[AnnieBL]

Fenugreek seems to work well for me, but it makes me smell like curry and makes me a bit dizzy, so I switched to goat's rue. I am staying away from anything directly 'oestrogenic' as they just seem to make my tummy fat and boobs shrink. Now goat's rue has become very expensive for me to obtain, so I'm looking into alternatives. I've come across shatavari (and have some at home) and was wondering if it works in a similar manner to the aforementioned (which, I believe, is by sensitising the body to pre-existing hormones and increasing prolactin, without adding more oestrogens). Any other substitute ideas welcome!

Yeup, but it's also expensive unless you found a good deal somewhere. You can get a decent deal on a strong extract though bc it is equal to a lot. I use shatavari extract in my sig stuff to avoid the smell. Another option is wild yam. Both it and fenugreek have a lot of diosgenin. All of these work more or less as you said.

The dizziness could be from increased insulin sensitivity and resulting low blood sugar which can also happen with goat's rue and shatavari. Probably WY too but I haven't read any examples. You may not notice it with GR bc it is weaker than FG so you effectively lowered your dose. Try consuming sugar to fix it short term. In the long term get more natural B vitamins: whole grains, bran, brewer's yeast, etc. You may want to limit these kinds of herbs for now too.

I get my shatavari from Hollow Reed Holistic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The powdered root is CAD$30 per pound (plus shipping). Their web site is at hollowreedholistic.ca, and offers a number of herbals in bulk powder form.