[beachbumbythesea]

Hi Isabelle,

The other day I was noticing that when I take FG it seems to increase my chin hairs and mostly I noticed that I can feel a pimple coming on.. Well today I was looking for info on my morning headaches I get since taking hops and came across this about Fenugreek, saying it may raise testoserone which makes sense to have a progesterone effect right.. here is the link:
http://www.muscleandbodymag.com/article.php?ArticleID=5284
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articles/fenugreek-seed/

maybe that is why when I make a tea with FG and GR it helps my headaches..didnt realize it boosted testoserone no wonder why I lost my tita sensations they are strong now and I have a headache but going to make a tea of that combo..already had a turmeric tea and didnt help that much just a little..rather not have a headache..

[Isabelle]

Hi Susan,

Hops prevents hair loss. Whenever maca made me lose more hair, I increased hops, and it worked. I am at the end of a two weeks experiment with oat flakes now, and I have a feeling that makes me lose more hair. Oats decrease Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), so there's more free testosterone, and more of it may become DHT. I think I'll continue oats at the end of the experiment, but at a lower dose. Every year in spring, I buy a box of minoxidil at the pharmacy, because hair loss is worst in spring.

My dreams on hops are sensual and psychic too, while they are normally neither. There is also a vibrant, tingling technicolor quality about the images. Hops is a little brother of weed. I just wish somebody would do more good research on this.

Thank you for the links. I was impressed with how fast fenugreek improved my waist hip ratio in the beginning, so it's not a surprise that body builders discovered fenugreek. But testosterone? Never thought fenugreek would increase that. I'll scoop up some scientific literature to find out how that happens.

The headaches are a symptom of estrogen dominance. That is an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone. Because the diosgenin in fenugreek increases progesterone, it corrects the imbalance. A strong phyto-progestin like turmeric could help too, yes. For me, fenugreek is strong enough: I never get headaches. I so wish you'd find an herb that helps you get rid of them once and for all too.

[beachbumbythesea]

Hi Isabelle,

OK it wasnt hops that was making hairloss..good cause I believe this is my only good estrogenic herb Yesterday I took very little maca and today none.. Do you think SP would effect hairloss since it effects the 5-alpha detuctase 2 would the DHT #2 effect hairloss..because some on other sites said it was and if it was SP alone or a combo making that happen not sure....I wonder just introducing anti androgen would just cause a temp loss then start the new hair growing which I have heard and when I added hops and SP , and when I use those shampoos for hairloss I get major shedding..I am just thin already not too bad but cant afford less..my question is should I leave SP in or not..I havent taken any for 2 days and was taking each day 450mgs but I was still taking maca..have you ever taken SP.. I had tumeric tea, then oats with flaxseed and blackstrap mol. then I had FG/GR/HT tea, in between I put on my shoulder/neck area a rub and put spearmint essl oil on face ..at this point headache getting better..then the last I made warm water with alfalfa/barley grass/hops, very small amount of hops..well feel asleep for about 2 hours no headache my neck is still just a little tight..anyway I am wondering if I should just take equal amounts of hops and FG or just keep hops a tad higher then FG, and throw some GR and turmeric..the only thing is my tita sensations went away ...very annoyed about this..I wonder if I should have not taken the Alfa/bg/gr I will know later on tonight I guess...also today is my 7 day into my cycle..oh is it good to have the swelling after the or from the middle of the period cause just before I had not much now there is more and more each day.

question..I was feeling pretty good with the turmeric muscle wise so I was wondering for this cycle with these herbs:

hops
turmeric
FG
GR
and possibly SP
should I have equal amounts of all of them meaning..take turmeric a total of 1000mgs, hops 1000mgs, FG 500mgs, 500mg, and SP 450mgs

so far I took turmeric 1000, FG 500, GR 500, hops 500, no SP.. now I did take HT, BG,Alfa, also took coliver oil and flaxseed oil ..this would be during this cycle..wow this looks confusing maybe you can come up with a regimen, mainly for headaches, acne, chin hairs, and the titas..leave out ...keep in...should I start over and add but if I start over in the middle of this cycle it would mess it up..I have some tita sensation but not like I did earlier and I want that back..

[beachbumbythesea]

Hello again Isabelle,

You mentioned in another thread that you keep your SHBG low to get more feminizing..does that work the same for females..and doesnt DHT hormone (androgens) bind to them, if they do this it makes less androgens ..correct? cause I want more fem too..I wish I could have fuller face cheeks and lips too..or is that genetics sp? I use to have fuller cheeks..I am thinking more estrogens does this..duh?

[Isabelle]

Good morning Susan,

For hair loss, some literature says you need both 5α-reductase type 1 and 2 blockers:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190962206012874
I don't use SP. I tried it five years ago to check what it would do to my prostate, but it was in a mix with other things, and together they worked as a stimulant. So instead of helping me sleep through the night, it woke me up

Adding an anti-androgen should stop the hair loss. For regrowth, I use minoxidil.

I keep hops a tad higher than FG, and throw in some GR for more swelling. Using too much FG can stop sensations that are caused by growing milk ducts. FG increases progesterone, and that may stop the growth of the milk ducts. Turmeric may stop it too.

Swelling from goat's rue can be before or after the period, doesn't matter. But FG and FN are better used before the period.

Turmeric 1000 mg, hops 1000 mg, FG 500 mg, GR 500 mg, and SP 450 mg: I think the turmeric is a lot, and GR is little.

Simplify. Steer by the symptoms:
headaches: increase FG or turmeric or FN, decrease maca or hops
acne: increase hops or decrease maca
chin hairs: increase barley grass or decrease maca
titas: keep hops high enough
swelling: increase GR, FG, or FN
mood: increase maca or decrease hops

My SHBG should have increased after weeks of flax, and now I decrease it with oats. SHBG binds DHT, yes. So high SHBG is more feminization. But SHBG also binds free testosterone. You need testosterone because aromatase makes estrogens from it. So you need to control SHBG: not too high, not too low.

Fuller cheeks are estrogen: mine are filling out because of the hops.

[beachbumbythesea]

Goodmorning Isabelle,

More weird dreams..now I know what writers use to write there books, movies, etc..weed Anyway I figured out what to take, hops is going to be the highest on the list then take it from there..I took hops and turmeric last night in warm water and some FG in my chicken broth nothing else in the broth and still had some tingling and still firm and full feeling..woke up without a headache but not much tingling..so going to have my coffee and cig and then make some hops and what else not sure..oh I was thinking last night and this morning in bed about my hair on my head the only time I shed alot was when I added the new herbs mainly hops..so was thinking it was a big hormonal adjustment or just so happened to be time to shed some hair noramally, cause everyday since I loss less then 10 hairs that I can see, never see any on my pillow and some days none..so just me freaking out..back to hops...I feel I get a good balance with taking some turmeric and yesterday I took alfalfa, barley grass..just about all my herbs and was getting really maga action in the titas..and I didnt take any maca or SP and not sure if I want them back in..I dont feel in need it today..could of used it more yesterday but refused to take some..was tired most of the day until after 5:00 anyway..skin looks good had one zit put spearmint essl oil on it..ok going to have coffee and cig...

[Isabelle]

Looks good, Susan,

But do watch out for depression from the hops. I have lowered maca now, but I keep taking it for my mood.

[beachbumbythesea]

Hey Isabelle,

I am feeling really good not depressed at all, no headache..just have the feeling of a slight airheaded feeling (nothing new with me if you ask my family and my man) but really like a slight high maybe I am almost balanced but leaning more towards estrogen not enough to make me dom..probably never had it balance like that before and it probably is how a normal person suppose to feel ..unually extremely tired or hyped up... I am finding having hops mixed with others is working, just now having hops with a small dash of FG and even smaller of GR dont want too much progesterone..see how that goes..plus I am taking these teas 3x a day instead all at once cause I think my body cant handle it like that it is too much of a spike at once.

[Isabelle]

Yes Susan,

I take the hops with flax and oats, and have a cup of goat's rue tea just before or after. Fenugreek is a few hours before the hops. So this is all very much like what you are doing.

I drink only one tea: goat's rue. Eve M drank three, and alternated them, like you do.

[Isabelle]

Actually, I drank two teas yesterday. I made a pot of licorice, and I'm drinking what's left now. And I need to buy new mint-licorice tea.

Many ordinary foods are slowly disappearing from the kitchen cabinets. They are being replaced by NBE foods. Am I turning into a fanatic?

Tape day is tomorrow, but it's already clear that the results of the oat flakes experiment are not impressive. My second box will be gone after tonight. So in two weeks, I used 1 kg oat flakes, and maybe 100 g in other cereals. That's 80 g a day. I bought another brand to continue the experiment. It was 30 eurocents for 500 g (18 oz.): even bread costs almost twice that, and the other oat flakes were three times that price, even though they're a little lower in protein.

It's possible that the oat flakes are outbalancing the effect of flax on SHBG, and 80 g oats is simply too much for 30 g flax. So I first need to try a lower dose for two weeks. Then maybe yet another dose, and before I dismiss oats completely, I really should try wild oats from an herb shop too. So there's not going to be a clear conclusion before the end of the year.