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I'm 23, I have thinner hair than all my friends (no obvious bald spots, but hair is thin), and I also have more body hair than all of them, My friends often express their jealousy about my facial hair, it's really thick and sometimes, I can get creative with it, and sport really good looking goatees (even though I hate my facial hair and would rather be clean).

I don't think I'm ugly though, my face is still the same when I shave it, and I'm very happy with it for the most part, no obvious masculine features at all.

When  was 13, I was with my cousin, and he had a friend with him, my cousin looked over to his friend and said "Doesn't he look like a girl?", and his friend nodded, At the time I hated it, so i punched my cousin in the gut, which made him apologize. But now I remember those moments fondly.  A few years later, in my late teens, I was often praised for my soft innocent looks, and my curly hair and my height.

Now, I'm 23, all the praise and admiration has been replaced with "Dude your hair is really thin", "You look older than all of us", "Are you sure you're only 23, not lying seriously?" All these comments really REALLY hurt me. Because under all the hair loss and the aging, I'm still the same person, and I still have the same face.. They can't look past it at all.

As someone with gender dysphoria, I didn't really like it when people called me "Handsome", but I'd take that over all this that's directed at me right now. It's funny just 3 years ago, I had a head full of hair, and the last thing I was worrying about is fighting hair loss at the age of 23, hair loss is pretty bad as it is for normal cis men, but for me who doesn't feel cis, and never has, it's really, really bad. I'm doing all I can to stop it.

I'm  turning into a really bitter person, I don't feel like having fun, I don't watch movies, or play videogames or any of that stuff anymore, I'm just always down, and feel miserable about myself. I avoid mirrors, I haven't looked in a mirror for about 4 or 5 days now, I've lost all connections with this body. I'm only 23, but people around make me feel like I'm 35, I hate it.

It's like I had everything to begin with, but I fought my inner feelings and hated them, now they're gone. only now, after losing them, do I realize that I had everything and should have embraced it when I had them, I regret not realizing it back then, and now I want them all back now. Maybe the reason I lost all them is because I hated them? I know it's ridiculous, but it feels that way, it's like my body wants to turn on me because I had everything I wanted, and I wasn't grateful for it.

I still don't feel like it's a lost cause, I could fix my hair, and all that and even do something about my dysphoria, but.... I'm finding it extremely hard to be patient. I'm so reclusive these days, I don't even want to meet my best friends anymore. I want to just disappear, vanish. It's even affected how I post anonymously online, I don't even like expressing myself when I'm anonymous either, I still feel bad.

Well, 23 is very young, so you will likely be able to tackle this problem early enough.  I haven't dealt with this issue, but hrt usually helps with preventing hair growth and enabling some regrowth.  I believe Finasteride is often prescribed for that problem, but don't quote me on it since I don't have personal experience in this area.  Chances are, however, that if you start soon enough, you will be okay.  Have you considered doing a low dose on hrt, while you allow yourself to get prepared to fully transition?  I know you are in the planning phase, but maybe just starting the anti-androgen will help you prevent this problem in the mean time?  You could likely hide the fact that you were taking Finasteride alone without estrogen if you want to keep it from those around you at this time. 

By the way, I've heard your plans and it seems like you are moving in a good direction with your life.  I know it's frustrating that things aren't solved already, but try to remember that one day this will all be over.  In the meantime, you are working towards everything, so don't feel to bad about where you are.  You're getting there.  Don't beat yourself up too much.  :)

Finasteride kicked my thinning hair's butt at age 43.  Then I got estrogen and dutasteride and well, it's not noticeably thin anymore.  Not as thick as my wife's, but hey, it passes for cisgirl hair now where it didn't before and I had to get umm, creative about it.  The earlier you do something the better.  Don't panic yet, but all the guys I knew that were thinning at 23 had significant hair loss at 40.

*Your mileage may vary
*Void where prohibited
*May cause extreme sexiness

Hats are your friend...have you not tried them? I had really thin hair when I was younger, and was terrified I was going bald, and yet I haven't yet. What was thin hair for someone in their late teens is relatively thick hair for someone in their late thirties. You may not be as lucky as I was, but don't make the assumption that you are not, because you just don't know. You are young enough to where you can wear a baseball cap, perhaps backwards, all the time, why aren't you?

Hi MbutF!

QuoteNow, I'm 23, all the praise and admiration has been replaced with "Dude your hair is really thin", "You look older than all of us", "Are you sure you're only 23, not lying seriously?" All these comments really REALLY hurt me. Because under all the hair loss and the aging, I'm still the same person, and I still have the same face.. They can't look past it at all. As someone with gender dysphoria, I didn't really like it when people called me "Handsome", but I'd take that over all this that's directed at me right now. It's funny just 3 years ago, I had a head full of hair, and the last thing I was worrying about is fighting hair loss at the age of 23, hair loss is pretty bad as it is for normal cis men, but for me who doesn't feel cis, and never has, it's really, really bad. I'm doing all I can to stop it.

Very similar to me!
Used to have people say randomly say to me "doesn't he look girly?" and "I'd bet you'd make a convincing woman" when I was in my late teens and even my twenties. I felt uncomfortable with this at the time, as I felt humiliated and worried that I would be singled out for attack because of this. But deeper inside, there was a sense of pride and contentment.. It was a just a warm glow I didn't understand. Now though, my face looks gaunt and my hair is thin too, so I tend to say I look like Gollum, especially when I've just come out of the shower. And yep, when you're not keen on looking male at the best of times - to know you look like an increasingly grizzled and ageing male at the worst of times, it feels really crushing. I'm not as sensitive to comments and mirrors anymore, I don't make eye contact with myself in mirrors and with comments such as "you look like Willem Dafoe" or "you look like a prog rocker dude" I banish out of my mind by thinking of anything else, no matter how weird or bizarre the replacing thoughts are :p Cats with tentacles, stuff like that, to distract me from the comments.

23 is very young, so best take hair action now, and you should be making an excellent start. Many cisnormative males don't seem to care about the hair until is mostly all gone, but of course, we noticed immediately as MPB is something that can be a MASSIVE dysphoria trigger.

Your beard will make you look much older than you face and skin may look, though. Beards make the vast majority of men look older, especially when the beard is thick and dark. The more distinguished, older and wiser look is probably what nature intended regarding facial hair. It looks great on some guys, but I'd hate it myself.