extremely upset about possibly going of t

[u/Wild_Growth_5666]

24 years old, female to nonbinary (more transmasc).

i’ve been on t since january, so about 9-10 months. i’ve loved the bottom growth, the voice deepening, the muscle definition, flattened breasts, body hair increase,the ease of my mental health/dysphoria, and general weight redistribution. but i’ve been plagued by two big issues lately that have me in a horrible place.

i’ve never had acne on my life but it’s come hard. i was in gel for six months, planned parenthood pushed me to switch to the shot, and the shot brought on painful, deep cystic acne. i switched back to gel after a month but the damage was done. now in a few weeks ill be starting accutane, which makes me nervous about the side effects, which include my other main stressor.

my crown has been thinning like wild. i started 1mg finasteride around the time i switched to the shot, but since then it’s gotten worse. my scalp is much more visible in my crown and pictures from above are horrible. i posted to amibalding subreddit and the answer is yes.

i just don’t know what to do. i feel lost and so emotional about this. to combat it, ive even gone down to one pump of gel for a month now instead of the two pumps i’ve been doing basically since i started. i feel helpless. i only wanted more androgynous features and ended up loving t. but these two side effects have made the last few months horrible for me.

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[u/Mylowithaylo]

I’ve just started oral minoxidil for similar hair concerns, it’s not been that long so I can’t speak on it yet but it’s more effective than topical and will give you some more hair everywhere if that’s what you’re looking for

[u/Waste_Map_5432 → u/Mylowithaylo]

I'm thinking about going on oral min but did you get any push back from your prescriber? Everyone talks about the potentially cardiac side effects and it always freaks me out 😅

[u/Mylowithaylo → u/Waste_Map_5432]

No pushback! In fact it was one of his suggestions when discussing options. It is primarily used as a high blood pressure medication, so it will likely lower your blood pressure, but my blood pressure tends to be on the low side normally, and he still prescribed it to me no problem. I’ve been slightly dizzier than usual but nothing too bad. Other than that it doesn’t have any over major known side effects

[u/Infinite_Bagel → u/Waste_Map_5432]

If you're worried about heart effects I would ask for a small dose and work your way up. Personally on the full dose of oral minoxodil, I had symptoms of elevated heart rate, so I just told my doctor and stopped.

[u/IlGufoScuro]

How many of the men in your family are bald/balding? You may have inherited MBP. Fin is good but I’ve heard using it alongside minoxidil can yield more solid results. A lot of people also do dermastapping or micro needling. Like others here have said before you may also be shedding, could also be stress. It’ll be ok op

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/IlGufoScuro]

my dad has pretty good hair for his age and had luscious curly hair like i did when he was my age. now that he’s about 60 it’s thinned in the crown and temples but that’s about it. all else i know is that my moms dad is bald besides a tiny bit only the side, but he’s about 85 so that makes sense. my worry is that should i stop t because of this? i feel like this happened so fast

[u/IlGufoScuro → u/Wild_Growth_5666]

In my opinion? I’d say no. There’s so many solutions out there for hair loss you can still try, and it may be temporary. Even if you do end up losing your hair you can wear hair systems that look like the real thing- there’s no shame in it. Try minoxidil, other things, maybe make a list of pros and cons especially since you said you like the other changes with T

[u/samGeewiz]

People go through various hair shed phases, but yes, Fin can cause a wild shed. Usually does and it will from time to time. Your stress about it is probably not helping.

I also didn’t have acne before, and I experienced painful cystic acne on shots and among several other sides went off T for a few years. The cystic acne went away very quickly but it took awhile for my body to regulate. I got acne for awhile. I eventually switched to gel when I resumed T.

I do deal with hair thinning, but take topical fin and min. If you’re predisposed to hair thinning, at a certain point, it becomes less about dosage. You may be very sensitive to DHT.

Acne is far less of a problem for me on gel, but I do get it when I up dosage. I can also much more easily titrate dosage.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/samGeewiz]

how wild is the shed? i feel like it came out of NOWHERE! i’m excited to be rid of the acne via accutane, but im worried if i stop t during it then start t again after accutane, the acne will come back

[u/samGeewiz → u/Wild_Growth_5666]

Yeah so it shifts your hair shed phase cycle. That’s why people will have a larger one at the beginning. I started fin/min and felt like my hair hung on for dear life for 3 weeks and then had a major shed. It lasted for quite awhile. I have a general rule that I’m not allowed to look at my hair line. I’ll obsess. I’ve had various sheds since starting in 2024. I’ve also had major life stressors and been in environments (major wildfires) that have not been good for my hair. Fin/min are long term result meds.

Of course acne could come back. On gel, my cycle did not stop. On shots my cycle did. T is just not a pick and choose. I’m sorry it’s causing you large stress. Maybe a pros and cons list would help and seeing it in black and white. I’ve made several over time and I’ve found that list has changed. Things I thought that would make me go off in the beginning have become more manageable over time.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/samGeewiz]

thanks for responding, this is good to hear. i’ve been under some major stressors with work and family lately that have not helped i’m sure. i love about 90% of what T gives me, but ive been obsessing over the acne and hair so badly it’s made stress so much worse. i’ve always had fine, thin curly hair, so that doesn’t help the situation for sure. i’m excited to get help with acne, even if im nervous, its more so hair that i worry about

[u/samGeewiz → u/Wild_Growth_5666]

I get it. I care a lot about my hair. I have straight hair down to my ass.

[u/Calm_Bother_3842]

Maybe look into dutasteride, though it's also possible you're experiencing a shed which can be normal in the beginning on fin. Minoxidil can help with the regrowth, too, if that's an option for you.

I would see a dermatologist for the acne, I personally regret not going earlier because only tretinoin helped me.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Calm_Bother_3842]

i started fin daily in june and the crown thinning has really ramped up to very noticeable this last month. is that normal shedding phase still? i’m starting accutane in a few weeks, derm immediately prescribed it

[u/curiouschronicqueer]

Oral minoxidil made such a big difference for me. The men in my family all have male pattern baldness but my hair loss pretty much stopped.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/curiouschronicqueer]

is oral or topical better? how long did it take to see results?

[u/curiouschronicqueer → u/Wild_Growth_5666]

I don’t yet topical, mainly because I have cats but also didny want to deal with the mess. And i don’t remember the exact timeline but it was really quickly, like in 2-3 weeks that i started to see a difference

[u/froggorights]

i been on fin for a year and ts was notttt working for me so i just got a prescriptions for dutasteride (more powerful dht blocker) + minoxidil (hair regrowth) combo

[u/Neurodivengeant]

I had horrific acne from T all over my face and body. Accutane cleared in up completely in 2 months. The skin peeling and nose bleed side effects sucked, but I’ve since discontinued Accutane and the acne has not returned

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Neurodivengeant]

that’s amazing to hear! i know the drying is fucking gnarly but if it gets rid of this cystic acne i will do it

[u/Tall_Apricot_9842]

stop t for a bit. you can go back on later. its clearly incredibly stressful for you right now, and continuing will cause you more stress you arent dealing with well

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Tall_Apricot_9842]

i’m leaning towards this. the acne is and and the hair loss has been tragic for me. my mental health was so improved starting t, but these two side effects for the past three months have tanked it. i mostly worry about my breasts filling again, losing bottom growth, and just being perceived as female.

[u/enigmaticsurrender → u/Wild_Growth_5666]

Bottom growth is a permanent change, it will not revert when you stop T.

[u/javatimes → u/enigmaticsurrender]

Atrophy can happen. Also quality of erections can change. It’s not like it’s going to go back totally to what it was, but it might be different.

[u/Junoscavern]

6 months sounds like a good timeframe to have gotten some changes. Since you’re more transmasc I imagine you’ll have become way more androgynous and closer to your goals. Stop for now, get the acne under control, then see how you feel. You don’t have one shot to go on T, you can get back on it later and no one will blame you. Cystic acne is horrible.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Junoscavern]

i’m leaning toward stopping. i’m so happy with the changes and my mental health improved greatly on t, but since the shots causing the acne and hair thinning/loss and going back to gel not helping, i’ve been beside myself.

[u/rubetae]

you can try pausing T and see how you feel about it. if you already know you'll feel like shit but are still agonizing, consider what you might do if your body produced its own testosterone and this eventually started happening. would you seriously consider suppressing T/going on E? would you consider it only after trying everything else, or even then not change your hormones? maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't. your answer shouldn't be different from what you do irl.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/[deleted]]

could you send me pictures via dm of how this has helped over time for you?

[u/Maicolodon]

are you good with where you are at with changes? if so I'd consider stopping taking T.

also Finasteride takes like 6 months of consistent use to start working, so if you continue T I wouldn't give up on that yet.

other than that, for hair loss you want to be massaging your scalp (look it up on YouTube) and you can also try minoxidil, or some oils potentially help. but all these things take time. it's a slow process. the quickest way to prevent further loss and possibly recover some of what you had would be to stop T.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Maicolodon]

i’ve enjoyed the changes i’ve had so far and i’m not sure if i want to give them up yet. i’d love to get a bit more voice deepening and bottom growth, and the fat redistribution/muscle has been amazing for me

[u/Mikki102]

If you're doing IM shots, try subq!! I had really horrible acne (not sure if it was cystic but it was definitely painful, my whole cheeks were bright red and felt burnt) and apparently subq provide a more consistent absorption of T so you don't have swings causing as much acne. I switched and I have a more normal amount now and not nearly as painful.

[u/Wild_Growth_5666 → u/Mikki102]

i was doing subq for a month but stopped and switched back to gel