Day One.

So...

I stuck on my first Oestrogen  patch tonight. I didn't expect it to have much of an effect straight away , especially as doctors keep denying any kinds of psychological changes at all, but as others have said it did on them I was at least prepared. I'm so grateful for that.

Now, I should probably preface this by saying your mileage will probably vary. I used to have severe eczema, and have very, very fair and soft skin, mostly from forty years or so of throwing every lotion and potion at it I could that purported to help. Consequently it's quite possible that I take in things through my skin much more readily than your average man and/or woman.

So I had a bath, made sure I was good and dry, selected, as directed a hair-free spot below my waist (no mean feat in itself, I'm like a damn faun) and slapped the thing on. It wasn't quite how I expected it to be, just a sheet of clear cellophane with nothing apparently on it but glue. Initially I was more concerned with it not coming off overnight . Have you  any idea how difficult it is to find a three inch square flat part of the body, that won't be under elastic at any point? Eventually  I slapped it on my thigh and pulled an unflattering pair of pyjama shorts on over the top to stop it coming off in those first few hours. Went to sleep about midnight with my hand resting on it protectively.

Woke up about three am feeling... Well, drunk, is about the best way I can think of to describe it. Lest anyone think that was what it was, I should add I don't drink much at all. One with Sunday lunch is about my lot. The last time I got properly drunk was about ten years ago, when I sat on a toilet at my friend's house, realised I needed to vomit and tried to stand up to rush to the sink, slipped, and broke a rib on the edge of it, whilst spraying his bathroom walls a lovely Guinness-black. Kind of put me off.

My head was pounding, I was sweating and my body was hot and aching and tingling all over. If I'd shaken and split open down the middle while a new me stepped out and shook itself I wouldn't have been in the least surprised at that point. Pressingly, though, I also really needed to pee, or I'd have just stayed in bed and groaned. I managed to clamber out of bed and into the bathroom, but before I made it to the toilet I fell into the bath, scattering bottles everywhere, landing on my back with my feet hanging over the edge.

The bath felt so cool against my skin I actually think I went to sleep (rather than passing out, I don't know how that's different but in my head it matters) for a couple of minutes. Then I roused myself. I can't lie here in the bath for the rest of the night. The cat already thinks I'm enough of a loony for getting in it when there's water in it. Managed to stagger up and out and to the toilet where I peed for about half an hour. I swear I hadn't drunk that much in a week. Maybe I was so drunk I don't remember drinking it? Or buying it. Or carrying it home. Man, that would be some binge.

Cooled by the excursion, at least, I crawled back to my bed, where I just dealt with the pins-and-needles and the slightly woozy head. The former has gone away, but my brain still feels a little as though it has come loose. I'm afraid to waggle my head around too much in case I can hear it sloshing.

So, anyone else get this? Or am I just a unique special snowflake?