Exploring The Hormonal Route. Hair=life.

recedingyt

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Are you trying to induce lactation and breastfeed on this? Watch out, Woody may ask you for a breast selfie.
Nope, that'll come later when I start weight cycling and taking Domperidone on my gaining cycles :) no tiddy pics for anyone though, unless I get a bf at some point.
How do you consume minoxidil that is for hair how much do you take sublingually and how do you know how many dropsyou have to drink?
I just take one drop and let it absorb for 2-3 mins under my tongue and then swallow it with a bit of water. If 20 drops = 1mL and there is 50mg minoxidil in 1mL, that should mean I'm dosing about 2.5mg. Also keep in mind I'm not doing this every day.
 

Almas_NW0

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Now I understand that if I took the right photos right away, I would probably have noticed progress in a month. HRT really works very quickly, and you don't have to wait 6 months or a year just to find out if something is working for you.

Today is 5 months of HRT, approaching Norwood 0, but the hair is too poor quality to be considered a good result.

My breasts have not grown, it looks like gynecomastia. Visible in a T-shirt, but not visible in a sweater / hoodie. I save money for an operation in the spring so that I don't have problems with wearing a T-shirt in the summer.

It is difficult to assess the feminization of the face, because I underwent plastic surgery for ptosis of the eyelids. But anyway, I look like a guy

Before HRT, I already had wrinkles on my face, on my forehead, as if I were 40 years old. Now I look better, and old acquaintances say that I have become younger. The mysterious story of Benjamin Button, lol.
 

kckcjl94

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Now I understand that if I took the right photos right away, I would probably have noticed progress in a month. HRT really works very quickly, and you don't have to wait 6 months or a year just to find out if something is working for you.

Today is 5 months of HRT, approaching Norwood 0, but the hair is too poor quality to be considered a good result.

My breasts have not grown, it looks like gynecomastia. Visible in a T-shirt, but not visible in a sweater / hoodie. I save money for an operation in the spring so that I don't have problems with wearing a T-shirt in the summer.

It is difficult to assess the feminization of the face, because I underwent plastic surgery for ptosis of the eyelids. But anyway, I look like a guy

Before HRT, I already had wrinkles on my face, on my forehead, as if I were 40 years old. Now I look better, and old acquaintances say that I have become younger. The mysterious story of Benjamin Button, lol.
what's your current hrt dosage?
 

MylovelyHair

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Nope, that'll come later when I start weight cycling and taking Domperidone on my gaining cycles :) no tiddy pics for anyone though, unless I get a bf at some point.

I just take one drop and let it absorb for 2-3 mins under my tongue and then swallow it with a bit of water. If 20 drops = 1mL and there is 50mg minoxidil in 1mL, that should mean I'm dosing about 2.5mg. Also keep in mind I'm not doing this every day.
How often should i do it ?? And how do i know if it is effective?? any sides?
 

John Difool

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I just take one drop and let it absorb for 2-3 mins under my tongue and then swallow it with a bit of water. If 20 drops = 1mL and there is 50mg minoxidil in 1mL, that should mean I'm dosing about 2.5mg. Also keep in mind I'm not doing this every da
minoxidil half life is 22 hours. By diluting your minoxidil in water (1:1), you can achieve ~1mg a day with one drop.
 

John Difool

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"My regimen"
Holy ghost, you are at 15mg/14 day. EEn is best spread on 7 days cycle to avoid peaks. I use this simulator as a reference:


Select your choice of E2 and use repeat. You can see the difference between 7 and 14 days with EEn. Do you see that valley at 14 days? tthat's what you want to avoid. if your E serum level is fine, my recommendation would be to half the dose and poke yourself weekly.
 

MylovelyHair

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Now I understand that if I took the right photos right away, I would probably have noticed progress in a month. HRT really works very quickly, and you don't have to wait 6 months or a year just to find out if something is working for you.

Today is 5 months of HRT, approaching Norwood 0, but the hair is too poor quality to be considered a good result.

My breasts have not grown, it looks like gynecomastia. Visible in a T-shirt, but not visible in a sweater / hoodie. I save money for an operation in the spring so that I don't have problems with wearing a T-shirt in the summer.

It is difficult to assess the feminization of the face, because I underwent plastic surgery for ptosis of the eyelids. But anyway, I look like a guy

Before HRT, I already had wrinkles on my face, on my forehead, as if I were 40 years old. Now I look better, and old acquaintances say that I have become younger. The mysterious story of Benjamin Button, lol.
How is your hair on top/crown?? also after how many months does gyno went visible on T-shirts??
 

Almas_NW0

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Holy ghost, you are at 15mg/14 day. EEn is best spread on 7 days cycle to avoid peaks. I use this simulator as a reference:


Select your choice of E2 and use repeat. You can see the difference between 7 and 14 days with EEn. Do you see that valley at 14 days? tthat's what you want to avoid. if your E serum level is fine, my recommendation would be to half the dose and poke yourself weekly.
I know about this and even thought about what you are suggesting: injections every week. However, there is no evidence that this is better for hair growth. There is also speculation that E receptors are dulled if the E level is stable, and respond better to E if the E level fluctuates. Considering all this, I decided not to change anything in the mode and just continue, because it is convenient and I see the result. Thanks for the nice calculator with graphs, it's interesting.
1637335818107.png
 

Almas_NW0

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How is your hair on top/crown?? also after how many months does gyno went visible on T-shirts??
Progresses slowly, as does temple hair
Gynecomastia was visible through the T-shirt even before HRT, when I only used Bicalutamide. She hasn't changed much since then.
 

MylovelyHair

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Progresses slowly, as does temple hair
Gynecomastia was visible through the T-shirt even before HRT, when I only used Bicalutamide. She hasn't changed much since then.
When you took bicalutamide alone did you have any hair thickenning and improvement??
 

recedingyt

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minoxidil half life is 22 hours. By diluting your minoxidil in water (1:1), you can achieve ~1mg a day with one drop.
That's actually a really good insight, will the additional water mess up the solution though? I may take a sacrificial bottle and try to dilute it 1:1 like that soon to see. 2.5mg seems higher than I really need, given that people in the sublingual study got pretty decent results from like as low as 0.45mg. And the lower I go, hopefully the lower my chances of hypertrichosis/bloat/skin sides.
How often should i do it ?? And how do i know if it is effective?? any sides?
Idk what your goals are or even enough about OM to give you recommendations like that. I can only say what I'm doing which is 1 drop 2-3x a week (topical 5% on days where I don't do oral). As for how to know if its working: if it grows hair its working. Lol. For sides, watch out for bloat (water retention), skin changes, heart/blood pressure problems, hypertrichosis, edema.
I know about this and even thought about what you are suggesting: injections every week. However, there is no evidence that this is better for hair growth. There is also speculation that E receptors are dulled if the E level is stable, and respond better to E if the E level fluctuates. Considering all this, I decided not to change anything in the mode and just continue, because it is convenient and I see the result. Thanks for the nice calculator with graphs, it's interesting.
I'm not trying to be obtuse but are there any studies you know of that point to stable levels being bad? AFAIK, stable levels are preferable in the majority of trans girls doing HRT. This is why I'm on a 3.5 day cycle with EV for example: more stable levels, less intense peaks/valleys. It helps a lot with keeping mood stable and personally I feel like I am getting better results this way too. This is the reason most trans girls now prefer to get pellet implants whenever possible: they offer the most stable levels available and most girls say they get better results from them. Dr Powers says that this is partly because of the stability, but also because pellets (and injections as well, but to a lesser degree) do not spike SHBG as much as other delivery methods. He claims that the best indicator of feminization on a lab result is not E2 levels directly, but Free E2 % (with 1-2% being 'ideal'). Transfemscience has a relatively accurate calculator for this if you have any recent lab results. SHBG binds to estrogen and prevents it from acting in the tissues around the body, which is what free E2 does. Hence it being higher = better feminization, and likely better hair growth as a result. I'd recommend reading his subreddit a bit (/r/drwillpowers), maybe going over his V6.0 powerpoint presentation, etc. Boron is a nice supplement to take to increase free E2 % as it binds to SHBG and prevents it from gobbling up E2. The formula for getting the best feminization is not a simple one: you want your E2 levels high, but not so high that it spikes SHBG and lowers Free E2%. This level is different for everyone, some people can go up to 700pg/mL trough levels without SHBG becoming a problem and others have problems keeping it in line with Dr Powers goals at like 300pg/mL trough.
 

John Difool

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speculation that E receptors are dulled if the E level is stable, and respond better to E if the E level fluctuates.

I never heard about this "speculation" anywhere. In fact if you look at the female model, there are no so called fluctuations. Can you share some references or studies about this 'theory" to make it more credible than just broscience?
 

John Difool

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That's actually a really good insight, will the additional water mess up the solution though? I may take a sacrificial bottle and try to dilute it 1:1 like that soon to see. 2.5mg seems higher than I really need, given that people in the sublingual study got pretty decent results from like as low as 0.45mg. And the lower I go, hopefully the lower my chances of hypertrichosis/bloat/skin sides.
the only reason to mess it up is if you were using it topical too. then you would need to add Ethanol. But oral, not at all. It's like saying your saliva would mess up the solution you are putting in your mouth.
 

John Difool

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I'm not trying to be obtuse but are there any studies you know of that point to stable levels being bad? AFAIK, stable levels are preferable in the majority of trans girls doing HRT. This is why I'm on a 3.5 day cycle with EV for example: more stable levels, less intense peaks/valleys. It helps a lot with keeping mood stable and personally I feel like I am getting better results this way too.
You are not obtuse and absolutely spot on on that one. The peaks and valleys are really bad for everything in your body including your hair. I was on EV with 7 days then went to 3.5 days for the same reason. Guess what: hair recovered much faster on smaller cycles. In fact, Lena recommended the half cycle for EV and EEn (she has amazing hair btw.) the fluctuations that are caused by longer cycles are really bad for your hormone balance, your hair (why would I want to have half the E level on the last day?) and to your mood. I can backup what I am saying. I doubt there is any real science on this fluctuating model or any studies showing it's better, because it's not.

What would be the point of using EEn if you are already on a weekly cycle over a 3.5 days on EV? If fluctuation is better why don't try to double the dose and do 30 days while you are at it?
 

recedingyt

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the only reason to mess it up is if you were using it topical too. then you would need to add Ethanol. But oral, not at all. It's like saying your saliva would mess up the solution you are putting in your mouth.
I was mostly concerned that the additional water would mess up the solubility of minoxidil in solution, cause it to precipitate out, or that the water wouldn't play nicely with the eth/PG mixture and it wouldn't mix properly causing the dosing to be inconsistent.
 

Almas_NW0

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When you took bicalutamide alone did you have any hair thickenning and improvement??
No, I continued to go bald. Therefore, I had to switch to HRT.
I never heard about this "speculation" anywhere. In fact if you look at the female model, there are no so called fluctuations. Can you share some references or studies about this 'theory" to make it more credible than just broscience?
I have not seen any research on this topic, only read about it from someone for a very long time. I'm not sure about that myself. However, since my T is suppressed and my E levels are always in the female range, I have no problem. But more importantly, the quality of hair in women improves during pregnancy, when the E level is very high. Therefore, I do not know which levels are the best for hair and decided to just not fool myself and do it as it is more convenient.
The main thing is to raise E enough for T to fall to the castration level. The rest, I think, does not play a significant role.

Therefore, I adhere to the rule T <35-50, E> 200-300
There is research that a T level of less than 20-30 is more likely to be cured of prostate cancer than a T between 20 and 50. Therefore, the key for me is reducing T
I'm not trying to be obtuse but are there any studies you know of that point to stable levels being bad? AFAIK, stable levels are preferable in the majority of trans girls doing HRT. This is why I'm on a 3.5 day cycle with EV for example: more stable levels, less intense peaks/valleys. It helps a lot with keeping mood stable and personally I feel like I am getting better results this way too. This is the reason most trans girls now prefer to get pellet implants whenever possible: they offer the most stable levels available and most girls say they get better results from them. Dr Powers says that this is partly because of the stability, but also because pellets (and injections as well, but to a lesser degree) do not spike SHBG as much as other delivery methods. He claims that the best indicator of feminization on a lab result is not E2 levels directly, but Free E2 % (with 1-2% being 'ideal'). Transfemscience has a relatively accurate calculator for this if you have any recent lab results. SHBG binds to estrogen and prevents it from acting in the tissues around the body, which is what free E2 does. Hence it being higher = better feminization, and likely better hair growth as a result. I'd recommend reading his subreddit a bit (/r/drwillpowers), maybe going over his V6.0 powerpoint presentation, etc. Boron is a nice supplement to take to increase free E2 % as it binds to SHBG and prevents it from gobbling up E2. The formula for getting the best feminization is not a simple one: you want your E2 levels high, but not so high that it spikes SHBG and lowers Free E2%. This level is different for everyone, some people can go up to 700pg/mL trough levels without SHBG becoming a problem and others have problems keeping it in line with Dr Powers goals at like 300pg/mL trough.
I read this. Powers said that the optimal E level is between 300 and 900 pg / ml. This is exactly the range that I cover the peaks and troughs of levels.
I can't help but add that Dr.Powers is not an authority. For example, Powers claims that taking Bicalutamide without E will make you feel like sh*t because you won't have a dominant hormone. Just an idiot.
 
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Gynobro237

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What hurts is that I can see traces of a nw1 hair line on my temples, hairs that are darker than peach fuzz but short and not terminal. If I take minoxidil, I'd get hypertrichosis and heart issues. There was that study where verteporfin was used to create new hair follicles in mice and I know of a place where you can buy stuff from the CAS registration number, and I know of a recipe for topical E2. Should I chance buying verteporfin and make a weak topical and try microneedling or is it a waste?
I need my hairline back before I do anything.
 

recedingyt

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No, I continued to go bald. Therefore, I had to switch to HRT.

I have not seen any research on this topic, only read about it from someone for a very long time. I'm not sure about that myself. However, since my T is suppressed and my E levels are always in the female range, I have no problem. But more importantly, the quality of hair in women improves during pregnancy, when the E level is very high. Therefore, I do not know which levels are the best for hair and decided to just not fool myself and do it as it is more convenient.
The main thing is to raise E enough for T to fall to the castration level. The rest, I think, does not play a significant role.

Therefore, I adhere to the rule T <35-50, E> 200-300
There is research that a T level of less than 20-30 is more likely to be cured of prostate cancer than a T between 20 and 50. Therefore, the key for me is reducing T

I read this. Powers said that the optimal E level is between 300 and 900 pg / ml. This is exactly the range that I cover the peaks and troughs of levels.
I can't help but add that Dr.Powers is not an authority. For example, Powers claims that taking Bicalutamide without E will make you feel like sh*t because you won't have a dominant hormone. Just an idiot.
I know he is not an authority but there is a reason that his waitlist of new patients is so long. He's one of the only doctors in the US that actually listens to his patients and tries to stay on the cutting edge of trans science. Girls from all over the country fly in to see him and are happy to pay for flights and hotels to do so because he gets them results when other doctors do not. I realize that doesn't guarantee his ideas are the best, but I am happier with my progress since adopting his methods. I've gotten more feminization in just the last few months than I had in years of doing things the old school way. And while feminization may not be the goal for you, hair growth and feminization go hand in hand when you're talking about HRT. You are going to get feminization as is with the regimen you are on, so imo you might as well try to max out your results through any means possible. Especially when the only change you're talking about making is dosing frequency and maybe adding a very inexpensive supplement such as boron. It's not a huge change to make but the potential benefits are massive.

Also, I can't find an instance where Powers has said that bica monotherapy would have those effects. I did however find a few where he advised against it for other reasons. The primary reason being that bica monotherapy just isn't effective at preventing masculinization unless you take megadoses, which have a much higher incidence of hepatoxicity. Unless you dose 200-300mg bica mono, you're likely to increase your T beyond the point where bica can be effective at blocking its effects, while also raising your E through aromatase. Basically you still masculinize while also getting the effects of elevated E, like gyno. Worst of both worlds. This is different from stating that bica monotherapy causes symptoms of not having any sex hormones.


If your current regimen is working for you, great and I suppose keep doing you, but I will say there is far more proof from Dr Powers' own practice of stable levels, low SHBG = better results than there is for the method you are using. I could see receptor downregulation being a potential issue when you're talking pregnancy levels, but you will NEVER reach pregnancy levels off of injections alone unless you megadose (25,000pg/mL) and at that point you should be more worried about blood clots than receptor downregulation.
 
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