[BuddingB]

I've just started with PM and RR last week. No major changes yet. Part of me is wondering if the brands make a big difference?

For RR, first I bought some pills from the Vitamin Shoppe in town. They are supposed to be 500mg per pill. Then I ordered some Carlyle RR pills online which are supposedly 2500mg per pill. It seems like the Carlyle pill should have a much bigger effect, but if anything, I felt like the two 500mg pills I was taking every day last week were having more effect than the one 2500mg pill I'm taking this week. But maybe it's just last week the pills were upsetting my body and now I'm used to them?

For PM, I got Solgar Phytogen PM at the Vitamin Shoppe, which is supposed to be only 80mg (!) of PM plus a crapload of vitamin B. Then I got some Carlyle pills in the mail which are supposed to be 1000mg per pill. I will give these a shot and see how they do. Looking online, the Ainterol brand that people on this forum seem to like are around 34¢/1000mg, whereas the Carlyle pills are only 8¢/1000mg. Is it worth it to get the Ainterol brand, or does it not matter? If I do get Ainterol, is there a big difference between the drops and the pills?

I'm around 40 and a little overweight. I have 'moobs' already, but I want to fill out more. I think genetically I'm in a good place for growth. My goal is to just take some OTC NBE pills for a few months and then decide if I want to do a medically supervised HRT transition or not. ISTM the big advantage of going through the medical system is better standardization. All the evidence from this forum is that PM + AA does work, but it's really hard to figure out your doses on your own, especially when each brand is different.

I'm sure somebody with more knowledge will chime in, but yes, in the vitamin/herb world there are differences galore because there is no certification or regulation. If you take the time to read through some of the threads, you will get some good advice and knowledge from those who have ventured down this same path. I opted to go with Barlowe's for my PM and RR mainly because Ainterol was difficult to get, at the time. Barlowe's was a good price, in the states, and seemed to be reputable with the quality and content of their products. 

With Red Reishi it's all about the quality of the product. Look for brands that post the Polysaccharides and Triterpenes and go from there. There are actual sites dedicated to mushrooms where you can get good info on what to look for in mushroom products.

Here are the links for Barlowe's...
https://barlowesherbalelixirs.com/reishi-extract-with-triterpenes
https://barlowesherbalelixirs.com/pueraria-mirifica-white-kwao-krua

As a side note...I started with the same Solgar and then Nature's Answer PM (very similar) because it was easy to get and at the local vitamin store. I just wanted to start with a low dose to get my body acclimated and to see if any side effects occurred. My body was fine with PM, but both had massive amounts of B12, which ended up giving me some serious side effects. Turns out massive amounts of certain B vitamins can be dangerous. When I stopped, the trouble went away, so massive amounts of certain vitamins can cause serious health issues and even death. Too bad, because the Nature's Answer included DIM, which is great for estrogen metabolism.

The Barlowe's worked great for me...all I took was the PM and was having some success. I have actually paused taking it, because it was working and I got nervous about it showing to much. I never even started with the Red Reishi because I was concerned with keeping function "below the belt" as best I could. Since I was having some growth, I kept it conservative, but RR (an AA) will be helpful and improve your chances of getting some nice boobs, but of course, there is always a trade off.