Exploring The Hormonal Route. Hair=life.

bridgeburn

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Currently oral. I could likely have castrate level T and female levels of E if I did buccal (as several people suggested me) so might look forward to that maybe. I've always thought I'll go injections. Seems to be cheaper per month, but issue is administration.
I'm assuming valerate? It's said that hemihydrate buccally is stronger but you seem to already know that. I'm doing well on 4mg buccal currently. I'm curious about injections too but I've never given myself an injection of anything before and Im afraid of f*****g it up. guess I could read wikihow lol.
something ive wondered about is what if I want to take a trip to another country if I can bring E pills with me on a plane?? if security would say anything, ask for a prescription, probably looks odd for a guy to be carrying around a bunch of estrogen, Lol.
but injections could help solve that since they can be given once a week or once every 2 weeks.
 

jordantt

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I'm assuming valerate? It's said that hemihydrate buccally is stronger but you seem to already know that. I'm doing well on 4mg buccal currently. I'm curious about injections too but I've never given myself an injection of anything before and Im afraid of f*****g it up. guess I could read wikihow lol.
something ive wondered about is what if I want to take a trip to another country if I can bring E pills with me on a plane?? if security would say anything, ask for a prescription, probably looks odd for a guy to be carrying around a bunch of estrogen, Lol.
but injections could help solve that since they can be given once a week or once every 2 weeks.



Bridgeburn, You have really incredible hair regrowth, could you please send me some pictures from you're hairline at this moment.
I want maybe alsoo start with topical estradiol. And sorry for my englisch.
 

BetaBoy

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You continue to make serious gains Bridge! That density improvement is to die for, almost makes me wanna take the plunge with oral E. I'm making steady improvements myself on my more AA oriented regimen which has so far held a comfortably minimal side effect profile.

You are now surely 3-6 months away from making it to NW1/0, have you considered what your regimen might be after you make your recovery goal? You surely can't keep up your current regimen for the rest of your life.
 
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Georgie

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yeah, why not? Infact I regret not doing it earlier.



Results not good enough. I've not had hair for too long. That said, if others' reactions are anything to go by its probably a sh*t load of hair, but I myself am not pleased with the results. After seeing HRT timelines on reddit I was tempted to go full course (6mg). Since I didn't grow boobs (only puffy nipples) I said hell why not. Now finally my body hair (on arms) is shedding massively, before there wasn't much shed at all.

In terms of 'energy' I've always been a lazy person so can't tell much. Only thing I can tell you, my life before my job involved me playing 16 hours of video games at a stretch. And I call still do that, so probably enough energy.
Do you have any progareas photos of your hair?
 

Georgie

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Bridgeburn, You have really incredible hair regrowth, could you please send me some pictures from you're hairline at this moment.
I want maybe alsoo start with topical estradiol. And sorry for my englisch.
Also interested to see hairline. Given the severity of your hairloss before, and given how I myself had hairline recession without estrgoen and minoxidil, I am really curious to see how your regimen is going for your “problem areas”. One thing that does scare me about all of this is that, although I saw initial great regrowth of hairline, nape, sides, my female pattern area never did recover, and slowly slowly the diffuse thinning has become more prominent everywhere as minoxidil loses the battle against female Androgenetic Alopecia. You do have great regrowth on your “non male pattern” areas from what we see, but if you don’t see much on your temples, only mild regrowth, it may infact be the minoxidil doing the heavy lifting. I really really don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but it’s a thought i had. I know my regimen wasn’t as extreme as yours, but for a good while I was on Diane35, spironolactone 200mg, oral and topical minoxidil and things still got diffusely worse over time. I didn’t see any difference off spironolactone either. Makes me wonder if people who have aggressive hairloss don’t really respond as well to hormones, and that minoxidil is essentially the only real thing that helps to regrow SOME hair, and you are on a lot. I also can’t help but notice in your story that things seemed to get a lot better after introducing minoxidil. I am praying that your regimen does end up giving you a full, lasting head of hair. Truly. I’m also hoping that my own last ditch efforts with avodart and RU help. Sadly, it’s hard to hope sometimes when it feels like things are getting worse, and “progress” isn’t full progress.
 

Georgie

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Also interested to see hairline. Given the severity of your hairloss before, and given how I myself had hairline recession without estrgoen and minoxidil, I am really curious to see how your regimen is going for your “problem areas”. One thing that does scare me about all of this is that, although I saw initial great regrowth of hairline, nape, sides, my female pattern area never did recover, and slowly slowly the diffuse thinning has become more prominent everywhere as minoxidil loses the battle against female Androgenetic Alopecia. You do have great regrowth on your “non male pattern” areas from what we see, but if you don’t see much on your temples, only mild regrowth, it may infact be the minoxidil doing the heavy lifting. I really really don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but it’s a thought i had. I know my regimen wasn’t as extreme as yours, but for a good while I was on Diane35, spironolactone 200mg, oral and topical minoxidil and things still got diffusely worse over time. I didn’t see any difference off spironolactone either. Makes me wonder if people who have aggressive hairloss don’t really respond as well to hormones, and that minoxidil is essentially the only real thing that helps to regrow SOME hair, and you are on a lot. I also can’t help but notice in your story that things seemed to get a lot better after introducing minoxidil. I am praying that your regimen does end up giving you a full, lasting head of hair. Truly. I’m also hoping that my own last ditch efforts with avodart and RU help. Sadly, it’s hard to hope sometimes when it feels like things are getting worse, and “progress” isn’t full progress.
I think it’s a lot harder for diffuse thinners. There seems to be a lot more going on, and generally less success.
 

Georgie

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Something else I’ve literally just noticed with minoxidil.
I have started to get a puffy face the past few days. My boobs are also bigger and I have mildly swollen ankles. I remember now that I have noticed this each time I’ve increased minoxidil dosage. At the time I just fobbed it off as gaining weight or poor diet. Also, I used to have severe bulimia and would get swollen parotid glands, and thought maybe I would sometimes just get mild swelling because I had damaged them a long time ago. Nope. I can say without a shadow of a doubt now that minoxidil is causing my entire body to bloat. f***. My face looks so round and weird. Especially my cheeks and jawline. I’m also getting mild numbness in my feet and toes. Will now have to reduce my dose.
 

Georgie

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Lol I have a great comparison for you all. My cheeks are so puffy!!! Clear one month difference.
 

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bridgeburn

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Something else I’ve literally just noticed with minoxidil.
I have started to get a puffy face the past few days. My boobs are also bigger and I have mildly swollen ankles. I remember now that I have noticed this each time I’ve increased minoxidil dosage. At the time I just fobbed it off as gaining weight or poor diet. Also, I used to have severe bulimia and would get swollen parotid glands, and thought maybe I would sometimes just get mild swelling because I had damaged them a long time ago. Nope. I can say without a shadow of a doubt now that minoxidil is causing my entire body to bloat. f***. My face looks so round and weird. Especially my cheeks and jawline. I’m also getting mild numbness in my feet and toes. Will now have to reduce my dose.
oral minoxidil is hardcore. it can give you heart palpitations and lots of crap. I think its whats making several of us itchy. internet says that oral minoxidil is supposed to be prescribed along with a diretic to counteract thebloating or somethibg.
You are now surely 3-6 months away from making it to NW1/0, have you considered what your regimen might be after you make your recovery goal? You surely can't keep up your current regimen for the rest of your life.
I still have a long way to go I think. I will stay on this kind of regimen for as long as I can handle it! f*** androgens, f*** hairloss
 

Georgie

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oral minoxidil is hardcore. it can give you heart palpitations and lots of crap. I think its whats making several of us itchy. internet says that oral minoxidil is supposed to be prescribed along with a diretic to counteract thebloating or somethibg.

I still have a long way to go I think. I will stay on this kind of regimen for as long as I can handle it! f*** androgens, f*** hairloss
I have a full bottle of spironolactone. Wonder if I should experiment with 50mg to see if it stops the bloating. That’s one fucked regimen though. spironolactone, RU, dutas, Diane, 5mg minoxidil oral, stemox... sh*t. Maybe I should just cut back the dose :/
 

bridgeburn

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Makes me wonder if people who have aggressive hairloss don’t really respond as well to hormones, and that minoxidil is essentially the only real thing that helps to regrow SOME hair
pretty sure the minoxidil regrowth doesn't last as long without destroying male hormones too. but some provably need the minoxidil boost
I also can’t help but notice in your story that things seemed to get a lot better after introducing minoxidil.
but i've been on minoxidil the entire time since July. and It's hard to say that cause I changed minoxidil dose at the same time I changed the other treatment doses.
You do have great regrowth on your “non male pattern” areas from what we see, but if you don’t see much on your temples, only mild regrowth, it may infact be the minoxidil doing the heavy lifting.
there are tiny hairs all over my temples but the ones in the center are the most stubborn. and they are not all cosmetically significant. Tiny hairs pop up all the time, but i have to wait for the next hair cycle for them to get a little thicker.

by the way, I havent been splitting my doses. Ive been taking my 10mg minoxidil one time per day all at once. I pop it after breakfast. when I was using topical, i just used once per day.
 

bridgeburn

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I have a full bottle of spironolactone. Wonder if I should experiment with 50mg to see if it stops the bloating. That’s one fucked regimen though. spironolactone, RU, dutas, Diane, 5mg minoxidil oral, stemox... sh*t. Maybe I should just cut back the dose :/
probably would but isn't spironolactone dangerous for you? I think you would get good results with cypro but Im worried it could possibly worsen your depression.
I am praying that your regimen does end up giving you a full, lasting head of hair.
Ive been on my new dose of 4mg E for only a little over 2 weeks now. I think ive seen boost in improvement after increasing E but you could be right that most of this might be initial minoxidil regrowth.. I habent used oral minoxidil too long, about 2 months i think.
but we'll see! I know I wil get my hair back no matter what!!! If i lose hair again I will make ecerything stronger and stronger and I will go as far as i have to possibly go! regrowth is my mission in life, If I have to take cypro + 8mg E + 20mg oral minoxidil + setipripant+ dermarolling+ 1mg dutasteride+ topical minoxidil with topical finasteride+ topical diane 35.. then I will!!!!
 

Georgie

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pretty sure the minoxidil regrowth doesn't last as long without destroying male hormones too. but some provably need the minoxidil boost

but i've been on minoxidil the entire time since July. and It's hard to say that cause I changed minoxidil dose at the same time I changed the other treatment doses.

there are tiny hairs all over my temples but the ones in the center are the most stubborn. and they are not all cosmetically significant. Tiny hairs pop up all the time, but i have to wait for the next hair cycle for them to get a little thicker.

by the way, I havent been splitting my doses. Ive been taking my 10mg minoxidil one time per day all at once. I pop it after breakfast. when I was using topical, i just used once per day.
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I myself and wondering if minoxidil is even worth it anymore. I don’t ever get constant regrowth. In fact, now that I’m receding again, I’m noticing that I’m losing a lot of short, dark hairs amongst he long and miniturised ones. I think minoxidil has put my hair into 3 month cycles, like at the moment my hair isn’t growing st all, or if it is, it’s growing back thinner. So clearly the minoxidil works only some of the time. I honestly don’t even know what to do at this stage. I’m f*****g stuck.
 

bridgeburn

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Bridgeburn, You have really incredible hair regrowth, could you please send me some pictures from you're hairline at this moment.
I want maybe alsoo start with topical estradiol. And sorry for my englisch.
Also interested to see hairline.
My hairline still looks like sh*t because the temples!
my tiny hairs are slowly getting thicker and the regrowth is more noticeable up close but from a distance still looks pretty bald or just faintly seen. I have posted my temples from distant distances on this thread before to show this however the whole hairline jsut isnt so good if I pull it back but It looks better than before I guess, all that fuzzy stuff is regrowth
P_20180109_075204_1.jpg
I need to cut my hair soon cause its hard to take a good pic while holding it all back
 

bridgeburn

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I think minoxidil has put my hair into 3 month cycles, like at the moment my hair isn’t growing st all, or if it is, it’s growing back thinner. So clearly the minoxidil works only some of the time. I honestly don’t even know what to do at this stage. I’m f*****g stuck.
I think that minoxidil forces hair in the anagen phase, which can be a good thing but eventually the hair has to take a rest.

theres something about 3 months when it comes to hair cycles. as Ive heard it said many times you have to wait about 3 months before seeing thickening or even improvement and many seem to have sheds at 3 months or so.
most people take minoxidil 2 times a day but i think if you keep it high in your system all the time then your hair will try to stay in anagen all the time. and too much of that synchronicity is a bad thing... oral minoxidil actually has a short half life.
 

Georgie

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I think that minoxidil forces hair in the anagen phase, which can be a good thing but eventually the hair has to take a rest.

theres something about 3 months when it comes to hair cycles. as Ive heard it said many times you have to wait about 3 months before seeing thickening or even improvement and many seem to have sheds at 3 months or so.
most people take minoxidil 2 times a day but i think if you keep it high in your system all the time then your hair will try to stay in anagen all the time. and too much of that synchronicity is a bad thing... oral minoxidil actually has a short half life.
I’ve thought about he fact that maybe I take too much; which is why I plan to switch from topical minoxidil to stemox for my RU.
Just wondering - if Brotzu or folligen, or one of the other promising new treatments come out this year, would you guys ditch your Regimens to try it? I think stem cells may be my only options personally.
 

bridgeburn

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Just wondering - if Brotzu or folligen, or one of the other promising new treatments come out this year, would you guys ditch your Regimens to try it? I think stem cells may be my only options personally.
I don't have much faith in a cure coming out anytime soon. government, buracreacy, and big business might get in the way. and if it does get released it would probably be expensive as hell.
I havent done any research on them. wouldn't the hair regrown from stem cells still be suseptible to hairloss again? maybe ill try ghe treatment if i need it And keep my regimen
 

Georgie

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I don't have much faith in a cure coming out anytime soon. government, buracreacy, and big business might get in the way. and if it does get released it would probably be expensive as hell.
I havent done any research on them. wouldn't the hair regrown from stem cells still be suseptible to hairloss again? maybe ill try ghe treatment if i need it And keep my regimen
The whole idea of stem cells is to A: create new follicles, B: regenerate old ones that aren’t susceptible to DHT. I guess for me, given that basically without my hair does NOT grow without minoxidil, and I was once told via biopsy that 70-80% of my scalp hair is miniaturising or miniturised, it’s the only real at to recover my hair.. especially since hormones don’t seem to help :( I literally need brand new follicles.
As for Brotzu, it was discovered by accident by a doctor who was testing out a new medication for diabetes. One thing that may interest you is that the lotion contains s-equol which is a chemical with estrogenic properties. There’s a thread all about it somewhere on th forum. Give it a look. Very interesting. I’d definitely try it (of course price does come into it).
 

sisenegonan

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Do you have any progareas photos of your hair?

I'll share them via PM when I get back home.

I have a full bottle of spironolactone. Wonder if I should experiment with 50mg to see if it stops the bloating.

50mg is quite a small dose but it could work I suppose depending on your weight/height/body mass etc. AFAIK for folks losing hair, or treating hirutsium in females, they generally tend to prescribe a dose near or above 200mg.

If I have to take cypro + 8mg E + 20mg oral minoxidil + setipripant+ dermarolling+ 1mg dutasteride+ topical minoxidil with topical finasteride+ topical diane 35.. then I will!!!!

Current cost of my transition is already quite high (1/5 of my salary). I would hate to go more. Which is why I'm trying to find out more about E injections and any willing nurse/retired doctor who can jack me up per week. My dad used to get B12 injections done at his workplace by their infirmary head. I imagine I probably need these high doses, then again it costs too much.

I don't have much faith in a cure coming out anytime soon. government, buracreacy, and big business might get in the way. and if it does get released it would probably be expensive as hell.

True that. There is probably more money, fame if you solve cancer first. Besides seeing all the research nobody is treating the main cause: excess of androgens. All they do is beat around the bush. If there was some kind of research in the direction of localized estrogen in the scalp, now that would be worth following.
 

bridgeburn

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One thing that may interest you is that the lotion contains s-equol which is a chemical with estrogenic properties. There’s a thread all about it somewhere on th forum. Give it a look. Very interesting. I’d definitely try it (of course price does come into it).
s-equol also binds to dht! You could possibly produce your own by eating lots of soy.
True that. There is probably more money, fame if you solve cancer first. Besides seeing all the research nobody is treating the main cause: excess of androgens. All they do is beat around the bush.
trust no hype.
If there was some kind of research in the direction of localized estrogen in the scalp, now that would be worth following.
maybe kerastem? which involves injecting fat into the scalp. fat is a source of aromatase so.. .
 
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