[BettyBiggerBust]

Hi there. I’m a long time lurker and have really enjoyed reading about your experiences and seeing the results of folks brave enough to share photos. I’ve taken what I’ve learned and given NBE a try on my own, but I’m at the point where I’m not sure if it’s worth the expense since after 9-ish months I’m not really seeing dramatic results. If anyone feels called to make suggestions or comments, I would welcome them, especially from those in the group who seem to be body alchemists or wizards of some variety. 

My patient history is as follows: 

• AMAB trans women 
  
• 40 years old 
  
• HRT for 17 years 
  
• Bilateral orchiectomy 
  
• 5’8”
  
• ~200 lbs
  
• Have lost ~100 lbs over the last 1.5 years 
  
• US bra size at ~300 lbs 50C
  
• US bra size at start of NBE: 48C
  
• Current US bra size: 40D
  
• December Estradiol 150 pg/ml
  
• December Testosterone 25 ng/ml
  

Prescription medications:

• Estradiol 6mg daily
  
• Progesterone 200mg daily first 12 days of month
  
• Lamotrigine 200mg daily 
  
• Phentermine 39.5mg daily 
  
• Xiidra
  
• Tretinoin
  

General supplements:

• Fish Oil 1000 mg twice daily
  
• Glucosamine & Chondrotin
  
• Horsetail 800 mg once daily
  
• L-lysine 1000 mg once daily
  
• Hyaluronic Acid & Tremella Polysaccharides
  
• Vitamin C 1500 mg once daily
  
• Melatonin
  
• Multi
  
• Vitamin D3 100 mcg
  
• Spirulina 3 g once daily
  
• Probiotic
  
• NAD+ (switching to Nicotinamide Riboside soonish)
  
• Biotin 10000 mcg once daily
  
• Catalase 
  
• Co Q-10
  
• Acetly l-carnitine Hydrochloride 
  
• L-carnitine Tartrate
  
• Creatine
  
• Fiber
  
• Green Coffee Bean Powder
  
• Taurine
  
• Collagen Powder 10 g daily
  

NBE supplements:

• Calcium 600 mg twice daily
  
• Fenugreek 1350 mg twice daily
  
• Goat’s Rue 1200 mg twice daily
  
• Licorice Root 450 mg once daily
  
• PABA 500 mg once daily
  
• Soy Extract 625 mg once daily
  
• Pueraria Mirifica 1 g once daily
  
• White Peony 500 mg once daily
  
• Stinging Nettle 750 mg once daily
  
• Red Clover 1200 mg once daily
  
• Pregnenolone 50 mg 
  
• Grapefruit Seed 500 mg once daily
  
• Dandelion Root 1800 mg once daily
  
• GABA & L-theanine 
  
• MSM 2.4 g daily
  

Discontinued

• Shatavari
  
• Maca Root 1600 mg once daily
  
• Ovarian Glandular
  
• Hops Extract 310 mg daily
  

Yeah, it’s kind of a lot. To be fair, I’m juggling three goals: 1) fat loss/muscle retention, 2) NBE, 3) longevity/optimal health. And my cup size did go up, but given the amount of weight loss, I’m not really sure if there was growth or not. And I’d really like to see some additional volume, as they look a little deflated these days. It’s been months with not a lot of change in my weight or breasts. 

Am I being impatient? Should I switch some things up? Should I get back on hops? It was out of stock for a while, so I gave up. Am I a total psycho taking too much crap? Thanks for responding! 

[Lotus]

Hi there Betty, welcome to BN.

I wouldn't use grapeseed oil, it inhibits aromatase:

Grape seed extract is an aromatase inhibitor and a suppressor of aromatase expression
Ikuko Kijima et al. Cancer Res. 2006.

Abstract

Aromatase is the enzyme that converts androgen to estrogen. It is expressed at higher levels in breast cancer tissues than normal breast tissues. Grape seed extract (GSE) contains high levels of procyanidin dimers that have been shown in our laboratory to be potent inhibitors of aromatase. In this study, GSE was found to inhibit aromatase activity in a dose-dependent manner and reduce androgen-dependent tumor growth in an aromatase-transfected MCF-7 (MCF-7aro) breast cancer xenograft model, agreeing with our previous findings. We have also examined the effect of GSE on aromatase expression. Reverse transcription-PCR experiments showed that treatment with 60 mug/mL of GSE suppressed the levels of exon I.3-, exon PII-, and exon I.6-containing aromatase mRNAs in MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 cells. The levels of exon I.1-containing mRNA, however, did not change with GSE treatment. Transient transfection experiments with luciferase-aromatase promoter I.3/II or I.4 reporter vectors showed the suppression of the promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner. The GSE treatment also led to the down-regulation of two transcription factors, cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein-1 (CREB-1) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR). CREB-1 and GR are known to up-regulate aromatase gene expression through promoters I.3/II and I.4, respectively. We believe that these results are exciting in that they show GSE to be potentially useful in the prevention/treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer through the inhibition of aromatase activity as well as its expression.


Also, I'd remove the following:

Soy
Paba
Fenugreek 
Acetly l-carnitine Hydrochloride
Creatine
Licorice Root
Pueraria Mirifica
Stinging Nettle
Red Clover
Lamotrigine (do you take this for bipolar or leukemia?)

Taurine inhibits glutamate-induced [Ca2+] via a CaMKII pathway,
activates adenylyl cyclase, which stimulates cAMP synthesis that in turn activates PKA... that stimulates aromatase. So, taking GABA is redundant... as are the ingredients list above. For example, taking estradiol (E2) with phytoestrogen like PM, soy and Red Clover compete for the same receptor of ER-a (estrogen receptor alpha) that will slow breast growth. E2 is much stronger than phytoestrogens.