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I’m starting a fresh thread on the study I got my hands on tonight. I want to start by saying how I interpreted this study, roughly, and then get into details: it looks like spiro is counterproductive to HRT and is bad medicine. That’s absolutely the big takeaway.
Basically spiro doesn’t do what they told us, and competes with estrogen, making estrogen in combination with spiro less effective. Also: our E dosing has been low for decades.
Spiro isn’t lowering your t levels. That’s all estrogen and progesterone.
Spiro isn’t lowering your t levels. That’s all estrogen and progesterone.
What spiro has been doing is this: blocking estrogen from receptor sites, literally competing with it.
In doing so there’s a real possibility that this may have affected bone density, which depends on estrogen especially in the absence of testosterone.
In doing so there’s a real possibility that this may have affected bone density, which depends on estrogen especially in the absence of testosterone.
This is probably a good time to say that I am not a doctor. But that said, the study you’ll find a link to at the end seems important. Why? Because it was designed to see if spiro works to suppress testosterone. The conclusion reached was “no.”
Why does this matter? First, because if you’re taking it to block testosterone and it doesn’t do that, you’re taking something you don’t need. Second, it seems to compete with estrogen, meaning that it’s interfering with the chemicals that are blocking testosterone production
But estrogen does more than block t. It’s an important chemical in EVERY human body. In addition to bone density it’s also a core component of HRT for its myriad feminizing effects.
What else has spiro been doing to your body besides blocking estrogen? A few thoughts:
+ lowering your blood pressure regardless of where your BP is at
+ blood pressure lower than a certain point is bad for you!
+ lowering your blood pressure regardless of where your BP is at
+ blood pressure lower than a certain point is bad for you!
+ it’s a diuretic: it makes you pee.
+ it dehydrates you faster
+ it takes a lot of salt with it but not potassium
+ (higher potassium and lower sodium lowers blood pressure)
+ excessively low blood pressure can cause a range of problems
+ it dehydrates you faster
+ it takes a lot of salt with it but not potassium
+ (higher potassium and lower sodium lowers blood pressure)
+ excessively low blood pressure can cause a range of problems
For example, a potassium sparing diuretic can cause difficulty getting aroused. Listlessness. Lethargy. Moodiness. Tiredness/need to sleep. Muscle weakness. This is off the top of my head. If it blocked T it might be worth the trade off! It seems like it doesn’t.
The condition we’re talking about is called hyponatremia: excessively low sodium in the blood. In extremes that can be very dangerous. Signs and symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting, headache, short-term memory loss, confusion, loss of appetite, irritability,
Cramps, and spasms, are also possible.
strictly IMO? If you’re currently on spiro for HRT reasons?
Stop taking spiro.
See your doctor.
Increase your estrogen dose.
Get your progesterone.
Investigate boofing to increase bioavailability.
Stop taking spiro.
See your doctor.
Increase your estrogen dose.
Get your progesterone.
Investigate boofing to increase bioavailability.
The study in question is linked below. there’s a lot more data and conclusions, like how much estrogen you actually need to get desired effects of HRT. There’s an interesting point about finasteride increasing serum testosterone as well. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5944393/
