T and male pattern baldness

[TwoSpirit]

Hi all,

I'd like to know from those of you who have lost all or most of their hair after starting T.

Could you tell me how many years or months it took before you starting losing your hair?
I know a lot guys love being bald, and it suits them, but I'm still vain, and have great soft hair, which in all honesty I would like to keep.
I'm wondering if lowering my t dose would lower the chance of going bald. I don't have the head for baldness. Maybe what's in my favour is my First Nations heritage. I don't know many first nations guys who are completely bald. My Metis trans "brother" still has his hair, so maybe there's hope after all. Since I am Algonquin and Metis. With a drop of French, which I no longer speak.

[dalebert]

Talk to your doctor about finasteride. It apparently works pretty well to prevent baldness without interfering masculinizing in other areas, except maybe impeding body hair a bit. It works much better as a preventative than a cure. Once a hair follicle dies, it's not coming back, but it might keep more of them alive. You will need a prescription but they shouldn't be that hard to get.

[TwoSpirit]

Thanks dalebert! I have never heard of that product.

By the way, what are you doing in your avatar? To me it's looks like you are in a kitchen cooking up something delish. Or spinning the turntables.

[dalebert]

I was cooking pancakes in a vendor tent at a festival.

[TwoSpirit]

mmmmm. Paaaaaaaancakes. Well, that just gave me a long needed boost in appetite.

There's a big weekend fest happening in my hood. Buskers, musicians, robot Elvis, contortionists, along with funnel cakes, ribs, shakes, corn on the cob, and my fave, jerk chicken. If heaven exists, it must be when I eat jerk chicken. I'm sure there's pancakes somewhere,too. A million people are expected to go through the festival. Plenty of hungry folks.

[wheat thins are delicious]

Hi all,

I'd like to know from those of you who have lost all or most of their hair after starting T.

Could you tell me how many years or months it took before you starting losing your hair?
I know a lot guys love being bald, and it suits them, but I'm still vain, and have great soft hair, which in all honesty I would like to keep.
I'm wondering if lowering my t dose would lower the chance of going bald. I don't have the head for baldness. Maybe what's in my favour is my First Nations heritage. I don't know many first nations guys who are completely bald. My Metis trans "brother" still has his hair, so maybe there's hope after all. Since I am Algonquin and Metis. With a drop of French, which I no longer speak.

Even if you don't go bald (which isn't as common or definitive as everyone makes out) T will likely change your hair texture, so you should be aware of that.  My hair is a lot more coarse.

[Arch]

I started out with this ridiculous superfine blond hair, and it's gotten darker (perhaps with age, perhaps from T) and a little coarser. It's still pretty fine but not like it was.

I'm not quite sure when my hair really started falling out because at first I couldn't distinguish between getting a more masculine hairline and just losing hair. I think the two happened concurrently; after all, I did start T at 46. I know that I was worrying about it eight months into transition--I mention it in my journal--and I'm sure that I was stressing out about it before then. But I didn't start finasteride for another six or eight months. So I've been on it for about two years, with a break of a few months.

I appear to have exactly the same hairline as my father and brother have, although their hair loss is more advanced because they are older. Actually, the last photo I have of my father was from the nineties, when he was maybe sixty-two or sixty-three. The pic is small, so it's hard to see how much hair he has lost. It looks pretty thin in front. But the last time I saw him, he was only a couple of years older than I am now. And he had my hairline--no loss at the crown, but we (and my brother) have the temple thinning and a classic M hairline. My brother seems to be losing some of the remaining front tuft as well. He is in his mid-fifties now.

Finasteride seems to have had no effect on my frame of mind or my sex drive. However, I am now quite certain that it has had some effect on my facial hair (I'm not sure how severe) and quite a significant effect on body hair. I had quite a bit of body hair growth in the few months I wasn't taking finasteride--and I want the body hair so much that I'm thinking of going off the medication again as soon as my scrip runs out. Frankly, I don't know what to do. I wish I had started T earlier in life. Maybe then I would have had time to grow my body hair before my head hair started to diminish.

[TwoSpirit]

I started T in my early mid 40s. At least regularly. Before that I was using the andro gel sporadically. And for years prior I was already trying to boost my naturally high T levels, with supplements and natural foods that were supposed to help build muscle mass (tall, lean, hard gainer here....and oddly I was way more muscular before taking T, but I was also more disciplined at the gym and with food).

Most of my friends started T a good 7-10 years before I did (in their 30s), and as I said, all of them are bald or getting very close to bald and have been that way for years. All except my Metis friend, and I just remembered another guy, who has all his hair, and he is also First Nations. He too doesn't grow facial hair much. More on the head than on his face. It takes me at least a month to grow a fully visible 'stache, but even then, it's quite thin and skin is still visible under the 'stache. It never fills out completely.

[Arch]

My head is rather small, so I don't want to lose more hair. I like the way my current hairline looks, but I want it to stop there!

I don't think that reducing your dose is going to do much for you except, perhaps, slow down any hair loss you do have. The changes will catch up to you eventually.

So...are you actually losing hair now, or are you just worried about it? Perhaps your heritage will work in your favor.

[TwoSpirit]

Can't really tell if I am losing hair or not. I just notice some in the tub after washing my hair. But my hairline hasn't seemed to change much. And I don't notice any difference yet above the temples, where a lot of guys gets those peaks or points that go in the direction towards the back of the head. Not sure if that makes sense? It's those points that seem to align with the ears if you were to draw a line down from the point above the temples down to the ear. Don't have that pattern yet. I do remember a few uncles, long dead now, who had lots of hair in their 70s still. So maybe you're right and my heritage will be beneficial (for a change!). My hair still feels very soft and fine......and yes, I am worried about it.....it's the one the thing I am vain about....my hair. It's nice to have one thing you like about yourself, n'est pas?

Funny, I once saw a video of American Indian activist (we call ourselves First Nations and/or aboriginal in Canada) John Trudell giving a speech. He looked like he was trying to grow a bit of a beard and mustache and I swear the pattern of his growth was exactly the same as mine. Patchy and growing in the exact same areas. I thought I was looking at my brother! Especially when my hair used to be really long.

[dalebert]

Get two mirrors and check the crown. That's another place it can start.

[TwoSpirit]

Get two mirrors and check the crown. That's another place it can start.

Done, and nope. Doesn't look like any loss there either. Hmmm, maybe my heritage is coming in handy for a change? Just hoping that 1/8 of white blood in me doesn't decide to dominate me like it did my skin colour....am a bit "white-washed", which has always peeved me off a bit, since so many of my cousins and other relatives are quite dark. As my dad used to say jokingly, as he pointed out other relatives, "weeeeeez Injuns.  Don't you  ever forget it; not even when you look in the mirror. It's just an 1/8 of whitewash." He was such a joke-ster. I miss him.

No offense meant to the dominant cultured people on the forum. I love all people and am not really into identity politics. We're all red underneath after all. *smirk*

[Arch]

We're all red underneath after all. *smirk*

Except for the Vulcans and other assorted aliens.

Why is there no Spock emoticon???!!!