Can Estrogen, and Anti-Androgen be taken with alcohol?

[jeminajay]

I am not a full time yet. My bad habit as male requires me to drink some beer or wine almost every nights (social function, and others). I plan to avoid it soon once I feel happier with myself as a full-time trans.

Many times, I took my Hormones with beer or wine. Is it a taboo?

Sorry to ask this coz I do not have my doctor at the moment. I am self medication.

Thank you for being supportive.

[Julia-Madrid]

Hiya Jeminajay

It's generally recommended that you drink very little alcohol, or even better, stop drinking alcohol completely.   

Estrogen and anti-androgens are metabolised by the liver, and if you are taking estrogen orally (as opposed to a patch or injection) it passes through your liver twice - once after digestion and a second time after the remaining estrogen has passed through the rest of your body.  So you are actually placing quite a metabolic load on your liver just by taking HRT, and some anti-androgens also produce toxic effects.   And if you add alcohol to this mix, as well as any other medications, this just places more load on your liver, and this is something you should avoid.

Liver health is probably one of the most fundamental things to allow you to take HRT long term, so I strongly recommend that you do liver function tests once every 3 months or so.  This is a simple blood test.  If you are in a formal HRT program there are about 30 indicators in the blood test which should be tracked.  But the most important ones are these:  Cholesterol, Bilirubin, GGT, ALT(SGPT) and AST(SGOT).  Those will clearly show if you are stressing your liver.

If you can, I'd seriously recommend you see a doctor with whom you can talk honestly about what you are doing, so that you can be sure that you are not damaging your body as you transition.

(And finally, if you stop drinking, you'll look and feel better!!!)

Good luck girl...!
Julia

[KayXo]

Bio-identical estrogen (as opposed to ethinyl estradiol and even Premarin, in high doses), even orally, barely affects liver function (enzymes), if any (affects more coagulation) and anti-androgens, at doses usually prescribed to us, don't generally adversely affect liver (unless cyproterone is prescribed at very high doses for a long time). Alcohol is far more toxic to the liver than either one.

The problem with taking alcohol while taking estrogen ORALLY is that it will increase metabolization of estrogen, reducing levels of estradiol in the blood, thus making your estrogen much less effective. So, expect some ups and downs in levels...if you drink alcohol from time to time. You might not feel so good as a result.

[Randi]

Are you sure you don't have that backwards, Kay?   Alcohol consumption raises the serum estradiol in natal women:

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa35.htm

"In women, alcohol metabolism may contribute to increased production of a form of estrogen called estradiol (which contributes to increased bone density and reduced risk of coronary artery disease) and to decreased estradiol metabolism, resulting in elevated estradiol levels (28). One research review indicates that estradiol levels increased in premenopausal women who consumed slightly more than enough alcohol to reach the legal limit of alcohol (BAC of 0.10 percent) acutely (28). A study of the effect of alcohol on estradiol levels in postmenopausal women found that in women wearing estradiol skin patches, acute alcohol consumption significantly elevated estradiol levels over the short term (34)."

The problem with taking alcohol while taking estrogen ORALLY is that it will increase metabolization of estrogen, reducing levels of estradiol in the blood, thus making your estrogen much less effective. So, expect some ups and downs in levels...if you drink alcohol from time to time. You might not feel so good as a result.

[Misato]

Requires you? Interesting word choice.

This kind of question hits home for me because it took me a long time to admit I had/have a problem with alcohol (I say have because I must stay vigilant). So, I find myself compelled to encourage readers to consider the following question: If the ability to consume alcohol is impacting the decision to get relief from HRT, what does that say about your alcohol consumption?

[Sarah Louise]

Self medication is not advised.  We will not answer questions when the user posts they are self medicating, it is against site policy.

[Susan]

While self medicating is not advised, talking about the dangers of drinking while on HRT would be a perfectly acceptable topic. Thread unlocked.

[Jessika Lin]

In that vein then, while I don't drink very often (mainly cause I realized very early that it would be VERY easy for me to go overboard), I was planning on having a few drinks once my E was in the normal female range just to find out what my tolerance would be like. Would that be a good idea, or should I avoid alcohol altogether?

[Jenna Marie]

Estrogen *does* cause people to have a "woman's tolerance" for alcohol - which is generally lower. There's all kinds of public service announcements about how women react more to alcohol and it generally takes less to get them over the legal limit, etc. So anyone drinking for the first time since HRT should be very cautious until they know how it affects them now.

[Jessika Lin]

Estrogen *does* cause people to have a "woman's tolerance" for alcohol - which is generally lower. There's all kinds of public service announcements about how women react more to alcohol and it generally takes less to get them over the legal limit, etc. So anyone drinking for the first time since HRT should be very cautious until they know how it affects them now.

That is *exactly* the reason why I'm planning to test my tolerance. That way if I end up drinking at a social event or something, I'll know what my limit is.

[Keira]

Estrogen *does* cause people to have a "woman's tolerance" for alcohol - which is generally lower. There's all kinds of public service announcements about how women react more to alcohol and it generally takes less to get them over the legal limit, etc. So anyone drinking for the first time since HRT should be very cautious until they know how it affects them now.

My tolerance now is two drinks LOL

[Jenna Marie]

Jessika : Personally, I think that's a wise plan. I used to get wasted in college; now my tolerance is like a glass of wine and I'm tipsy!

[jeminajay]

Thank you the admin to unlock this thread. Since I have more understanding, I stop drinking now and future.

[ErinWDK]

Jessika : Personally, I think that's a wise plan. I used to get wasted in college; now my tolerance is like a glass of wine and I'm tipsy!

For Valentine's Day I went to dinner with a friend and had ONE glass of wine - with a full dinner.  It was a good thing I was not the designated driver.  I am not on HRT yet, but I do have an E level in the female range.  When I get onto HRT I for sure am going to avoid alcohol - it is not worth it.


Erin

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Jessika : Personally, I think that's a wise plan. I used to get wasted in college; now my tolerance is like a glass of wine and I'm tipsy!

It was common for me to drink two fifths at once in my early 20's. I would buy a fifth of bourbon and chase it with a fifth of peppermint schnapps.

Yeah, probably not the best idea. It only lasted a few years and I was sick of being wasted all of the time so I quit doing that.

I picked it back up several years later, but I learned how to actually control my drinking without getting completely trashed every time I drank. My consumption levels went down about 60 to 70%.

But once I started HRT, my tolerance REALLY dropped. I bought a fifth of schnapps one Christmas Eve and it lasted for three months.

But once I started taking an anti-depressant (To help with sleeping disorders/panic attacks), I soon found that there was NO DRINKING ANYMORE.

Zip, Zilch, Nadda, No soup for you!

I got drunk last 4th of July and the next day was VERY scary. So, now I don't touch any intoxicants at all.

I figure it's better for my health, anyway.

[KayXo]

Are you sure you don't have that backwards, Kay?   Alcohol consumption raises the serum estradiol in natal women:

Alcohol increases the concentrations of the enzyme CYP3A4 mostly found in the liver and intestines responsible for metabolizing estradiol, especially when taken orally so that more estradiol is metabolized (broken down or converted to weaker/inactive forms) and less estradiol enters the general circulation.

[Susan]

"The evidence outlined herein strongly points to greater risk for women for developing severe ALI and cirrhosis than men. Although the exact roles of female hormones have not yet been proven or elucidated, women should exert caution by limiting their alcohol intake to one drink or less per day to avoid the complications of alcohol-induced liver injury."

Basically Alcohol stresses the liver, and so does HRT. This can lead to liver damage which is one of the reasons that I strongly recommend against self medicating without a doctor's care.

[Teaganraysaurus]

yeah, i agree with everyone that if you are watching your liver you shouldn't ingest a lot of liquor or even any at all because of your levels

[sandrauk]

Whilst I agree with you Kayxo that conjugated and bio are completely different, ie one works the other doesn't (I was on premarin for fourteen years with very little effect), I have recently found that I can't tolerate alcohol with progynova.

I used to have one pint of beer late in the evenings to help sleep and I seemed to have a bedtime headache. Stopped HRT for a week and kept the beer and the headaches stopped. Stopped the beer for a week and again the headaches stopped, so now it's no drink at all, just HRT.

[KayXo]

I wouldn't drink alcohol if I took oral estrogen because of how the alcohol affects estrogen metabolism but if I took estrogen non-orally, then alcohol from time to time would be fine.