this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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Update on situation (see comment) (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/mtf@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/39097158

Concerns about arm hair growth

See title. I'm on HRT for over 11 months now, thoroughly enjoying it. I've a hunch the dose is a bit low, though. I get androgen blockers every 2-3 months, my last one was one month ago.

Normally my arm hairs aren't very visible, so I didn't have much dysphoria from that. However, recently my arm hair seems to be growing a lot and thicker, and I'm concerned. Is this normal?

My mum doesn't really have a lot of arm hair, nor do other gals in my family.

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[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

So, I've done a blood test a few days ago, got the outcome. I think @will_steal_your_username@lemmy.blahaj.zone would be interested to hear about this.

I'm posting it publicly and transparently so if others have similar issues, they can see whether it might be the same underlying issue.

Total T is in nmol/L; free T and E are in pmol/L. Pre-HRT was 2 weeks before starting. The (almost) 1 year-mark is from a few days ago.

Situation - Total T - Free T - Estradiol
Pre-HRT: 15.8 - 358.9 - 125
5 mo: 0.978 - 30.5 - 175
1 year: 0.223 - 4.8 - <91.8

Other hormones haven't changed much. I had a little prolactin before, SHBG went from 25 to 10 to 25, strangely, but that's all.

This confirms my suspicions: somehow, despite upping my E doses to three, I have lower E. Far too low, even. I don't think even upping to 4 doses will work for the Lenzetto spray, so I'll plan on switching to gel. Or maybe I should consider DIY'ing needles after all...

Now, I had the blood test in the midday, and I usually take E in the late evening. So my levels may have been a bit lower, but still.

Conclusion: T sufficently nuked and at cis woman levels, but E needs to be amped by a ton. This also explains why my tits havent grown enough >:(

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

That sucks, may your E rise high and your boobs grow large ๐Ÿ™

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Yep, this sucks. At least T is suppressed fairly well. Go boobs and hips!

I'm also considering other methods in case, like injections that you rec'd. Which injection method should I Iook for, in those cases?

Injections aren't available via the official route here (only gel, spray, pills, and patches afaik), but have to be DIY'd.

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Let me refer you to a friend of mine: https://tube.blahaj.zone/w/1PcND2ahHpQC51HMGr7RLD

Basically if you want a smaller less scary looking needle pick subcutaneous, but pick intramuscular to lessen the odds that you'll experience any allergic reactions. It's not uncommon for the outer skin to react a bit to some of the ingredients in injections. I picked subq and it has worked really well for me, so maybe try that first and then go for intra if you do experience a reaction. If you're very comfortable with needles just go for intramuscular from the get go.

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I used to find needles really scary but have grown to get a bit more used to them. I still don't like them, but maybe I should consider them.

Thanks for the guide! I will def try this out if I'm going for needles. My GP is really chill so if I'll do needles, I'll ask him to supervise the first try.

[โ€“] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I definitely recommend injections. I have a moderate to severe needle phobia and still chose to inject my estrogen.

Jorunn is right, subq injections are the way to go - you can use very thin and short needles that are often painless when injecting. It's still a mental hurdle, I'm not going to lie, but injections are just the best and most reliable method for getting estrogen (esp. pre-op).

I have a write-up of tips that I developed to help me overcome my needle phobia:

https://lemmyverse.link/lem.lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/27953271

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago

Server returns an error?

[โ€“] apotheotic@beehaw.org 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The timing of the test with respect to when your most recent dose of E was administered is pretty significant. I'm on tablets and have strict instructions from my endocrinologist to get my blood tested 4 hours after taking my tablets.

My friend has the same situ, and she forgot to do the 4 hours thing, and her levels showed horrendously low since it had been 14+hrs since her last dose. She redid the test as she should have, and her levels were very normal.

Just in case you want to get more accuracy on your results because it can be quite a big deal

Edit, to be clear: the 4 hours instructions are for me and my doctor. What I am saying is you should be taking your test at a consistent time from/to your next dose

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Your endos instructions aren't good unless you're also taking pills every four hours. You should be taking the blood tests when your levels are at their lowest, right before your next test. Maybe less important on blockers, but still

Edit: To elaborate it might be perfectly fine if your endo is good and they take it into account that it's not at trough, so definitively do as they say

[โ€“] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

why is it beneficial to test when levels are lowest / at trough? I think Will Powers gave some kind of reasoning that didn't fully make sense to me, but it seemed like he was saying at trough you can see how much is actually retained by the cells vs just free-floating in the blood from the initial injection, basically earlier in the cycle you're more likely to have unreliably high levels because the depot release of estrogen can be unreliable or inconsistent?

I ask because my newest provider wants me to get blood tested "mid cycle" (on a 7 day cycle, that means at 3 - 4 days after injection ... which is when I theoretically should be peaking?). I'm not sure what the rationale is either way, tbh.

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 days ago

I thought it was for the uncertainty margin, but your reasoning makes sense too.

[โ€“] apotheotic@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I updated my post to clarify I wasn't advising them to follow my endo's instructions

However you do have me curious.

I'm on blockers so my T is below what the test will measure, sufficiently nuked.

My E most recently was at 484 pmol/L, and not at trough as you mention. What are ladies usually aiming for at trough?

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

360ish to 740ish+. 360+ with blockers and then often you need 740+ to block testosterone without a blocker

[โ€“] apotheotic@beehaw.org 1 points 3 days ago

Thanks, I am actually due a review with my endo so I've raised it just to be sure

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Also I will say, for DIY, it's very freeing to be able to adjust your own dosages. I have to question why they've allowed you to have such low estradiol levels for an entire year.

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They actually upped my dose from two to three before, but somehow the levels are lower, which I don't know why.

Maybe it's the measurement time, but that should generally not affect too much, no?

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

With things like gel and sprays hours do matter because of the half life, but isn't late evening after midday? Blood tests are ideally at your lowest usual levels, right before your next dose. We call this trough.

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I usually do it around 18-22 o' clock. The blood test was at 12 the next day.

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago

Then your blood test was higher than trough

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Were you applying all the spray doses at the same time each day? Ideally you space each spritz across the day. F.ex you might do one spritz at 7 in the morning and then one at 7 at night, or three spritzes with 8ish hours between them.

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Ahh, I do all three at once a day. I use Lenzetto 1.53 mg/dose. No, I kind of variate, I've a bit of an irregular mind. A few months ago I used to do it more consistently between 18-20 o' clock, but it's a bit more erratic now.

How about for now, until I switch to gel/needles, I'll try 4 spritzes, 2 around 7:30, and 2 around 19:30?

[โ€“] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago

That sounds good! Twice a day would be a big upgrade. I think the half life is such that once a day is never sufficient unless you take sky high doses which would be uncomfortable for other reasons. I don't remember the half life at the top of my head but it's two digit and measured in hours, and not days like with injections

[โ€“] Alloy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

just wanted to let you know, since I've seen a few users recommend you use injections and claim that to be the best way of administering estrogen, afaik that is not the case. I know of no studies that produced results that show that it is better suited than other ways, but please feel free to look it up. Also injections tend to produce less stable hormone levels than daily methods like pills or gel, because of a significantly higher concentration immediately after injection compared to right before your next dose. This is also the case with pills and gel, of course, but because you take them once or twice each day the peaks and lows are much closer together. There were also some that were saying you should go DIY, but unless you seriously suspect your endo is not trying help you and there is no way of switching away from them I would advise against this. There are reasons why one would choose to go the DIY route, I myself considered it to be less dependent of the healthcare system, but if you have a doctor that wants to help you there isn't anything that sets DIY apart as the superior option. Want to adjust the dose? Ask your doctor and they will likely do it and if not give you a reasoning as to why. Trained doctors do however have experience even if not always with trans patients, they have probably a better understanding of the endocrine system in general, they can also look for and treat other oddities that may come up. As always look out for yourself and trust your judgement with these kind of things, though. I will ask my endo about injections as well as a couple other things if you want me to, I will be there in a few days anyways because I want to switch to gel because of the impact of pills on the liver. Most people I know also use gel, even if it may be a bit inconvenient, that's what I would recommend.

[โ€“] Alloy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

ok that's a bit bigger of a wall of text than I expected, sry :')

[โ€“] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

still do appreciate it! it's good food for thought :3

i actually don't notice much from the peaks and lows, aside from the peak giving me a bit more sleepiness (which is very handy)

[โ€“] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Good luck! And thank you for sharing ๐Ÿ’