Second thoughts

[RBT]

I am having an issue with my hormones, maybe one of you could chime in. I tried a 1 large dose of "bio identical" hormones and decided they weren't for me.. almost instant depression. My test shot way up and than dropped in about a week. Within the first 2-3 weeks i noticed fat redistribution and wider hips and explosive breast growth. I elected not to touch hormones anymore but for some reason im still getting breast growth. I even tried taking letrozole and it seems not to have much of an effect.. although i think it may be a weak dose as i bought it from over seas. It is starting to worry me, has anyone heard of this happening? As i understand it without aromatization i shouldn't be producing much estrogen.. yet i still get random breast itchiness ( cell growth?)..

I was thinking of trying tamoxifen but id rather not flood my system with estrogen again, weak or otherwise..

[Jamie D]

Hey there, RBT and greetings from SoCal.

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Be careful not to post dosages, as this site has a strict policy against facilitating self-medication.

You list some strong medications here that need close medical supervision.

Tamoxifen was developed to treat breast cancer by shutting down estrogen receptor.

Letrozole is also a breast cancer medication, acting as an aromatase inhibitor.

Bio-identical hormones should act, in theory, the same as natural hormones, although there is a large body of literature which suggests some differences.

Experimentation with these substances is dangerous business.

Your 2-3 week, so-called "fat redistribution," is almost certainly "placebo effect." Fat does not actually redistribute.  New fat cells are preferentially formed under the new hormonal regime in the body.  It should take months to see hip and butt growth, even under high doses.

Breast buds can begin to form early, however.  It is the result of the balance in your body between your testosterone levels and your estrogen levels.  As is often said, "your mileage may vary."

[lilacwoman]

quite a few males do get man boobs spontaneously growing so it may be that you have triggered your endo system into action a bit faster than those other guys.

stop self medicating and go see a doctor or endocrinologist to get a proper cure.

[Beth Andrea]

Anytime one works with meds, you never ever start with "one large dose." You always start with the smallest dose available, to check for allergic reactions or other unwanted effects.

Only after the smallest dose is shown to be tolerated does one slowly increase the dose--always to the next larger dose, never from "minimum" to "maximum"--and always have a period of time to check for reactions and/or side effects.

You should follow the above general advice even when taking vitamins for the first time, but especially with hormones.

Blood work is a MUST with hormones; both males and females have testosterone and estrogen, albeit in different proportions and amounts. Hormones affect more than just sex drive and breast growth; as you found out, hormones are also associated with depression.

(btw, I'm not a doctor, but I am a well-informed patient using estrogen under a doctor's care. Estrogen has been incredibly beneficial and effective in my case.)