My Favorite Resources: Entering Week 2!

Starting on week two…it’s amazing to think about that after so long! Surprisingly it felt like a long week actually. Getting into the swing of doing my routine was took a lot of effort, each morning and night doing the massages and supplements. But it was a good week!

This blog post is a little late as I got sick this weekend. I don’t think its related to the supplements, was bound to happen as I’m teaching and its going around at the university right now. None the less, for this week’s blog post I wanted to share some of the best and my favorite resources for starting this journey.

Breast Nexum and Breast Nexus:

The BEST by far, is a pair of sites called Breast Nexus and Breast Nexum. I was lucky to have stumbled upon this site by via a blog post (one of the inspirations for starting this journey, and one I’ll touch on in the next section here: https://andiepasdedeux.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/phytoestrogens-nearly-killed-me-dvt/).

These sites are PHENOMINAL. They are an unbiased, objective source. A resource put together by like-minded individuals looking for an outlet to share their experiences, techniques, programs, and progress. Breast Nexus is intended for women (or female identifying individuals, geared towards biological females) and Breast Nexum is intended for men (or male identifying individuals, resources geared towards biological males). I make this distinction because natural hormone levels and physiology varies based on your genetic sex, which means the programs and what is needed to get the results you wish is different between both. But there’s a lot of cross-sharing which is really great too, I used a lot of resources from both, especially with the noogling and massaging.

These sites are super welcoming with a kind, accepting community. They both are SUPER trans friendly, I would argue that the majority of both forums are trans women, but with a good spread on the gender and queer spectrum. There are whole sections dedicated to HRT treatment, personals, experience, and support too.

Breast Nexum can be found here: http://www.breastnexum.com/

Breast Nexus can be found here: http://www.breastnexus.com/

The programs section has to be my favorite. It was actually the biggest inspiration for the format of my blog. The members share wonderful accounts of their journey, sharing everything from the good and the bad. They are SUPER responsive, even after starting the thread years ago.

These two are the most notable for me:

http://www.breastnexum.com/showthread.php?tid=27551

http://www.breastnexum.com/showthread.php?tid=26108

They shared a lot of great information on what they were taking, why, any updates they did to their programs, and included photos. These accounts are also great to get a sense of what the difference is between people’s growth and the variability in what to expect during the journey.

Another notable section of the forum is the “Health” section. There are a couple users that share EVERYTHING on the hormonal and physiological effects of the various herbs and chemicals. I’m talking about reporting known effects, the recommended doses, explaining the hormone pathways in the body they interact with, how they affect the endocrine system, why you don’t want to overdose. Often they cite scientific texts and articles. These people are SUPER dedicated to the well-being of those seeking to transition or change themselves, it’s amazing.

Health forum:

http://www.breastnexum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=75

When I talk about the cross-postings between the male-centric and female-centric forums this is what I mean. I found my resources for noogling and massaging through the Breast Nexum forum, but they linked women that had really comprehensive posts on Breast Nexus. It’s really great to see that sharing of resources and it’s really important!

This is the noogling forum thread I based my routine off: http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=27644

And these were linked in a related post for my massaging routines:

http://www.growbreastsnaturally.com/female-deer-breast-massage-technique.html

http://www.growbreastsnaturally.com/chi-breast-massage-for-breast-growth.html

I only found these forums about 4 months ago but they really gave me a good push. The supportive community, mixed with valuable sharing of information helped support the start of my journey. I wanted to share this first because it has been the largest influence on me. Though…if you clicked the blog post I linked be before starting to talk about the forums, you might be thinking “Why the HELL would you have joined???”.

Andie’s Blog:

The blog post I’m talking about is this: https://andiepasdedeux.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/phytoestrogens-nearly-killed-me-dvt/

It details someone that started their journey the wrong way. First, they started by trying the Natureday program. This is a branded breast enlargement program that you buy into; they supply you with information and phytoestrogens to help you grow. Which I’m sure works for some people, and the ones it does work for share testimonials out the wazoo, males and females. But it’s something I specifically avoided because I heard mixed results, most of them negative for the amount you pay and results as a male.

Then, they got impatient. They started on Ainterol (the same Pueraria mirifica brand I’m taking) but when they stopped seeing progress, they upped the dose to 4x THE RECOMMENDED DOSAGE. IE 4000mg/day CONSTANTLY. As a toxicologist, this is INSANE. Just about anything at this level becomes super toxic, and to be taking it chronically is incredible. So, no surprise, they developed circulatory issues, specifically Deep Vein Thrombosis. This is when blood clots form in a deep vein, which can cause all sorts of pain and greater circulation and health problems.

Which is super scary, right? After reading a post specifically on the life threatening effect of taking these herbs, why take them?

Well as I said it was clear to me that they abused the product to achieve quick results. But he clearly saw results. As someone well versed in “the dose makes the poison” I wanted to look into it more, get multiple perspectives. My program, after research and reading other personal accounts, is the result of that!

What else?:

I focused this post quite a bit on the forums because they are a great summary of everything I looked at, if you peruse them you can find everything in one place I scoured the internet for. So, start there.

As I mentioned in my first post I did search the primary literature, but to be frank it was disappointing. There is a sever lack of research on these herbs effect on male physiological systems. Even with female endocrine studies it was done on very low doses (IE not enough to do much on a physiological scale). But, some did include specifics that you can infer on why it’s good to be careful when using these plants. Some papers detailed information on other hormone systems they interact with, thresholds that should be avoided. They also outline additional benefits they provide, like anti-carcinogenic properties, psychological benefits, and behavioral benefits.

A few of my favorites for those reasons can be found here:

https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/139/10/4252/2987100

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/83/7/2223/2865105

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029784496804613

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/68/6/1333S.short

http://www.clinsci.org/content/100/6/613

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/074823379801400114

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074428/

I would also recommend reading through programs like Natureday and Flat 2 Fem. Even without buying their packages, their forums and testimonials can be useful to see a variety of different experiences, successes, failures, and opinions (despite being under a biased guise). It’s good to see what a healthy dose is. These programs offer the minimum does that will see some growth in the majority of cases, which poses no risk. However, I would NOT recommend buying into the programs. Each person’s journey is unique, you need to tailor your program to you and consider professional help from trained endocrine doctors.

Otherwise, google is your friend! The very beginnings of my journey was finding sites like this: http://mustgrowbust.com/male-breast-enlargement/

While not terribly informative, they gave me the opportunity to see just what the options were, and where my journey should start. What should I look at, look for, and trust. The thing is in today’s world new information is being added and new things discovered all the time. So doing general searches can land you in places I could never have found too! The breast forums are a good example, they were so obscure that it took me forever to find them!

BUT. ABOVE ALL. SEEK A PROFESSIONAL OPINION. SEEK A DOCTOR.

All of the above resources are great, but the human body is highly variable. Each person’s blood is different, the hormones and proteins in me are ever so slightly different than those running through you. The best way to get the results you want, and do it healthily, is to seek help from someone trained in this. Someone that studies the endocrine system and its response. It can be hard to find sometimes, but even just a quick message to consult can help. If you can’t before you start your journey, PLEASE do intense research, PLEASE pay attention to your body and stop something if it’s hurting, and PLEASE promise yourself before you start that you will go to a doctor if something goes wrong or doesn’t feel right.

WELL.

This post went on longer than I anticipated. I think a post soon (maybe this week) I’ll discuss the herbs, brands, and techniques I chose specifically and why.

I hope these resources help some of you! I imagine I’ll get some people reading that are looking to fully transition, and I’m here to support you too. I would totally recommend the breast forums as a resource for that as well.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions about the resources I’ve shared here.

Cheers,

Nasi~