Masculinizing HRT
Testosterone and some considerations that go along with it.
Day 25/30 of posting daily. Note that as a non-transmasc, I know less about this, yet I post the little I do know for completion.
Masculinizing HRT, in some ways, is much simpler than feminizing HRT, if you want all of the effects.
Testosterone tends to be a more dominant hormone, and so if levels of testosterone and estrogen are both high, the effects of testosterone tend to be more pronounced than those of estrogen, and high levels also tend to control and lower estrogen levels and surpress cycles
Testosterone causes many changes, with a larger proportion being more permanent than changed transfeminine people experience.
If you want only a subset of these, then it becomes more difficult, though depending on what subset you want most, it can vary.
Testosterone
The main masculinizing hormone you would want to take is testosterone.
You probably should look in more detail on another site with better information. For example:
Some of the common permanent changes include: voice deepening, facial/body hair once mature, clitoral/bottom growth, scalp hair loss if follicles are lost.
More reversible changes include: muscle mass, fat distribution, libido increase, skin oiliness/acne, cessation of menses, vaginal atrophy.
Testosterone is also converted in the blood into DHT via 5-alpha-reductase, and into estradiol via aromatase.
Here are some common forms of Testosterone:
Injectable Testosterone
The main method for administering testosterone is via injecting it into subcutaneous fat (subQ) or into muscle (IM).
Testosterone Cypionate
This is the best/most common form. The half-life is about 7-8 days, making weekly injections quite viable
Testosterone Enanthate
This is another common form. The half-life is somewhat shorter (4-5 days) so it tends to be better to take weekly.
Testosterone Undecanoate
This is much less common, and has a much longer half-life. It’s better to take this once you have tried the other methods somewhat, and have an idea of what levels work for you.
Testosterone Gel
It is possible to get reasonable testosterone levels by applying gel to yourself daily. This can work well, though absorption is not as reliably consistent as injections.
Testosterone Pills
Normal testosterone gets broken down by the liver, and thus is not viable. There are old non-bio-identical forms of tesotsterone (eg: methyltestosterone), but like with many synthetic hormones, this has many risks and should be avoided.
Testosterone undecanoate is more modern, and can be taken in pill form. It is less common due to being new, but it can work if you don’t want to use injections or gels.
DHT
dihydrotestosterone is responsible for some effects of masulinisation. In particular: skin, hair, genital tissues.
It generally causes growth of facial and body hair, scalp hair loss, bottom growth, and skin texture changes (especially acne).
Avoiding DHT
As mentioned in “Retaining Head Hair”, it is possible to take 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors that prevent DHT form being created.
This mostly means taking finasteride or dutasteride.
DHT Gel
On the other hand, some people might particularly want bottom growth to occur. DHT is the main mechanism for this, and applying DHT gel to the clitorophallus may lead to some more growth, direct evidence is weak though. Liberal application would also lead to systemic absorption and increase in DHT.
Nandrolone
One potential androgen that is interesting but experimental is Nandrolone. The best source for this is by transfemscience.
Essentially, this works almost identically to testosterone in the blood, but instead of being converted into DHT, is deactivated. This, it might have less impact on skin, hair follicles, while still having most of the effects that testosterone has in muscle growth, fat, voice, bottom growth, and libido.
However, the research for this is still relatively limited and it has not been widely studies.
Gaining Muscle
Many transmasculine people are particularly interested in gaining muscle. Having high testosterone levels does help with this significantly.
There is an array of other things that also help. There are many peptides and steroids that can increase muscle growth, but often at the cost of also increasing health risks and cancer risks.
I will probably do a separate post on this at some point.
Other considerations
As mentioned, DHT can also cause hair loss, so you may want to consider methods for retaining head hair.
Acne is common early on, especially with peaks from injections. Dermatology treatment can help: retinoids, isotretinoin, benzoyl peroxide, etc.
Fertility may decrease, but is not reliably eliminated. Consider egg/embryo freezing before starting or before long-term use
It is also possible to gain partial permanent effects, by taking lower doses and then stopping. (Eg: getting a slightly lower voice but only partially masculinized)
I would like to overall know more about all of these things, and you may be often better off looking at more specialized resources on this. If you know of any, please consider linking them below.