[mochaccino]

Thanks for reading my ramblings, ladies
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea of copying pubertal hormone levels using bio-identical creams. Months ago, in my prior program, I mentioned the possibility of using bio-identical creams, but I was talked out of it. It was argued that bio-identicals are more dangerous than non-human hormones and hormone like substances, but the more I think about that argument, the more holes I see in it. Lately Abidrew has been talking about the dangers of Premarin, and it really got me thinking. I had heard about that before, but had never put enough thought into what it might imply about BE in general.

The animal hormones and hormone-like substances used in birth control have proven time and time again to be much more dangerous than bio-identical hormones. On the other hand, most phytoestrogens are considerably weaker than real human estrogen, and some herbs even affect hormones indirectly rather than binding directly to estrogen receptors. That means that they are far less likely to cause estrogen dominance symptoms than either BC or bio-identicals, and if you take way to much, you'll probably end up lowering the overall effect of estrogen in your body, rather than raising it. For example, Fenugreek indirectly raises estrogen and possibly progesterone, so it doesn't complete bypass the body's regulatory mechanisms. In my opinion, that's why it's one of the safest NBE herbs, and why most people don't seem to get any unpleasant sex hormone related side effects after taking too much. On the other hand, people do get hypoglycemic when they OD on FG, which goes to show you that because of the huge number of different chemicals in all herbs, the effects on the body are often scatter-shot and unpredictable. With other herbs, the potential side effects are much worse, but the majority of popular herbs on this board are relatively safe, at least in the short term.

Bio-identical hormones are much easier to OD on, but they do have one major advantage, and it's an extremely important one. With bio-identicals I can raise my hormones by an exact amount that is individualized to my existing hormone levels. With herbs you can never quite know exactly how much your hormones are shifting in different directions, and what else in your body might be being affected. This makes dosing extremely unpredictable, and it's one of the main reasons, IMO, that so many programs fail. The catch is that, if I choose to take bio-identicals, I will need to have very specific goal posts in mind for my hormone levels, and I'll need to do regular saliva tests. It's also essential that my dosing be absolutely perfect. I'll be testing myself after next cycle in order to establish a baseline, unless I magically start to get explosive growth from PM next cycle, in which case, this is all moot. I'm going to lay out a brief skeleton of my possible program in my next post. I won't actually start on this new program unless I can figure out a way to do it safely and predictably. As always, I welcome any contradictions, advice, explanations etc.