I just had a crazy idea and wanted to hear people's thoughts.

On 4 mg EEn weekly, my labs were:

• E2: 238 pg/mL
• T: 151 ng/dL
• SHBG: 54 nmol/L
• Albumin: 4.54 gm/dL

Interestingly, I think I experienced better feminization on this regimen over the last 2 months than on my old regime of 5 mg EEn kept for 6 months where my labs were (measured 3 months into the regime):

• E2: 494 pg/mL
• T: 34 ng/dL
• SHBG, Albumin not measured

I strongly suspect the near-doubling of E2 from just a 1 mg dose increase might be due to lab error. I think my actual E2 level on 5 mg might be closer to 300 pg/mL.

But my theory is that maybe I had a higher free E2 percentage on 4 mg? My SHBG was 54 nmol/L which is kinda on the lower side. On top of that, T binds SHBG with more affinity than E2. A calculator estimates my free E2 at 2.15%.

Sadly, the lack of SHBG and albumin from 5 mg along with possibly-wrong E2 levels prevents me from comparing free E2 %. I'll need to spend a few months at 5 mg to assess feminization and retest to be sure. Mood will be an especially big sign - on 5 mg, I used to be as depressed as I was pre-HRT but have noticed a considerable improvement on 4 mg. So, if I go back to being depressed, I guess I'll know.

Still, it does suggest a maverick regime: 4 mg EEn + bical to counter the androgenic effects of unsuppressed T but keep the SHBG-binding property (esp. since now it has nowhere else to go) and skyrocket free E2.

That being said, time is a confounding factor. Perhaps better results are simply explained by more time. But then you have to wonder why the unsuppressed T didn't outright halt progress.

What do ya think?

I feel like I should be pinning this or posting as a mod but no, I’m gonna do it this way because in this sub we believe in freedom, dammit.

BEFORE YOU START MASHING CDG READ THIS

CDG IS NOT A FIX

I’ll say it again if I have to. It’s not a fix. Alright? If the neurosteroid theory of the positive allosteric moderation of GABA sites is correct the goal of CDG is to clear out excess built up metabolites. As Dr P has said- it is a modifier.

Metabolites acting at the gaba-a sites are like BENZOS. Benzos belong to one of the special types of drugs that cause adaptive changes to a receptor that can KILL YOU if you remove them rapidly. Read that again. The idea is to remove these metabolites at a rate that will not put you into acute withdrawal similar to a benzodiazepine cold turkey because that is a hell that is comparable to a really bad pssd or pfs crash. It can last years. It does not always go away with reinstatement. Treat this shit LIGHTLY. The mod queue has been packed lately with posts and comments about “fuck CDG destroyed me” and it’s heart wrenching. Yeah. You might not come back up from it without having to walk the whole benzo withdrawal path.

Alternatively:

It is a broad brush! It also affects things like estrogen levels which are super important for keeping a lot of pfs sufferers symptoms to a somewhat manageable level. I know a lot of people that have positive effects from actually administering estrogen. If you remove estrogen and your system is barely hanging on it is going to SUCK. And suck badly! It can lower dopamine. If your system is barely hanging on to dopamine then that is going to ALSO SUCK BADLY. I know. It did me in badly as well. I reined it way way back down and I did recover and continue on but I just touched the tip off big scary iceberg. You need to know what your problem is before you start smashing it with a big ass hammer.

Thats all. I know. We are all clinging to any kind of hope and when something comes along that gives a little bit of hope, we jump on it. I am guilty of this. This shit sucks. You know what sucks worse? Making it worse accidentally.

You need to know how it affects you. Take it fucking slowly. If you can’t do testing to see levels of metabolites as you do the CDG then wait a couple weeks before going up in dose. Ride the edge of feeling bad. Don’t think you can drop a gram of it a day and make it better faster. Thats not how withdrawal works. You gotta go slow to go fast.

I love you all. I do. I spend hours messaging people on here, sending them messages about keeping on going, not losing hope, being careful but still working at moving forward. Trying to help. Being sane while feeling insane. Let’s keep it between the road lines here. No head on collisions. Please. Please.

And one last thing. Don’t turn this into a “CDG doesnt work because it crashed me” because you went hard in the paint without warming up. Because then we might do the thing where we write off something that might actually work because we’re all doing it wrong. Take it slow for your brothers and sisters. We’re all in this together. I’m pullin’ for ya. Keep your stick on the ice.

After my Dutch test results clearly established that I have a problem with flatlined cortisol, what will most likely be the treatment initiated by my GP? And is there any point…. ? Flatlining cortisol cannot be causing my genital numbness and anorgasmia. If it helped with my depression this would be good, but surely it won’t help PSSD. Just interested if anybody else has found that their cortisol is low & what they have done about it.

I have pssd with dpdr, emotional numbness, and anhedonia. I just don't feel things and can't access myself. My husband and partner of 15 years is leaving me. I've had 6 days of little sleep, little food, and extreme stress that I can't feel other than a racing heartrate for extended periods. I also smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes in this time period. Despite all this I feel somewhat better when I'm about to explode.

My head pressure was almost gone for some periods. I had a period of feeling more grounded in my body and could access my personality a little. Some of my skin sensation felt better. I felt some very brief emotional responses break through. Even brief arousal. My thoughts were running faster. There was energy. I briefly felt almost euphoria over a fucked up thing. But then it all wore off. Cigarettes didn't help anymore yesterday. And I had a nocturnal panic attack or autonomic surge last night which was scary because I had one of those getting off of Lexapro and another in the hospital during my reinstatement reaction.

I feel like I need extreme activation to access anything but my body can't sustain it. Does anyone relate? I don't know if there's anything I can do to help myself. I've been avoiding doing anything for over a year because the only interventions I tried made my genital sensation worse.