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this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2025
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Asklemmy
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I know this is the place to ask but I still feel shy so I'm sorry first-hand. I've read that people transitioning with estrogen seem to get an increased libido than when they just had their testosterone libido, but did change how frequently you want to do that self indulgence to get a release or is it around the same frequency, just more intense desire? Also, did that make any changes to how you want your partner to touch you? Not just about foreplay, but where the actual play would be. Last question is did your prostate get more sensitive to stimulation from anal stuff or did it not change/got less sensitive? Sorry if this is too personal
I think this is all extremely variable from person to person and can't really be generalized, including the libido thing. Transition brings unusually deep change, including to sexuality, but the way it plays out is extremely individual
+1, all of it is very individual and your mileage may vary
There are some patterns or common ways people are (like, it's not exactly surprising when a trans woman doesn't want to top and take a penetrative role in sex), but there is so much variation it's best not to assume.
No worries, these are personal questions but that's what I've signed up for.
The answer is that it varies significantly. It's not uncommon for trans women to experience a reduction of libido on estrogen, but I experienced increased arousal and libido (much to my dismay, I wanted libido to reduce). However, I think viewing libido as just "more" vs "less" does not portray the changes accurately. Testosterone libido felt different, more desperate and animal-like. It was like a simple biological urge, like hunger or the need to pass a bowel movement. It felt imposed on me, and like a hijacking of "me".
Estrogen libido was deeper and more meaningful, more emotionally connected and harder to just stamp out. Testosterone libido was like performing a duty, estrogen libido was like yearning, pining, burning lust. Estrogen libido feels right, testosterone libido felt awful (to the point where I wondered if I was on the asexual spectrum).
The further into transition I got, the more my dissociation melted and the more dysphoria I experienced as a result - and in this case, the more I experienced bottom dysphoria. I started to wear underwear to bed to hide my genitals, and I started to recognize when I was dissociating during sex, and trying to avoid it by opting to not be touched. I couldn't stand being the center of attention in sex, focusing on me and my orgasm was very upsetting and usually I disappeared when this happened.
All this varies significantly among trans women - many of them feel no bottom dysphoria at all, and enjoy topping. Many of us feel varying levels of dysphoria, and either cannot use their genitals at all, or very little.
I was a middle case - I could have sex, but it required accommodations and working around my issues, usually by hiding the genitals and treating them more like female genitals (treating the glans like a clit, and so on). I found using a vibrator much more pleasurable on estrogen than before transition, and I really did not like having erections so I did everything I could to promote penile atrophy (but ultimately I didn't have much penile atrophy - I would have trouble being hard enough for penetrating, but still technically could sometimes). This was all pre-op, obviously post-op sex changed significantly - I am finding I am surprisingly more comfortable now being the center of sexual attention, though I still have dysphoria and there are struggles I have to work around (like feeling my new genitals are like the old ones).
I'm not sure my prostate changed much at all, to be honest. I didn't notice any difference, but post-op, vaginal penetration is prostate stimulating and featured more heavily. (Anal took more prep and time to do and could be painful, so it was admittedly done less frequently. Also, it could introduce gender feelings in a way, which could increase my dysphoria - sometimes gender-affirming activities can emphasize how much I'm not a woman, and can ironically backfire and make things worse.)
Sorry for making such personal questions, but I'm very grateful for your answers!! My partner wants to transition when he feels safe and the more he talks about it the more curious I've become about it but I was afraid I might regret it, but your experiences are really good to know beforehand! I think I'm going to experiment more with how I present my gender but I am feeling much more comfortable with stepping up to hormone therapy! Thank you very very much!! And once again, sorry for the intimate questions
no worries at all, and I always encourage people to start with HRT because it's fairly low risk, can be stopped early, if it's not working or doesn't feel good, without any long-term effects, and can have such an immensely positive effect when it is helpful. I felt like I made a mistake waiting so long to start HRT, estrogen was life changing for me. Plenty of trans folks don't feel any mood or mental change when they start HRT, though - so remember your experiences can be different.