[mochaccino]

I actually came back to my thread to remind myself how long it's been since I started my new cycling program. It's been about 2 1/2 months and I'm in the middle of a cycle, so I think I'll finish off this cycle, and then continue for one more before I consider changing my program again. Nothing seems to be happening thus far, and I haven't had breast pains in a long while. I'm beginning to think that prolactin might be more important than I realized. Goat's rue seems to be the only thing that causes swelling for me. It works as long as I decoct it for a full 20 minutes. I think I'll start taking it for the full first half of my cycle rather than just 5 days.

I should probably mention that I've added hops, wild oats, and fish oil back into my program. I realized that I still have not heard a complete compelling explanation for why they should not be included, and my reasons for wanting to take them still stand. However if Wahaika really is correct about oats and fish oil being bad for BE, I suspect it's because they both lower SHBG. The issue with hops, if there really is an issue, might have something to do with the different ways that people metabolize it, and whether or not they consistently take it with meals. I'm considering switching to Menohop, which is recommended by Isabelle, since it contains an enzyme that helps your body convert it to a phytoestrogen rather than a testosterone blocker. I'm open to removing wild oats and fish oil from my program, if only because I still have no idea whether lowering SHBG is good or bad in the long run. It's probably also not strictly necessary to lower SHBG anyway. For now I'll probably continue taking what I've been taking.