Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello,
About 4 months ago I started becoming a vegeterian, (yes I still eat some fish, eggs, and milk and milk products, but that's it) and recently my breasts/pectorals are starting to tingle and become sore.  Would this be due to the beign a vegeterian or is it due to something else.  My diet typically contains whole grain foods like oatmeal, rice, etc, as well as vegetables and ACTUAL fruit juice or water, besides beans and nuts.  I would greatly appreciate some insight on this, I have looked online for anything that would say anything about this, but nothing I can really find and understand says anything about it.

Are you on HRT? If so, it's likely the cause.

Nero

Sorry Nero, I forgot to mention that I am still talking to therapists about getting on HRT, but no I am NOT currently on it.  Again I am sorry about not mentioning that.

Well, I don't know then. Your new diet sounds quite healthy. The only thing I know of that would cause breast tenderness is when they're growing in, and after periodically when on estrogen.
Are you working out, lifting weights, etc.?

Nero

I am not working out or lifting weights, I have never really done that, and don't foresee myslef doing so for quite some time, if I ever decided to do so.  I am to my knowledge not doing anything that SHOULD "normally" if there is even a thing as normal, ccreate breast or muscle soreness.

Is it possible you could be allergic to any of the new foods you're consuming more of?
I'm allergic to cats (but have one, can't live without them), and this allergy causes all kinds of bizarre reactions in me.

Nero

Again, I hate to say this but most likely not, I was eating the same stuff before I "switched" over to vegeterian just then it included meats.

Hi Pauline:

If you are not on HRT and currently experiencing tenderness on the pectoral muscle, I would recommend that you see a doctor as soon as you can.  Your best shot is to call your doctor's office and set up an appointment, make sure you tell them what type of pain you are feeling; otherwise they may schedule you for an appointment five hundred years from now.  If you don't have a physician and money is an issue, you can always check with your county services office.  Most states, including Indiana, have a variety of programs for people who don't have medical insurance.
The pain you are feeling may be related to your change in diet, muscle sprains, or a more serious condition; it is best to talk to your doctor in any case just to be on the safe side.

tinkerbell
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi100.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm37%2Frianmarze%2FgroupMandM.gif&hash=bc187087fbc46355e23b0291893a4070d474c216)

Thanks Tinkerbell and Nero,
I scheduled a doctor's appointment the other week, and it is through the state/county whatever it is for us who are lacking in funds, but it is on October 5th, and that was the eariest they could schedule me for.  Once the academic year begins I am "supposed" to have free doctor access through the University health clinic, only in full swing, but I scheduled the other one JUST in case.  I've had problems with the university's "health" clinic before, heck on campus it is called the "death clinic."  Hence why I brought the topic up here.

I know that vegetarians lack some important nutrition that is found in meat. It might be caused by a lack of such nutrition. Especially if you avoid milk, cheese, and eggs. Lack of protein and calcium is the main ones if so. What does your main meals consist of.

Actually, wickam_kendra, only some vegeterians lack the nutrition that is most typiccally fouind in meats, I have attempted not to do so, if I did or not who knows, but I tried.  My diet is in the first post of this topic, mainly whole grains, vegetables, fruits, milk and milk products, some fish, and beans and nuts (which are a good meat substitute).

Mainly my meals consist of grain, veggies, some beans, and some milk or fruit juice.
Thanks Wickam_kendra,
Pauline

The vitamins and minerals that I know can cause muscle pains are lack of calcium (needed for muscle movement), potassium,  vitamin B1 (thiamine) nerve and heart function, vitamin C, iron, magnesium,

If its not vitamin difficiency then its something else.

Ok, thank you, wickam_kendra, I will check in about those and other vitamins, as well as see if I can find anything else that could be causing it.  Thanks for the help.


Posted at: August 09, 2006, 09:26:46 AM

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Hello again,
I have another question, online I have found that most of my diet is also high in estrone one of the three types of estrogen, is it possible that this could be playing a part in this??  Is it possible that my body could be more acceptable of these than most, or that I could have suppressed this from happening to me for most of my life with all of the DHT and growth hormones that I ingested, due to my heavily carnivoruous family meals, while I was growing????

I dont know. According to this one post meat has estrogen added into it. So it would seem one would get less estrogen without meet except the phyto estrogen types, but I havent heard of vegetarians growing breast tissue. Might be something good to research though.

Might want to read that post. I didnt read it much, but talks about nutrition, a little about hormones, and vegetarianism.

It was a very interesting thread, but alas, I am not sure on how helpful, since no where did they finally figure out which one was actually better for building muscles, and I do admit/agree that meat does contain estrogens, but estrogens chemically are more bound to fats, than testerone, which is more abundant in muscles, sorry I have three med field sisters and a father who raised animals for slaughter/ oh what fun that was, poor things :'(.  Most meat would give at least me, from the information I have read thanks to you and growing up in my thought, more testerone and less estrogen considering I was never keen on eating much fatty stuff.  And also the thread mentioned that according to them, of the male bodybuilding population, there are more womanly looking vegeterians than meat eating.  I am not trying to say that the diet I am on is causing any changes, but is it a possibility??  Also from what I have read building muscles isn't exactly what I am wanting to do.

This is partially in my mind because,
1) My mother was told a month before we (triplets) were born that she was going to have two boys and a girl, and she ended up with having three anatomical males. 
2)  My life has been bizarrely, in considering my weight, in junior high I weighed 220 pounds of practically pure muscle and then in high school I weighed about 165 and continued to lose weight down to 130, my present weight.  I have always been curious about the cause, and no doctor has ever given me a good explanation for it.

Just thinking,
Pauline

Protein ingestion is important as it helps maintain a healthy amount of lean muscle mass.  Muscle mass plays an important role in your metabolism.  I would suggest keeping a very detailed food and activity diary and taking it with you when you see your doctor and you may want to think about talking with a nutritionist as well.

Good luck.

My only suggestion is to talk to a doctor about it.  They can run some tests to try and determine the cause.

Melissa

I would see a doctor. Too many bad things can cause breast growth, if thats what is happening. (cancers, tumors, and diseases).

I am planning to go talk to the people at the on-campus clinic as soon as classes and stuff begin, actually I might be able to do it this week.  The only thing I know is that they are as sore as hades.

Thanks for the information.

OK, so I went to the doctor the other day and inquired about the cause, in their opinion my diet is a healthy one, just fine.  And they scheduled me to come back in about two-three weeks if it still persists.  They haven't ran any tests so they might do that next time, but alas who knows.  I am still not aware of the cause of the soreness but I would ALMOST Guarantee that there is growth, not much but some.....  Kind of concerned about the cause.... what is it??  I'll hopefully find out soon.

Good. From my experience with hormones, it took a long time before feeling pain. That was a lot of estrogen over a long period of 2 months. Even then its only a slight bruise like pain or sensitive nip pains and just under them. My actual muscle doesnt hurt at all. They darkened a bit and feel thicker, sometimes sticking out more.

So just making sure, for your own health that nothing else is causing it.

There are many known causes of non hormonal growth. Making sure none need special attention is a definate priority.