I have to say, even under doctor supervision, I had issues with the patches; the glue burned my skin so bad that the scars lasted months.
I am now taking sublingual pills and they work well for me but I still need to be monitored for kidney and liver issues because of the aforementioned damage caused by my own experimentation.
So, yeah, I was trying to share my experience as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of trying to figure it out on my own.
@dandelion
It is possible that I am misunderstanding your definition of DIY. To me, DIY would refer to buying estrogenic supplements, whether in pill, cream, or liquid form, and self-administering.
Example: I first tried liquid supplements from a vitamin store, then moved to pills when the drops did nothing. The pills helped a little but, yes, without medical supervision, I ended up with life-threatening issues.
They did a DNA test which confirmed it was hemochromatosis.
Fortunately, getting rid of excess iron was not that difficult. I gave blood every 11-14 days for a while. I was allowed to donate blood every 6 days, but 11 was where I was comfortable. The normal amount of time between blood donations is 56 days, but I had enough iron to replace the missing red blood cells in less than a week.
It was like being a superhero, though I don’t recommend it.
I was using an over-the-counter natural supplement, made from bovine and porcine products without doctor supervision or approval.
I went to my PCP for my annual tests and showed signs of liver and kidney damage. I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, so they thought it was cancer and scheduled additional blood work and a biopsy.
The blood test came back showing that it was not cancer but an iron overload. My body was storing the excess in all my organs and tissues.
a) It didn’t work well.
b) I found out I had hemochromatosis because it was high in iron, which built up in my body, because I can’t get rid of it.
c) I ended up with kidney and liver damage from the iron build-up.
Normal iron is 18-320 for cis males. Females are lower. Mine was 1,147 and it was killing me.
DIY hormones are a bad idea. Doctors can monitor and better balance the prescriptions.
@dandelion
Thanks for taking the time to explain and clear this up for me. I truly appreciate it. 😊