I’m AFAB and I’ve been on a regular dose of T for nearly 4 years. I’m worried I’m developing male pattern baldness (at 18?!!!). Would switching to a lower dose of T stop/reverse that? How would switching affect body hair overall? How would it affect body fat distribution?
This is a great question for your doctor (who may also suggest something like rogaine to try)! Rogaine and similar treatments (though those may have side effects you’re not willing to face).
Neutrois is a good resource for changing T dosage side effects.
Rogaine apparently works like a partial blocker of a testosterone-type hormone. As well, it has been shown that trans women can actually see improvements to pattern baldness once they go on HRT and can see hair regrowth. To me, those two things imply that it does seem possible/logical that going on a lower dose of T would at least slow the spread of the balding. However, I’m not convinced that a lower dose of T would completely stop or reverse the balding, unfortunately.
Body hair changes are more permanent, so on a lower dose of T, you may notice that hair growth due to T grows in slightly slower and slightly thinner than on the higher dose of T or you may not notice much of a difference at all.
Since you’ve been on T for a while now, I would imagine that a lower dose shouldn’t have too much of an overall impact on you. However, since body fat distribution is a more temporary impact, you may slowly start to notice a slight re-distribution with weight settling in different places. Since low dose T overall results in the same effects as higher dose T, just at a different rate, you may also not notice any change whatsoever at this point.
Followers, anyone have personal experience they can share?
Hope this helps, and if all else fails, baldness isn’t a bad look to rock! =)
