Hi, Dani. I’ve been studying your thread here with interest! I started living as a woman 24/7 last July, immediately after coming out to my doctors, friends and family (and getting universal support). My endocrinologist prescribed spiro straight off, saying that my age (69) mandated a slow approach toward full HRT. On his time schedule, I should be getting an orchi sometime mid-year 2023. Once the source of the nasty “T” is purged, he will prescribe actual hormones – on a lower than “usual” dosage, since there will be zero “T” to compete against. Those are his conditions – again, driven by my age – for him prescribing HRT at all. He has never mentioned any “live in the role for a year” requirement, although I have heard that is an “old school” requirement, still invoked in some places. In any case, if my orchi happens this summer, as I hope, I will have been living as Dana for about a year.
In case you’re curious, I have had absolutely NO “bad” reactions to the spiro. If anything, I feel a bit of joy each day swallowing those pills, knowing I am just that little bit closer to being the “she” I want to be. OK, I guess I should mention that spiro is a diuretic, which either your doctor told you or you have already discovered for yourself. Having to pee a bit more frequently is, to me, a very small inconvenience (electrolysis is orders of magnitude more trying!).
