# so if a guy starts taking the pill:

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 1, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862 "2004-03-01T04:33:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![charade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@charade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charade)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862/1 "2004-03-01T04:33:23Z")

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what would happen in say…a month?

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862/2 "2004-03-01T05:11:34Z")

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I’ve heard of transsexuals doing this, but I don’t know if that’s really the appropriate approach to the desired hormonal change. So, I’m curious, too.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862/3 "2004-03-01T05:52:35Z")

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Not too much would happen in one month. But, over time, a number of effects would result such as:

- decreased beard growth
- improved complexion (!)
- probably decreased libido & erections (but not necessarily)
- shrinkage of the testes
- decreased muscle bulk
- decreased aggression (possibly)
- some breast enlargement

Some of these effects are due to the estrogen content _per se_ of the BCP, and some are due to the secondary, resultant lack of testosterone (i.e. the presence of estrogen turns off the body’s production of testerone).

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**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-a-guy-starts-taking-the-pill/231862/4 "2004-03-05T12:43:53Z")

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> [@charade](#):
>
> what would happen in say…a month?

Not much. The hormone levels in birth control pills are too small to have any significant feminization effect. The progestins, however, would probably make him somewhat cranky.

Transsexuals are routinely warned not to attempt to use birth control pills to self-medicate. It’s not effective and it’s dangerous. Typical birth control pills contain around 35 micrograms of estrogen (some “low dose” versions have 25 micrograms). My hormone replacement regimen, which is at the low end of the therapeutically effective dose (I’m lucky in that regard) is 2.5 milligrams (orally) per day, or 2500 micrograms. That’s the equivalent of over 70 birth control pills. If you ate an entire pack of birth control pills every day, you **might** see feminization effects after three or four months. (It took me three months to develop distinguishable breasts on 2.5 mg/day of conjugated estrogens, which was faster than is usual. It would take longer on a lower dose.) And the progestins that you’d get from eating that entire pack of day would have serious side-effects.

For a single pill a day, you won’t see any effect at all from the estrogens (certainly not those listed by **KarlGauss** ), but the progestins will probably cause their own little set of problems. Progestins are nasty.