Exploring The Hormonal Route. Hair=life.

[Androgenic Alpaca]

Also, re: penile atrophy

From what I understand, much of the penile atrophy comes from the skin of the penis shrinking, mostly from not having erections. The interior parts of the penis, the corpus cavernosum, which inflate with blood to become erect, will still be fully functional and of the original size. But the exterior skin will become smaller resulting in painful erections. Imagine an overinflated balloon.

From my understanding, this can be counteracted by having regular erections. Also, applying low dose testosterone gel/cream to the penis can prevent or reverse this skin contraction

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

True, just have an erection every 2-3 days and you will be fine. The reason it atrophies is because you don't get morning erections and random erections anymore on HRT so if you don't stimulate it yourself frequently it will shrink.

Hi there. Nice icon. It will be great to learn about your hair under HRT experience.

 

[Catagen]

True, just have an erection every 2-3 days and you will be fine. The reason it atrophies is because you don't get morning erections and random erections anymore on HRT so if you don't stimulate it yourself frequently it will shrink.

Is it "just trust me" or are there more anecdotes?

 

[Gergely]

Is it "just trust me" or are there more anecdotes?

Just maintain an erection every day, as one usually do. And you'll probably won't have a problem with atrophy

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Is it "just trust me" or are there more anecdotes?

Cool screen name. I thought that this was formerly a must read site and I hope that with a good group of folks doing this both from a male and female point of view, that more of us can find the hair that we, let's face it, deeply need.

Aw...

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

I think that he meant more dirt on all the things you want to know but were afraid to ask about HRT and side-effects.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

By Sara Zaske, WSU News

PULLMAN, Wash. – A newly identified genetic factor allows adult skin to repair itself like the skin of a newborn babe. The discovery by Washington State University researchers has implications for better skin wound treatment as well as preventing some of the aging process in skin.

In a study, published in the journal eLife on Sept. 29, the researchers identified a factor that acts like a molecular switch in the skin of baby mice that controls the formation of hair follicles as they develop during the first week of life. The switch is mostly turned off after skin forms and remains off in adult tissue. When it was activated in specialized cells in adult mice, their skin was able to heal wounds without scarring. The reformed skin even included fur and could make goose bumps, an ability that is lost in adult human scars.

https://news.wsu.edu/2020/09/29/discovery-enables-adult-skin-regenerate-like-newborns/

 

[Father_of_Shiseido]

True, just have an erection every 2-3 days and you will be fine. The reason it atrophies is because you don't get morning erections and random erections anymore on HRT so if you don't stimulate it yourself frequently it will shrink.

The question is would it grow back if one stops HRT. What I have heard that Fibrosis is not always reversible.

 

[mushroom]

Hey, mates. I have really really strange response to the cpa, like I take 50mg cpa plus 4mg of E and my free testosterone is still 9.7 pg/ml(normal range 9-29). WTF? Same story with spironolactone. Even high doses can’t suppress my T to female range. I’m just crying seriously.

 

[Androgenic Alpaca]

Hey, mates. I have really really strange response to the cpa, like I take 50mg cpa plus 4mg of E and my free testosterone is still 9.7 pg/ml(normal range 9-29). WTF? Same story with spironolactone. Even high doses can’t suppress my T to female range. I’m just crying seriously.

Sounds about right tbh. CPA has antigonadotropin effects, but its primary effect is as an AR blocker. Your T levels are on the low end of normal, so you're getting some of the antigonadotropin effects. But more than likely that T in your blood serum will be having no effect since it'll be unable to bind to AR receptors.

If you want to drop T levels, try taking some progesterone as a rectal suppository (yes I'm serious) for its antigonadotopin effects. If you use progesterone as an antigonadotropin, you won't need a blocker once T hits 0 (or close to 0 since you'll still have residual T from adrenal production - better indicator of full antigonadotropin effects would be LH and FSH hitting zero)

Have you noticed any visible feminization?

 

[mushroom]

Sounds about right tbh. CPA has antigonadotropin effects, but its primary effect is as an AR blocker. Your T levels are on the low end of normal, so you're getting some of the antigonadotropin effects. But more than likely that T in your blood serum will be having no effect since it'll be unable to bind to AR receptors.

If you want to drop T levels, try taking some progesterone as a rectal suppository (yes I'm serious) for its antigonadotopin effects. If you use progesterone as an antigonadotropin, you won't need a blocker once T hits 0 (or close to 0 since you'll still have residual T from adrenal production - better indicator of full antigonadotropin effects would be LH and FSH hitting zero)

Have you noticed any visible feminization?

Thanks so mush. I will buy some progesterone soon. Yeah, I have small boobs and no sperm Also, the hair on my body has become lighter and thinner. But I still have acne on my face and back;(
Am I resistant to the antiandrogens/HRT? Why cpa works great for others, but not for me? Could you explain please. As I read T must be zero on such HRT mode. I’m really scared because it’s my last chance.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Thanks so mush. I will buy some progesterone soon. Yeah, I have small boobs and no sperm Also, the hair on my body has become lighter and thinner. But I still have acne on my face and back;(
Am I resistant to the antiandrogens/HRT? Why cpa works great for others, but not for me? Could you explain please. As I read T must be zero on such HRT mode. I’m really scared because it’s my last chance.

I don't know where you live but cyproterone acetate is disfavored in the United State. Most people who like AA's seem to favor bicalutamide currently. Others like me use no AA at all. I am not sure if you had a hair question.

 

[mushroom]

Guys, I will be appreciated for your advices and thoughts. Can the adrenals be the cause?

 

[mushroom]

I don't know where you live but cyproterone acetate is disfavored in the United State. Most people who like AA's seem to favor bicalutamide currently. Others like me use no AA at all. I am not sure if you had a hair question.

Thanks for your reply. I live in Ukraine) Wish I could live in the US. Yes, I forgot to add that my hair is still falling out. Especially my temples. Unfortunately bicalutamide(Casodex) is too expensive here, like 70 euro for 50mg, so I’m not sure about it. I need more than 50mg I think.

 

[Derelict]

Thanks for your reply. I live in Ukraine) Wish I could live in the US. Yes, I forgot to add that my hair is still falling out. Especially my temples. Unfortunately bicalutamide(Casodex) is too expensive here, like 70 euro for 50mg, so I’m not sure about it. I need more than 50mg I think.

You definitely don't need more than 50mg bica imo, that is plenty.

 

[Gergely]

Thanks for your reply. I live in Ukraine) Wish I could live in the US. Yes, I forgot to add that my hair is still falling out. Especially my temples. Unfortunately bicalutamide(Casodex) is too expensive here, like 70 euro for 50mg, so I’m not sure about it. I need more than 50mg I think.

How long have you been taking CPA and E2?

 

[mushroom]

How long have you been taking CPA and E2?

Hello, about 4 months. I have tried different forms of estrogen, like: pills, gel and patches. But it seems that with high testosterone E is not very effective. Injections are not available;(

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Hello, about 4 months. I have tried different forms of estrogen, like: pills, gel and patches. But it seems that with high testosterone E is not very effective. Injections are not available;(

I have used gels, patches and pills. They all work well for HRT feminization and purportedly for hair regrowth.

The founder of the thread used pills and gel on his hair. I use copious amounts of estrogel on my hair and I also use two climara 100 patches.

Like many guys on here, I am usually working on something. Currently, I am pushing my estrogen levels to adult female pregnancy levels to see if that appears to be conducive to even better hair growth. Current studies on transgender females appear to indicate that only after hitting adult female targets of E and T, is hair regrowth facilitated. In my opinion, when E2 fails for guys on here, it is because they are not using enough. Now, often they can't; I am non-binary transgender and others are not.

But we all also have interest in seeing if smaller amounts of E can be used in some combination, say with an AA without promoting undue feminization. The other thing that I encourage is titration upwards in small amounts. Sometimes people just say, try 2 mg with an AA and report back no effects. Well, maybe 2.5 mg was the magic number or maybe 3.0 mg so for the daring, a person can push things upwards until he hits sides that are unacceptable.

 

[Gergely]

Hello, about 4 months. I have tried different forms of estrogen, like: pills, gel and patches. But it seems that with high testosterone E is not very effective. Injections are not available;(

You might be switching things up too frequently. Better to stick to one type of E and increase the dosage overtime. Try to stay on it for at least 6 months

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

I am really down on medication switching especially in the MtF HRT context. We have gone from people being in awe at what hormones can do and their very power to effect psychological and physical changes in the MtF HRT context where now, people just switch randomly in search of "results" from med to med and from ingestion method to ingestion method. It doesn't work and none of these people understand the concept of opportunity cost, meaning that they might have gotten results had they stood pat.

These are life-changing and body changing hormones and they have to be used gently and treated with respect. In my opinion, many of the avoid-gyno guys on here have suffered multiple sheds and they are switching all of the time. Three months seems to be typical. From what I know, you need at least six months at adult female estrogen levels before you can expect to see significant changes. They give up or decide they have sides and then they try something else.

The MtFs, some of them are ridiculous and spoiled. They think that HRT is some a la carte menu offering different results: Hmm. I will take some big *** and C cup boobs, please. Then when they get few or no effects they either whine, allege that they are suicidal or they blame their doctors and the endocrine society for being too "conservative".

So, tell us what you really think, Janey....

I need to stop answering so many MtF questions on the message boards because you can start not liking the people that you mean to help and this is very common for lawyers and social workers and others like volunteers.