I can so relate with grieving over my old self! I still am presenting my "old" self right now and "he" (as society deems?) has always helped me.  I consider myself as they or them since I've always seen myself as non binary. They are different than the "she" (again, society) and I recognize this which makes me sad in a way. I chose at this point to make drastic changes for the rest of my life.  I'm definitely happier for this, but it just feels like I'm leaving behind someone and I've never been good with goodbyes.

I really hope less than 1 month in this is all the estrogen, then that would mean all these pills I'm taking are doing something! Lol

Quote from: RobynTx on October 21, 2017, 06:25:09 PM
Congrats on the new hair growth.  I've been only taking Minoxidil with my HRT neds and have noticed some darker hair growth on top of my head.  Glad you are getting some good results.  See? Something good is happening after last week.

Tnx Robyn. I'm a self-confessed control freak,  so when I felt I was loosing control over who and what I was,  it was very hard for me to process. Just a blip on my journey,  and there will be others in future too,  but I'm getting better at riding them out. X

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Quote from: dist123 on October 21, 2017, 07:16:49 PM
I can so relate with grieving over my old self! I still am presenting my "old" self right now and "he" (as society deems?) has always helped me.  I consider myself as they or them since I've always seen myself as non binary. They are different than the "she" (again, society) and I recognize this which makes me sad in a way. I chose at this point to make drastic changes for the rest of my life.  I'm definitely happier for this, but it just feels like I'm leaving behind someone and I've never been good with goodbyes.

I really hope less than 1 month in this is all the estrogen, then that would mean all these pills I'm taking are doing something! Lol

I spent many months even before full-time and HRT talking through this with my therapist. I'm thankful for the person I was,  they did quite well in life,  and were seemingly liked by people.
I guess like any passing we can choose to be negative,  or take a positive view, acknowledge that person,  and try to take their best bits with us. X

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Quote from: meganjames2 on October 21, 2017, 04:50:48 PM
Hair regrowth...
This topic has been done to death, so I'll save another thread!
I'm over 3 months into HRT,  and I have a decent number of hairs towards my hairline that I think are new. They are fine and colourless, but most are a good inch long,  so more than any velus hair; and the length would correlate with the start of HRT. I've maintained my dose of Finasteride even after starting HRT,  and also use Minoxidil.


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I am noticing fine hair as well right now.  I currently have a hairline restoration scheduled for late November.  I'm thinking I should delay, just to see what hrt and finasteride is doing.

Bari Jo

Quote from: meganjames2 on October 22, 2017, 01:43:13 AM
I spent many months even before full-time and HRT talking through this with my therapist. I'm thankful for the person I was,  they did quite well in life,  and were seemingly liked by people.
I guess like any passing we can choose to be negative,  or take a positive view, acknowledge that person,  and try to take their best bits with us. X

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I so agree here.  More importantly, I hope my loved ones and people I know, realize I'm doing just this.  I didn't hate  my old self, well, I hated that I was a man and was miserable a lot.  However, I have accomplished amazing things, things that most only dream about.  I plan on carrying over that spirit and some other things of my old self.

Bari Jo

Quote from: Bari Jo on October 22, 2017, 02:34:21 AM
I am noticing fine hair as well right now.  I currently have a hairline restoration scheduled for late November.  I'm thinking I should delay, just to see what hrt and finasteride is doing.

Bari Jo

As my crown was my worst area,  it was a simpler decision for me. I left my hairline as it was not great but just about 'good enough'.
The theory is that even without any specific regrowth,  overall hair density should increase to some extent,  as E extends the growth phase of the follicles,  meaning more hairs growing at any one time,  and fewer in resting phase,  ergo more density!

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Quote from: Bari Jo on October 22, 2017, 02:34:21 AMI am noticing fine hair as well right now.  I currently have a hairline restoration scheduled for late November.  I'm thinking I should delay, just to see what hrt and finasteride is doing.

Exactly this, Bari Jo. I was doing research and getting ready to call about FUT hair grafts, then one night I saw hairs regrowing in areas I thought were dead for good. My crown is actually starting to fill in fairly well after using topical minoxidil (generic Rogaine) since March. The front corners seem to be filling in since I started finasteride about two months ago. So I've put any plans for grafts on hold for a year to see how well the regrowth works on its own. Fingers crossed!

- Steph

I noticed the name change.  Congratulations I'm so happy for you.

Quote from: RobynTx on October 23, 2017, 07:37:20 AM
I noticed the name change.  Congratulations I'm so happy for you.

Ty. The 'james' of meganjames was a fictional creation for privacy reasons no longer required [emoji5].

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Quote from: Megan. on October 23, 2017, 08:02:02 AMThe 'james' of meganjames was a fictional creation for privacy reasons no longer required

I like the new one. Now you're just Megan. Period. [emoji846]

And here I was thinking I'd never get one of those,  even with surgery [emoji23]

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Quote from: Megan. on October 23, 2017, 01:23:43 PM
And here I was thinking I'd never get one of those,  even with surgery [emoji23]

I knew someone was going to run with that. Just wasn't sure who.

Quote from: Steph2.0 on October 22, 2017, 10:54:32 AM
So I've put any plans for grafts on hold for a year to see how well the regrowth works on its own. Fingers crossed!

- Steph

That waiting for what may be potentially bad news is the hardest part of all of this in my mind. I've been on Finast for about 2 months after the cheap Costco minox for about 2 before that. I have a lot of new fine growth and some darkened growth, seemingly ahead of the curve on timing but even then it is killing me to have to wait a year just to even be able to approach a transplant surgeon and get a prognosis. It bothers me way more than body hair, because there's no question there; it's just find a way to pay and put in the time, eventually done with no "Sorry, you'll never not have a beard" being sprung on you a year down the line. This is just painful not knowing the answer to whether I'm even eligible for transplants, much less will be able to have my own real, long feminine hair.

Quote from: Roll on October 23, 2017, 09:56:02 PM
I've been on Finast for about 2 months after the cheap Costco minox for about 2 before that. I have a lot of new fine growth and some darkened growth, seemingly ahead of the curve on timing but even then it is killing me to have to wait a year just to even be able to approach a transplant surgeon and get a prognosis.

Did you just ask a GP for the Finast? Did you have growth before with the minox, or is it all just the finast?

Katie,

In my own case (using both fin and min), I can't say if they've given me any regrowth, but I do think they stopped any further loss.

Megan. X

(Oh, I should probably answer the question Katie asked me here too for future readers. I was talking to Katie about something else and had just replied there.)

My GP gave me a scrip for finasteride no questions asked. (Proscar, not propecia or generic propecia dosage finast. Proscar is cheaper while being higher amount of finast, which you then just divide so is even cheaper still!) I had a lot of the light, pigment-less growth from minox alone, which is what drove me to rush and get the finast. I'm 35 and most hair loss was well with in the oft cited 2-7 year window, with the added caveat that not all of it was due to androgen issues. My mother passed along somewhat thin hair on top, and also I had a lot of damage from psoriasis, that was seemingly easier to repair than traditional male hair loss may be. (Damaged follicle versus destroyed follicle I suppose.) I've had very positive and quick results all things considered (though won't get full coverage by any means), but I can't attest that will be the case for most people and I have no way to differentiate between my reasons for hair loss to know if it is the hair lost to DHT that is even responding.

Quick update: After thinking things were all OK, I've had another incident of Haematospermia

As my previous blood tests and prostate exam were clear, I'm at a loss, but obviously concerned.

I do have one random off-the-wall theory: The first and second occurrence of this have occurred about 25 days apart. I did some digging, and wonder if I may have some degree of Persistant Mullerian Duct Syndrome. I have displayed almost all of the indicators for this. In an earlier post I joked about pretending the blood was from menstruation, I'm starting to wonder if this could actually be possible. In theory the HRT could have initiated the start of cycles in some remnant Mullerian tissue. Though I freely admit (as I have no medical training) this could easily be nonsense.

I'll be scheduling a visit back to my doctor to ask for further investigation, ideally an ultrasound to check for any structural anomalies in the region, to either rule out my theory, or to confirm it.

  Interesting.  Since you used that big word again I decided to find out just what it meant. When I did it brought up dark colored or anywhere from pink to brown ejaculate. That brought to mind similar occurrences in myself. I went through I period after starting hrt (estradiol and spirolactone) where on the very infrequent time of taking care of business, perhaps once a month. I noticed that mine was discolored. I just chalked it up as aged juices, such as in fine wine,l ol, due to the long period in between. It occurred for several months and finally stopped. I believe it coincided with the termination of sperm production. I never looked into it  and all this is my own totally unqualified hypothesis. At any rate it did stop.

Laurie

ty for sharing Laurie

My main concern is that it is nothing more serious. I'm not concerned about the blood per-se.

X

  At least you have the where with all to be concerned about it and have it checked out where I didn't. I still have the male attitude that doctors are to be avoided where woman seem to welcome doctor visits.