To see if it suits me

[Riven (imported)]

My wife and I have discussed the idea of my trying again, but on a very much lower initial dose, which is actually what the drug manufacturers recommend. They say that as little as 10mg per week is enough to effect impotence in some men! I find myself wondering if the hot flushes are to do with the sudden change in hormone levels, so I might try taking 1/4 a tablet (15mg) once a week and very gradually increase the dose over a period of months. I wonder if anyone else has tried this approach?

[Riven (imported)]

It's taken me a long time to get round to it but this evening I started taking cyproterone acetate again. As I said in my last post on this thread, I'm starting on a very low dose, 12.5mg (ie 1/4 of a tab) but I'm going to take this dose daily for at least 3 weeks before deciding to increase or reduce it. Hopefully, I won't get the dreadful hot flush type side effects that caused me to quit my first trial with this chemical castration drug. I'll post again and let you know how I'm feeling.

[bobbie (imported)]

Everyone has their own method of starting chemical castration. It is always great to be careful not to take more of the drug then you need. A quarter of a tab for 3 weeks then increase a quarter may be a little over careful. 50mg seems to be the lowest dose that most use. Starting at 50mg and staying at that level for a month may be a reasonable starting point. You may like to stay at 50mg for a longer time frame, increasing by a half tab could be a logical step in your case. Most people stay with just 50mg increments of the tabs. 50mg, 100mg, 150mg, or not common 200mg.

[Tclosetgirl (imported)]

There is supposedly some liver issues with long term use and over-doseage so a doctor's eye is recommended.

If you are taking it they can't say no to a blood test either now can they?

The effects are wonderful. You can expect to gain a few pounds and watch teh over-doseage on it - everyone is different.

For me 25mg was PLENTY to maintain zero libido. Anything more caused depression...

I also took Estrogen for 2 years and recently went off of it.

3 weeks ago I stopped the estrogen, have some digestive issues and want to clear those up....also started seeing someone.

So after 1 week the libido started coming back, after 2 weeks it was nearly functional on demand but didn't last.

after 3 weeks, it's back. Not quite like a 17 year old, I'm 43...

So it will return, but it will take 1-2 months to be fully back, or as fully as it will go back - It's my experience that each time I did androcur I lost a little bit of T-levels (Libido anyway)........

That's just my experience, I miss my estrogen!! (It has a calming effect).

[tr_80504 (imported)]

I have been on 50mg 2x per day for 5 weeks. I guess I am lucky as I think I experianced hot flashes one night to the point I woke up. I am at the point I feel chemically castrated and wish to maybe lower my dose to 25mg 2x per day. I only hesitate as at this point because I feel better than I ever have in my life and things are great with my wife due to my chemical castration. I can still function if called on by my wife but feel no need to initate anything. Sounds like finding a happy meduim can be alot of trial and error.

Good luck Riven I have enjoyed reading you post.

[Riven (imported)]

Thanks for your support people. So far this time (day 2) I haven't experienced anything like the hot flushes that I had last time; when I took 50mg Cyproterone daily. But I feel like stating again that this is very powerful stuff. I'm only taking 1/4 tab (12.5mg) daily but within an hour of taking the first dose I felt slightly light headed and a little shaky and I felt a slight prickling sensation in my all my limbs - which only persisted on and off for the first 12 hours. I tend to be an anxious type of person, but as the Cyproterone took effect I felt my shoulders drop and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'm feeling very calm, and I find that I can concentrate on tasks without being distracted by anxiety about other tasks that I should be doing. I find that if I stop doing things and sit down I kind of 'drift off', but it isn't as bad as last time, when I found myself in a trance far too often and it was difficult to snap out of it.

Two nights so far and I have not slept very deeply. I'm hoping that I'll get better sleep as

my body gets used to the new hormone level.

This will be crucial for me as I am sure that it was the lack of sleep that caused me to 'throw in the towel' and quit the Cyproterone the first time I tried it. There has been a slight effect on my libido: I only had a partial erection for a few minutes this morning and I haven't found myself thinking sexual thoughts today. So I guess I'm going ok. I'll post more in a few days time.

[mrt (imported)]

Scottie I'm curious why you stopped Estrogen?

There is supposedly some liver issues with long term use and over-doseage so a doctor's eye is recommended.

If you are taking it they can't say no to a blood test either now can they?

The effects are wonderful. You can expect to gain a few pounds and watch teh over-doseage on it - everyone is different.

For me 25mg was PLENTY to maintain zero libido. Anything more caused depression...

I also took Estrogen for 2 years and recently went off of it.

3 weeks ago I stopped the estrogen, have some digestive issues and want to clear those up....also started seeing someone.

So after 1 week the libido started coming back, after 2 weeks it was nearly functional on demand but didn't last.

after 3 weeks, it's back. Not quite like a 17 year old, I'm 43...

So it will return, but it will take 1-2 months to be fully back, or as fully as it will go back - It's my experience that each time I did androcur I lost a little bit of T-levels (Libido anyway)........

That's just my experience, I miss my estrogen!! (It has a calming effect).

[Riven (imported)]

Thought I should post an update: I only lasted 3 days on cyproterone acetate (don't laugh ) back in April '08. Because of the tiny dose, side effects were perhaps not as severe as they had been the first time I tried the drug, but the hot legs at night were keeping me awake again and I was feeling very unfocussed during the day, so I stopped taking the drug. Once again I noticed the time lag element of the side effects. ie. despite only taking a very small dose over 3 days I became even more lethargic and my erections became weaker during the following week. Then it took a good few weeks before the effects wore off completely. It's a very powerful drug. Either that, or I'm very susceptible to it. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have an ongoing problem with headaches caused by poor sleep, caused by allergic rhinitis, caused by cat allergy (which has been addressed by removal of cat from house) and now possibly dog allergy . I'm awaiting blood test results because it seems I don't respond to allergy tests done on the skin. This allergy problem is probably making it much more difficult to cope with the effects of cyproterone so I won't try it again until I have the allergy symptoms properly sorted. It could also be that I react badly to cyproterone acetate for some reason and should try a different anti-androgen? I find myself wondering whether I'd have the same side effects if I were physically castrated. There would be only one way to find out and there's no going back (apart from with hrt). Anyone got a comment on this?

[Riven (imported)]

It's several months since I posted on this - my blog thread. My wife and I were discussing chemical castration recently, and I was showing her what bobbie had written about trying an even lower dosage of cyproterone acetate. We also took on board what bobbie said regarding my perceived reaction to the drug "I am sorry but you can not feel the effects like you describe in the time frame. Feeling effects at the end of the first week is about normal. The pills stop the production of testosterone. You have testosterone already made in your blood stream. It takes time for it to lower. Also it take time for the balls to shut down. The effects of siterone (androcur [cyproterone acetate]) will increase in time."[unquote]

So we decided that my reaction (see earlier post in this thread) is due to my extreme sensitivity to cyproterone acetate, and/or a placebo effect, in that I became over excited about the idea of starting on chemical castration and imagined the side effects. Either way, we thought it would be better for me to try a really small starting dose and get my body used to it far more gradually. Also, in order to minimise the risk of my imagining side effects, we decided that it would be best if my wife secretly administers tiny amounts of the drug to me in my food or drinks. Luckily the cyproterone tablets seem tasteless to me. We have cut some 50mg tablets into 1/8ths, and the idea is that when she feels like starting, she'll give me a tablet fragment and a couple of days later another, and so on. Then over a period of months she'll gradually increase the dose. She'll keep a log of when and how much I've had, and I'll keep a log of how I'm feeling. Hopefully, I'll be able to tolerate the side effects. We'll see.

[bobbie (imported)]

25mg half a tablet could be a good starting level once a day. A blind study could be very interesting. One note the dose should not be raised and lower. It should be held constant or raised a little till you achieve the desired effects. Or stop the increase when you no longer have a change in effects. Would not go over 200mg. 150mg Should be more then enough for most guys. But everyone is different.

Things can keep changing for you while you are on one level for several months. Lets say you are shutdown with 100mg after 6 weeks. You may start getting the hot flashes in 2 months. Notice weight gain in 4 months. Mood swings in 10 weeks. All things do not change at the same time. So is it hard to tell just when you have all the effects. The blood test is the best way.

Keep in mind that some changes will not be seen for some time. Scalp hair is one.