Posted by ed_uk on November 5, 2005, at 11:42:08
In reply to ugh., posted by iforgotmypassword on November 3, 2005, at 20:00:20
Hi IFMP
I've been thinking about cost issues and about the side effects of cyproterone.
What dose of cyproterone are you taking? Your depression might improve if you were able to take a lower dose.
I was thinking you could try Dianette, 3 tablets per day eg. one in the morning and two at night. Dianette contains ethinylestradiol 35mcg and a low dose (2mg) of cyproterone. Due to its exceptional potency as an estrogen, the ethinylestradiol might allow you to take a lower dose of cyproterone while maintaining an adequate level of feminisation. Since Dianette only contains a low dose of cyproterone, I expect you'd have to take a daily cyproterone tablet alongside the Dianette, although a much lower dose ought to be sufficient.
Although effective, tablets containing ethinylestradiol as the sole ingredient are expensive. Dianette tablets are relative cheap in comparison and contains an adequate dose of estrogen if you take three tablets per day.
Unfortunately, the risk of deep vein thrombosis is relatively high with ethinylestradiol. Pulmonary embolism may occur. It's important that you are fully aware of the symptoms so that you can gain immediate medical treatment if necessary. (DVT/PE is treated with anticoagulants).
Since you're young, the risk of DVT is *much* less that it would be if you were older. Nevertheless, it is a definate concern. Estradiol (as a skin patch) is the safest form of estrogen but it's potency is lower than that of ethyinylestradiol and you'd need a higher dose of cyproterone to suppress your testosterone levels. At the moment, since the side effects of cyproterone are a major concern, this would be undesirable. If you had an orchidectomy, you could ditch the cyproterone completely and use transdermal estradiol as your sole HRT. Of course, orchidectomy is permanent and needs very careful consideration. In addition, orhidectomy itself can cause side effects.
Kind regards
Ed
poster:ed_uk
thread:574708
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051031/msgs/575624.html