So I just got back from my 6month checkup ( Im 1yr 3months on T ) and lucky me my hair has been thinning. So doctor gave me a prescription for finasteride and told me to see how my hair loss continues and decided to start taking it or not. Now not all my facial hair has finished growing in and I've been wanting that for awhile. My question to you guys, from what you see in the pic below, should I start finasteride or give it a little time? I just want other people's opinions. Thanks!

Yes sir,

That is MPB alright, and it looks quite familiar...  That was me a year ago, more or less. 

The question is does it bother you?  You WILL look unmistakeably dudely if you let it go.  Finasteride seems to work best on recent hair loss from what I've heard, and it (plus the rest of my HRT) really helped me to the point where I'm no longer researching hair transplants, extensions or rugs.

MPB really bothered me personally, but I'm MTF and it goes with the territory.  Most of my cisguy friends are 30s-50s, and the ones who did lose hair mostly just shrug it off and laugh.  I'm the only one I know who bothered to counter it (OK, what I did was atypical), and rocking a chrome dome is often considered a sign of confidence. 

But yes, your options are plugs, rugs, drugs or just say, "to hell with it". 

Only thing that bothers me is that im only 22 otherwise if I was a bit older then it wouldn't bother me at all lol

Honestly it's very hard to tell with your hair cut that short.  Most guys with super short hair will naturally look "thinner".  I would have to see a pic with a bit longer hair - sorry.

Quote from: Kreuzfidel on November 06, 2013, 12:50:14 AM
Honestly it's very hard to tell with your hair cut that short.  Most guys with super short hair will naturally look "thinner".  I would have to see a pic with a bit longer hair - sorry.

I agree. 

When I first starting taking testosterone, my only major fear was 'what if I go bald'. I came to moderate peace with it fairly early, and plan to go cueball bald once it gets too noticeable. All I can say is the meds you described have some pretty intense side effects (from my reading), and that there's pretty darned nice hats out there.

It comes down to preference, honestly. I'm also 31 years old, so I think I'm more within range for naturally balding anyway. Still not looking forward to it. Do the meds actually work longterm?

The picture does look like it's thinning, but as people have pointed out, you also have very short hair. Longer hair can smooth out the sparse patches.

As a side question, does anyone else (who's experienced some balding) find their hair texture changes a bit? Mine feels less silky.

My understanding about Finasteride (which might be totally wrong) is that it blocks DHT, a form of toxic T that some people are more sensitive to and which causes MPB. Although I have seen cis guys on a hair loss forum complaining that they lost sex drive and "morning wood" when taking Fin so maybe there are some general anti-T properties. You could always use Minoxidil which is a topical application and not an anti-T (as far as I know). My counsellor at the local gender centre told me one of his F2M clients, also prone to MPB, swears by it. I'm using it with encouraging results. It's available in Australia without a prescription but I don't know about elsewhere, also it's not cheap!

There's a lot of variables out there. Also, there are people who are in their early 20s and are bald or have thinning hair. I started coming to terms with my hair thinning and invested in a hat.

Only reason I cut it short is cause im too poor for to afford a haircut ( sad I know) when my hair was grown out you can notice its a bit thinner, but it wasn't too bad. Like I said im 22 and just want like 5-10 years before I go bald ya know? My older half brother lost all of his hair when he was 25 Ish and started losing it around my age. My younger full brother still has a head full of hair but he is only 17 so idk.

This is the most recent Picture of me before I shaved my head. And my profile pic was taken in August.

Sadly you are required or expected to remove said hat at many times when you would rather not. I too wear a hat, a variety of them.

Since my early 20s my hair has been thinning and I didn't do nothing about it until one month ago, when I started my HRT to MTF, finasteride included. One month after I can already see small hairs growing back on a good part of my bald corners.

Finasteride will prevent testosterone from being converted into DHT, a much more active form of testosterone. By reducing the free DHT it will halt the baldening and it can even bring back hair you lost recently, but finasteride is well known to have side effects as killing your sex drive and gynecomastia on males (don't really know how a FTM would respond to it). Minoxidil can be used as a lotion, but it have side effects as well.

If you let the baldening do its job it will give you a very masculine face, but at the same time baldening is not a very desired thing for anyone...

Quote from: Natalia on November 06, 2013, 02:21:17 PM
Since my early 20s my hair has been thinning and I didn't do nothing about it until one month ago, when I started my HRT to MTF, finasteride included. One month after I can already see small hairs growing back on a good part of my bald corners.

Finasteride will prevent testosterone from being converted into DHT, a much more active form of testosterone. By reducing the free DHT it will halt the baldening and it can even bring back hair you lost recently, but finasteride is well known to have side effects as killing your sex drive and gynecomastia on males (don't really know how a FTM would respond to it). Minoxidil can be used as a lotion, but it have side effects as well.

If you let the baldening do its job it will give you a very masculine face, but at the same time baldening is not a very desired thing for anyone...

MTF here, but finasteride (11 months) estrogen (9 months) and dutasteride (5 months) still haven't killed my sex drive.  Breast growth- check, but if they've maxed out already, mild AAs shouldn't make much of a difference.  And yes, my hair has made a serious comeback in this short amount of time.  The problem now is waiting for the regrowth to catch up to what I'd already grown long.  FTMs with short hair won't have this problem!