I started sneaking birth control pills back in 2002, and that did not really do much. My stuff had stopped working back in the early 90's. So in 2004, when I started taking the real stuff, it was spiro and 2mg/day of estrodial. In April of 2005, I got the castration, and after SRS they put me on Vivelle .1 patches which deliver around 4 mg a week. I'd had an extremely dangerous ecoli infection after SRS and they felt that my liver and kidneys were compromised enough to warrant the added expense of the Vivelle patches. Interestingly, I'd not had much breast growth prior to the patches, but after, even on the much reduced estrogen dose, my breasts grew to a B+ in short order. They'll always look like teen breasts, (no sag) and I often do not wear a bra unless I want some modesty or am hiking. Yes, an unfettered breast can really hinder jarring movement.

I've known a couple people taking 20 mg a day of estrodial, and frankly they were simply starkers bonkers for doing so. They had the sorts of stability problems you'd expect.

Do be reasonable in your expecations about HRT and SRS. Neither will make you a playboy center fold.

Much peace

K