Hi Brittni,
first I want to say that I agree with just about everything Pansy-Mae has said. I will respond to the points you raised with me though.
Quote:If I am reading the mice study correctly it seems to be very encouraging toward my fertility concerns. Please correct me if I am wrong but it seems that from the study's numbers seeing as I weigh about 200 pounds (about 90 kg) I would be able to take 9000 mg of PM per day (totally unrealistic) and still be safe. After adding the other herbs I listed should my goal be to keep everything under 9000 or just PM?
To be clear, (a) you are not a mouse. (b) 9000mg would be the dose that
it appears would affect your sperm if you were a 90kg mouse.
I take 6000mg a day, but that is for my mental health; it's actually more of a stalling dose for me regarding breast growth (a good thing, actually). The recommend dose for male breast growth is, I believe, 4000mg per day. Also, and this is important, I do
not intend to father any more kids!
Animal studies are notorious for being a very rough model of human response. That's why I said you would need to get your sperm monitored regularly.
Quote:Also with your point on anxiety. If I understand what you are saying, if I have the calming feeling you are referring to this could make me want a more complete transition?
Not necessarily. I did give a link to a quite good FAQ by Dr A Vitale. The deep calming feeling is indicative (the experts say) of a congenital disorder that creates a TS brain.
That said, even the people who do not notice any change in anxiety levels notice that the desire to cross-dress (when extant) goes away. I'm not an expert in psychology or psychotherapy, but I wonder if gender anxiety manifests itself in cross-dressing, and people who are able to indulge (I only could rarely) use that as a means to relieve the anxiety that people like me suffer.
All I intended to warn you about was the possibility that you
may be, at least to some degree, a TS. If you grow breasts, you could be starting down a path that leads to the desire to full transition, particularly as you will likely also lose spontaneous erections and the normal male responses to situations. This has happened to one particular person, but that is a sample of one, so not statistically significant.
Quote:On the other hand if I find new anxiety developing does this come with any other implications? As far as anxiety I already have I would have to say if I get to thinking about anything too much or worrying about it (for instance a college final) I would definitely say I have some anxiety. But this is normal isn't it?
Again, read the FAQ that I linked to. The anxiety that is meant is not the normal kind of worry. It is an intense, acute feeling of dread, hopelessness, possibly panic with elevated pulse rates.
If you experience this, stop taking the PM for a day or two. Try again; if it is repeatable, then it is likely that your brain is not the foetal-androgen-suppressed TS kind that is mentioned in the literature. This would mean that you would not be able to deal with the use of estrogen to grow your breasts, and you would definitely not be a candidate for hormone-based transition (though you would need to check this with a gender counsellor). So, in the unlikely event that you did have this experience, but still had an irrepressible desire for breasts, then you would need to investigate other methods, such as massage and vacuum (noogleberry) devices.
Quote:On your point of relationship I agree and disagree. On the one hand choice of partner will definitely go down, but on the other hand someone who may be put of by the thought of their partner growing breasts may be ok if their partner already had them. This could be because they never felt like there was something you were hiding from them.
In an ideal world this would be true.
Please take the following as points to think about: I am definitely not suggesting that you take them forward.
To be honest, if your desire to grow breasts continues after you take PM, you may find it more convenient all around to experiment with trying to pass as a female. My life would certainly have been less troublesome if the options had been open to me. (I wouldn't have had my kids, so I wouldn't go back and do it now, but I wouldn't have known that then)
Most of the problems that Pansy-Mae talks about would be lessened if you were accepted by society as a female.
It's possible that living as a female, combined with long term ingestion of estrogen would make your relationship options widen too.
I believe there is a fluidity to sexual preference that is radically affected by hormones. After all, masturbation is likely the first sexual experience that most men experience, and it is by definition homoerotic, so to that extent at least we are all bisexual. (My pre-PM days fantasies often incorporated male "actors", so I know that the potential is in me - though I will never act upon it.)
In that instance, should you find that transition becomes desirable, freezing sperm would still be an option.
I don't know how much effort all this would require; if you look too masculine, and cannot afford facial feminization surgery, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it's something to think about (along with all the other things to think about!)
Again, points to ponder. I'm the kind of person who tries to think of all contingencies, and encourage others to do so too.
Best regards,
Bryony