Ian Morris, 41, who has changed his name to Jean, admitted possessing nearly 2 kg of the powerful ketamine with intent to supply.
But his defence said he was about to start hormone treatment and would find it 'particularly difficult' if he was sent to a male prison, according to a report in The Sun.
If the treatment was stopped now and the accused was awarded a custodial sentence she would find herself back at square one, Morris' defence said.
Judge Mark Horton agreed and let him walk free from Bristol Crown Court with a suspended 11-month jail term.
He told Morris - who was referred to as "Miss Morris" throughout the proceedings, "I am in no doubt that you have led something of a nightmare existence as a transsexual for the entirety of your life. The result is you have walked something of a sexual tightrope, leading to an extremely sad and depressing existence."
"The reality is this is your final chance to change difficult areas of your sexuality. You have received Government funding and if I send you to prison I would be sentencing you to a continuation of your sexual nightmare, possibly forever," the judge noted.
Prosecutor George Threlfall told the court that the police intercepted deliveries of ketamine sent from two addresses in Goa to Morris' flat.
The two packages, which were seized at Bristol's Mount Pleasant post office, contained a total of 1.96 kg of the hallucinogenic Class C drug, at around 80 per cent pure.
"The defendant signed for them and concealed them. They actually contained fructose, because police had intercepted them. After the delivery police entered his property and found he had concealed the two packages," Threlfall said.
He told the police that he had agreed to receive the parcels and claimed he was asked to pass them on to a friend.
Defending lawyer Anna Vigars, who referred to the accused as a woman, said, "Next Monday she is going to a Charing Cross clinic to undergo an assessment and start hormone treatment. Your honour is dealing with Miss Morris half way through a long and complicated process."
Vigars said Morris' early years were dominated by his gender difficulties and had prompted him to steal women's clothes. He changed his name to Jean in September 2009 and had lived as a woman for the last three years.
"She hopes to take hormone treatment from next Monday, and after that to undergo significant operations. If that process is halted now, at the end of the custodial sentence she would find herself back at square one," Vigars said.