Exploring The Hormonal Route. Hair=life.

[Derelict]

Also, what’s better, MSM or biotin? I want my hair to grow faster

MSM plus vitamin C is better

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Hi! I have been on estrogen and bicalutamide and dutasteride and oral minoxidil for some time, but I was wondering how I could regrow my hairline. I am at a Norwood 1.5 but want to be a Norwood 0, how can this be achieved?

Well, you are on an aggressive regime except for estrogen. You might want to try taking it sublingually but of course, that will raise serum levels. Nobody knows but 4 mg or 6 mg probably would work better and these dosages are more in accord with what @bridgeburn, the thread's founder used to take. I am having success even at the hairline but I am taking copious amounts of estrogen, perhaps between 10mg and 20 mg when equilibrated. How's the oral minoxidil? I started using Kirkland minoxidil orally about four weeks ago and it seems to work much better than topical minoxidil but it is hard to know since I am mainlining E.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

min helps vellus hair go terminal

Hey, that pic reminds one of a young Bobby Dylan....

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Welcome to the grind, people report better regrowth on spironolactone or cpa than on bica.

Lol. I was going to say that people recommend bica more than spironolactone or cpa. Part of the problem is that Dr. Powers recomends bica and his cohort tend to be kind of rah-rah about meds. spironolactone is cheap and cpa is cheap. All three seem to work similarly, as should medroxyprogesterone when used at >20mg daily. I have used prometrium and provera, (which is a brand name/generic name for medroxy) without side-effects. spironolactone had serious side-effects for me when used at 200 mg and I desisted from its use in May and instead, substantially increased my estrogen ingestion.

I have read that progesterone might have feminizing effects but not necessarily upon scalp hair but once again, we don't know, really. Many of the Powers cohort take it rectally where it is purportedly several times stronger but there is still not much evidence supporting its use for either hair or breast growth or feminization in general.

 

[Derelict]

Welcome to the grind, people report better regrowth on spironolactone or cpa than on bica.

Bica is better when used in conjunction with E i think.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

I would recommend not bothering with progesterone, I have used it, and I have used oral progesterone on the recommendation of my doctor for a time. It's basically a meme when it comes to hair recovery, I am presently using a number of topicals and two of which are working way better than progesterone ever did.

Oral progesterone made me feel weird and I felt like it was giving me the beginnings of gyno, topical progesterone didn't do sh*t for my hair, there are far better ways to deal with hair loss, and frankly if you're on finasteride, you won't see any more gains that you already are on finasteride itself.

After reading a good chunk of this thread, and consulting with my own past in terms of how I looked, what my hormonal profile was, it seems very obvious to me that the only serious method of hair regrowth is in fact the usage of estrogen.

The only reason the DHT inhibitor I chose to use even worked so well in conjunction with everything else is because my estrogen was naturally higher, substantially higher than it is now, which is good news for me personally as I believe it will mean I can tolerate a reasonable topical dosage and have it go systemic without doing harm to my body.

Many MtFs like me find estrogen supplementation to be rejuvenating to an extent that it is difficult to convey to others. As one's body feminizes, there is tissue change and it can feel like and/or result in significant youth effects which when combined with beard removal, can be almost uncanny. I would never "go back" for these reasons in addition to the hair effects.

 

[Gergely]

Bica is better when used in conjunction with E i think.

Ultimately i also went with Bica, but not because the side effects of spironolactone. Although one positive thing i can say about it is that there are many examples of hair improvements on it. Because almost everyone starts their hrt with it.

 

[DogoDiLaurentiis]

Many MtFs like me find estrogen supplementation to be rejuvenating to an extent that it is difficult to convey to others. As one's body feminizes, there is tissue change and it can feel like and/or result in significant youth effects which when combined with beard removal, can be almost uncanny. I would never "go back" for these reasons in addition to the hair effects.

It has to do with a number of factors but two are that estrogen increases collagen production and increases tissue hydration, both of those things are going to make you look much younger.

Interestingly enough, I just got my labs back from my endo, my IGF-1 is in the upper part of the reference range at 214 ug/l, and my testosterone is in the upper part of the reference range at 25.2 nmol/l.

Both testosterone and IGF-1 can cause a decrease in collagen synthesis as can DHT, and while my estrogen hasn't been tested lately I suspect it is significantly lower than it once was. I know that it is a characteristic complaint of bodybuilders that when they take exclusively androgenic compounds along with aromatase inhibitors, that their joints will feel sore and painful because estrogen has a hydrating and antiinflammatory effect.

I definitely feel I looked better with a higher ratio of estrogen to testosterone in my body and I certainly didn't have the same joint pain that I do now which I can only attribute to having lower estrogen levels.

My goal now is to get my DHEA tested, and to figure out ways of slightly reducing my IGF-1 without tanking it, and adjusting my testosterone slightly and of course getting the estrogen topical. IMO this lends a lot to explain why I felt so terrible on finasteride and proves my theory correct that if you have a significant response to finasteride, and it nukes your androgen levels and you have little estrogen to pick up the slack, you basically end up feeling post-menopausal.

For whatever reason, aromatase is occurring less than it did in my late 20s and early 30s, so instead of trying to dick around with that process internally, I'm just going to go for topical application of estrogen. I think it will be a lot easier to balance my hormone ratios if I administer topically as opposed to orals or f*****g with enzyme expression.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

It has to do with a number of factors but two are that estrogen increases collagen production and increases tissue hydration, both of those things are going to make you look much younger.

Interestingly enough, I just got my labs back from my endo, my IGF-1 is in the upper part of the reference range at 214 ug/l, and my testosterone is in the upper part of the reference range at 25.2 nmol/l.

Both testosterone and IGF-1 can cause a decrease in collagen synthesis as can DHT, and while my estrogen hasn't been tested lately I know that it is a characteristic complaint of bodybuilders that when they take exclusively androgenic compounds along with aromatase inhibitors, that their joints will feel sore and painful because estrogen has a hydrating and antiinflammatory effect.

I definitely feel I looked better with a higher ratio of estrogen to testosterone in my body and I certainly didn't have the same joint pain that I do now which I can only attribute to having lower estrogen levels.

My goal now is to get my DHEA tested, and to figure out ways of slightly reducing my IGF-1 without tanking it, and adjusting my testosterone slightly and of course getting the estrogen topical. IMO this lends a lot to explain why I felt so terrible on finasteride and proves my theory correct that if you have a significant response to finasteride, and it nukes your androgen levels and you have little estrogen to pick up the slack, you basically end up feeling post-menopausal.

For whatever reason, aromatase is occurring less than it did in my late 20s and early 30s, so instead of trying to dick around with that process internally, I'm just going to go for topical application of estrogen. I think it will be a lot easier to balance my hormone ratios if I administer topically as opposed to orals or f*****g with enzyme expression.

I definitely agree with the aspect regarding decreasing joint pain. Some of that to me actually seemed to be related to the dissipation of over-built-up muscle, particularly in my neck. Under T, I had issues turning my neck, perhaps due to bruxism. One thing that everyone should look into in a hair loss context is using snake toxins, not snake oils, lol, i.e., botox, dysport, to relax the masseter chewing muscles. This is supposed to decrease surface tension on certain areas of the scalp but regardless, it makes one look younger as it might tend to lead to a less squarish face/head.

 

[DogoDiLaurentiis]

MSM plus vitamin C is better

Agreed, MSM gives your body the sulphur it needs to grow hair, biotin is necessary but taking it as a supplement has always never shown significant increases of hair growth for me and it has almost always given me problem skin.

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

Well, you are on an aggressive regime except for estrogen. You might want to try taking it sublingually but of course, that will raise serum levels. Nobody knows but 4 mg or 6 mg probably would work better and these dosages are more in accord with what @bridgeburn, the thread's founder used to take. I am having success even at the hairline but I am taking copious amounts of estrogen, perhaps between 10mg and 20 mg when equilibrated. How's the oral minoxidil? I started using Kirkland minoxidil orally about four weeks ago and it seems to work much better than topical minoxidil but it is hard to know since I am mainlining E.

I wish I could increase my dosage, or add an E patch. But, if I mess with my dosages, I will be cut off from seeing the gender specialist. They already want me to decrease my dosage since my E levels are a little high from 2mg sublingually. I might just use E patches regardless, though. I started E at 18, and I’ve grown into my feminisation.

Oral minoxidil has saved my life, I was seriously contemplating suicide before using it due to myself not having enough density and it worsening my GD. It has improved my self-esteem significantly, and I will never regret taking it, even if I did turn into a gorilla-hybrid after using it. Luckily, laser hair removal exists and that can be used to combat the excessive body hair growth from oral minoxidil. On oral minoxidil, my density has gone from around 40% to 90% in the crown and mid-section of the top part of my scalp. On the frontal area, it has gone from around 30% density to 80%. I have been on oral minoxidil for around ten months now.

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

What are people’s opinions on using rice water on their hair to increase the rate of hair growth? I had a haircut a few months ago and it’s so uneven with the centre-part and I want it to grow faster so I can have it cut even.

 

[Derelict]

I wish I could increase my dosage, or add an E patch. But, if I mess with my dosages, I will be cut off from seeing the gender specialist. They already want me to decrease my dosage since my E levels are a little high from 2mg sublingually. I might just use E patches regardless, though. I started E at 18, and I’ve grown into my feminisation.

Oral minoxidil has saved my life, I was seriously contemplating suicide before using it due to myself not having enough density and it worsening my GD. It has improved my self-esteem significantly, and I will never regret taking it, even if I did turn into a gorilla-hybrid after using it. Luckily, laser hair removal exists and that can be used to combat the excessive body hair growth from oral minoxidil. On oral minoxidil, my density has gone from around 40% to 90% in the crown and mid-section of the top part of my scalp. On the frontal area, it has gone from around 30% density to 80%. I have been on oral minoxidil for around ten months now.

What dosage of oral min do you take? i have been taking oral min since september/october 2018, for the majority of time at 10mg, my crown which is my main problem area is still really bad though. I think your results are because of the combination of E and oral min rather than oral min on its own. There seems to be a good synergy between the two when used both topically and orally.

 

[Derelict]

What are people’s opinions on using rice water on their hair to increase the rate of hair growth? I had a haircut a few months ago and it’s so uneven with the centre-part and I want it to grow faster so I can have it cut even.

Take MSM and Vitamin C to speed up hair growth, 2/3 grams of MSM and 1g of vitamin C every morning, your hair will grow very fast.

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

Take MSM and Vitamin C to speed up hair growth, 2/3 grams of MSM and 1g of vitamin C every morning, your hair will grow very fast.

I have been scared to use MSM ever since reading that it also increases the rate of body hair growing. Although, do you use that combination? If so, how much faster does your hair grow?

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

What dosage of oral min do you take? i have been taking oral min since september/october 2018, for the majority of time at 10mg, my crown which is my main problem area is still really bad though. I think your results are because of the combination of E and oral min rather than oral min on its own. There seems to be a good synergy between the two when used both topically and orally.

I use 5mg per day. My results definitely are due to E, but also I read somewhere on this thread that bicalutamide increases the effectiveness of oral minoxidil. I don’t remember why, but I kept that in mind.

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

Take MSM and Vitamin C to speed up hair growth, 2/3 grams of MSM and 1g of vitamin C every morning, your hair will grow very fast.

Also, are different forms of MSM different in effectiveness? I’ve seen the powder version and the flakes so far...

 

[Derelict]

Also, are different forms of MSM different in effectiveness? I’ve seen the powder version and the flakes so far...

I think the powder works out cheaper but is more hassle. I just buy 1000mg pills online for convenience I take 2 or 3 in the morning along with 1000mg of vitamin c. My hair grows much, much faster, it is also good for skin. As for body hair etc can't say i have really noticed any increase, but i didn't see an increase on oral min either.

 

[ReturnOfExtreme]

I think the powder works out cheaper but is more hassle. I just buy 1000mg pills online for convenience I take 2 or 3 in the morning along with 1000mg of vitamin c. My hair grows much, much faster, it is also good for skin. As for body hair etc can't say i have really noticed any increase, but i didn't see an increase on oral min either.

Luckily I have an IPL machine at home, so maybe that can counteract the faster body hair growth. When did you start noticing your hair grew faster?

 

[Derelict]

Luckily I have an IPL machine at home, so maybe that can counteract the faster body hair growth. When did you start noticing your hair grew faster?

Honestly couldn't say, just know that it grows very fast now, probably a bit too fast considering we are having lock downs and stuff all the time making it harder to get a hair cut.