Been on Spironolactone and Estradiol for exactly two months today, started transition with a pretty decent amount of chest/back hair that has, unfortunately, not seen much change(unlike a lot of the rest of my body). I am 22 if that makes a difference.
I know that I will probably have to get it removed, but how long should I give the hormones before knowing that they have done all they can?
Anyone in a similar situation or has anyone been?
I'm 22 and I've been on HRT for about 4 months now. I'm experiencing very mild shedding of body hair, which is only limited to my chest and tummy areas, and even then they sort of give up after tugging at them lightly. I'm quite hairy (not to mention the legs - they're the worst) and I'm truly hoping they're going to start falling out more.
I'm planning on buying a depilatory cream, getting rid of all the hair, and then go to a waxing salon when the hairs are visible again (just much shorter).
I experienced some shedding after 6 weeks however epilating it made it thin out quicker.
Quote from: Karii Cloud on January 31, 2012, 06:31:07 AM
Been on Spironolactone and Estradiol for exactly two months today, started transition with a pretty decent amount of chest/back hair that has, unfortunately, not seen much change(unlike a lot of the rest of my body). I am 22 if that makes a difference.
I know that I will probably have to get it removed, but how long should I give the hormones before knowing that they have done all they can?
Anyone in a similar situation or has anyone been?
It may diminish some chest and back hair but it takes a VERY long time on HRT to thin it out. 2 years is the usual discussions for it to take some effect.....that is if it does work on you.
My upper legs shedded a lot during the first months, with out even touching it.
I take care of my body hair now, all of it grows a lot slower, and it's not as thick.
Right before 5th month i was able to pull out the thicker, longer hairs by hand all around my body without any pain. I've seen very little regrowth in my body but miniturized (small, non vellus) hair remains.
Almost right away I noticed that I was shedding back hair like crazy. I had these weird huge patches of thick long hair on my shoulder's that made me think of an Admiral's uniform. Now most of my back is just vellus hair. However my legs, arms, and chest really haven't changed that much. Maybe I've had some thinning, but nothing as drastic as my back and shoulders.
I'm 10 months on Androcur now:
Had some back hairs which are now mysteriously gone. I don't even have to worry about that.
But in contrast most everything else is finer, blonder and grows much more slowly but is still mostly there. It's much easier to control and epilating those hairs doesn't really hurt anymore, though.
I'm told it takes *years* for body hairs to really start dissapearing. Im probs gonna speed it up with some laser.
I've been on estradiol and Androcur for 9 months.. I found that nothing happened with my body hair until I waxed it.. Then it, for the most part, simply failed to grow back as anything other than vellus hairs, at least on my chest, arms and belly.. Leg hair is far more sparse, as are the armpits.. Also, my facial hair now grows at a speed that makes glaciers look speedy.. lol
Laser & Electro. After 2 years of near max dosages of E, Spiro, and Avodart... HRT has had little to zero affect on my body hair. It may thin a bit, but still comes back. Laser and electrolysis are you friends.
At your age you may well experience a significant reduction, but no, I wouldn't expect it to have happened yet.
I would recommend giving it at least 6 months or longer, it is very possible you may loose all masculine body hair if you give it time and won't have to shell out money.
I stated only a couple years younger than you, and I don't even have to shave, I've never had electro or laser. So give it a chance, you might well not have too, particularly for body hair.
I started HRT at 49 (full transition regimen of Spiro and estrogen) with moderate but visible chest and leg hair, almost non on my back. A year on HRT and I no longer needed to shave my chest to wear a bikini to the beach. Two years on HRT and I didn't have to shave my legs either. The hair on my entire body is a light female pattern vellum that you can barely see.
This is one thing I'm definatly curious about, the extent that anti-androgen or estrogen therapy can help body hair. I have such thick leg, thigh and bottox hair that you'd think I was Mediterranean or had Werewolf Syndrome. My arms, while also extremely thick-haired, at least showcase hairs that are somewhat clear or light-brown and instead of the horror I have on my lower body. I definatly can't wait two years to see and improvement, and I'm wondering if shaving or waxing helps the process along tremendously. Also, to note, my chin hair is incredibly and extremely thick (a early-20's male with the follicle thickness of a man in his 50's), and I have quite the hairline. I just hope that HRT will really be my answer to these many problems, but I'm very scared of how long it'll take.
I'm was on just spiro and finisteride for about 9 months, most of my back hair is gone and the rest of my body it grows back much thinner and lighter. Added estriol a couple of months ago, more is gone now.
What about leg hair (from knees up) did it disappear?
I have them just short time, it was one of things what push me to therapist
I started seeing a decrease in body hair around month six. It seems like it's vanishing from the outside perimeter to the inside perimeter. I still have some hair in my cleavage and around my navel, but I can go a couple days without shaving it. Leg hair hasn't reduced much. Arm hair is finer too. The decrease sort of came along with my skin feeling smoother. YMMV.
Quote from: Karii Cloud on January 31, 2012, 06:31:07 AM
Been on Spironolactone and Estradiol for exactly two months today, started transition with a pretty decent amount of chest/back hair that has, unfortunately, not seen much change(unlike a lot of the rest of my body). I am 22 if that makes a difference.
I know that I will probably have to get it removed, but how long should I give the hormones before knowing that they have done all they can?
Anyone in a similar situation or has anyone been?
I'm almost 1 year and am not sure when it started to change but my body hair is very thin and sparse and my facial hair has also thinned.
I was going to get Laser right away but decided not to spend the money, then got busy, and now I'm glad I didn't. There is much less to remove now.
When I started HRT i actually sprouted some thick black hair on my back. Apparently my body started producing more testosterone to combat the HRT. What do your blood tests say? At 2 months I was still in the male range and only noticed slight skin oil changes.
@ month three now, deff felt a rise in T a few weeks ago (libido, hair growth, oiliness), but that subsided, as far as I can tell. Have an appointment with my endo in a few weeks, will get blood work. Also, I will ask about finesteride(Proscar) apperantly it does really well at reducing body hair...but I'm pretty sure it all just a waiting(and hoping) game.
I am noticing my pubic hair(gross) now comes in two varieties, thick, and thin. It seems as though the actively growing hair downstairs is starting to grow in softer and become more vellous, maybe a sign of things to come other places...have to wait and see.