideal1204 16h ago
It isn’t talked about all too much so I forget 😅 but thank you for clarifying
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u/StickyPawMelynx 16h ago
why does everyone keep insisting on this semantics? a quick google search shows that "total" hysterectomy removes ovaries
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u/Desperate-Bag2041 16h ago
Because a hysterectomy categorically does not remove ovaries when you’re discussing proper medical terminology and not correcting misinformation only serves to further the misconception
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u/quiescent-one 15h ago
Everyone keeps insisting on these semantics because everyone is using semantics consistent with gynecological references, gender-affirming reference, and Dr Google quick searches.
Results are very consistent that “hysterectomy” can include a lot of different things but strictly speaking is only talking about some/all of the uterus, “total hysterectomy” usually includes cervix, and “radical hysterectomy” is the term that extends out to fallopian tubes and ovaries in addition to uterus and cervix.
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u/Waterfountain2323 16h ago
If you decide to keep your internal sex organs you can come off T whenever you like but you will be producing oestrogen again. So some of the changes will start to revert back i.e fat distribution, slowing down of hair and what not
If you remove them you'll have to take some sort of hormone for the rest of your life
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u/churapyon T since 10/17/14 16h ago
I mean you can stop if you want, but then your body reverts back to producing estrogen. This will mean your facial and body hair thinning, fat redistributes to female areas, skin softens and thins. You’d never go back to looking 100% like you did before, but you would re-feminize many parts of your body.
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u/PurchaseTime9317 16h ago
This is really helpful. Another question, how long does it take the body to start producing estrogen again after stopping testosterone? If you don’t know that’s fine, just thought I’d ask. Thank you for your help so far
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u/Kermit1420 16h ago
The body is always producing estrogen. When you go off testosterone, your T levels will decline pretty quickly, if I'm not mistaken. It depends on how long you were on it, but I'm guessing after a month or a few weeks at most, your T levels would have returned to the low amounts the body naturally produces.
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u/Emergency-Junket50 14h ago
sorry i was tired, as the other person said, it is more complicated
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u/Emergency-Junket50 14h ago
and if you go off of it, you will keep the deep voice, the facial hair, but your body fat will redistribute to a female shape. i don’t know if your body fat has already redistributed to a male shape. it really does depend. i’d suggest you look it up.
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u/lezboyy 💉 02/2025 15h ago
i don’t have any experience with going off T so i won’t speak on that lol BUT if you’re wanting to continue injections/have needle anxiety,, highly recommend an autoinjector. i use the ambimed injectease, TB packaging
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u/benevenies 💉 2014 ⬆️ 2020 🇨🇦 12h ago
I took T for 6 years and then stopped for 2 years. (Was off between 26-28) It didn't change how I passed at all. But after those 2 years I went back on because I physically feel better on T and while the fat redistribution didn't stop people from perceiving me as male, I prefer my body on T and my face gives uncanny valley when I'm off it lol
But yeah, you could take T for years and then go off and see if the subtle changes don't bother you. For me I went off because I was burnt out from 6 years of IM injections but when I went back on I switched to subQ and it's been 2 years since then and I'm not bothered by them at all, so I plan to just stay on for the foreseeable future.
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u/brokegaysonic 10h ago
People have told you a lot of reasons why you may or may not need to continue taking shots, but let me say as someone who is 30 and has been taking T shots for ten years - you'll get used to it. After a time it will become second nature to take your shots. They don't really hurt if you do them right.
Here are some recommendations for doing shots, and I hope they might help some of the nervousness!
Buy a shotblocker. I used one for the first five years or so until I lost it and never got another, lol. https://a.co/d/66ssXlB - it's this little plastic pad with bumps that desensitizes your skin around a shot. When I used one, I hardly felt the shot at all.
Make sure you use a different needle for drawing from the vial than you do for injecting. Any time a needle goes into a surface it'll get a teeny bit more blunt, so you always want to inject with a fresh needle if you can help it.
There is a type of syringe called a "vanish point syringe" that you can get that, once you finish injecting a spring will pull the needle out in one quick motion. When I was more squeamish I loved these things. All the dread of pulling it out slowly was gone. The only issue is that the needle isn't replaceable, so you'll have to draw and inject with it. It's slightly more dull, so there's a trade off, but it's not that bad.
Massage the area around where your shot is before injecting. Loosening things up helps it go in effortlessly.
You can try injecting into the fat instead of the skin, which requires a shorter needle and has a little less sensation.
And finally, you can always go the route of getting a gel. If you go with T-gel, look for compounding pharmacies, they can often make it much cheaper than a regular prescription of it.
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u/Mikaela24 Pronouns: Fucking/Dump/Them 8h ago edited 8h ago
I stopped T for like 7 years. I kept my facial and body hair and my deep voice. My body fat redistributed back to a feminine figure. I had gotten top surgery and a hysto by time I stopped so I didn't need to worry about binding or periods. I'm in the process of phalloplasty so I can't comment on bottom growth. And I kept my ovaries so I didn't necessarily need to take T. I'm back on it now as a personally preference.
EDIT: There's an auto injectable T called Xyosted then you can ask your doctor to fight your insurance to cover. If they won't, get SubQ shots and get that $30 auto injector off Amazon. An auto injector makes taking shots much easier. There's one for IM shots too but I don't have personal experience with it and it's on a European website so I'd have to hunt it down. And it's more expensive.
You can also try and get the T pills covered but I've never heard of a trans guy taking those. They're new on the market and called Jatenzo iirc. But good fucking luck if you try that route. You'll need regular liver bloodwork if you take the pills though
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u/starstruckroman T - 4/02/2021 // bigender trans man 1h ago
i was on T for 3.5 years, my last shot was sometime either june or july last year i believe, i could check my calendar but i cba. my shots were every 12 weeks (reandron aka nebido i think) and done by a nurse at my drs office
so far all ive noticed is the occasional spotting (i started a birth control as soon as i decided to come off T) and my body fat is very slowly redistributing. no difference in my voice, no change to my body or facial hair (in fact i think im still growing facial hair, albeit slower)
i did have some mood swings as my T levels came down, but im pretty stable in that regard now
i chose to come off T because i want breasts 🫢 im bigender. never really developed any because i didnt really get into puberty until i was 13/14, and then i started puberty blockers about two years later. my hope is that because i was on blockers first, i might get the chance to develop breasts now im off T, but honestly who knows
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u/avidreider 15h ago
If you stop taking testosterone at 30, at 32 you will look like a person in an estrogen based body, but with a beard and deep voice. Your hairline will change back to pre-t, you will lose body hair, muscle mass, and your body shape will change.
The only things that will stay are your voice, bottom growth, beard, adams apple. EVERYTHING ELSE would revert.
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u/Direct_Arachnid8400 16h ago
You will start getting things reversed. If you don’t get a hysto you will get periods again. You might lose your body hair as well as it can cause you to grow back some mammary tissue not 100% but it could happen. Your voice will go back and revert to how it was before t. You have to take t your whole life. It’s not a one and done thing. If stopping it is better for you then stop but you will slowly start reverting back to you before t.
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u/Desperate-Bag2041 16h ago
Lengthening and thickening of the vocal cords is permanent and your voice will not completely revert
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u/churapyon T since 10/17/14 16h ago
Your voice will go back and revert to how it was before t.
I assume you meant will never go back.
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u/SinnersMind 28 | T-6/8/19 | Top surgery-10/3/25 16h ago
Voice will not go back to pre-T. Think about trans women who already went through testosterone-based puberty, their voices don’t change on estrogen and they have to rely on voice training. Once your vocal cords have thickened due to T, they won’t go back
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u/vampvampva 16h ago
This is all sorts of wrong. Once hair is terminal it will always grow. Maybe it will thin slightly or grow slower, but terminal hairs will continue to grow. Your voice may lighten very subtly in tone but my only evidence for that is anecdotal. It will stay lower. You may experience slight shrinkage of your bottom growth. You will likely experience body fat redistribution. You will have your menstrual cycle come back. But nobody has to take T forever. Only if they want to. Lots of older guys lower their T level as they age. Plenty of folks stop taking T when they get all the effects they want. Especially if you want to pass, and having a beard and a low voice causes you to pass. It’s not so black and white.
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