It's been another month of experimenting! Usual disclaimer-- I'm not a doctor and I have been growing on my own. The herbs are part of an experiment to see what can happen. In my last post, I was coming off a lengthy break from the herbs. Despite that, I continued to add 1/16th an inch (post cycle measurement) each month.
This month has been interesting as I've been digging into the mysteries of fenugreek. I have shared some of this in another area, but what I've learned has been helpful. I have been thinking of fenugreek as a kind of antagonist-- a troublemaker. This is why it might work better for women who are already large (and perhaps more sensitive to circulating hormones) while on smaller women, it does little to nothing. Specifically, I found some studies that point to Fenugreek’s ability to deregulate cellular receptors, including estradiol receptors. Specifically, it can cause up-regulation, which increases the sensitivity of the receptors (Hamden, Jaouadi, Carreau, Aouidet, El-Fazaa, Gharbi, and Elfeki, 2010). This likely explains why in an earlier study by Pandey, Sahay, Pandey, and Tripathi (2005), rats who were given large doses of shatavari (a herb with similar properties as fenugreek) showed evidence of hypertrophy in their mammaries. If the hormonal receptors were up-regulated by the herbs, then their sensitivity could increase, causing the changes.
I was also placed on a course of prescription hormones to help reboot my cycle. They got thrown off when I stopped the herbs this summer--- a good piece of advice to anyone using them... do not quit without stepping down the doses! I thought this would be an interesting experiment. I received my prescription on 8/22, just 1mg of Estradiol for 10 days. I started by taking nothing but the estradiol. My starting measurement was 46.1". After 4 days, it had increased to 46.5". Not bad, but also nothing too crazy. For the rest of the experiment, I added the herbs... fenugreek as an antagonist and licorice as a pro-aromatase. I went from 46.5" on (8/26) to 48.1" on (9/1)... a huge jump! Unfortunately, some of this growth was attributed to cyclic swelling, but when I took my measurement 5 days past my cycle's end, it was 47.3", almost a full inch. My band size did not change, nor did my waistline save for the usual temporary cyclic water-gain I experience.
Since then, I have been off the prescription. It was short term, and not something I can take daily. Instead, I have invested in a stronger concentration of fenugreek. I have had to work my way back up since it is quite a bit stronger than my old brand. Still, herbs move a lot slower. I'm just doing a basic combination of fenugreek, licorice, and omegas. I measured 47.3" on 9/7 and measured 48.1" today (9/20). Still, it's pretty steady progress:
http://ow.ly/hTEs304oOdD.