I want to know if there are any alternatives to hrt. And if there are, are they safe. I heard binaural beats work for helping your brain to send signals, to produce more estrogen, but I don't know if it works.
This is greatly appreciated

-Sophie   

I dunno, talk to your doctor or therapist?

Some people have had success with herbals. It really depends.

Why don't you want HRT? Do you have a medical condition that precludes it?

While I was waiting for the HRT Rx, I took "maximum strength" menopause supplements. Nothing fancy, just whatever was on sale that month at the drugstore.

It took the edge off the anxiety caused by my T levels, which were low to begin with.

Christ, don't do these things! The binaural beats thing is psuedoscience, and taking menopause drugs can seriously mess you up. Never self medicate, and for the love of cake, never seek medical advice on an internet forum. Talk to your doctor, talk to your doctor, and talk to your doctor.

We're allowed to talk about this, it's specifically mentioned in the rules. If you can't add to the thread, maybe wait until you have something?

Hugs, Devlyn

Quote from: Sophie Chan on January 14, 2015, 08:23:51 AM
I want to know if there are any alternatives to hrt. And if there are, are they safe. I heard binaural beats work for helping your brain to send signals, to produce more estrogen, but I don't know if it works.
This is greatly appreciated

-Sophie   

Welcome to Susan's Place, Sophie! I take an herbal supplement and have seen very good results. Breast massage is said to help, and even if it doesn't, it's fun and there's no shortage of volunteers to do it for you!

Hugs, Devlyn

My advice would be to take the suggestions here and go to your doctor. I lurve my S.P. friends and find a world of wisdom here, but not all are doctors! Everyone is different, everyone has their own experiences, everyone is valid.

So, here's the current sum of information (Quotes edited for the essentials):

Quote from: ImagineKate on January 14, 2015, 08:47:31 AM
Talk to your doctor or therapist.
Some people have had success with herbals.

Quote from: Beth Andrea on January 14, 2015, 09:01:15 AM
"maximum strength" menopause supplements. Nothing fancy, just whatever was on sale that month at the drugstore.

Quote from: MugwortPsychonaut on January 14, 2015, 03:53:46 PM
Never self medicate
Talk to your doctor, talk to your doctor, and talk to your doctor.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on January 14, 2015, 05:08:04 PM
I take an herbal supplement and have seen very good results.
Breast massage is said to help, and even if it doesn't, it's fun and there's no shortage of volunteers to do it for you!

To which I will add, an endocrinologist may have some specific alternatives that fall under these categories, or something else "safe" you can try.

Good Luck!!!

Quote from: LoriLorenz on January 14, 2015, 07:12:59 PM
My advice would be to take the suggestions here and go to your doctor. I lurve my S.P. friends and find a world of wisdom here, but not all are doctors! Everyone is different, everyone has their own experiences, everyone is valid.

So, here's the current sum of information (Quotes edited for the essentials):To which I will add, an endocrinologist may have some specific alternatives that fall under these categories, or something else "safe" you can try.

Good Luck!!!

I'm glad to see more thinking like this. Endocrinologists SHOULD prescribe hormones to crossdressers like me, and all the other non-binary segments of our community as well.  But they won't, so we are left in the cold, and the support we get from the transgender community?  None.

Hugs, Devlyn

There are quite a few menopausal sites out there with advice about herbal or other natural methods.

One woman in my group had some success with a supplement after doing a ton of research. However, as in the case of most medicines (and herbals ARE medications), if you over do it, you can get into trouble. And she sure did.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on January 14, 2015, 07:23:32 PM
I'm glad to see more thinking like this. Endocrinologists SHOULD prescribe hormones to crossdressers like me, and all the other non-binary segments of our community as well.  But they won't, so we are left in the cold, and the support we get from the transgender community?  None.

Hugs, Devlyn

They won't? Not even informed consent?

Not that I know of. Look, I expect to be treated crappy by society, as I think most of us do. But here, where I expect people to listen and understand, we just get preached at. I started a handful of supplements topics to see if we could have an adult conversation about a permissible topic. I deleted every single one of them when they were dragged off topic.

Hugs, Devlyn

Let me frame it this way. If a cisgender person came here and posted that people shouldn't transition, they'd be moderated.  But every member here is allowed to march into our supplements threads and tell us not to do it. It's extremely unfair.

Hugs, Devlyn

Thanks for the reply's. I really appreciate it. I've been doing binaural beats video called "estrogen boost" for a few weeks now, and I'm not sure if it worked. I found that my skin was smoother, but I am not sure if it's just me. I dont want to consult to a doctor about this, because I am scared of opening up to my mother. I wanted to test out about the binaural beats just for a few, to see if it works so I could use it a bit until I opened up. I would love some advice about this, and if anyone knows anything about binaural beats, I would appreciate some advice about that. Thank you

-Sophie 

I agree with  yn. It's extremely unfair. I have hormonal imbalance from Lymes disease and have menopause type symptoms so conversations on supplements could benefit me. I do have Doctor visits planned but to have something like menopause supplements to help in the meantime would be wonderful. Where can we even discuss such things? I have been using frequencies.

The binaural beats and frequencies is something I have investigated and I think they CAN have some effect. Everything in the universe is frequencies, electro magnetic , sound, light and so on. Our brains are working off frequencies we produce with brain waves, electric chemical. If you could change your frequencies then maybe you can see results. I am not sure if it is the Lymes eating my testosterone or effects from listening to these beats for the last few months but I do have noticeable softer skin, lighter facial hair growth, some breast growth , more butt and hip fat and it helps reduce hot flashes. The beats also make me feel less irritable and calmer. I am sure some of it is placebo effect and more experimentation is needed. Others have noticed the changes in me so something is happening. If you listen to certain frequencies too much it can backfire and your body may fight back. So don't over do it. Also effects can take a long time, the older you are the longer it takes. Again more experiments are needed.

I want to get some pet rats and expose them to different frequencies and test results... but I am not sure I want to spend the money for hormonal test strips and use it on rats, its expensive. haha

Love,
Jade

People want to talk herbals? Knock yourselves out... The CD community should probably have easier access to hormones though.

The problem I'm seeing here is the binaural beats, which are pseudoscience at best. Based on the little science presented, I can't see it doing much apart from maybe messing with sleep patterns.

And you say you don't want to see a doctor because you don't want to talk to your mother.. What were you planning on doing when whatever method you use starts producing visible results?

Quote from: kelly_aus on January 14, 2015, 10:10:37 PM
People want to talk herbals? Knock yourselves out... The CD community should probably have easier access to hormones though.

The problem I'm seeing here is the binaural beats, which are pseudoscience at best. Based on the little science presented, I can't see it doing much apart from maybe messing with sleep patterns.

And you say you don't want to see a doctor because you don't want to talk to your mother.. What were you planning on doing when whatever method you use starts producing visible results?

It has actually improved my sleep patterns, I was having night sweats and difficulty sleeping for more than 3 hrs, now I have no problems. I agree that it is pseudoscience in the sense that it needs more rigorous scientific testing. If it makes someone feel better and see results , even if it is minor results then what is the harm in listening to them? I just don't think we can blindly reject something because we don't understand the mechanics of how it works. I don't think someone can get even close to the results that HRT and going to the endo will cause, but where is the harm in listening to these beats?

Love,
Jade

Thank you for the replies Jade. I am sorry about your Lymes disease. And wow I have had almost the same effect. Ask have said I have smoother skin, and small breast growth. But I'm not sure about the facial hair part. I have not seen any difference of distubution of fat. But, I have seem to have gained weight at the start but over time lost it. I don't know why, but it seemed to happen. I heard from someone somewhere before, saying the exact same thing about frequencies in a binaural beats video. And I agree with feeling more relaxed and calm especially when I hear it. I did a schedule. And sometimes broke it. I made it up on the first day. From what I found others in the videos say. and now I am doing the binaural beats 3 times in the morning at 10am but sometimes break the rule and do it at 11-2 am and pm. And one last one at night. And I found limited results. But I did do it just for a few weeks. I'm not sure about binaural beats and that's why I'm here to see if it works, and if there are any other methods of hormone replacement. I seemed to eat less then usual. I used to more food but now I get hungry easily.
Thank you for these replies. They help a lot.

-Sophie 

As I understand it (as it pertains to the rules of these forums ~ see footnote), herbals are included/considered as self medding here. We are fully and equally accepting of all crossdressers, trans people, and cis people alike here. Identifying as crossdresser has nothing to do with it, I assure you!

It is widely known that herbals have helped people with their body gender desires, but the same could be said about full blown illegally sold self medication. Both are fraught with too harmful of potential problems, even worse due to the lack of doctor supervision. For example, it has been suggested by researchers that taking herbals will diminish returns if one does start HRT, on top of having health implications. I'm not trying to pretend to be a doc, I'm just trying to help explain why we don't allow talk about it here. Please make no attempt to dispute this policy

And a sidenote, for the ladies out there saying they can't get hormones: allow me to enlighten you! In California, for example, everything is operated under informed consent. Meaning: if you decide you would benefit from some form of HRT, you can have it at the doctor's discretion. It is not uncommon for people to travel to a place like California for this very reason seeking treatment, either. Two times I've been to my endo, he is talking about someone who was just in from Sweden, or the UK, or somewhere else in a distant country. I was shocked at first, but it does make sense to me. I would probably do the same thing.

Citations for the blahblah above

Quote from: Susan on July 27, 2006, 07:45:44 PM
2. Any attempts to stage protests, dispute the site policies, the TOS/rules, or actions of the staff; in the public areas of this site will not be tolerated and will result in your removal. If you have any issues contact Susan by email, or forum private message, and not bring these types of issues into the public spaces on this website. For the proper way to handle problems of this nature see item #20 below.

Quote from: Susan on July 27, 2006, 07:45:44 PM
8. The discussion of hormone replacement therapy(HRT) and it's medications are permitted, with the following limitations:

A. You may not advocate for or against a specific medication or combinations of medication for personal gain. This is strictly prohibited.
B. You may not discuss the means to acquire HRT medications without a prescription. The discussion of self medication without a doctors supervision is prohibited.
C. The discussion of recommended or actual dosages is strongly discouraged to prevent information obtained on this site from being used to self medicate.

We can not in good conscience condone the self administering of these medications. Not only may self medication be illegal, but HRT medications can cause serious health problems, and many have the potential for life-threatening side effects that can only be detected and prevented with proper medical supervision.

To clarify, over the counter, and  herbal supplements do not fall under rule 8 section B, provided it is legal to obtain.  A and C still apply.

It's easier to ban dosages outright than to try to figure out which are and are not allowed.

You should be aware the vast majority of herbal supplements have little to no feminizing affect

QuoteThe effects of phytoestrogens seen at TGIP have been derived from numerous patients seen in clinical practice. While many individuals have reported large dosing of a variety of herbals for durations of months or years, we have not seen any significant feminization.

What you are seeing is the placebo effect

QuotePlacebo effect: Also called the placebo response. A remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo -- a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution -- can sometimes improve a patient's condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful. Expectation to plays a potent role in the placebo effect. The more a person believes they are going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that they will report (experience) a benefit.

Call it a placebo effect if you will...but I physically saw 1" of bewbs after 3-4 months of using 4 herbals at the same time. Before, I had no significant chest peaks (just the nipple, and only if it was cold...maybe 1/8"). I also had breast growth extending from the breast actual,, towards the armpits as well (actually felt them and could show them to others)

Nevermind the peace of mind they gave me...placebo? So what? (With all due respect, of course) To my mind, they worked, and made life bearable until I got the real thing, at which time I stopped all supplements.

I stayed within the recommended doses as printed on the bottles (except for Saw Palmetto, that I deliberately increased to see what its effect was; up to the printed label was good, going 2x beyond created a testosterone-like effect which made me reduce it immediately).

I will grant that herbals do not begin to approach the effect of proper HRT; but it is a viable "delaying action" in the absence of HRT.

WA is another state that does "informed consent" regarding HRT.