[Shawna-lee]

Good day everyone

I'm a 44 year old male who is recently divorced - December 2015. Since my wife left me I have had time to reflect on who I am and what I feel about myself, my masculinity, and the sense of femininity I possess. I don't believe I'm transgender, nor androgynous (although I love the idea of it). All I do know is that I occasionally feel masculine, but mostly I feel feminine. Given the choice I would rather be female than male, but I doubt I'd ever feel the need to change my sex, even as a non-op.

At the beginning of November 2016 I started with herbs for feminization as I want to look more feminine. I have used Saw Palmetto, Fenugreek, and Puerraria Mirifica for the most part, as well as Flaxseed and Maca. I have been eating healthier, cut sugar intake drastically, and am exercising each day. I am quite slim and have a very quick metabolism. The problem is that I have not experienced an iota of a difference since then until now; my physical measurements are practically the same as the day I started 6 months ago.

I have just taken a two week break from the herbs and am starting again at lower doses (it's been suggested that I may be putting too much phytoestrogen's into my body), but need some advice on what I may be doing wrong. Also, if I add Reishi extract to the SP as an anti androgen, would that be better than taking one or the other?

[Shirazmn]

Hi Shawna, welcome to the forum.
What dosage were you using of each herb?

[Shawna-lee]

Hi Shawna, welcome to the forum.
What dosage were you using of each herb?

Thanks for the welcome.
I've been taking 6x capsules a day (contains 400mg PM and 100mg FG) with 6x SP capsules a day - taken at 3 hour intervals. I have protein shake every morning to which I add a tsp of Maca, a tsp of ground flaxseed and a tsp of ground FG.

I am now starting again with a lower dose of 3x PM/FG capsules, 3x SP capsules, and 3x 30 drops of Reishi ethanol extract each day (morning, midday, and evening) along with the same shake in the morning.

You have to ignore my ignorance - this is really a new thing for me and I'm really just feeling in the dark.

[Shirazmn]

Hi

I am not a big expert either, I just try to read most of the stuff here and understand. The little experience I have is positive so far but I am still trying to work out all the herbs interactions. Lotus, another member on NBE, knows a lot about everything.

Anyway, what I have been told is that you should avoid taking too many phytoestrogens at once and, instead, take one phytoestrogens (i.e. PM) and one anti androgen (for example SP). Then I also read that SP doesn't only stop the effects of testosterone but it also gets in the way of other hormones so it may stop PM from being effective. Many people here are now using White Peony instead of SP because of that.

6 x 400mg of PM is a high dose. You should definitely get results from it. It's very weird that you don't. My personal suggestion is to try and wait for one or two weeks without taking anything so to clean your system, then restart using PM only. As usual, take calcium supplements and try to drink milk and eat cheese. I personally found that cheese causes the weight on my chest to increase drastically while on PM, probably because it contains proteins, fat and calcium that are the 3 main things needed.
Taking breaks usually helps and the growth restarts faster than before.

Please remember that I am not a doctor to any extent, so I may be 200% wrong. I am just writing from my experience.

Shiraz

[oki]

Well, if you've got no results (no sensitivity, no mood change, no change in body odour???) after six months at 2400 mg of PM and fenugreek to boot, there's no sense in trying further. You could change the PM brand or ditch phytoestrogens altogether and boost your own E production. BO? WP?

[Shawna-lee]

Is it possible that my body simply doesn't react to phytoestrogens somehow? 

Here are my measurements (in mm's) from the week I started compared to this week:

14 November 2016
Overbust - 953
Bust - 959
Underbust - 914
Waist - 876
Hip - 1003
Thigh - 572

29 April 2017
Overbust - 972
Bust - 953
Underbust - 883
Waist - 851
Hip - 984
Thigh - 587

What I have noticed however is smoother skin, slower hair growth, change of body odour, and a bit of fat redistribution.

[shaneny]

This is a marathon, not a sprint. Have to let your body ease into it, taking five or six pills at once is just going to shock your system and confuse it. If you're truly experiencing the softer skin and fat distribution, then your body is adjusting to what you are taking, but I think simplifying it would be worth a shot. 

I would say switch to Ainterol PM and take one pill a day for a week, then look at upping it to two (morning + night), then after another week, add SP or FG into the mix. Those who have the best results are the ones who have been doing this for 6-12 months and longer. Just don't try and go for the "I'm going to take a ton of shit at once and hope I change tomorrow" routine because it doesn't work.