baldness prevention

[xxaussiexx]

Hey guys,

Ive heard quite a few different opinions on this.  Is it possible when on T to take something else that will prevent baldness without harming the effects of T?  Some people have said that there isnt and u just have to let nature take its course whereas others have said that there is...so just a tad confused
If anyone knows can u please let me know. That would be much appreciated

Cheers,
Josh

[Osiris]

I read about something on a website that supposedly blocks unwanted side effects of taking T but... I can't remember it. Sorry I have no personal experience or anything to share either. If I come across it again I'll let you know.

[myles]

It is my understanding, I am not a doctor, that you can not pick and choose your T side effects. There are not necessary blockers that I know of that are FDA approved or anything, so I would be a little leery of anything that says it will block the affects you don't want. Heck who would want to lose their hair and have a beer gut?
Myles

[Jamie-o]

I think you're thinking of products like Propecia.  You know, I asked my doctor about that, and I can't remember what he said.     Let's hear it for memory failure!  I do know that Propecia works by blocking certain androgens, but I don't remember the details.

[Ender]

Same stuff as natal men take: minoxidil (aka Rogaine) and/or finasteride (aka Propecia).  Finasteride is rather interesting; it blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is what causes hair loss if one is genetically predisposed to it.  However, it turns out that some effects attributed to testosterone are actually due to DHT.  So theoretically it could impact the effectiveness of T--exactly what it will affect though, I can't say for certain.  A couple guesses, though:

I do know that Dr. Miroslav Djordjevic (he does metoidioplasty) recommends topical application of DHT to one's genitals to stimulate growth.  I've not seen research to support this, but then again not much research is done on FtMs, so...  *shrug*  the doc thinks it makes a difference.  If DHT is responsible for genital growth, one would think that blocking DHT before full development had been reached might inhibit growth.

There have been studies that DHT is responsible for beard growth and body hair, but according to Dr. Robert M. Bernstein (hair transplant surgeon) most natal men do not experience inhibited growth of facial hair when on Propecia (he didn't mention body hair; I'd link his discussion, but I don't think linking is allowed).  However, these men are presumably well past puberty and already have full beards.  Blocking DHT might affect beard development in those who do not yet have one.  Pure conjecture on my part, though.

I'm not so informed on Rogaine.  From browsing forums dedicated to balding, anecdotal evidence suggests that it isn't quite as effective as Propecia for many people.  But for some it does work, apparently.

I asked my endocrinologist if it would be OK to take these medications should I start balding at the ripe age of 23, and she didn't have any major objections.  She did say that she recommended Rogaine (topical application) over Propecia (taken orally) because she was concerned about Propecia possibly messing with my hormones/development (gynecomastia is reported to be a side-effect of finasteride use in natal men, along with erectile dysfunction).  I personally feel it would be prudent to hold off on the finasteride until the effects of T begin to slow (say, one or more years on T), just to make sure I wasn't diminishing with my potential genital growth/voice development/beard development.  After that, I would be more open to the idea of using finasteride.  But I'm no medical professional.

[Ms.Behavin]

Rogaine worked for me prior to HRT.  But it only works well on about 30% of guys / girls, that genetics thing .  For me it was great ( actually too good as it increased hair growth on other parts of the body), but luckly that was not lasting and I was not naturally hair to begin with.

gee as with everything else YMMV  Wallyworld has a three month supply of th generic stuff for about $18.  If you find you need it later on it's worth a try.

Beni

[Janet_Girl]

DHT and genetics cause baldness.  The only thing that can help is Proscar and Rogaine.  Rogaine is a topical solution, where as Proscar is a prescription.  Rogaine never worked for me, so I am trying Proscar.  One side effect or Proscar is breast enlargement. 

But I would recommend just watch your hairline closely.  Maybe take pics ever month or so and track it.  If you so anything changing that is when to strike.  But if there is no thinning, why use something that you don't need.

And baldness is just something that guys deal with.  It is more common in mens than women, but it does happen in women.  Even Transguys.

Janet

[xxaussiexx]

Thanks guys.  Im finding it really useful.  Btw, what is the minimum time after starting T that baldness could start?  After a couple of years yea?  I know everyone reacts differently...but am just curious.  You see my dad was bald and so was his dad, and on my mums side, her father was bald so im quite nervous that ive got the balding gene   Ive got a pretty high forehead as it is...

[Lachlann]

I believe someone said here a time ago that FTMs are more likely to follow the hair pattern baldness of their fathers and not their mother's father. But I've also heard that it's not a sure way to determine if you will go bald.

On my father side, it's hit and miss, I'm going to be optimistic and assume I'll be keeping my hair. If I do lose hair and it bothers me a lot, then I'll look at what I can do to grow the hair back, or I'll contemplate whether to risk of losing my hair is greater than not being on T.

[Mister]

There is no guarantee that anything you take will prevent baldness.  There is no guarantee that testosterone will induce baldness, either.  As far as how long baldness takes to occur or start on T, that varies for everyone. 

you really can't predict this and you can't micromanage each side effect.  Either it works for you or it doesn't- there's not much room for inbetween.

[Flameboy]

Personally, whilst I can't say I'd actively WANT to lose my hair, if it happens as a side effect of being on T then I'll just put up with it. I don't expect to be able to choose which effects I want and which I don't want, any more than cis gendered males can.

From what I've been told, the balding gene is a recessive gene on the X chromosome, for those of you who've done any genetics. This means that for cis gendered men, it's purely inherited from the mother, so if their mother's father or brothers are bald, there's a good chance they will also lose their hair.

However, as (most) trans guys have two X chromosomes, they need to inherit the baldness gene from both their mother AND their father. This means that the chances of them becoming bald are less - I'm not well enough up on genetics to work out how much less, I'm afraid!

[Jamie-o]

I thought it worked out that they could inherit it from the mother or the father, so it actually increased the likelihood of going bald.

[Flameboy]

I thought it worked out that they could inherit it from the mother or the father, so it actually increased the likelihood of going bald.

This intrigued me, so I decided to look it up! Anyway, everything I've found says that the gene for male pattern baldness is a recessive gene that is carried on the X chromosome. This basically means that for FTMs the chances of becoming bald are lessened, from approximately 50% to 25%.

How this works is as follows (long technical description, feel free to skip it if you want, I won't be at all offended):

Generally, people have two chromosomes - XX or XY (I'm very aware that there are various other conditions that have a different configuration of chromosomes, but I have no idea how to apply this here I'm afraid, sorry). In cis-gendered people, XX = female and XY = male - for trans people, generally XX = FTM and XY = MTF.

So, someone who is born XX inherits one X from their mother and one X from their father; the X from their mother could be either of the two Xs that their mother has. Someone who is born XY inherits the X from their mother (again, it could be either of the two Xs) and the Y from their father.

Genes can be either dominant or recessive. A dominant gene will override a recessive gene - therefore, if someone inherits a dominant from one parent and a recessive from the other, the dominant one will be the one that shows. The only way that the recessive one will show is if it is inherited from both parents. So, if we use a capital letter to denote a dominant gene and a lower case letter to denote a recessive gene, the chances of inheritance of a characteristic looks a bit like this:

If the mother and father both have one dominant and one recessive gene (so neither show the recessive characteristic)

From mother: C or c
From father: C or c

Child: CC or Cc or cC or cc

Therefore, there is a 25% chance that the child will have the recessive characteristic. This is particularly obvious in eye colour, as brown eyes are dominant and blue recessive - however, two brown eyed parents can have a blue eyed child, as above.

Of course, the parents could equally be CC, or cc, or any combination of the above, but I won't go into all the possible permutations now.

This gets more complicated when the gene is carried on the X chromosome, as it then becomes linked to sex also. The pattern for inheritance then looks like this (B being the dominant gene i.e. NOT balding, b being the recessive gene leading to male pattern baldness):

Mother: BB
Father: B      
XY - B or B            
XX - BB or BB

Mother: Bb
Father: B
XY - B or b
XX - BB or Bb

Mother: bB
Father: B
XY - B or b
XX - BB or Bb

Mother: bb
Father: B
XY - b or b
XX - Bb or Bb

Mother: BB
Father: b
XY - B or B
XX - Bb or Bb

Mother: Bb
Father: b
XY - B or b
XX - Bb or bb

Mother: bB
Father: b
XY - B or b
XX - Bb or bb

Mother: bb
Father: b
XY - b or b
XX - bb or bb

Giving and XY child - 8 x B, 8 x b and an XX child - 4 x BB, 8 x Bb, 4 x bb. So, an XY child (cis gendered male or MTF) has a 50% chance of male pattern baldness, and an XX child (FTM) has a 25% chance.

Hope that makes sense - it's a lot for a Sunday morning!

Right, I'm off to the beach - laters!

[xxaussiexx]

Thanks FB,

Definitly refreshed my memory on HS Biology.  Loved the subject!  Genetics was one of my favourites!  I ended up getting the recessive blue eye gene from my father, so lets just hope taht i dont inherit the recessive balding gene!  Its a bit reassuring seeing as there is a 25% chance that it could be inherited.  Can only keep fingers-crossed!
Did very well for a sunday morning btw

Cheers

[Mr. Fox]

What a relief!  I'd been told that balding was the dominant gene.  Now, I know that I am assured of inheriting the nonbalding gene, and am thus safe.

[icontact]

Ugh I hope I never have to. My father has this strange balding where he's got a circle of hair, and then the little wrap-around thing at the back.

[Arch]

While I was researching balding recently, I read in a few different places that if your father is bald or balding, you have a much greater chance of losing hair yourself. But I don't know for sure that this is true, and I don't know how it would affect FTMs. Since the T is instrumental in baldness, I would think that FTMs would be just as affected as their genetic brothers.

Thanks for the genetics lesson, Flameboy. Now if I could only get my parents' DNA profile...or my own, for that matter.

[Luc]

I had actually been meaning to start a post on this subject myself, but you beat me to it. I've been on T for a little over 9 months now, and my hair is noticeably thinning. My hairline has only receded at the corners of my forehead, which helps with masculine appearance, but I swear it's getting thinner up top, which freaks me out to no end. My dad lost all his hair at 17, so my genetics aren't great, and I hope to beat them if at all possible. Personally, I intend to order Rogaine foam once I have the money; research I've done on Propecia, as well as posts on here from mtfs saying they've experienced breast growth on it, have kept me from even thinking about using it. Rogaine, however, supposedly has a 90% rate of stopping hair loss, so I'm hoping it'll work for me. I probably have worse odds working against me than most guys, though.

SD