Hairline expectations

[Nevara]

Hi y'all!

So I noticed something on my forehead today that gave me hope for my hairline. It's basically covered in tiny baby hairs all along the corners of my temples and down the middle about 1cm below my current hairline making what would be a really really feminine hairline. I'm super happy since this is just with Spiro and E, not even Finasteride.

What can I expect in terms of regrowth in this area? The areas regrowing are huge so far but they are all baby hairs. Is there any possibility of them coming back as normal head hair?

[Jill F]

Mine did, but that seems to be fairly unusual.  If yours comes back, then count yourself amongst the lucky ones.

[Brenda E]

Bits of my head that had thinned out are now starting to look thicker, but still nothing like they should be.  No movement in the actual hairline beyond its original adult position.  Hair transplant and hairline advancement during FFS is the only way I'll actually see nice girl hair. 

But the drugs do wonders for reversing damage that is already done.  I'm personally not holding my breath while waiting for my fuzzy regrowth to turn into real hair.

[Leila]

I've certainly had the fuzzy hair growth at the temples with only Estradiol and no assistance from Finasteride or Dustasteride. Progress has been painfully slow in one year, but they are hairy nonetheless and my temples don't look bald like they used to. The growth now seems to be advancing further down towards my eyes with a glacially slow advance to the middle of my forehead, but given the density and size of the hairs it is really hard to tell. Only time will reveal just how much of my forehead will be covered by more visible fine hairs again. There has been no new growth whatsoever at the upper middle part of my hairline at all.

[AnnaCannibal]

I haven't noticed any particular difference in the front,  but the back.  Wow, just wow.  I had a noticeable bald spot onmthe back of my head that has completely filled in.  I mean COMPLETELY filled in.  You would never know I ever had hair loss there just 4 months ago.  Oh, I am taking finasteride by the way.

[Steph34]

Hello,

I had such rapid hair loss and thinning last year that I almost wanted to die. Indeed, hair loss was what made me say I could no longer wait to transition, despite great financial risks. Within 8 months mostly last year, I went from having what looked like almost a full head of hair to being partially bald on top and seeing much of my scalp throughout the front. Extreme genetic sensitivity to DHT runs in my family, so I am now on a combination of 3 medications to bring my DHT level as low as possible. Within one week after starting the dutasteride (in June), my number of detached hairs decreased significantly. I have had more new growth this year than any other year since 2009, and these new hairs have been as thick as my old ones. However, I still lose far more strands than I regrow. The main effect of the dutasteride seems to have been a dramatic thickening and darkening of my remaining hair, so that I see much less scalp now despite having fewer strands.

The doctor told me that blocking T and DHT should stop the hair loss and that taking estradiol would do almost nothing. I continued to shed hair in frightening quantities. Since starting estradiol, I have found it to be very helpful in controlling stress, another major cause of hair detachment. However, I also think the estradiol is incredibly habit-forming and that maintaining the steadiest level possible is necessary to prevent the mood swings that can trigger my hair loss. If I go off the estradiol for a day, I suffer from morbid shedding and extreme anxiety. However, estradiol itself is considered a weak blocker. My personal experience has been that even minor fluctuations in DHT can cause major hair loss for me, so I see no alternative to staying on dutasteride given my unfortunate genetic profile.

While I do get the baby hairs on the front below my existing hairline, they seem to disappear every time I wash my hair.  Transplanting works for people with thin and thick spots; my hair density has declined all over. I have no hope for an improved hairline.

[katiej]

I've been taking Finasteride and Minoxidil for about 5 months. I had slight thinning in the back, and the front was starting to worry me.  It has made a noticeable difference in the back, and I think the front has regrown some hair as well.  It's tough to tell.  But I definitely haven't lost any more.

I tried to switch to Dutasteride a few months ago, but apparently there isn't a generic version available in the US yet.  And I wasn't about to spend $175 per month for Avodart. 

Transplants are in my future to get a more female hairline, but I'm definitely sticking with my current regimen for now.

[Jill F]

And I wasn't about to spend $175 per month for Avodart. 

I took it for a year with finasteride, and the difference between that and finasteride alone was amazing.  Compared to a transplant, that was money well spent.

Now that I went "balls out", I've noticed even more regrowth, even fine ones in the corners.  I have now discontinued finasteride and dutasteride and no longer have any signs of MPB.

Again, YMMV and I think my case was more or less "best case scenario".

[April_TO]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Baby hairs are growing crazy on my hairline and I am not that young (34 yo). I also noticed that some baby hairs are growing on my temples and lashes were getting thicker. Mind you, I was taking biotin with E and T blocker.

[Skeptoid]

I'm 25 and was never "thinning." I simply had an M shaped hairline that was very obvious.

This photo is kinda blurry and crappy but it's the only one I have on hand at the moment of my hairline. It makes me look severely underweight. :/

You can see very little of the M shape anymore. I'm on spiro and estro for since the beginning of August. That means this is from around just under three month mark.

[Beth Andrea]

I've sorta kept track of hairloss since the mid-80's, when I noticed the beginnings of a "widow's peak"...just before HRT it'd receded about 1/2", but now (after ~3 years) it has actually gained 1/4" from what it was 30 years ago.

[Steph34]

Dutasteride truly is money well spent. I tried finasteride, but it did not work for the front. Within a week or two, dutasteride almost completely stopped my spontaneous frontal hair loss, even before I started anything else. Combining dutasteride with biotin, E and a T blocker seems to have covered almost my whole head with hair, quite an accomplishment given that 7 months ago I was almost bald on top and saw morbid amounts of scalp throughout the front half. Now, it is hard to find my scalp without pulling back clumps of hair. As I said, though, it seems to have been mostly an improvement to existing strands with only a modest amount of new growth. I have found that dutasteride is still necessary, even with all my other efforts. I see it as an investment in my future, worth using my savings to pay for. My doctor said a generic version should be available by next year at the latest, but I am not holding my breath.

[Lady_Oracle]

My entire hairline came back and its pretty filled in, you can't tell I had ever lost any of it.

[katiej]

Avodart's patent protection runs out in November of 2015.  There are several generics that have already been approved by the FDA, but Avodart's parent company has successfully defended their patent in court several times.  So we're stuck with higher prices for another year.

I'm afraid that I'll still need transplants to fill in the temples and to sculpt a more feminine hairline.  But if I can use dutasteride to thicken up the thinning-ish hair, then it's definitely worth trying.