[bryony]

Since my last post I have been rereading your (Bryony and PansyMae) which I find very interesting and relevant. It does seem that we do need some way of expressing our feminine side but clothing does not do it for me, and my original solution, to resolve the concerns that affected my work to the extent of nearly getting me thrown out of university, was misconceived and dangerous and in retrospect fairly repellent (but quite effective in its way). On another issue, I would be delighted if BS (an unfortunate acronym?) and maca could restore my own male functionality, but it might have an uphill battle against the spiro and other meds. If I get taken off spiro, I might try them down the road. In the meanwhile we are both losing weight but it seems to be more wearing on J. than myself.

Incidentally, when J. went off HRT some years ago and subsequently threw out the remaining pills, I rescued them and although I knew there wasn't enough estradiol left to achieve anything, I tried taking them with a initial dose of eight pills (4mg) and then four pills (2mg) daily until they quickly ran out, to see whether they would make me feel different. They didn't, but it was after that that In had my first go at NBE. The medroxy progesterone seemed on investigation to be a dubious idea so I left it alone.

AP


"Experience is what you have just after you needed it most".

Hi Annabel,

I don't know how much estrogen you consumed, but I didn't get my real mental relief until after a 2/3 weeks when I had ramped up to 3g/day of PM. It has to build up in the system to take effect, I think.

I agree, the progesterone isn't a good move to start with, I think.

I'm sure if you manage to come off spiro, you may well see an improvement. Wiki 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"

I don't know if it is because PM is a phytoestrogen, but it clearly isn't totally successful at blocking testosterone receptors, as I am still able to function as well as I need.

I also noticed this important rider to the previous quote, which I don't know if you are aware of:

"For this reason, men are not typically prescribed spironolactone for any longer than a short period of time as for acute heart failure. A newer drug, eplerenone has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of heart failure, has no similar anti-androgenic effects and thus is far more suitable for men for whom long term medication is contemplated."

If you are taking spiro for heart failure, maybe you should ask about eplerenone?

Good luck, as ever!

B.