05-09-2013, 06:32 PM
Coldwine you raise a very important concern. Something that everyone should seriously consider before starting PM. AbiDrew notes (perhaps in a slightly dismissive manner) that there is little evidence to suggest that estrogens other than conjugated estrogens are likley to raise cardiovascular risk. This is true although Ethinyl estradiol has also been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk (Toorians et al. 2003; Van Kesteren et al. 1997). What both conjugated estrogens and ethinyl estradiol have in common is that accurate serum blood levels are not measurable in a meaningful way and this means that it is difficult to be certain that a MTF transsexual is ranging at the mean levels of biological females.
What needs to be understood here is that estrogens above biological norms can be very dangerous. Indeed, it could be the case that the increased cardiovascular risk of conjugated estrogens and ethinyl estradiol are less a result of inherent properties of the drugs and more a case of the inability to monitor sex steroid levels and therefore maintain them within biologically normal ranges. What I am saying here is that increasing your estrogen levels above the biological normal for a woman is likely to raise cardiovascular risk factors. It could also alter the functioning of your liver (Hembree et al. 2009). PM taken in excess is in my view likely to cause the same increases in cardiovascular risk along with god-alone knows what else. What is excess in relation to PM? Nobody knows. Nobody has done any experiments on humans that are taking the amounts that biological males on this forum are doing so on a daily basis, to do so would be unethical. Recently my friend, taking PM at the time, developed a pulmonary embolism - at the age of 20 i might add!! whilst this is proof of nothing, I have stopped taking PM myself and would strongly advise that others exercise caution. Blood tests and GP monitoring are a good idea but in common with conjugated estrogens, i suspect accurate monitoring would not really be possible.
What needs to be understood here is that estrogens above biological norms can be very dangerous. Indeed, it could be the case that the increased cardiovascular risk of conjugated estrogens and ethinyl estradiol are less a result of inherent properties of the drugs and more a case of the inability to monitor sex steroid levels and therefore maintain them within biologically normal ranges. What I am saying here is that increasing your estrogen levels above the biological normal for a woman is likely to raise cardiovascular risk factors. It could also alter the functioning of your liver (Hembree et al. 2009). PM taken in excess is in my view likely to cause the same increases in cardiovascular risk along with god-alone knows what else. What is excess in relation to PM? Nobody knows. Nobody has done any experiments on humans that are taking the amounts that biological males on this forum are doing so on a daily basis, to do so would be unethical. Recently my friend, taking PM at the time, developed a pulmonary embolism - at the age of 20 i might add!! whilst this is proof of nothing, I have stopped taking PM myself and would strongly advise that others exercise caution. Blood tests and GP monitoring are a good idea but in common with conjugated estrogens, i suspect accurate monitoring would not really be possible.