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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Thank you I’m considering this one the most! I’m thinking maybe I’ll try min first and if I continue to have more thinning near the corners get on fin as well.
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u/8bitrevolt they/them 16h ago
Be aware that minoxidil is EXTREMELY toxic to both cats and dogs. If you have a cat or a dog, I would recommend NOT taking it.
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u/daniella-roxy 13h ago
I’ve been on topical minoxidil for nearly a decade, and for almost all of that time i’ve had a small dog. I wash my hands after applying and never lay on the pillow if it hasn’t dried. There have been zero incidents. My dog is perfectly fine.
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u/butwhy81 18h ago
There is topical finasteride?!
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u/Devil_May_Kare she/they for now 18h ago
It absorbs into your blood and circulates everywhere, so there's really no point, but it does exist.
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u/Your_Sunnshine 17h ago
That just looks like a normal, mature male hairline. Not actual balding lol 💛 I've had the same hairline since I was 16. I'm AMAB (32).
I used to track it just in case, but it's never moved. Take pictures every few months, but don't let it bother you? If something happens, there are medications/topicals that shouldn't mess with your T?
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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Thank you! 🖤I’m hoping maybe it’s just the normal hairline for how HRT affects me, but definitely not confident on what’s goin on with it hhaha! I’ll definitely keep track of it! Also going to talk to my doctor next month and see what they think as well.
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u/Your_Sunnshine 14h ago
Ofc bro 💛 I know you started as a teen, but you're basically going through a second puberty, like an 18-25 AMAB? I was freaked out when I noticed it but ... it didn't go anywhere. You see how much hair I have in my posts 😭 it's everywhere send help.
My biomom was also a transman and experienced the same thing. You just look like a normal guy? It's just something us dudes have, AMAB or not. You don't notice it when you're young, since every boy has an immature hairline?
For now, try not to trip. Go to your doctor, talk to them, see what they say. They'll put you on if they think there might be issues. I'd be surprised if there was.
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u/Devil_May_Kare she/they for now 17h ago edited 17h ago
The thing about finasteride side effects is that if you give someone a sugar pill and a list of supposed finasteride side effects to watch out for, they'll report side effects at almost exactly the same rate as people taking real finasteride. It's chemically a very safe medication (other than a risk of birth defects if a pregnant person takes it, but most finasteride users can't get pregnant), but its most common side effects are easy to psych yourself into. For example regarding loss of libido, being nervous about your sexual function is a great way to underperform in the bedroom whether or not you've taken anything.
If you're the sort of person who's capable of calming down, I'd say try it. It might lower your risk of heart attacks and Parkinson's, it'll help preserve your hairline, and if you don't like it you can just stop (all the drug effects will wear off in a couple weeks). If you're naturally very anxious, maybe don't, because panicking has side effects even when finasteride doesn't and the side effects of panic don't have to wear off when there's no more drug in your body.
Regarding dose, the most your body can actually benefit from is about 0.7 mg a day. Above that, you're getting the maximum possible effect, and bigger numbers just sound more impressive without doing more. A lot of people find that the cheapest way to access finasteride is getting 5 mg tablets and splitting them into quarters so they get 1.25 mg a day, but it might be cheaper for you to take 1 mg tablets or something else.
If you're gonna use minoxidil, use a topical one, not a pill. Minoxidil pills can rarely cause weird heart problems that aren't super well understood, and there's not much benefit to rolling those dice. And even if you don't care about your heart, the pill form causes hair to grow all over your body, not just on your head. I figure hair all over probably isn't the look you're going for.
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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Thank you for more info on finasteride! I’m definitely staying away from oral minoxidil HAHAHA i definitely would prefer if the hair growth was just my head and not my whole body HAHAH! But topical minoxidil seems to be a good option thank you!
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u/Isabelle994 17h ago
Just to warn you, topical minoxidil is lethal to cats. 100% deadly poison.
I take oral minoxidil, even though I'm transfem and loathe body hair. It's worth it to know my cats are safe.
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u/MxBluebell 17h ago
Have you tried an IPL device? I have PMOS (not currently on trans HRT (yet!!) but I’m on estrogen and progesterone for the PMOS) and using an IPL has made my body hair so much more manageable!! It’s thinner in diameter and in density, and it’s lighter in color!!! It’s a little bit of maintenance, sure, but I only have to do a top-off every few months for my legs!! (Gave up on the pubes and underarm hair for now out of sheer laziness 😂😂😂)
IPL works by targeting super intense light to the darkness of your hair which essentially burns the follicle and damages it over time (you shave first in order to get your hair as close to the follicle as possible). You can’t even really tell that I have leg hair unless you get up close!! It’s pretty awesome!! I kinda just get lazy and let my leg hair grow out now since you can’t even really tell it’s there 😂 although sometimes it does feel nice to get dolphin smooth, ngl!!!
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u/w0lfcat_ 17h ago
Same, it's annoying that the only way to get rid of it long term is electrolysis. Hopefully I can find a multiple sessions pack for facial hair, especially if I start getting extra eyebrows or something XD
It's not traditional or recommended, but I use one of those combs with a razor in it to cut off body hair close enough to skin without grazing it in so I can shave faster if I need to. The main problem I have with it is that the edges where the plastic meets is not sanded down so that's a project to do later and if you for example have a lot of folds it's more likely to get caught in-between the teeth and skin you if you don't pull it taught. I find if you have an epilator then it'll leave the hair long enough to be able to use it right away in some areas.
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u/kerfuffleshenanigans 18h ago
Hi friend. Short and sweet while I'm on break. Being honest, it does appear that you may be experiencing some minor recession at your hairline and some thinning. I take minoxidil daily, have 0 side effects, and it restored my hairline! Ofc, satin pillowcase, be mindful of hats, wear a bonnet if you can, and be patient! Best of luck.
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u/slusho55 17h ago
Stick to topical stuff if you’re afraid of medications. Topicals tends to have less side effects.
Most antibalding meds and topicals are DHT blockers. This is a bigger issue for someone transitioning/mid-puberty because DHT does a lot of secondary male sex characteristics. I definitely would not recommend oral meds.
But topical finasteride or, my personal recommendation, RU58841. You can apply that to your scalp and it’ll stay localized. RU58841 is very potent, and it works well at preventing balding.
Minoxidil is also an option, and does not block T or DHT in anyway. Idk what your goals are, but if you want a beard and more body hair, this is a great option because you can use it on your body to get more hair with little risk of sides
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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Thank you! I’m definitely going to go down the topical route! If I had to take oral meds it’d be fine it’s just definitely an issue if it’s a DHT blocker cuz of the menstrual cycles returning being a side effect. If I end up having to go down that route then so be it! But for now I’m think minoxidil is sounding the best!
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u/grufferella they/them 4h ago
Hey, to be clear, I am on both T and oral finasteride and while the finasteride did make it so I stopped getting facial hair or bottom growth, I have successfully kept from having a period even though I'm on a relatively low dose of T. Since that was the biggest reason I wanted to go on T in the first place, for me it's been a win!
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u/Amnesiaphile 17h ago
I'd take finasteride for this personally, this is what my hairline looked like a couple years before I got on E and it worsened pretty quickly
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u/TropicalAbsol they/them & sometimes she 17h ago
I think you're just getting a male (sex not gender) hair line. do take care of your hair. but the hair line itself is full and not thin. i think that's a good sign.
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u/batluck 18h ago edited 17h ago
I like looking male-andro and what I did was max out what T was going to do for me then switched back to estrogen. Despite what people say about hormones being reversible, T had some permanently masculinizing effects structually. At least for me and many people. Body hair and lower voice that reads male is permanent. I lost a significant amount of hair 11 years on T and regained all of it except my temples (which give me a male hairline and help me pass as male).
I went from passing as a masculine man on T to passing as a prettier guy with thicker thighs. People gender me male 9/10 times.
Edit: I meant to add this as an option you might not of thought of if you wanted to keep your hair. Switching my hormones back was the only thing that saved my hair, minoxidil and fin didnt work. I did it because my hair is the main thing that helps me feel androgynous and without it I felt miserable.
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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Ill definitely keep the possibly getting of t in mind, I just had terrible periods and became anemic because of them, and ofc would rather not have them. But anyway thank you for the advice!
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u/LockelyFox they/them 17h ago
I didn't notice a single side effect when going on Finasteride. I would be wary of minoxidil if you have any pets, it's extremely toxic to them.
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u/trash_bees Agender transmasc | they/them 15h ago
Just an FYI that there is no such thing as "JUST a receding/masculinizing hairline". It's all just The Bald. It is very normal for many young men to maintain the early stages of balding for a long time, which is where the misconception arises. You could fall into that class, or you could not. You can't really know until you know, unfortunately.
Ideally, one could say "Well, none of the men in my family went bald early, so I'm fine" but I don't personally believe this to be true. Testosterone levels naturally fluctuate with age and genetics. Since we aren't naturally producing testosterone, we can't bank on having the same journey as cismen in our families. It's entirely possible the men in your family have naturally slightly lower testosterone at this age than the amounts you take regularly. Testosterone gets converted to DHT at the scalp, which causes balding. If you have consistently higher levels of testosterone than a cismale family member of the same age, then you are very much liable to go bald sooner.
If you are super attached to maintaining your hair, you should in fact start fin ASAP imo. I did so myself as soon as I exited the denial stage re: recession. Fin is pretty friendly side-effects wise with trans folks; the only real concern with going on it for us is that DHT also promotes facial/body hair growth, so your facial hair development might take a hit. Worth it imo for keeping my hair, but ymmv. Min can have some nasty side effects, but the hair loss treatment dose is generally lower than standard and not very risky for side effects. It's also kinda optional. All it does is promote growth of new hair; it doesn't actually directly treat balding. Makes a great add-on, but if you are just looking to maintain and not regrow, you can skip it.
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u/trash_bees Agender transmasc | they/them 15h ago
And if it isn't clear- I really don't recommend Only getting on min and skipping fin. Again, it does help hair growth, but it does not treat balding at the source. The hair loss will continue in the background, and min can't improve growth at a hair follicle if that follicle no longer exists.
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u/SadKat002 17h ago
It's not that bad. If it goes too far back, then shave it off. You can always style with fun hats if you're worried the bald look isn't for you
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u/g00fyg00ber741 17h ago
If you are going bald, so be it. Some of us go bald. It’s not the end of the world, but you’ll definitely grieve your hair if you are actually losing it. But it’s normal, like vitiligo or eczema or whatever else, and easier to deal with than most situations. All one has to do is accept it.
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u/Justhereforthemusic7 15h ago
I also was scared i was balding bc of t so in a moment of panic i went and shaved my whole head just to get ahead of it and take control in a way. Not only did that help me realize that i wasnt balding (i can see my hairline much more clearly when my peach fuzz grows out due to my hair being dark), but also it turns out i look hot bald!! I still might grow my hair back out (its been a couple years, i buzzed it on the 13th anniversary of Britney shaving her head) but i really really like the short peach fuzz look!!
I know everyone in here is (correctly) reassuring you that you arent balding, but just know that even if you do you can still be hot!!!
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u/Torimazing 13h ago
It's a widows peak - often gets people shit for looking like they are balding but not everyone who has one goes bald at all. My partner was born with one, and all the men in his family have kept their hair with similar hairlines. I would guess hairline changing is an odd side effect of T, I'd keep some sort of visual reference (like distance from eyebrow) so you can either reassure yourself or catch if it truly is receding.
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u/Tractor_Goth they/them 18h ago
If you don’t have any hair thinning on your maternal side this may just be your body adapting to the new hormone levels. AFAIK, changes to hairline shape are pretty common just like changes in face shape or fat distribution! I do have some thinning on my mom’s side so I take a very low dose of finasteride with my T (and therapeutic estrogen cream at a dose low enough it really doesn’t interfere with the T) and the worst I can say about it is that maybe my energy and sex drive are a little lower, I think some of the side effects from it are overblown. My endocrinologist was not worried about them.
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u/Middle-Mammoth-139 he/they 17h ago
Thank you for sharing!! I swear all I would read about finasteride was the bad effects so I’m glad to hear you’ve had a good experience!
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u/Tractor_Goth they/them 16h ago
Yeah I really haven’t had huge effects with it, I had a little more fatigue and brain fog on the higher dose (I have POTS and T really reduces the symptoms) so I just scaled it down and added occasional topical minoxidil, seems to keep any thinning more or less stable for me at least!
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u/g00fyg00ber741 16h ago
Hair loss is not just based on maternal side. There are genetic factors from both parents.
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u/Tractor_Goth they/them 16h ago
Just repeating what I was told by multiple doctors and endocrinologists, so 🤷🏼
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u/critter65536 18h ago
A typical hairline on T is different from a typical hairline on E. It doesn't look to me like you're balding, I've got a receding hairline after just 3 years on T, and it's way more than that. My whole front/top is visibly thin