23-Year-Old Trans Male: Concerns About Minox and Finasteride for Hair Loss

General
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hey there. i REALLY dont want to be here, i don’t want to have an account here, and by god i cannot understand why the subreddit is SO unfriendly that selecting certain flairs gets your post auto deleted. my gripes with this community aside, i’m hoping ANYONE can be enough of a reasonable person to read what i post and maybe try to help. getting repeatedly kicked in the crotch by automod is not helpful when i am posting something that has NOT been answered before due to the complexity of my question.

moving on…

firstly- i am canadian and on my province’s disability insurance due to a long list of health issues, MS being one of them (although im fairly certain MS and the hair loss arent related lol) so i would like to make an up front note that my budget is very limited and i am ideally looking for prescription routes.

secondly, my city has literally only two dermatologists practicing within city limits- i’ve seen both of them for other concerns (acne) and i’ve seen both of them before. one was alright, but the other was unspeakably terrible to the point my GP actually suggested i file a malpractice suit against them.

third, i am a trans male/female to male transgender and 23 y/o (24 in sept), been on HRT/Testosterone since 18 y/o. i am, now, in my 20s, experiencing the dreaded hair loss- and while some trans guys are fine with the bald dude look, i unfortunately am not. shame me or whatever you’d like for not “accepting 100% of masculinity”, whatever anti trans shit of the day, i truly don’t care. i just don’t want to be bald before 25, and i know a lot of my not-trans male friends feel the same way. so, meh. i’d say i’m about a norwood 1 or barely 2, it’s not a huge issue but i want to stop it before it gets worse. using keratin hair fibers (toppik) to mimic a fuller hairline just feels… gross.

that all being said and taken into consideration, i’m wondering what my options are- I could likely afford topical minox if i saved a bit, but i am perpetually worried about the fact that i have an extremely tiny dog (3 lbs adult weight, she has dwarfism) and do not want to expose her to the chemicals in minox after applying it. i feel oral minox would be the best route for me, i have no conflicting health issues or prescriptions, but i have been reading on here that finding it in canada and specifically ontario where i live is a massive struggle. i cannot afford to see new doctors and am limited to my existing medical team or doctors i have seen before (including the dermatologist who wasn’t a bumblefucking asshole) so please do not suggest online pharmacies/services such as Maple, etc.

i understand my options here are probably limited- i’m also wondering about finasteride but i’m uncertain of the effects on me as a trans dude. i know the real answer is probably just “talk to my medical team”, but my doctors’ offices are closed on the weekends and i can’t get a genuine medical opinion within my budget until monday. thanks in advance.

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hey, you could consider topical min for a localized approach. it’s generally safe even with pets around if you’re careful. oral min is potent but needs monitoring. fin is worth considering since it lowers DHT, but keep your hormone balance in mind as you’re on HRT. you might look into topical fin or dut if you’re concerned about systemic effects. check the Beginner’s Guide if you want more info on these treatments.

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good to know about topical min being generally safe around pets w/ caution, huge thank you for that. i’m not sure if it was older information, or run of the mill trans community misinformation, or what, but there was a sort of ‘general consensus’ in the trans male community to NEVER use minoxidil if you have small pets, and i held onto that for a very long time without realizing it may be incorrect. i honestly for the longest time, thought minox topically would never be an option for me as long as my dog was alive, so it’s a big relief to learn i can probably just apply the same methods as cleaning up after topical prescriptions. which, honestly, makes the most sense, but it’s a bit striking how deeply ingrained the idea of “small pets = never use minoxidil” is in the transmasc community. thank you!

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Yeah I think it’s more severe for cats, but just keep your dog off the bed (pillowcase) and out of the trash. I would imagine applying it in the morning before you leave is a good idea.

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keeping her out of the trash is easy enough, off of my bed is another story lol since she likes to climb up there and snuggle in my blankets hahah, but if it’s for her safety of course i’d do my best to keep her from getting up on the bed, even if i know it’d make her give me literal sad puppy eyes lmao. ty for the advice!

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apologies for the double reply but i also figured i should drop a small update considering it is now monday afternoon where i live, and i was able to set up a few medical appointments this morning.

i’ll be talking to my GP this friday about if i should go on minox/etc types of medications, hopefully i don’t need to see a derma again since they kinda suck in my city (referring back to my OP, only one isn’t genuinely worthy of a malpractice suit out of the 2 in my city) and my GP will be able to tell me at least if Minox is a reasonable option… Fin, i’ll probably have to check in with specialized trans care providers i see, due to the DHT fuckery, but i’m also if i had to guess probably long into my transition enough that any real physical changes from DHT should’ve reached peak by now hahah. thank you once again :slight_smile:

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Hey! I have nothing to add, I just wanted to say that I’m in a similar boat. I’m a young trans guy dealing w MPB

I will say though, good on you for catching it on early. I’m pushing Norwood 3 (or already in Norwood 3) and I regret meandering in denial for so long until I couldn’t deny it anymore. You probably won’t regret trying some things out and having it not work out, but you can regret not doing anything until it gets worse

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