I've started on Saw Palmetto

[Nonads_85 (imported)]

I realize from the discussions of saw palmetto, the results have been less than spectacular, but since I happen to have some of it on hand, I decided that I may as well give it a go and see what happens. It won't cost me anything (moneywise anyway). I bought this several months ago, and tried it for a short time, then quit. The main reason I stopped taking it was that I just forgot to take it everyday. I also realized when I had another look at the bottle a few days ago, that I had been taking only half the recommended dosage (as suggested when treating BPH).

Note that my primary goal is reducing DHT rather than testosterone. So, saw palmetto may be of some benefit to me. Only one way to find out.

Two days ago, I started taking it again, and will continue unless I experience serious side effects.

What I'm using is a locally purchased store brand from a national supermarket chain. The label description is "Saw Palmetto with Pumpkin Seed Oil"

Quote:

———

EACH CAPSULE CONTAINS:

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens, fruit) … 160 mg

equal to 1600 mg dried fruit from 10:1 extract

Pumpkin Seed Oil (Curcurbita pepo, seed oil) …40 mg

Directions - Males 19 years and over:

Take two capsules daily, or as directed by health care practitioner

———

That recommended dosage works out to 320 mg of extract daily, (or 3200 mg of the dried fruit)

2016-02-08:

Started taking 4 gelcaps daily administered morning, noon, suppertime and bedtime.

2016-02-09:

Had a bit of brain fog in the morning, but that could have been due to insufficient sleep the previous night.

2016-02-10 (Today):

A bit of brain fog again but nothing major. I now believe this is a side effect of the SP, but it's not creating a problem so far. I seem to be noticing the reported sedative side effects. What is surprising though is that my scrotum has pulled itself up tight to my groin similar to what happens when you've been swimming in cold water. It's been that way all day. I wouldn't have expected any effects like this after only a couple of days.

I figured that I would need to take a somewhat higher dosage than what was recommended on the label, but the 4 caps/day is 680mg of extract, equivalent to 6800 mg of dried fruit, which I now think may be excessive. Reviewing some of the other posts regarding SP usage, I noted many were taking ca. 2000 mg daily, but it wasn't specified whether it was dried fruit, or the concentrated extract.

Just to be safe, I'm going to reduce the dosage. I've taken 2 already today, and I think I'll leave it at that.

I'll continue to post reports to let everyone know my progress.

[CastratedTomcat (imported)]

Hello, yes, 2 caps per day is the right dose.

Overdose seems to have no positive effect but you can get an allegic reactions from that.

I have also test it and it makes a very smooth genital area with not so easy to arrive errections and very lower libido.

I think, it's the perfect way for me.

At time I'm ill and currently I make an off period, but it seems to be have a positive effect up to now, tree weeks after.

Very nice and better then all as what I was try in the past. Very smooth effects and not effect the overall health.

[Nonads_85 (imported)]

Hi jojo. Good to hear that you've had positive effects with SP.

My goal isn't really to lower my sex drive. I'm okay with it the way it is. It's not very high anyway. My real goal is to make myself less masculine. Luckily, I'm naturally quite androgynous. I have virtually no body hair and no facial hair, thanks to laser hair removal.

Yesterday after I posted, I got a late day second wind. Brain fog disappeared, and I'm now inclined to blame it on a combination of lack of sleep and needing to have something to eat, because after dinner, I perked up. For that reason I decided not to reduce the dosage all the way down to 2 caps. I ended up taking 3 for the day.

A bit off topic:

I was so pleased with my tight little scrotum, that when some friends texted me to come out with them for a drink last night, I decided to tuck, and wear a pair of black spandex leggings pulled up tight to my crotch. Worked really well. It looked like I had nothing there. Tucking is usually difficult for me. Normally, to get things to look that flat, I need to take rather extreme measures and things usually end up being rather uncomfortable. But not last night. My leggings are those ones that have a shiny coating on them that makes them look like skintight leather pants. I matched that with black ankle boots, and a black leather biker jacket (no shirt underneath). When I got into the bar I unzipped the jacket so you could see my flat chest in addition to the flat crotch. I love doing the genderfuck thing! People may find it strange, considering how I dress, that I'm actually extremely shy. I guess my flamboyant dress style is the way I express myself.

Todays update:

No brain fog at all today. In fact I woke up this morning feeling very alert, and I'm not a morning person.

Scrotum is not as tight as it was yesterday. But it's still a bit tighter than normal. I think this was probably just a transient effect from starting on SP, and will likely return to normal, at least for the time being.

I'm still undecided as to what my daily dosage should be. I tend to have a very high drug resistance/tolerance, which means that for most things I need to take a slightly higher dosage than what is recommended. My doctor says there's nothing unusual about this; there's a wide variation in how people react to drugs, and package directions tend to err on the side of caution. I've also read that the body tends to eliminate SP quite quickly (in just a few hours), and that was part of my reasons for taking it at regular intervals throughout the day. I'm now leaning towards the idea of taking higher doses initially in order to kickstart things, and then taper off to a lower maintenance level dose.

Edited to add:

I haven't noticed any numbness in the penis, but it does seem a bit more difficult to get an erection.

I've had this slight feeling of serenity for the past couple of days. It may be a placebo effect. Or, it may be

the reported sedative side effect

of SP. Or, it may just be my positive mood as a result of the fact that I'm now taking some active steps towards my goal.

[Paolo]

The brain fog you describe, and thereafter, sounds like a low blood sugar episode. I get this from time to time when I don't eat.

You might consider picking up a Sidekick blood sugar meter for $20. Many department stores carry them, over the counter.

[Nonads_85 (imported)]

I think you're right. This has happened to me in the past. I have the bad habit of getting busy doing something and then not bothering to eat. Easy to do, because I live alone, so there's no one around to set regular eating habits.

In any event, I've decided not to take more than 2 capsules per day from this point on.

[ZeuterMe (imported)]

The brain fog you describe, and thereafter, sounds like a low blood sugar episode. I get this from time to time when I don't eat.

You might consider picking up a Sidekick blood sugar meter for $20. Many department stores carry them, over the counter.

Walgreens has some cheap meters, and iHealth has a $30 meter with strips cheaper than the after-insurance cost on the big brands, if you're going to use them more than once or twice.

Remember, the strips are only good for a few months after you open the package, and a year or two if left unopened. They start to get pretty darn inaccurate after that, so

[Paolo]

I just picked up a bottle of the Spring Valley brand, dose is 2 caps twice a day, but these state 450 mg. per pill. No pumpkin oil.

[Nonads_85 (imported)]

I get my blood sugar level tested whenever I have a medical checkup, and I have never had any problems with that, but considering the low price, I guess I should pick up a blood sugar meter. It wouldn't hurt to have one.

I just picked up a bottle of the Spring Valley brand, dose is 2 caps twice a day, but these state 450 mg. per pill. No pumpkin oil.

Two caps twice a day? Does that mean 4 caps total per day? If so, I would assume that it's not 10:1 extract.

Today, I was in the store where where I bought mine, and I thought I'd check to see if they sold pumpkin seed oil by itself, since there appears to be some evidence that PSO is more effective than SP. But they didn't have any.

In the bulk food section they do sell roasted pumpkin seeds. If the roasting doesn't destroy the oil, then it might be of some benefit to eat a few of those every day too.

Which reminds me, I've also started using soy milk in place of regular milk when I make my morning latté. Trying for a multi pronged attack.

Makes the coffee taste a bit different, but I don't mind it at all.

Further update on my condition:

Felt more normal today, after reducing dosage to 2 caps/day. Definitely no brain fog, but I've also been a bit more careful about regular meals.

Another thing that I hadn't mentioned which I believe is a possible side effect is that my eyes felt rather dry on day 2, and even more so yesterday. I don't ever recall having that kind of feeling previously. Just to clarify, they weren't actually dry, they just had a dry feeling to them. Eye problems have been reported as side effects, although they didn't describe exactly what kind of eye problems on the website that I checked. That caused me more concern than any other possible side effect. I certainly don't want to damage my eyes.

Scrotum still seems a bit more shrunken than normal, but not as much as it was on the second day.

FYI, this is the site where I got my info on saw palmetto:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplem ... b-20059958

My doctor recommends the Mayo clinic site as one of the best ones available for objective medical information.

[CastratedTomcat (imported)]

I don't think, that SP makes you less androgyne.

For zhat you should take Finasteride or Androcur. I'm thinking SP is too weak for that and does only affect genitals and libido.

But, I'm curious about reading what it does for you in the future, if you take it...

[Nonads_85 (imported)]

I don't think, that SP makes you less androgyne.

I didn't quite understand that statement. Did you mean to say that you didn't think SP makes you more androgyne?

Further update:

I think my brain fog can now probably be dismissed as: lack of sleep, and possibly low blood sugar due to poor eating schedule.

The lack of sleep is because I do contract work at a remote industrial site. I work on site for 3-4 weeks at a time on a 12 hour shift. Then I'm off for several weeks. It's normal for me to be tired for the first few days of my off-site time as I catch up on lost sleep. I thought I was sufficiently well rested when I started on the SP, but in hindsight I'm going to conclude that I was still a bit sleep deprived. I'm now quite alert, no side effects, and have nothing else to report at the moment. Still on 2 caps/day. I'm going to keep at this dosage for the next while, and if there are no perceived side effects, then as an experiment, I may up the dosage to 3 caps/day for a couple of days to see if the brain fog comes back. I'm still a bit curious about that.