[Charrie]

I wasn't going to post this for it sounds somewhat silly. Perhaps I can be liken to a girl entering puberty who is becoming conscious of her impending changes from girlhood to womanhood.

I faithfully followed the regimen for 5 days:
2 X per day RC with 330 mg of RC which also contains extract standardized to 2.5% Isoflavones
3 X per day 610MG cap FG.
3 X per day SP as extract 320 mg standardized to 85%- 95% Fatty acids 272-304 mg 0.15% Sterols 480mcg.

Not noticing any ill effects I increased dosage to on the sixth day and have been following this regimen now for 7 days.
4 X RC
4 X FG
3 X SP

I also am massaging regularly which I have found to be a very calming exercise.

What seems so silly is to post the question about possibility. (Yes, I understand anything is possible; but really?)

Is it possible that this short of time into a simple regimen I would notice change in my breast? Surely not. I was not going to post until I just came in out of a short time in the cold without a coat on and I noticed distinctive tingling in my nipple region.

I had thought I would post after 2 weeks, so I was embarrassed to do so. After all, what I concluded is that I am much more aware that my breast are (there). So my experience at this early stage can be defined as awareness. Surely this is simply a trick of the mind, since I am consciously paying attention to my body as I have not done previously.

Yet, I distinctly feel my breast touching the inside of my upper arm. I am noticing the rub of my undershirt on my nipples. The distinct tingle in the cold? I don't recall any of these previously. But then I wasn't paying conscious attention was I? However, I must say my breast do feel fuller, yet there has been no pain or soreness as described by others. Again a mind game?

I have noticed a calmness about my desires for womanhood. Again I am attributing that to my inner person resting in the reality that I am actually taking a new and unique approach to self discovery.

If I can figure how to do so I will post some images on the pictures page. They were taken 1 week into the regimen.

Two questions
1) What are the possibilities that the "awareness" sensation is more than a mind game? Is is possible that fat re-distribution is already happening?

2) I have often wondered this, Is it possible that one can be so close to their desired gender that even a slight imbalancing of ones hormones causes the body's own endocrine system to jump start itself toward gender re-adjustment?

I have experienced this with my thyroid. At one time I had a hypo-active thyroid. Once I self-diagnosed the situation, I began taking natural bovine thyroid. I did this for a number of months and then was diagnosed by a kinesiologist that I didn't need the supplement. I stopped and have not needed any supplement except iodine for years. He diagnosis was that I was able to jump start the thyroid (sort of a hard boot) and once it was righted it has functioned like a healthy thyroid.

I know of at least three males who were aware of gender incongruity for a number of years. Two of them for undiagnosed reasons found their endocrine system began producing female hormones in levels that eventually feminized their bodies enough that they started living as women. Another, Chloe Prince, whom has been referenced here was stung by a bee which created an hormonal imbalance that eventually feminized her. Granted she had Klinefelter's Syndrome, nevertheless once the endocrine system was triggered feminization resulted.

Is it possible that NBE could be that trigger?

[flamesabers]

I think time will tell whether you're mind is playing tricks on you or whether the changes are truly genuine.

In regards to the tingling nipples after you come in from the cold, I experience something similar. When I'm outside and wearing a coat, at times my breasts really start to itch. I don't think the cold weather makes my breasts go into growth spurt mode. Rather, I think it's simply how my breasts sometimes reacts to cold temperatures. I think AbiDrew has experienced the same reaction with her breasts.

If your fat redistribution to your breasts is as rapid and noticeable as you think it is, no doubt it will be very evident to others when you post pictures a month or two from now.

Is it possible that one can be so close to their desired gender that even a slight imbalancing of ones hormones causes the body's own endocrine system to jump start itself toward gender re-adjustment?

Could you clarify on this?

Is it possible that NBE could be that trigger?

A trigger for what exactly?

[AbiDrew85]

I think time will tell whether you're mind is playing tricks on you or whether the changes are truly genuine.

In regards to the tingling nipples after you come in from the cold, I experience something similar. When I'm outside and wearing a coat, at times my breasts really start to itch. I don't think the cold weather makes my breasts go into growth spurt mode. Rather, I think it's simply how my breasts sometimes reacts to cold temperatures. I think AbiDrew has experienced the same reaction with her breasts.

Yep. Though they weren't always. Not until SP and licorice and any environmental and internally produced estrogens I'd already had. They've been crazy sensitive to EVERYTHING since. And it seems they've only been getting even more sensitive as they continue to develop. I'm probably going to be one of those girls that all you gotta do is just brush me there and even through clothes I'll get turned on a little. Even when I'm trying not to be.

But yeah. One of the things they've become sensitive to is temperature. And especially cold. Get much below 77 and my nipples are saying HI THERE!

They're also now the single most sensitive part of my body to hot as well. I mean. I can actually sense something is hot there. Most of the time anywhere else on my body? nope.

[Charrie]

(Yesterday 10:28 PM)Charrie Wrote:
Is it possible that one can be so close to their desired gender that even a slight imbalancing of ones hormones causes the body's own endocrine system to jump start itself toward gender re-adjustment?

Could you clarify on this?

(Yesterday 10:28 PM)Charrie Wrote:
Is it possible that NBE could be that trigger?

A trigger for what exactly?

I have read that some transsexuals find great relief from their dysphoria by the introduction of estrogen into their systems. If I understand correctly, the reason for the relief is that their bodies are finally receiving the proper hormone on which, despite all outward appearances, they are designed to function. Relief comes when the missing piece (female hormones) are introduced to "complete" the individual.

Might it be possible that the introduction of estrogen or estrogen forming substances triggers ones own latent female hormone production. The introduction of an outside source of estrogen gives ones own endocrine system the guidance it needs to do what it is designed to do all along. The outside source of female hormones becomes the light or guidance system that guides the body's own latent system to its proper functioning.

Much like the space shuttles didn't get into space on their own, rather they are carried there, so such endocrine systems need the trigger of introduced female hormones to activate them. Once the conditions became proper the shuttle then flew independent of the carrier, so once the endocrine system in such individuals is properly stimulated it begins to function on its own producing the hormones necessary to create the feminizing that, had conditions been slightly different in earlier development, would have happened naturally.

Flamesabers, thank you for your thought, however I am not sure I have answered adequately. At the moment though it's the best I can do.

[sfem]

1) What are the possibilities that the "awareness" sensation is more than a mind game? Is is possible that fat re-distribution is already happening?

It's possible. Keep in mind "fat redistribution" doesn't involve anything moving. Your question really is, has my chest area enlarged in two weeks? The answer may lay in how much you have consumed of what versus your activity level and type for those two weeks. It is certainly possible to put on fat in two weeks in noticeable amounts. I know from personal experience that FG makes me hungry and unless I am careful, I gain weight quickly while on FG. Probably some kind of genetic trigger along the lines of supporting the caloric needs of a pregnancy. Perhaps some of the mechanisms in the body that perform that function are tickled by FG. Your scale can help you answer this question better than we can.

2) I have often wondered this, Is it possible that one can be so close to their desired gender that even a slight imbalancing of ones hormones causes the body's own endocrine system to jump start itself toward gender re-adjustment?

I believe this is possible. I think it depends on where you are on the gender/sex spectrum. Some bodies and/or minds are quite capable of doing uncommon things with the right chemical triggers. And that's not just in the arena of gender "adjustment".

Is it possible that NBE could be that trigger?

I think it is possible. I'm not so sure that getting the body to participate in this manner causes it to keep doing so when you stop stimulating it. If so, then many TS people are needlessly taking a lot of pharmaceuticals and somehow I don't think that is the case. This paper ( http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/82/7/2166.abstract ) describes how changes induced by adding hormones to a pubertal body can cause changes that persist beyond the time when the hormone is administered. Of course, it isn't an exact match to your question, and it is actually a change in the wrong direction for us although most of us aren't actually in puberty. But it does suggest that temporary induced changes in hormone levels can induce long-term changes in what the body produces on its own. But anecdotal evidence suggests the changes aren't enough for our purposes if they do happen.

Congrats on your progress so far though, and be patient!