Some updates (02/17/2009), prices on the hormone shots went up to $52 a box (10 shots) I am now at one shot a week and the weight gain isn't all that bad........mood swings are. Between the hormones and my laser treatment, only shave once a week now. Butt looks fine, and I am filling up an 'a' cup............ Like most of us, I have always wanted to have real boobs. Stuffing your bra, or wearing falsies just isn't the same. Besides, with some outfits you just need to have cleavage. The ideal way of doing it is to go see a doctor and have regular check up's. While this is the right and safe way of doing things, it is not always possible for all of us. The other option is to self-medicate, and even thou this is not the 'right' way, for me it is the only option at this point. I spent endless hours reading and researching everything I could find on hormone replacement and estrogen, and other related material. I have been on and off estrogen for a couple of years now with varied results. Obtaining the drugs isn't hard with the help of the internet and overseas pharmacies, but information on which one's to take and how much isn't that easy. I deal only with Inhouse Pharmacy anymore, they have lots of info on the different type of drugs in their transgender section to help you decide, and their service and prices are the best I have found. I started off about 4 years ago by taking Premarin, 2.5mg a day. Not much, but just a little to get started and to see what if anything it would do for me. After a few months I added 2mg of Estrofem (the pill) since I didn't seem to notice anything yet. That seemed to help and I started to notice that my body hair was getting lighter and I didn't have to shave as much anymore. I also started to gain some weight in my butt and my chest did get fuller. Not enough for anyone to notice but me, but I was happy with the slight changes. At this point I could have increased the dosage to speed things up, but I already found one side effect. My sex drive was going away and it was harder to get an erection. Instead I chose to ad a testosterone blocker called Siterone (Cyproterone acetate), 50mg of it every other day. Way too much, and the wrong thing. They don't call it the 'castration pill' for no reason. After just two weeks, it was impossible to get an erection, and I had no interest in sex at all. Needless to say, I discontinued that one right away. In fact, at that point I decided to stop hormones all together, partly because I wanted to see if the effects where permanent or not, but also because I started Laser Hair treatment on my face and chest and needed my hair to grow in regular cycles. At this point I was about 2 years into it, had maybe an 'a' cup, a round butt that doesn't look too bad in a bikini or shorts. Also during that time I tried estrogen patches. Didn't like them that much, kind of uncomfortable and inconvenient, and in order to get enough dosage, you pretty much have to use 2 or 3 at a time. Not cost effective either, and they do tend to come off during a shower, no matter what they may claim on the box. I gave the leftovers to a friend, and she just loves them. Recently I decided to start my self treatment again. Premarin is now only sold in .625mg pills, so that pretty much makes it hard to take 4 or 5mg's a day, which is what I decided to work towards. Estrofem is still the same and I am taking one a day along with one .625mg Premarin. I added a new product called Sandrena. It comes in 1mg doses, and is a gel that you apply to your arm daily. It gets absorbed into your body in a matter of minutes, and since it goes right to the source, your body doesn't filter out most of it in your liver. Better for your health and you are actually getting all the meds so you don't have to take as much. I have been doing that for a couple of weeks now, so there are really no results yet, it takes a while to notice changes. If you spend any time around TG's, you are sure to hear about hormone shots, hard to find, but the way to go, is usually what you hear. I have seen prices from $20 a shot to over $200, don't let anyone rip you off. It is not that bad or hard to find. I just got my shipment from Inhouse Pharmacy, 10 - 1ml amps for $42. Regular treatment for HRT for women is one a month, so even if you shoot one every two weeks, you still get 5 months worth for next to nothing. I have heard of girls shooting once a week, but I think that's a little much. I am doing the bi-weekly thing for now. The shots come in glass amps and don't include syringes, which had me worried at first. Then I found out that syringes are 19 cents at CVS. I took them an amp to find out what size I need, and ended up with 3ml 23g needle. Next problem was the glass amp, how do I get to the good stuff? After some research I found out the good and bad about glass amps. The good thing is that they are hard to counterfeit and are more likely to be sterile. The bad thing is that they are tricky to open without breaking the glass and ruining the liquid. The trick is to file a tiny 'groove' around the skinny part of the amp and it will snap right off. I used a metal nail file, and all you do is scratch it a little all the way around, takes two seconds. Now, if you never given yourself a shot before, you might want to get some help from a nurse or something, but it really isn't all that hard. First off, it is a intra-muscular shot, meaning it goes into the muscle. You don't have to find a vein, in fact you don't want to. Take care to draw the liquid into the syringe, tilt the amp to get all of it, and don't worry about the air for now. Then, just like you see on TV, with the needle pointing up, slowly push the air out till you have nothing but liquid. The plunger should be on 1ml at that point, some liquid will come out of the needle and there should be no air bubbles. Take your time! Then clean of an area on you butt with alcohol, should be the upper third of the cheek. Hold the syringe like a dart and jab it in, don't try to push slowly, it will not work. The needle needs to go in all the way and it needs to go fast. Try to hit at a right angle to your skin. Now that it is in (looks strange, doesn't it), pull the plunger just a little. If you see blood entering the syringe, stop, you hit a vein (doesn't happen much). Try another place. If there is no blood, slowly push the plunger till it stops, you will probably feel a little click,  pull the needle out and cover the area with an alcohol swab, a little pressure and you are done. It also helps to massage the area a little while holding the alcohol swab to distribute the liquid. A few little things about hormone shots. You will gain weight, and not all in the right places. You are still a man, and the first place it goes is your stomach. So, unless you think it is sexy to have a beer belly, exercise, eat right, cut down on the alcohol and chips. If you think I am kidding, think again, every hormone shot will add 10 pounds to you and it will hang over your tight mini like a rag. At least do some sit-ups or crunches every day. Remember, weight is easier to keep of then it is to take off. The other thing is mental. You will experience mood swings, fast and extreme. You will probably find yourself crying over nothing from time to time, it's all part of the game. Get a t-shirt with '0 to bitch in 5 seconds' on the front and back.........