(24-10-2022, 08:22 AM)HelloDiDi Wrote: You know, this is weird. I have a friend who also has had a massive stall while on moderate dose on EEn and she's been stuck for ages. BUt in her case I presume she has just reached the end of the road for her and haven't tried supplementing with anything decent. And that totally sucks. But it might be your natural way with this too, some people get stuck for a long time only to get growth spurt later. Are you on progesterone? Because you should try, that may get things rolling again. Another is to do the oral E trick to kick the growth back in by supplementing with 1-2mg of oral E daily for several weeks to a month... That might be worth a try.
Yes, definitely keep your T at bay, that's the first thing to fuck it all up if it gets too high, so better staying on cypro.
Awwwh, I can relate so much. I mean my dysphoria is often so extreme that despite my good progress, I just feel too shitty to see how others are doing, its just too triggering. So I avoid a lot and take breaks when needed. Usually few days is enough, some times longer. Its kinda getting easier with time but I somehow feel like my dysphoria is from the extreme end of things. Just that I know how you're feeling. But please don't feel discouraged, we will troubleshoot your stall and make out things to get you started again.
Gonna start with responding to the latter part of the message and the stress around others, and say, thanks for getting it. I don't want to come off as implying I'm mad or jealous of others, and that's it more of a personal frustration with myself... and I appreciate the feeling is mutually understood.
I admit I worried a lot after sending that because I felt it came off pretty abrasive and there's always a bit of anxiety worrying you'll have someone tell you "you're just jealous." I find the mutual understanding very refreshing though, and... yeah. It's important to remember that anyone can be and reserves the right to be upset with where they're at, as long as they understand others are too.
I appreciate you sharing as much info and help as you do here, because looking through your thread is a bit much for me.
On a better note, I stepped back to think logically about the state of everything yesterday, and I'm optimistic, all things considered.
The most interesting thing that happened, and the part that may be helping me the most, might have been spurred on by complete accident. I skimmed over it in my last post, but I'll elaborate more.
The fallout from me quitting Cypro, T getting back into my system, and DHT messing everything up for a while... might have actually helped?
As soon as I felt my body switch back over to mainly estrogen, as my new Cypro dose ramped up, I felt that strong, almost painful chest soreness I had only felt during my last growth spurt come back. Now it's too early to say if this is the start of another one, but it feels just like it. I hadn't felt this soreness since my last bout of growth.
This is something that's talked about on the /HRTGen/ guide that I can't find the link for any more, hrt.cafe is down at the moment.
It mentions if breast growth does stall, to cycle your estrogen down, or even out entirely. Mentioning receptor desensitization and downregulation. Now the side effects this does instill on someone are... rough, to say the least. The dysphoria from my body starting male body tendencies again was rough, and I also suddenly got ingrown hairs and skin issues from my body being confused what to do. It's probably better to leave an AA on while just reducing estrogen for a bit, but I think in a nice accidental series of events, this may have coaxed my chest out of a stall.
Again, far too early to say since I now measure smaller now due to weight loss, but that feeling is special and has only accompanied growing periods for me. It's very possible taking a break from estrogen, either using a bit less, or taking a break completely, can break breast growth stalls. I only went T-dominant in my system for about 3 weeks. Shows how fast you could reset receptors. Hope your friend can figure something out though. Maybe this might be an avenue worth looking into, if the side effects aren't too terribly bad.
It's worth noting while I was going through the messy AA period, I did take a break from all supplements, so piling them back on now may also be increasing their efficacy. I've only been on one of the glandular pills each day due to concerns about bloating, but may get back on two a day as I speak.
On the topics of the glandulars, while I did see significantly faster weight gain when on them, I was eating a lot at the time. And now, I've been able to drop ten pounds while still on them, meaning while it is a modifier, it definitely doesn't seem like it controls your weight in a way you can't compensate for. Only seeming to put more on when you're eating in excess. I do need to start eating more again though, now that my chest seems to be needing it. I'm also in a spot to gain back ten pounds to cycle once more, for fat redistribution. (hips are still frustratingly small)
I did also switch from Raw Female to Swanson Ovarian Glandular for Bovine Ovary, since Raw Female is out over here.
I also am starting to use a daily progesterone cream with 20mg of micronized progesterone per pump from wild yams. So it may not be truly bioidentical, but I'm experimenting with this and possibly moving up to two pumps a day if I notice good trends. To be honest, with everything else going on, it's not possible for me to tell if the progesterone is helping yet. I also haven't put it on my upper breasts yet easier. Worried to put it there and was using it for a while elsewhere on my body to see if there were any adverse effects, but will try it very slowly. Maybe once a week on the chest. No clue what schedule to go by there. I just know not to do it too often. Would appreciate feedback there.
Started doing Noogle again, and frustratingly, the same skin conditions I noticed developing last time before I took that break instantly popped up again. In the exact same spots too, and I'm far from getting to -0.2 bar still. So for now, I'm going to be trying to do two 15 minute sessions at a lower pressure per day, to try to strengthen the skin up and not put too much pressure on them all at once. Slowly get back into it. I've been sparse with Noogling and the longest I was able to keep it up daily was for about 3 weeks or so. Hoping I can build into longer and more consistent sessions.
Regarding dosages, I have felt slightly more snippy and slightly more emotional in the last 2 weeks since the cypro kicked back in. Whether that's down to the body switching hormones over, whether it's down to my estrogen dosage, or whether it's down to the progesterone I've been adding, I have no clue. I'm considering adding 0.01ml more to my next injection, but that'd be such a small dose to notice any changes. Will likely try riding this dose out for now and get blood tested later. Then adjust from there.
Regarding exercise, since I noticed growth spurts around exercise last time, I have been doing HIIT and Cardio every 3 days. Not as much as I could be doing, but a solid amount that should help. Helps with moving weight around too.
My diet has improved dramatically, and it might be why I'm eating less in general. Much more eggs, more protein, less carbs, more fruits and vegetables, but the fat feels a bit low right now. Will add that back in for breast growth.
I think... that's all I have to go over though? It's about everything I can think of that will potentially effect stuff. All that's left now is to focus back in, go back to the plan again, and hope I can make this cycle go somewhere.
I appreciate the support and help. I'm fairly stubborn and will work as hard as I can to make stuff work if I really want it to.
A couple more things. I measured my last smaller measurement after a pretty long Noogling hiatus. And it's a fairly solid guess that when my last pictures were taken when I weighed ten pounds more, I was Noogling at the time. So the deflated look now might be a symptom of that.
Another note, the bowl water displacement measurements I did last time seem highly inaccurate. I measured my left breast again 3 times, and got a range from 500g to 800g. I think the most accurate way to measure them is to fill the Noogle cups up with water and put them on, then measure the displaced water. Since would only measure the breast, and not my upper chest or ribcage.