so i've thought about getting a script as a sort of one-two punch. one, to save my thinning hair so it can still look cute. two, the side effects would be scary if they weren't basically just "ooops you transed yourself"
oh noes... what ever will i do if i grow boobies and my body hair thins
but seriously, some of the side effects (depression) I thought were maybe from cis men getting gender dysphoria but seems even transfemmes have experienced it. at least reading some reddit posts
anyone had experience with this? i'm hoping it can be a sort of gateway to everything else. dip my toes in the hormone adjustments
and minoxidil has never seemed to work for me. i know i won't get my hair line back but i'm cool with that.
I've been on finasteride for over a year and did basically exactly what you're proposing, used it for about six months on its own before starting estradiol as a way to dip my toes in.
I'll be honest, it didn't do much on its own for me, so i'd recommend keeping your expectations low. it didn't do anything to help with my body hair unfortunately, but i did notice i was losing a lot less hair in the shower which was reason enough for me to like it. i didn't notice any mental health related effects, except that I feel like it made me dream more (might be correlation not causation)
i still take it along with the e in place of something like spiro, mostly because those potential side effects scare me more.
i give finasteride a tepid thumbs up! good luck