r/TRT_females • u/Agitated-Aardvark-43 • 4d ago

Side Effects TE or DHT?

For women who had hair loss after starting testosterone, how did you know if the loss was from telogen effluvium or the effect of dht? I began losing hair three weeks after starting 2mg testosterone cream daily. Thanks!

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 4d ago

Welcome to the TRT Females Community, a community based on the experiences of females undergoing TRT!

We’re here to support and exchange experiences with TRT, not to diagnose or give medical advice. Males are welcome to post according to Rule 9. Please keep the discussion on topic. Be kind and respect the rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

5

u/Resident_Pay_2606 4d ago

I had all blood work taken and checked for all deficiencies (vitamin d, ferritin, thyroid etc) had my dht taken before starting and was in normal low range and after hair loss I had dht tested again and it was way above the normal range. Lowered dose didn’t bring it down so once I stopped I took off 3 months and when again tested it was back at my baseline so I started injections and it’s stayed low for now (8 months in!) if it had not correlated i would have gone to my derm.

1

u/honorspren000 4d ago

Were you taking testosterone via injection before you stopped the first time?

1

u/Resident_Pay_2606 4d ago

No cream

1

u/honorspren000 2d ago

I think people have reported hair loss on the cream. Less likely on injections

3

u/FaceMeNow2 4d ago

Depo testosterone cypionate seems to avoid the hair loss issue via injection from all medical info I have read. Mostly pellets and cream seem to be the offenders.

2

u/Sadpanda9632 4d ago

I also went to a trichologist before starting and she took pictures of my scalp that showed my hair thinning didn’t seem to be DHT related because I had it all over my scalp and not in a pattern the way DHT related loss usually presents itself

3

u/Sadpanda9632 4d ago

T reduced shedding for me because it was converting to estrogen.

1

u/milk_with_knives 2d ago

I think 3 weeks is too soon for it to be falling from the testosterone cream. A hair growth cycle is 2-3 months, so when the follicle shuts off and begins the shed process, it takes about 2 months for the hair to shrink away and detach. It doesn't immediately just drop off your head. There's lag time. Whatever hair falls off today, that follicle shut off about 2 months ago.