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Concerns about arm hair growth (self.mtf)
submitted 4 days ago by birdwing to c/mtf
32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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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[-] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago

Okay so referring back to other conversations in other posts, it's clear transfemscience is right about lenzetto, and you need something different like injections, gel, or even pills. If they give you something else please come ask us about it or check transfemscience or other resources and make sure the dosages are adequate. If they are not please go somewhere else or go DIY.

[-] birdwing 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Injections are sadly not an option, with DIY it is. I dislike needles and want to avoid the liver risk w/ pills, and my skin is rather sensitive (so no patches, though those are an option), so maybe I should look into gel, then.

I upped my dose after the last measurement, so I'll get a new blood test asap. Once I get the results, I'll check if the levels are in better ranges. If not, I'll try upping to four doses myself, split into two moments a day.

The next blood test is in mid-April. If by then the results are still low, I'll switch to gel.

Is that a good idea?

[-] WillStealYourUsername@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Injections don't have a liver risk? It is exactly as safe as gel/patches!
Gel then does sound like what you want, or a stronger spray perhaps (I think gels are just gonna be better in general than any spray)

[-] dandelion 2 points 16 hours ago

@birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone

+1 for abandoning sprays, gels or patches would probably be better (injections are best, I understand needles are scary, I nearly faint when I get my blood drawn, but subq injections are practically painless with tiny needles - and it's definitely something you can learn to do even with crippling phobia like I have)

[-] birdwing 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

I scheduled another blood test, this will be in early March actually. After next week I'll see what the results are. If that yields good results, I can continue. If it's getting nearer the 400 pmol/L, but not there, I'll switch to four doses a day, split over two moments (morning and evening), until I can switch to gel.

This is because needles aren't an option here (yet), unless if you go DIY. My skin is sensitive and so patches aren't an option. Spray however dries quickly and my skin doesn't react badly to it. So, gel it is, if spray isn't effective enough.

[-] dandelion 1 points 16 hours ago

is the spray essentially transdermal like gel?

What is the dose "per spray", and how would it compare to gel?

My skin is also sensitive, I don't think I could do patches (this is a big reason I do injections). I think I could do gel now that I'm post-op, but pre-op I really don't think it would have worked well enough for me.

[-] birdwing 2 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

The spray is transdermal, yes.

It's 1.53 mg/dose. It dries significantly faster (2 min, vs 10 min for gel).

[-] dandelion 1 points 15 hours ago

it's possible the spray would be just as effective as gel, then - not really sure, but they're both transdermal. I don't know what doses the gel come in, and I also just don't know about how well the skin absorbs estradiol from spray vs gel - I would be really interested to learn more, though!

[-] birdwing 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Oops forgot to add pills in there, that's what I talked about re: the liver risk!

I picked the spray because I find it convenient for its quick drying time, but yeah.

this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2026
23 points (100.0% liked)

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