My first day on saw palmetto

[VicistiGalilaee (imported)]

I took my first dose today, having just received it in the mail. Its effects were immediate, from what I can tell, although I suppose it might have been placebo. My penis went numb, however, and when I googled this, found that others had experienced something similar. So far so good, I suppose. I really didn't like its psychological effects though. I experienced some brain fog.

I really hope there are few or no neurological or psychological side effects. I want so badly for my sex drive to be gone, but not at the expense of my ability to think. I'm a prolific writer and require a sound mind to get the job done. I am just in so much emotional pain because of my desire to be rid of sexual desire. I want this suffering to end.

[KeeperOTF (imported)]

I don't want to bring bad news but I had no result with 1000 mg every other day using saw palmetto by Puritan's pride

Could still do it 4+ a day.

Mind telling me what you are using?

I had no side effects either, no such thing as a numb penis or else.

I got to say it was bought off ebay and require no such thing as a prescription, Seeing your post I wonder if I had been using the same thing as you.

[gandalf (imported)]

I have been using saw palmetto for years. I stayed at the 350mg level for years, then wnet to the900 mg available at WalMart. This month I started taking 900 mg morning and night. (1800) a day. The only change i have found is it "seems" easier to pee. Maybe the double dose is shrinking my prostate, (Hope, Hope).

[paring (imported)]

I have been using saw palmetto for years. I stayed at the 350mg level for years, then wnet to the900 mg available at WalMart. This month I started taking 900 mg morning and night. (1800) a day. The only change i have found is it "seems" easier to pee. Maybe the double dose is shrinking my prostate, (Hope, Hope).

One week isn't enough to see the difference, even with chemical like finasteride or Androcure.

[paring (imported)]

I don't want to bring bad news but I had no result with 1000 mg every other day using saw palmetto by Puritan's pride

Could still do it 4+ a day.

Mind telling me what you are using?

I had no side effects either, no such thing as a numb penis or else.

I got to say it was bought off ebay and require no such thing as a prescription, Seeing your post I wonder if I had been using the same thing as you.

One every other day isn't enough, take 2 x 1000mg a day, morning and evening. I used about 1400mg for maintenance dose. You might need more until you reach castration.

[foxytaur (imported)]

Sorry for butting in but one thing that always annoys me about supplements is they never tell you the precise concentration of such molecule(they sorta do but I think they're lying). There's always fillers. That and it doesn't help that stomach acids break down and denature stand alone molecules. I'm wondering if the efficiency could be improved while encapsulating the supplement by wolfing down some "healthy fats". (Avocado, fish oil, peanut butter, butter, some moderate greasy meats. (You know let the bile do its job)

[Peter47-NL (imported)]

Years ago I have used saw palmetto, no result. More recently I have used herbal capsules for breast growing. They had some effect. The disk like lumps under my nipples got bigger, my nipples went very puffy and sore, and I felt emotional unstable, could cry at any moment. After I stopped the lumps under my nipples stayed bigger, the nipples got less puffy and were not so sore anymore. I got emotional more stable again. My breast didn't grow a centimeter. Herbs can do something, that's for sure, but what exactly I don't know.

[Riverwind (imported)]

If you have been using any over the counter for one day you did not experience anything except what you brought to the table in your head. Using Androcur for over a year it was a good month before I started seeing results, one day?

River

[artisticlicense (imported)]

Not to 'bash' any poster, but I don't know why folks seem to think Saw Palmetto will turn a guy into a woman, or eunuch. It will not. It does have generalized effects; and those can be varied between individuals based upon several personal attributes, and habits.

As a naturalist, I prefer natural to chemical. Americans are growing toward that philosophy, but there are still a vast number of people who would rather 'just take a pill' than govern their own selves. Natural takes effort.

If you use recreational drugs, smoke, drink alcohol, eat genetically modified foods or other commercial big-agricultural products, have a fondness for sweets and pastries, eat ready-made and fast foods, use plastics, wear poly-blend fabrics, and get no exercise; you are already on your way to being a eunuch or at least a 'sexless' man.

Saw Palmetto does not stop hormone production in the testicles.

Saw Palmetto does not shrink the testicles or penis.

Saw Palmetto will not make your penis numb, and I highly doubt it gave the 1st poster brain-fog either. You most certainly took it with something else for those 'results'. (Unless you consider light-headedness to be 'brain-fog'). Saw Palmetto can make some people light-headed or dizzy. BUT, you most definitely have some other ailment going on, and should go see your physician.

Saw Palmetto will shrink the prostate over time, by slowing the absorption of protestosterone, blood thinning, and lowering antigen levels (which can give you a low [or bad, or wrong] score at the doctor's office during a cancer screening).

Your prostate is a filter organ much like the kidneys and liver.

Saw Palmetto is traditionally used as prostate maintenance (purge - clean house). It is also widely used as a sexual enhancement in conjunction with other herbs like; L-arginine, Horny Goat Weed, Tongkat-ali ("Long Jack" Eurycoma longifolia), Tribulus-terrestris, Horsetail grass, Pygeum bark [sterols], Zinc, Copper, Magnesium, Selenium, Ginseng, Fenugreek seed, Ashwaganda, L-citruline (and so many others), because some erectile dysfunction [ED] problems are caused by a clogged / swollen prostate.

The prostate gets clogged with impurities, and swells up or grows around the impurities to protect the body from the antigen action of the impurities. That also can cause urination difficulties. This is a 'life-style' action, and proper function of the prostate. Modify your life-style to have a better prostate. If you don't like sex, and want nothing to do with erections, why bother taking Saw Palmetto? Just go with the flow . . .

Saw Palmetto berries were in use as food, and for several 'ailments' by native peoples prior to European encroachment on North Amarican shores.

The most researched, and scientifically studied 'modern' use for Saw Palmetto is for prostate management. It may be the most 'studied' herb in the world.

Like the flowering plant Fox glove, it was used in America for aliments prior to the pharmaceutical age, where patented products were pushed onto the people in the 1900's like the snake-oil salesmen of the 1800's. Fox glove is a powerful blood pressure medication, and chemical companies tried to patent it. That failed, so the natural was replaced with chemicals that could be patented. Saw palmetto was also a pharmaceutical preparation for a time in America.

Hundreds of research documents show Saw Palmetto can slow the production and spreading of cancers and tumors in the prostate. Studies have also shown that 88% of the men who get prostate cancer [or tumors] die of something else first. M (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... rmful.aspx)ost prostatic cancer surgeries are unnecessary. (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... rmful.aspx) The average man is diagnosed with cancer around the age of 80. When they are put on Saw Palmetto preparations, they improve, and do not need surgery.

Herb usage needs to be understood, and people don't like to do homework. You can't depend upon one product to make changes without knowing the whole of 'you'.

If you want to use herbs, get a 'standardized' concoction. It's always on the label (so is all the other 'stuff' - like HOW to take it [i.e. with food or water etc.]). OR, if you use wild harvested herbs; process the same way, every time, and at the same season each year.

If you want to grow breasts, study the estrogenic herbs (like soybeans). Many 'fresh' foods we eat today are estrogenic because of the pesticides in agriculture. PBA plastics cause "man-boobs". How much plastic do you use? I've worked with guys who microwave their lunches in plastic bowls every day, and drink water from plastic bottles all day.

If your 'willy' stopped working 'after' taking saw palmetto, I bet it was from something else you were also taking at the same time -- but were so accustomed to taking, you gave it no thought. Or, because you ate too much sugar, corn, wheat, or soy; and got no exercise.

Some men use Vitex agnus-castus (Chaste Tree) to increase their urine flow, for the treatment of benign hyperplasmia of the prostate, and to reduce sexual desire. Historians say that monks used to chew parts of the the chaste tree to make staying 'celibate' easier.

If you want to piss like a racehorse, start taking horsetail grass and pygeum, with the saw palmetto. After about a week, you should notice being able to 'hold your water' better, and not trot to the bathroom all night.

500 mg is the 'typical' herbal base dose for most normal humans of average weight. So, if you are average, start with 500 mg of herb until you notice results. You will not get 'over-night' results. If the bottle says 250 mg on the label, you need two (2) capsules / tablets (gel-capsules are proven to work best). After about a week, increase or decrease dosage(s) to suite your needs.

[foxytaur (imported)]

Saw palmetto won't turn a guy into a woman. Its not even close to Spiro or androcur.

I'm still doing research on androcur and Spiro and there are 2 issues I have when the day awaits for my transition.

1. Androcur decreases libido much more significantly than Spiro does. This is a huge bummer for me cuz I don't want to loose all of my appetite for sex. I want a respectable drive. I anticipate it of course to be lower than my usual hyperlibido.

2. The accumulating effect Spiro has on potassium levels in body. The last thing I want is to die from hyperkalemia (think prisoner lethal injection induced death eh?)

The solution is simple but with a detrimental effect ony image. Eat simplebcarbs over complex carbs aaaaand..... That's where I get pissed. I refuse to become a fat lady. I finally discover a means to stay slim and curb hunger and now they want me to cut down on potassium rich foods. Most of the good complex carb foods that are slow digesting are rich in pottasium. Fuck my life.

If anyone has a means to cut potassium from foods and filter it from body(asides from drinking lots and lots of water) please tell. Its already hard enough I'll have to give up on bananas, plantains and especially avocados.

[artisticlicense (imported)]

Spironolactone [Spiro] and Cyproterone acetate [Androcur] are both anti-androgens.

'Spiro' was first sold for heart ailments until the side-effect list grew too large and the maker re-marketed it for acne. It makes most guys lose their hair and muscle.

'Androcur' was developed as a contraceptive. Side effects also caused re-marketing as useful to sex changes.

Try a going on a paleo diet. Eliminating hard 'carbs' altogether.

Soybeans are chock full of phytoestrogens.

Add soymilk, soy protein, soy butter (Wow-butter (http://www.amazon.com/WOWBUTTER-Safe-Fo ... =wowbutter)really does taste like peanut butter - I actually like it better), and even some tofu to your daily diet and forget about prescription drugs (but that wouldn't pass muster with your physician, and all his cohorts down-the-line toward transition surgeries . . .)

There is also Black Cohosh and Chaste Tree [Vitex Agnus-castus] to consider. That combo is known to produce feminizing effects.

Most people who want to change genders, want it over-night. Slow is best for body changes. It took many years to grow into what you are/were. Sudden changes cause the organ failures and chronic conditions the pharmaceuticals manifest.

[foxytaur (imported)]

Spironolactone [Spiro] and Cyproterone acetate [Androcur] are both anti-androgens.

'Spiro' was first sold for heart ailments until the side-effect list grew too large and the maker re-marketed it for acne. It makes most guys lose their hair and muscle.

'Androcur' was developed as a contraceptive. Side effects also caused re-marketing as useful to sex changes.

Try a going on a paleo diet. Eliminating hard 'carbs' altogether.

Soybeans are chock full of phytoestrogens.

Add soymilk, soy protein, soy butter (Wow-butter (http://www.amazon.com/WOWBUTTER-Safe-Fo ... =wowbutter)really does taste like peanut butter - I actually like it better), and even some tofu to your daily diet and forget about prescription drugs (but that wouldn't pass muster with your physician, and all his cohorts down-the-line toward transition surgeries . . .)

There is also Black Cohosh and Chaste Tree [Vitex Agnus-castus] to consider. That combo is known to produce feminizing effects.

Most people who want to change genders, want it over-night. Slow is best for body changes. It took many years to grow into what you are/were. Sudden changes cause the organ failures and chronic conditions the pharmaceuticals manifest.

I know better than to "want " things overnight. Reality is its a lifelong process. Is it sensible for me to want changes at a moderate pace though? I'd like to try Spiro on low to medium settings, estrogen on a medium dosage. I'm OK with that. My reasoning for focusing on taking E at a slow pace also has to do with avoiding hormone resistance.

I simply can't eliminate protein dense complex carbs though. Quinoa, kaniwa, beans, lentils, sprouts, amaranth, chickpeas, brown rice, etc..... Don't spike insulin, but I'm upset that some are pottasium rich. If it were as simple to drink ones way out of eliminating potassium with water I'd be extremely happy but reality is its not possible.apparently its a bitch to get rid of excess potassium.

NB: though of concern I don't really ingest many gmo's. Lots of access to hippies, Mennonite farms(get my meats there), and local produce where I live. But your right phytoestrogens and especially xenoestrogens are of concern but I don't think you can shrug them off. I'd only be concerned about ingesting too many of them. I adhere strong to the law of dosage aka paracelcus

NB: I wasn't implying that I ate simple carbs, but that most of them contain much lower doses of potassium. And hence why soo many transgals aim for these nutrient denseless carbs. The problem is they make you fat, they contribute to cellulite(I certainly don't want big momma fat jokes around me, spike your hunger levels, make you feel tired etc.... As for paleo, I respect ones choice to go that route but I choose vegetarian with an emphasis for fish, dark collard greens and low glycemic complex carbs that take a long time to digest in tummy. I do eat read meat. I've lately hung around Chinese and have taken a fond to duck and some wild game but red meats are restricted to 1-2 times a week. The serving of red meat is the size of half my fist.

I am not happy I'll have to get rid of some of my foods due to risk of overloading on potassium. This is my scare. Pretty angry I have to cut out on fried plantain and avocados which ATM I eat on a daily basis. Its a staple to eat them with rice(I choose brown rice) and beans for breakfast.

[artisticlicense (imported)]

The accumulating effect Spiro has on potassium levels in body. The last thing I want is to die from hyperkalemia (think prisoner lethal injection induced death eh?)

Spironolactone is a potassium-sparing diuretic (water pill). It prevents your body from absorbing too much salt and keeps your potassium levels from getting too low. It is also used to treat or prevent hypokalemia (low potassium levels). From literature, it is most often prescribed today for high blood pressure.

According to many studies, most {Americans} are grossly deficient in potassium. They eat too much sodium. Have heart flutters (palpitations) (arrhythmia) dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath.

I take a potassium tablet with each meal. Haven't had a flutter since. The worst was when I tried to lay down to sleep. That stopped almost immediately after starting potassium tablets.

Soy milk is not as bad as eating soy grains {grits}, or soy flour (products with). Many men experience low libido and ED from drinking soy milk. I drank soy milk for 2 years and never got a firm erection. It took major effort to get mildly firm.

I took Vitex with Black Cohosh for a while. Noodle always stayed limp, but there still was some 'desire' for sex (as bottom). Feelings (physical & emotional) were still present, but never an erection. I still take Vitex 4x /month to help with bladder control. The effects last for several days.

I had so many surgeries as a child and have always had bladder issues. Never could 'hold it' for long. But, Vitex is only part of my program (and it's off subject).

If you are transitioning, I know a few younger guys who started taking feminizing herbs as teens, with great results. They wanted to halt the masculinization of puberty (which kicks in around 13 and doesn't stop until around 25 years old). Most young guys I know want to look androgynous. So, I think it is worth consideration.

There are websites dedicated to herbal usage for trans-people. [ See Ohlone Herbal Center (http://www.ohlonecenter.org/research-pa ... ant-folks/) Berkeley, CA - free clinic] [PINKEssence (http://pinkessence.com/main/authorizati ... om%2Fforum %2Ftopics%2Fherbal-supplements-to-increase-estrogen) ; registration required] [transgender.livejournal (http://transgender.livejournal.com/2241290.html) - Blog ; log-in/registration required]. There may be more.

If you do try herbs, select a reputable company or buy fresh (real). There are many hucksters out there who sell fakes and fillers.