[JustEmily]

Hello everyone. I have been reading back posts and searching, and have learned a lot, but I still have a few questions if you don’t mind.

I have used Fenugreek and Red Clover in the past with Saw Palmetto, and I have some minimal growth, but I had to stop due to an allergic reaction. It seems that Saw Palmetto can have an adverse reaction with Omeprazole or Lansoprazole, this causes a breathing disorder where you feel like you aren’t getting enough air. It drove me crazy until I figured it out and stopped everything, and then it took a while to go away completely.

I finally got up the guts to try herbs again, but this time I ordered the Ainterol PM. I plan to start low with 250mg a day and add a dose every week till I get to 1000 a day to see how I tolerate. Then higher if needed. Again, I had some growth results with the other herbs.

I have researched alternative androgen blockers and have found spearmint and stinging nettle to be possible substitutes, as stopping reflux meds doesn’t seem to be an option right now.

To be safe, I have switched to Tagamet… it’s not in the same family as the other acid blockers and seems to work the same as the others so far.

Also, I am doing my best to go gluten free to see if that kicks the heartburn, but it’s been a lifelong issue, so I dunno.

Anyway, enough back-story… the questions:

Do you think spearmint and/or nettle root will be sufficient in the place of Saw Palmetto? Do I even need an androgen blocker? I am not that hairy to begin with, but I am starting a thin patch on the front left side that I would like to stop or maybe reverse and fill back in. I am 41.

Also, I was thinking of adding maca root, I want the whole enchilada: hips, thighs and breasts.. the wife approves. Would maca interfere with PM? I know that anything like this would take years, but I am patient. And if nothing happens in the way of body mod, I have read a bout a myriad of other benefits from PM, so one way or another, I'm game.

Thanks!

[AbiDrew85]

Try pygeum.

Saw palmetto is a 5-alpha-reductase blocker. So is pygeum. Spearmint and nettle root are receptor blockers.

Neither spearmint nor nettle root are likely to reverse or even halt male pattern hair loss... only a 5-alpha-reductase blocker has that potential.

[flamesabers]

Hello JustEmily.

I would recommend spending some time taking just pm and see how things turn out. You may not need to take an androgen blocker alongside pm. I don't and I have achieved a reasonable amount of breast development as well as fat redistribution to my hips/thighs.

[AbiDrew85]

Hello JustEmily.

I would recommend spending some time taking just pm and see how things turn out. You may not need to take an androgen blocker alongside pm. I don't and I have achieved a reasonable amount of breast development as well as fat redistribution to my hips/thighs.

They wouldn't need it just to achieve development, no. But they mentioned some male pattern baldness developing... And PM does little to nothing for that.

As for maca/pm - no incompatibility there that I know of, though it's been argued whether maca actually does anything helpful for us. Progesterone cream has been a little more proven, anecdotal, to help round out the entire figure when combined with pm.

You might consider fenugreek and/or chasteberry. SOME people have had some success with wild yam, although WHY is unclear, because from all chemical analyses I've seen it really shouldn't.

But... TBH... I think it's best to start small and slowly introduce things. Start with pygeum really. Don't even touch PM until the pygeum has a chance to saturate your system and nullify your dht. Then introduce the PM. Slowly ramp that up and find your max safe dose. Then maybe introduce something else if you still feel you want to experiment further.

[SarahSchilling]

It seems that Saw Palmetto can have an adverse reaction with Omeprazole or Lansoprazole, this causes a breathing disorder where you feel like you aren’t getting enough air. It drove me crazy until I figured it out and stopped everything, and then it took a while to go away completely.

That sounds like exactly what I've been dealing with for months. I'm breathing fine, but it feels like I'm hyperventilating without the short quick breaths.Just feels like I can't get enough air. I haven't taken anything for over a month, and it has lessened though. Out of curiousity, how long did it take to go away for you? It is terrible. Enough to give one their first panic attack. Also, when these "can't get enough air" attacks happen, do you start burping up air?

I went and had a physical done, but everything is normal lol, the doctor acted like it was all in my head and gave me an Albuterol inhaler, which I haven't used yet. I even told him about the SP and PM, but all he wanted to know about is prescription drugs. I knew there was a reason I hated doctors!

You should search the forums for "tagamet', one member used it by itself as an AA.

I looked up some info on it a few weeks back, and it seems to be a mild DHT blocker as a side effect.

It may be all you need if you have your T knocked down a bit at this point.

[flamesabers]

That sounds like exactly what I've been dealing with for months. I'm breathing fine, but it feels like I'm hyperventilating without the short quick breaths.Just feels like I can't get enough air. I haven't taken anything for over a month, and it has lessened though. Out of curiousity, how long did it take to go away for you? It is terrible. Enough to give one their first panic attack. Also, when these "can't get enough air" attacks happen, do you start burping up air?

I went and had a physical done, but everything is normal lol, the doctor acted like it was all in my head and gave me an Albuterol inhaler, which I haven't used yet.

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but when I started having shortness of breath while running earlier this year I also got prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. It helped initially to take the edge off, but after I returned to my hometown I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes anymore. I'm thinking the area of the country I was at previously had poor air quality, at least what I'm accustomed to, hence the difficulty in running. Perhaps that is why there was a noticeable improvement when I first started using the inhaler.

[MonikaT]

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but when I started having shortness of breath while running earlier this year I also got prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. It helped initially to take the edge off, but after I returned to my hometown I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes anymore. I'm thinking the area of the country I was at previously had poor air quality, at least what I'm accustomed to, hence the difficulty in running. Perhaps that is why there was a noticeable improvement when I first started using the inhaler.

This almost sounds like it could possibly be an allergy. I live and work in a region filled with Russian olive trees. When I moved here in 1995, I'd never knowingly encountered these awful trees. From May through October, I'm miserable, but I refuse to take antihistamines even if nearly everyone here does.

[SarahSchilling]

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but when I started having shortness of breath while running earlier this year I also got prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. It helped initially to take the edge off, but after I returned to my hometown I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes anymore. I'm thinking the area of the country I was at previously had poor air quality, at least what I'm accustomed to, hence the difficulty in running. Perhaps that is why there was a noticeable improvement when I first started using the inhaler.

This almost sounds like it could possibly be an allergy. I live and work in a region filled with Russian olive trees. When I moved here in 1995, I'd never knowingly encountered these awful trees. From May through October, I'm miserable, but I refuse to take antihistamines even if nearly everyone here does.

My issues started in the fall, and continued through the winter, so I don't think they were based around allergies to plantlife. Besides, I've lived in this area all my life and don't have allergy issues, even in the spring.

On the other hand, I've often wondered about air quality as I live downwind of a ton of oil refineries as well as the toxic swamp that used to be referred to as the Gulf Coast.

I try not to think about events outside of my control though lol, so am going with the SP interaction as a way to retain my sanity!

But really who knows...I could be getting stalked by ghosts lmfao. (Maybe that sanity boat has sailed!)

[AbiDrew85]

But really who knows...I could be getting stalked by ghosts lmfao. (Maybe that sanity boat has sailed!)

Don't laugh. Not necessarily ghosts per say, but the spirit world really is a real thing. There are both evil and good spirits. "Ghosts" of a traditional sense and "devils", spirits who never have had and never will have a physical body.

Do I think that your problems are spiritual in nature? Probably not. But you still shouldn't laugh at the idea.

[JustEmily]

Thanks for the information; I will check the local co-op for pygeum.
Probably Amazon for progesterone cream.

As far as the breathing difficulty, it’s called dyspnea. It started with a lot of yawning, then it became like I couldn't get enough air. Then the anxiety started (probably from the feeling like I couldn't breathe).

It was much worse at night. It took about two months to clear up completely after stopping everything (I didn't discover why until much later, so I went almost vegan straight edge for those two months). Didn't give up gluten, should have.

After a while of water and vegan, I took 5-htp to get to sleep and reduce anxiety. It helped a lot.

My doctor gave me the same inhaler some of you were given. It helped. I am not sure if it really “helped” or if it was psychosomatic. Probably a bit of both.

Honestly, the main thing I am looking for is a reduction in the very high level of obsessive Gender Dysphoria I have. I have read a lot of posts that refer to “rewiring,” although I am not sure that is the right term. I want to think about other things, and the need to cross-dress and all the other trappings are hard to put away a lot of the time.

If it does work, though, it posits that GD is indeed some kind of imbalance that can at least be tamed by chemistry. That would be a great doctoral thesis. I don’t know, the research papers I have read online on PM tout a laundry list of benefits, I hope the claims are real. I want my brain back.

A curvaceous body would be nice too, but I’ll take the brain first, thanks.