All routes are equally effective (as far as anyone call tell at least), I meant dosage yes

Not everyone has that opportunity. That said, OP, in many countries your doctor can help you with DIY by doing blood tests, or they might appreciate knowing you are doing DIY.

It’s maybe a bit much to say to avoid it completely, but oral is less effective than sublingual (by a lot) in addition to having a higher risk factor. You can typically take oral tablets sublingually as well, making the oral route even worse in that sense.

Good point! I understand you have to be a bit careful with binders, and that use should be minimized ?

Hi!

I would suggest you take a look at the following two links:

• https://diyhrt.info/
• https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/second-puberty-fem

The first talks about how to do diy hrt, and the second talks about the actual effects.

Hairloss will stop once the dht (a form of androgen/male sexual hormone) in your system is gone or useless (how long this takes varies depending on how you do HRT). You might see some hair come back, but there are no guarantees.

Starting now will indeed make a difference! Any further masculinization will stop, and you will start feminizing instead. Your voice isn’t really changed by feminizing hrt. If HRT is something you want, I would advice starting now. There are no benefits to waiting.

Your dosage will depend on how you take HRT. The typical routes are oral (avoid), sublingual (under the tongue), transdermal (through the skin), and injections. Each has a number of plusses and minuses, but imo the two best routes are transdermal and injections with the latter being the most convenient and cheapest route.

I am personally doing something called monotherapy with injections, which means I take a larger dose of estradiol (estrogen) which suppresses my bodies natural testosterone production without hormone blockers as they can have uncomfortable side effects.

How quickly you get noticeably more fem varies. It can take months for your breasts to start showing, but a loose hoodie can hide breasts for a long time. I’m almost a year in and only those I’ve told am aware that I’m trans. Other effects like a more fem face and body isn’t really something your parents will notice, and can also be easily hidden with a hoodie.

I also recently started a local HRT community where there are even more links and resources for you to check out!

I dunno where you are, but you might be able to get finasteride (to stop hairloss) and minoxidil (to regain hair) from your GP or from a specialist that your GP refers you to. Another thing I’ve heard that might help is a dermaroller, but apparently that takes a long time to have any effect, and it probably works best with finasteride.

The only real way to stop hairloss is to deal with the cause which is DHT, a specific hormone. Finasteride/dutasteride are DHT blockers.

I haven’t used any of these things myself, but I’ve done some light research on behalf of my brother, and I’ve seen people discus these things before elsewhere.

Best of luck 💛 🤍 💜 🖤

im glad i did, because i just couldnt do it

Same! I spent an hour stressing myself out and throwing away a couple of full needles before I gave up the first time I tried. Managed to do it the second day, and it was easier and easier with every injection until it became routine.

I’m glad you found something that works for you! I’m working on getting access to legit HRT (harder in my country) so I have an alternative to diy in case stuff happens, but I think I will always prefer diy as een is just so much more practical than what they offer legit imo