I'll have been on hrt for 1 month in 3 days, it's been pretty nice. My symptoms were never crippling, but I've gone from being essentially dead inside to being able to feel a sense of wonder at the sunset <3 I was very worried that it wouldn't help as most accounts I've read about trans peoples experiences are from people with more severe symptoms, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Im assuming you're on T since you mentioned gel? I'll usually put on a muscle shirt in the morning and change once it's dried or roll up one of the sleeves of a Tshirt.
Many trans fem folk find it hard to get their preferred E levels with gel alone, and micro-dosing E isn't as popular with trans fem folk as microdosing T is with trans folk, so you don't hear gel talked about much. But for some people, gel is enough to meet their needs, and for others, it's the only option that works for them.
It also sometimes gets used as a supplemental form of HRT. When I was on oral estrogen for example, I couldn't get my E levels where I needed them to be through pills alone, so I took a supplemental gel in addition to the pills.