[bryony]

Hi!

My responses in-line below.

As this is my first post, let me provide a little background. My parents hoped that I was going to be Annabel, but I arrived with the wrong equipment. Fantasy aside, I have no plans to be Annabel. At 6ft 4in and heavily built I could never be more than a joke as a woman, and in any case it is now far too late. I am 72 next birthday, although having difficulty in recognizing that I am getting old. So wherever I might have wished to be in the sexual orientation and gender continuums, I need to remain a heterosexual male , not least to remain within the comfort zones of myself and my wife of more than 30 years (and a good friend for 50 years).

I can relate to that in every sense.

In 1999 my health broke down and I found myself in hospital with heart failure and soaring blood pressure. Since then I have been very lucky to be able to resume a normal life with some loss of strength and endurance, but the drugs I have been taking have taken a progressively greater toll on my erectile function, to the extent that Viagra and its cousins gradually ceased to work, the resultant failures having negative and depressing effects on our physical relationship.

I'm really sorry to hear that. I assume that taking extra testosterone is not allowed because of your condition?

At the same time as my male parts were losing function and sensitivity, and indeed physically shrinking,, my nipples and the whole chest area where my breasts would have been if I had had them became much more sensitive. Indeed I thought that there was some development but my wife was firm that I was mistaken. This is the point at which the idea of NBE took hold of me, and I used a course based on Flat-2-Fem instructions for about 5 months without any degree of development that I could persuade myself was real, although at some stage I realised that my nipples were larger and more prominent than before, and there may have been some fat redistribution.

At this point I underwent emergency abdominal surgery unrelated to any existing medical problems, which halted NBE, and once I was fully recovered it did not seem worth continuing.. While I was in hospital, it became apparent that my blood pressure was again out of control, and various doctors having had their input, I have for the last 18 months, amongst other things, been on 50mg per day of Spironolactone. This finally finished off my erectile function and forced us to rethink our physical relationship (if you can’t do something, you have to do something else), and also seems to have reduced my body hair, never very extensive. In time it seemed to be affecting my non-breasts somewhat so I resumed NBE about three months ago. Simplistically, I felt I needed a substitute erogenous zone, but the reality is much more complex than that. I find most male bodies, including my own, to be fairly unattractive, and some slight degree of feminisation can only be an improvement?

I found that after a few months taking PM, I was able to achieve what I can only describe as a female orgasm by nipple stimulation alone, so there is some hope for you. See http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=10947

I restarted using RC, FG and fennel, very recently adding SP. A few weeks ago I discovered this board, and as it looked as if PM might be the way to go I ordered some, but while I was waiting for it to arrive I realised that I at last had some development with a slightly bruised feeling and firmer zones of about walnut size beneath each nipple. When the PM arrived, I stopped the other herbs except the SP, although after a few days I resumed the FG and am now taking 1000mg PM, 1200mg FG and 160mg 85% SP in the morning and the same in the evening. I monitor my blood pressure fairly rigorously, although for some time it has tended to be on the low side. None of the herbs seem to have any noticeable effect on BP, and a recent battery of blood tests showed everything in order (though it did not include any hormone level tests). There are no noticeable effects as yet from the change in program, although it is probably to early to expect any.

My opinion is that PM is the most powerful estrogen mimic amongst the phytoestrogens. I suppose a valid analogy is asking whether you would bother to water your garden with a watering can after dousing it with a firehose. I started to get significant growth when I got up to 3g/day by taking 1 x 500g every 3 hours. Growth spurts seem to occur if the dose is stopped and restarted on a cyclical basis. 1g/day seems to be the recommended dose for women and 2g is the recommended minimum for TG males.

Now, finally, for my questions.

Firstly, is what is happening to me merely due to a known side effect of Spironolactone, or is the NBE working?

Wikipedia says"Because spironolactone reduces the body's production of testosterone and also blocks its testosterone receptors, in men it can cause gynecomastia, impotence, erectile dysfunction, loss of sex drive and other conditions such as reduction of muscle mass, fatigue and physical weakness which are also generally associated with low testosterone levels and hypogonadism in males. For this reason, men are not typically prescribed spironolactone for any longer than a short period of time as for acute heart failure. "

Given that Spiro is a recognised anti-androgen, is the SP necessary? In this connection the Spiro seems more effective in treating my prostate problems that the Terazosin that I also take. My urologist says that this cannot be so, but it is. I was never convinced in the past that SP did anything for my prostate.

I wouldn't have thought so, especially if your spiro usage is going to be long term... but the wiki article implied that it shouldn't be?

Should I or should I not take the FG? There seem to be dissenting opinions on this (as on many other aspects of NBE).

Not with PM - see my comment above.

Is there anything to be gained by taking something like GABA?

From a cursory look at Wiki, I can't see why... but I admit a lack of knowledge.

Is it necessary or desirable to take a progestin with PM? Is medroxyprogesterone suitable? It seems to me that such synthetic progesterones are problematical.

They are and I think it would be a very bad idea. There are all sorts of bad effects from progestins. Apparently micronised (real) progesterone is much better, but the general feeling is that it should not be taken until breast development is near completion (about 3-4 years)

Good luck!

Bryony