[deleteme]

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for sharing your stories and your wisdom. I am just embarking on my own journey and want to record the steps here.

Starting point: 23 Feb 2022

AMAB

Possibly TS but life circumstances make transitioning impossible.

50 years old.

Bra measurements.

Under bust: 89 cm / 35 inches
Bust (at nipple level): 92 cm / 36 inches
Bra size: <36AA?

General health: was good before covid but now overweight and out of shape.

Goal: to feminise my body to a degree and to see where that goes

Plan: use herbals (PM with RR) at the lowest possible dose that has an effect.

22 Feb took 2 x Reishi 400mg capsules (1 morn, 1 evening)

This was the start. I thought I'd try the RR first on its own to check for immediate side effects before adding PM

23 Feb added 2 x PM 250mg capsules (1 morn, 1 evening)

Now on the following regime:
2 x Reishi 400mg capsules (1 morn, 1 evening)
2 x PM 250mg capsules (1 morn, 1 evening)

Also Vit D and multivitamin supplement. Will look into adding calcium

Will continue at this dose for two weeks to check no side effects then consider upping to 
- PM 4 x 250mg a day (4 capsules)
- Reishi 3 x 400mg a day (3 capsules: 2 in am, 1 in pm)

Immediate impressions:

* Reishi is acting like a diuretic - or my body is trying to excrete the drugs. I drink a lot of coffee normally with few problems but after one day with Reishi I have been forced to cut my consumption by about 3/4s as my bladder cannot take it.

* Immediate, dramatic drop in libido. It's like someone accidentally hit the mute button.

* Desensitisation of nipples. This is the opposite of what I would expect. Normally my nipples are exquisitely sensitive and this is a disappointment although I am hoping it will pass. It may be linked to drop in libido.

* Very low mood - possibly unrelated to the herbals - after first 24 hours and I binged on junk food and bought enough biscuits and chocolates to last a week. This morning however the folly has passed and I threw out the remaining junk food. I don't want this experiment to leave me even more overweight, unhealthy and miserable. My mood is also better. It may have been unrelated (there are other things going on in my life that could easily have triggered it.)

Anyway, thanks for letting me share this. I will keep this updated with my progress.

[Kay]

Hi Julia,

Sounds like a good program. Thank you for sharing!

Kay

[deleteme]

Hi Julia,

Sounds like a good program. Thank you for sharing!

Kay

Thanks Kay. That's sweet of you to welcome me.

[deleteme]

Update, no side effects to date - initial low mood was, I think, unrelated - and having read some of the amazing success stories here, I thought I'd bump up to a dose that might have an effect right away.

As of yesterday I am on:

<meta charset="UTF-8">- PM 4 x 250mg a day (4 capsules)
- Reishi 3 x 400mg a day (3 capsules: 2 in am, 1 in pm)

- Vit D supplement

- Calcium magnesium and zinc supplement

(Dropped the multivitamin for now as I couldn't find a calcium only supplement and don't want to take too much magnesium and zinc.)

Today, I can definitely feel - something. There's a sensation of fullness in my breast area that was not there before and I notice when my arm touches the side in a way I never noticed before. Nipples are hard and slightly painful. There's a pain behind them too. It feels nice to hold my chest as though I had breasts but it is still undeniably a male chest and no one would think anything of it.

I tried NBE before about 16 or 17 years ago - I think I was taking saw palmetto and fenugreek - and saw similar effects but stopped before it went too far. I have been feeling very feminine over the last year. Possibly my T levels are finally dropping with age. All these may, I suspect, have primed my body to respond to my current regime as I am surprised at how quickly I am feeling that it is having an effect.

There's nothing that can be seen in a photo but when I look at myself in a mirror it seems like maybe there's a tiny change of shape in the tissue around my nipple but that could well be wishful thinking.

I haven't posted on anyone else's threads yet which feels a little selfish but I have been reading loads and hope to participate a little more in the community as time goes on. In the meanwhile, I'll keep updating this with my slow progress.

[deleteme]

Current schedule (unchanged):

• PM 4 x 250mg a day (4 capsules)
  
• Reishi 3 x 400mg a day (3 capsules: 2 in am, 1 in pm)
  
• Vit D supplement
  
• Calcium magnesium and zinc supplement
  

Also eating 1 banana a day for extra potassium, magnesium and calcium.

30 days on this schedule now. Something seems to be happening but when I try to measure it I am less sure and wonder if my mind is playing tricks on me. I seem to be losing weight at the bottom of my ribs but that may be because I am eating better in general - however there are some fat deposits it seems at the top near my underarms that I don’t think were there before so maybe there is some change in fat distribution.

<meta charset="UTF-8">I am overweight in general which complicates and confuses matters. My measurements are not noticeably any different to a month ago although measurements always vary a little depending on how tight I pull the tape so they're not very accurate to begin with.

In the last few days i’ve been feeling a prickling, scratchy itching feeling in or behind my nipples several times a day and my nipples are often swollen and erect.

I sometimes feel very self conscious, catch glimpses of myself at angles and think my body is tranforming then I see myself from another angle or compare with old photos and think nothing is happening at all.

I've had some beautiful, vivid dreams recently in which I finally have a womanly body but the reality in the mirror is still a long way from that.

I definitely have a reduced male function - fewer and softer erections. Yet I still have the same interest in sex so not quite accurate to say my libido is less. I am predominantly attracted to women but think I am more sexually aware of men than I was before but again this could all be in my head.

I feel both intensely happy to be on this path - a sense that I am finally becoming myself - and anxious about the difficult conversations ahead. In many ways I feel calmer than before. I feel that I should take a brief break at some point soon to see how I feel when not taking these supplements but right now I am reluctant to stop when it feels like I am on the brink of some changes, however slow.

I realise that I would rather changes were slow and slight which makes me question whether I am ready to take these steps. I cannot transition - my life circumstances will not allow that - and I want to ease my dysphoria without crossing that line although I suspect this is not possible and there are difficulties ahead. I'm burying my head in the sand about this for the moment and taking it day by day.

(Happy to note I have had no leg cramps, something I had before when I first tried this many years ago. The calcium supplements and the banana seem to be doing their work.)

[deleteme]

Oops. While exploring the site I just noticed a thread about extract ratios then checked again the supplements I am taking and realised that they are *much* stronger than I had realised and that I am taking way too much.

The Red Reishi Mushroom is 15:1 equivalent so I am effectively taking 18000mg of this and the PM is 10:1 so I am effectively taking 10,000mg a day.

I strongly suspect that they are nothing near as strong as they claim to be otherwise I think I would be very sick by now but nonetheless I am going to abort and give my body at least a couple of weeks maybe more to recover then I will try to source some less confusing supplements.

No wonder I was feeling *something* so fast - but this cannot be good for my liver and I don't want to put my health at risk any more than I am already.

I've never been one to read the questions before starting the exam or to pay much attention to the instruction manual. That was very stupid of me though.

I have seen people recommending Pueraria UK for PM so I will try them. I need to find an alternative source of RR too.

Phew. I feel like I've been very lucky to spot this by accident before something went badly wrong. I will be more cautious in future.

[Unknowntraveller89]

The extract's is more than likely been the cause for your issues, may be not soo much the RR but most definitely the PM. Think there's been a few members on here fell into that trap in the past.

If you can wait ainterol PM is the one that's tried and tested, they have a UK site but they ship from Thailand so delivery can take a while.

[deleteme]

The extract's is more than likely been the cause for your issues, may be not soo much the RR but most definitely the PM. Think there's been a few members on here fell into that trap in the past.

If you can wait ainterol PM is the one that's tried and tested, they have a UK site but they ship from Thailand so delivery can take a while.

Thank you Unknowntraveller89 " alt="" title=""> I will look into the <meta charset="UTF-8">ainterol PM you recommend - my body may welcome the break any slow delivery will cause.

To be honest, I have been fairly happy with the side effects but thinking back on it, I have been having a lot more headaches than usual but I put them down to work stress. Maybe it was the high dosages to blame.

I was hesitating to take a break but now my hand has been forced. It will be good for me to see how different I feel when not on this although I am also impatient to get back on the horse...