high estradiol + high T + no more masculinization?
hi all. this is my first post ever, i'm not really a reddit user, please forgive any bad etiquette or anything like that. English is also not my first language.
i started T in late June 2025 - Tostrex 2% gel. I started with 2 pumps (20mg) but went up to 3 / 30 mg after about a month. i applied in the morning on my thighs or stomach (never had any issue with skin irritation etc. to date)
my initial blood levels (pre-hrt) were 37 pg/ml (estradiol) and 19 ng/dl (T) , on the 2nd day of my period.
in late September, so at the end of month 3, i did another blood test, and I had 315 ng/dl Testosterone, but this was right after i did my dose bc i didn't realize i was supposed to get my T levels at their lowest point. in the same test, i had 30 pg/ml Estradiol. concidentally, it was also the 2nd day of my period, which i still had.
btw August and September, i developed really bad cystic acne on my face and body. i started trying to address it with various topical methods, including products prescribed by a dermatologist, to no result. i was even prescribed antibiotics in October, which did nothing but make my skin red, irritated, painful, and sensitive, while removing only a very small amount of acne, only temporarily.
Still, i was enjoying the results besides this, and around October i gradually started increasing my dose, first by alternating 30 and 40mg, then finally in November by doing 40mg every day. i did this because some stuff was not going as fast or effectively as i wanted it to, especially fat distribution and muscle gain & retention (i physiologically lose muscle VERY fast sigh) i figured my dose was very low so it could stand to be raised.
Then, in November, in addition to the cystic acne that i had had for months now, i started developing seborrhoic folliculitis on my scalp. i'll spare you the details, but it was very bad, uncomfortable, dirty and painful, and it was greatly affecting my serenity and quality of life.
i decided to try DHT blockers. i went on dutasteride and i've been on it since around mid-December. i take it every morning after my dose, 1 capsule of 0.5 mg.
now, since December-January, i've noticed that my masculinization has stopped basically completely, and rolled back in some cases. i've visibly lost muscle (even as i train more often than i did in the summer). i've gained weight in all the "girl places" i had temporarily stopped stockpiling weight on (for me, this is largely my hips and side thighs). i haven't had any more voice drop, body hair growth, or bottom growth ( :((((((((((((( ) obviously i was expecting the changes to slow a little with dutasteride, and some stuff (like skin, head hair and facial hair effects) to stop entirely. but i did not think that i would make so little progress in 5-6 months, and even lose some of the progress i'd made.
i finally had another blood test in late April, almost 7 months since my last (due to inaccessibility) and my T is now 859 ng/dl and estradiol is at 83 pg/ml.
this is really freaking me out for multiple reasons. first of all, how is my T so high but no masculinization is happening. second of all, how is my estradiol higher than it was when i still had my period? that means that either my ovaries are working (!) or my T is being turned into E, right? i stg a few days before the test and a few days after i felt some spotting and it really freaked me out.
i've talked to some people who suggest either switching to finasteride if i can find it, or upping my T dose, or both, while someone else has said i probably absorb gel too effectively and should lower my T dose. atm i have lowered my dose back to 30mg for the past 3 weeks because i got really scared the T was aromatizing and i was pumping extra estrogen in my body. if i'm at 80+ pg/ml Estradiol every day that is a way too high amount for what i want to look like and how i want my body to function. so far i haven't seen any positive or negative changes from the dose lowering.
does anyone have any insight into what might be happening (why i'm no longer masculinizing, why my estradiol is so high, etc) and how i can start masculinizing again? i'm especially bothered by the rolling back of fat redistribution + muscle gain and retention.
tysm.