[Beverley50]

As this is my favorite discussion forum (also the only one), I take a keen interest in what is being said here, I read all of the new posts, and I go back in time to read the older ones, and I make my own notes. As you will know I am an avid fan of using herbs to feminize my body, and I have been doing so for the past 3 months, with excellent results to me personally. Some of you here may have been on your specific programs for a lot longer, and may or may not have much better development than me, yet the changes to my own body has been miraculous to me, and I am over the moon happy and excited about my breasts and other small changes that I am seeing towards developing a more feminine body.

So, having boobs is great, but there are other things that are creeping into my mind now. Mostly I ask myself - What ARE you really doing to your body? I ask myself whether I'm not creating a ticking time-bomb that could explode at some time in future. Am I really doing something innocent that my body will just shrug off and give me boobs, a more feminine figure, less body hair, a smoother skin etc etc, all the things we all want and talk about. But what are we really doing to our bodies?

So I've gone through the Internet for the past weeks and compiled a small list of potentially NEGATIVE things associated with excess estrogen (estrogen dominance) in the biological male body. I have been careful about where I got the info from, and have weeded through "fake" doctors and only looked only at studies and views from actual medical professionals, whom have posted findings in medical journals and universities. We all know about the GOOD things that herbs bring to us, but what BAD things can they also potentially bring. I include my list below and ask you to chime in with your opinions and knowledge. Take note that I am a newbie at this and possess NO real knowledge at all. I am doing my herbal HRT program completely anonymous and unsupervised.

Symptoms of high estrogen in men include:

• Infertility-  low sperm count, not to much of a worry for most of us
  
• Gynecomastia - desirable to us
  
• Erectile dysfunction – some want this, some don’t (individual taste)
  

Conflicting Data - Higher testosterone levels significantly reduce a man’s risk of cardiovascular disease. Testosterone guards against cardiovascular disease in men. However, a recent study contradicts this. The study showed greater incidences of heart attacks in men with higher testosterone and lower heart attack risks in older men with higher estradiol. (In younger men, estradiol level had no impact on heart attack incidence in this study.) The authors of the study admitted a limitation to the study was only measuring baseline levels of hormones. This study nonetheless was used at the anti-aging conference to proclaim that estradiol protects against heart attack.

There are scientific studies that demonstrate estrogen’s potential beneficial effects to a man’s vascular system. These protective mechanisms, however, have to be weighed against pathological damage the very same estrogen can induce. Despite the documented dangers of excess estrogen, levels that are too low also present risks, not only to bone, but to the vascular system as well. If a man were to have TOO little estradiol, he could very well suffer vascular disease because estrogen is vital to proper endothelial function.

Studies have found that excess estrogen in men:
o    Can double the risk of a stroke (when estradiol blood levels are greater than 34.1 pg/mL)
o    Increases the risk of cardiovascular events and deaths
o    Is correlated with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (especially when testosterone levels are low)
o    Increases C-reactive protein. A marker for inflammation in the body
o    Plays an important role in the development of the benign enlargement of the prostate
o    Depression
o    Low motivation (decreased get-up-and-go inclination). Difficulty in starting new projects and jobs
o    Diminishing ability to think rationally and plan
o    Decreasing ability to solve problems
o    And more recently, is also linked to Prostate Cancer.
o    Can lead to a higher risk of blood clots and stroke
o    May also increase your chances of thyroid dysfunction
o    Can cause abnormal fatigue

What are the clinical symptoms?
o    Enlarged breasts
o    Low sex drive
o    Excess belly fat
o    Depression, fatigue and low energy
o    Poor memory
o    Low stress tolerance
o    Loss of body hair
o    Loss of muscle tone
o    Shrinking testes
o    Erectile dysfunction
o    Prostate enlargement and prostate cancer

So what should we do? What do we make of all of the contradicting info? What is right and what is wrong?

I love my boobs though, and never want to loose them.

[The First Aria]

I feel the same confusion.  My thought is this.  That's one reason I am on HRT and being monitored by great Doctor.  Just remember, a person can die by drinking too much water as well.

[Happyme]

I feel the same confusion.  My thought is this.  That's one reason I am on HRT and being monitored by great Doctor.  Just remember, a person can die by drinking too much water as well.

Thats a great reason to switch back to Beer

[Nipply Russel]

Good idea, creating this thread.

I have been thinking about this and the data seems mixed. On one hand, many of these herbs seem mostly beneficial. PM has been indicated for high cholesterol and is supposedly anti-cancer. Reishi Mushroom is supposed to help with inflammation (a big deal) and arteriosclerosis.

All of this stuff is "natural", so it has to be better than synthetics, right? And generally speaking, we're talking about lower doses than you'd receive on pharma hrt.

On the other hand, there are the effects of increasing estrogen in the male body. My biggest fear is cancer, since there has been a lot in my family.

It's pretty easy to ignore the warnings, especially if you've a burning desire to grow breasts.

[The First Aria]

I feel the same confusion.  My thought is this.  That's one reason I am on HRT and being monitored by great Doctor.  Just remember, a person can die by drinking too much water as well.

Thats a great reason to switch back to Beer

LOL

[Pansy-Mae]

I feel the same confusion.  My thought is this.  That's one reason I am on HRT and being monitored by great Doctor.  Just remember, a person can die by drinking too much water as well.

Thats a great reason to switch back to Beer

LOL

Not many people realise that food and drink the 2 most dangerous things on the planet. They are so dangerous that there is no safe maximum or minmum dose. Anyone who has ever eaten or drunk anything, dies, and even people who haven't eaten or drunk for ages still die.

[PaulaJ]

o    Depression, fatigue and low energy

I'm mainly concerned about this, because I get these on higher doses of PM.

Some of these though somehow make the male body seem entirely different than the female body. I mean hearts(and most parts)are transplantable between either, they can function just fine on either E or T. Studies often have strange biases, really most already have decided the conclusion they want from the start and just do the experiment to make data to back up their conclusion.

[Beverley50]

o    Depression, fatigue and low energy

I'm mainly concerned about this, because I get these on higher doses of PM.

Some of these though somehow make the male body seem entirely different than the female body. I mean hearts(and most parts)are transplantable between either, they can function just fine on either E or T. Studies often have strange biases, really most already have decided the conclusion they want from the start and just do the experiment to make data to back up their conclusion.

Well, I guess you can monitor those aspects yourself and make a judgement call, should you be negatively affected. Then you can decide. What I'm concerned about are the things that you cannot see, the changes that happen inside your body and organs.

[Beverley50]

Post moved

[Pandora56]

o    Depression, fatigue and low energy

I'm mainly concerned about this, because I get these on higher doses of PM.

Some of these though somehow make the male body seem entirely different than the female body. I mean hearts(and most parts)are transplantable between either, they can function just fine on either E or T. Studies often have strange biases, really most already have decided the conclusion they want from the start and just do the experiment to make data to back up their conclusion.

Low T and depression go hand in hand. 
As well as fatigue and low energy.

I try to take magnesium, b vitamins(liver), cell salts and exercise to combat that

Lots of wonderful feminizing workouts on the web with one of my personal favorites