So, my endocrinology intake is swiftly approaching, in November. I’m excited and anxious. They would at least start me on testosterone blockers, right? Or is it more waiting?
I know I will still have to shave , until I have laser hair removal, but, will I be able to go longer than 10 hours without feeling stubble?
Will I be able to go more than one day without shaving my body hair without looking at my chest and arms in disgust?
I know YMMV, but I was just hoping things will start getting easier soon, like maintenance.
For me, nothing changed with my facial hair growth and I’ve been relying on laser. I’m 5 months on HRT, first week was just blocker.
I wouldn’t bank on blockers effecting hair growth in the short term personally. Grab some nair for everything below the neck!!
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On blockers as well, the main things I’ve noticed is a slight improvement to my complexion (not a huge difference to be honest), slightly less muscle strength, and less of a raging sex drive (I have a high sex drive, it’s less insane now).
Facial hair is exactly the same. I’m having electrolysis done to correct that (slowly 😭)
As far as starting on HRT, I’m in Seattle and it was as easy as getting an appointment with my primary care physician, explaining that I’ve been experiencing gender dysphoria and that I’d like to start taking t-blockers, and then signing a release form and having some blood work done. I was also asked about what kind of support I had in my life (family, friends, therapist) but it felt more to gauge if I was in a good place mentally and offer resources than as a gatekeeping question.
I’m nearly 2 years on estradiol and spironolactone (the t blocker).
Facial hair - No change in speed of growth, colour, or softness. I had laser hair removal to remove the bulk of it, but some white hairs were missed because the laser can’t kill them unfortunately. I have noticed zero change in my facial hair from HRT.
Body hair - No change in speed of growth (I think), but the colour and softness is waaaaaay better. Most of my body hair is blondish and barely noticeable now whereas before it was dark brown like the hair on my head and face. But bear in mind that even before HRT I had very, very little body hair anyway. A tiny patch in the center of my chest and very sparse forearm and leg hair.
I think your endo will probably start you on estrogen and a testosterone blocker immediately, but I dunno if they do it differently where you live. It will probably take you 3 to 6 months before you notice any difference really, so you have to be patient.
November will be my 4 year tranniversarry. Testosterone blockers and orchiectomy had no change on facial hair growth. I did have about 6 sessions of laser which may have caused parts to go white/translucent so I’m currently doing electrolysis. My body hair has slowed tremendously. My back hair is gone. My chest hair has reduced itself but black flecks show up after a week or so of shaving. Arm hair is white/translucent and feels more velous. I can use an epilator on my arms and legs to get them exceptionally smooth.
Will I be able to go more than one day without shaving my body hair without looking at my chest and arms in disgust?
I’ve previously been curious about this, and I waded through a lot of reddit threads looking at all the anecdotal answers.
A pretty fair number of folk said they eventually saw a large reduction in body hair on the torso especially, but that it took 3-4 years.
You’ll also see a lot of folk on 2 years of HRT saying it gives only a little bit of reduction.
Hard to draw a strong conclusion here, but it seems hopeful! (I’m two years in and see some reduction, but I still have plenty of hair. Pretty sure it grows back much more slowly now, but since I didn’t shave my body pre-HRT it’s kind of hard to tell.)
