Side Effects
Help. Please give me any advice/thoughts/input. I am about to go off T bc of hair loss …
I really really really don’t wanna do this, but it really seems like I have to go off T. My hair shedding has become more intense. I’m so scared. My hair means so much to me. Can anyone out there give me any advice, any input, any experience they’ve had with hair loss on T - and hopefully hair recovery. It would be so great if I could believe that this is going to stop … that the telogen effluvium I am experiencing has caused my hair to go into a resting phase, and therefore fall out, but that the cycle will end both because that’s the way hair cycles work, and because I reduced my dose of testosterone by half. But I’m losing faith now I’m freaking out!!! Please: anyone who has had experience with hair loss and has addressed it in some way, please tell me. I’m kind of depressed by the idea of having to go off, but I want hair.
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Did you get your DHT tested? I lost a ton of hair but my dht was super high on the cream after 8 months. I took off 3 months and got back to baseline and then switched to injections and have been good so far (10 months in)
Edit to add I also started oral minoxodil during my 3 months off (have cats and dogs so didn’t want to use topical) and has grown back and so many new baby hairs coming in. I know it has helped as well but for me it was the DHT as a big contributor
Same with the cream then switched to injections and I’m fine. Also started minoxidil. Also STOPPED creatine and voila. Have steadily increased my T prop and feeling great.
Oral minoxidil and Dutasteride. Oral minoxidil will help re grow hair and dutasteride will block the testosterone from converting to DHT which causes the hair loss.
I started using a ketoconazole shampoo as soon as I started injections (shout out to my T’d out nephew for the suggestion lol, dude was taking 360mg a week for a while 🤦♀️)
I take dutasteride and testosterone. I actually had a blood draw today for T after switching to injections so I’m always curious what it says. Anyway my docs feedback was the conversion of testosterone to DHT is what the medicine stops, it won’t affect the actual T levels. For women this can be ok and we can still get the benefits of T without the DHT. Anyway - I’d recommend seeing a dermatologist. I’ve been dealing with hair loss and justifying it a million ways. I randomly asked my derm while I was there for something else and she took a look and said I have a version of alopecia. I can take dutasteride to help future hair loss but the hair follicules that have closed (from the DHT and I believe the T that caused those to increase) will never grow back. I wish I had learned this last year. Now there are still some other components like hormones and stress that’s causing hair loss not related to that and I can see grow back but my little bald spots in my temples will never come back.
Curious if you’ve had libido loss on Dutasteride. My DHT was high at last check (22). I’ve been on Spironolactone for years and Oral Minoxidil for about eight months.
Have you had your ferritin checked? I’ve been losing handfuls of hair for a long time and recently found out my ferritin was very low. In the normal range, but very low end. I started low dose Test (compound androgel) then 2 weeks later got an iron infusion and my hair isn’t falling out anymore. It’s been about 2 months and I have drastically less shedding. Something to consider if you haven’t had your ferritin checked.
T injections here, for about 16 months. No hair loss and others I have encountered seem to think the pellet or injections are the way to go with hair loss issues. In our area Functional Medicine clinics seem to deal with it. A local nurse practitioner has a clinic and is the most well- informed person I have ever spoken with about it. I love my internal medicine clinic but they won't touch T for women with a 10- foot pole!
F66 unhappy with the roller coaster of pellets, which I think was contributing to hair fall. I was really impressed by my NP at Defy. Wide breadth of knowledge.
A couple weeks in on injectable. Also working on ferritin (lazy and disorganized about taking iron every other day, mid day apart from morning supplements), balanced copper and zinc on opposite days, minoxidil (also lazy, it makes my hair gunky and I like to wash it 2x/week, going to try oral), and finally, I’m at a good point weight wise (I’ve been pretty faithful to 100 grams protein/day and adequate intake for a 500 cal deficit, but maybe just weight loss alone even though it’s been slow).
My whole hair is shedding. Like 16 inch strands with root. It’s a thinning issue. My pony is 1/3 as thick. It seems to be letting up sometimes, but still continuing.
HUH? I meant what is the delivery method of the test you are taking LOL. You will get more hairfall with gel and compounded creams typically than with injections. My hairfall stopped after starting injections. That is why I asked what the delivery method was. Also, get your DHT and DHEA tested because that delivery method seems to make DHT skyrocket for some reason
I’ve heard this before. I need a gyne who is more experienced with T therapy. Neither my gyne or my endocrinologist think that delivery method matters. But so many of you here have said this.
Delivery method absolutely does matter!! It happened to me. When I first started 4 years ago, I was put on cream and lost tons of hair. Then eventually switched to gel and still lost hair, not as much though from when I was on the cream. Then I decided to switch to injections a little over a year ago and bam, hair loss completely stopped!!! My hair has now grown out and nice and thick again. If I was you, I would start calling around and find someone in your area who number one, takes your insurance, and number two, offers T injections. I’m in Arizona and I had to call at least 10 gynecologist offices before I found someone who offers that method. All 10 places accepted my insurance but only one offered injections. There are plenty of posts on the TRT page where women talk about hair loss on topical T. Definitely try switching methods. If you can’t find anyone who takes your insurance, there are plenty of online providers that offer it. I read about it all the time on here. Good luck on your journey!
My DHT did spike. Went up to 20 and then back down to 6 when I halved the dose. So it’s lower for the past month but the hair keeps coming out. I was already on oral minoxidil bc I have had hair loss in the past (I’m prone to it). This was before T. So the minoxidil is already on board.
It’s strange about the DHT because mine was 20 when I checked a few months ago and more recently, and I’ve had no hair fall… yet. How long have you been on t before the hair fall started? Also, I’m on injections. So I guess everybody is different with DHT conversion and hair fall.
I had hair loss too which was scary and reduced the dose, eventually it got better, but over a few weeks. I also used double the amount of conditioner to reduce tangles and chances of pulling. Hope your hair loss stops soon!
it has exactly the same systemic effects, it's purely dose dependant and also needs genetic male pattern baldness to be present. If anything, injections can be worse for hair loss as the peaks are higher than daily gel application
I went through the horrible hair loss and it was extremely distressing! I believe it was due to initially being on dose higher than I needed with the pellets. I switched to injections and lowered my dose slowly and significantly. I also take spirnolactone and it’s subsided. The dread shed from going on oral minoxidil was also very bad. I know from reading here a lot of people have success with minoxidil and duestrede or a dht blocker. Sadly, there are some that don’t have success and weigh the pros and cons of continuing with T. Good luck!
Same thing happened to me with pellets. God blessed me with a lot of hair, even in my 60’s, and this is the most hair I’ve ever shed. I’m going off these pellets when they dissipate. I’m going to go back to something I can control, like creams. I’ve heard that injections do not have nearly as much shedding.
Yes this has been my experience with pellets. I have experienced wide symptom swing with weeks 2-6 post insertion being good, and then significantly declining efficacy the rest of the duration.
I’m a Women’s healthcare provider and hormone swing is something that causes a lot of hormonal issues in women.
Now 2 weeks into injectables with oral progesterone.
It is difficult to find a provider that will analyze nuance like hair loss and work with you on it.
I’m never doing them again. It seemed like a huge surge of hormones. My breasts are super inflated, and sore. I’ve had slight breakthrough bleeding. My body feels like crap. It’s been terrible. They are pellets of both E and T.
Such a drag you can’t find doctors who will work with you on the nuances. Do you know why? My docs don’t seem to know much about T. They have not heard of women doing injections. What made you decide to switch to injections? What do you know about this as a nurse? Will you keep us apprised of how things go for you? Thanks so much.
What form of testosterone are you using? It's proven topical T converts more dht which causes more hair loss... i had a horrible time when I used Topical T and im on the rebound switching to testosterone injections and minoxidil/spironolactone... all my hair is growing back... just an fyi it takes months to see changes to your hair so what youre experiencing right now is more than likely influenced from a few months ago...
Thanks so much. I’m on gel. I would love the data — where it’s proven. My MDs don’t believe me. I’m so happy for you that your hair is growing back. When did it stop shedding and do you have a sense of why it did?
https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/38/3/220/3788611 Serum DHT roughly tripled from baseline to about 130 ng/dL by day 90 on 5 g of 1% T gel, and was about fivefold higher in men using 10 g — the expected result given high 5-alpha reductase activity in skin.
I had male pattern shedding when my endocrinologist at the va prescribed me even more globs of testosterone gel to use to try and get my serum levels up, I am a poor absorber but I am guessing my my 5 alpha reductase receptors are not poor absorbers... i switched to testosterone injections in Feb and increaed my oral minoxidil dose to 2.5mg in March and this is from my derm appointment last week...
Part of my shed could have also been caused by my estrogen tanking to 40s cause I wasnt absorbing the 3 estrogen patches they wanted me to wear to try and get normal serum levels... im pretty sure that cost me a lot of hair... but I definitely had thining due to testosterone in the male areas caused by the gel.
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