I found some articles stating that high doses of bicalutamide taken for a long time can stop acting as an antagonist and start acting as an agonist of androgen receptors. In other words, it would start activating the receptor instead of blocking it. I’ve been taking 50mg daily for 5 years, and for the past 4 months, I’ve started experiencing very unpleasant effects like increased body hair growth, body spasms, belly fat and underarm odor. What do y'all think about it?https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2939361/https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/nm972
>>41209832Dosage? You might consider switching to monotherapy as well.
>>41209832that sounds weirdthe best thing you can do is probably just switching to monotherapy
>>4120987750mg bica a day.>>41209890Yeah, I tried that a few years ago, but unfortunately estradiol alone can't work on my abnormous DHT mutation (855 ng/dl). So I was wondering if dutasteride might do something about it.
>>41209961>abnormous DHT mutation (855 ng/dl)ah too badyeah just switch to duta
>>41209967A-are you sure I'm not going to become a Bruce Willis in 15 years or so? I've been hearing disturbing relacts about duta that's why i'm so reluctant.
>>41209999duta should work, I have no idea what side effects you're worried about though
>>41209832this only happens with cancer cellsbica isnt exactly that much effective to be able to block 855 ng/dl of DHT (this is a really high number and Im pretty sure you dont have levels that high)and bica isnt even a good AA because it can act as a partial or maybe full agonist in specific tissues:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacology_of_bicalutamide#Selective_androgen_receptor_modulator-like_activityI used to believe that I had DHT problems, used just bica before, then bica + duta, then just E
>>41212533I’m a bit confused by your reply. First you said that the agonist switch only happens in cancer cells, but then you mentioned that bicalutamide can act as a partial or even full agonist in some tissues. So are you saying that this SARM-like activity can also occur in normal tissues, not just in cancer cells? If so, how do you reconcile that with the symptoms I’m experiencing?
>>41214692two separate thingsthe first thing is that bicalutamide was researched to treat prostate cancer, so the focus was on the prostate/ARs in the prostate. in the prostate, bicalutamide is a silent antagonist and has no ability to activate the AR. however, as time goes by with treatment, cancer cells accumulate so many mutations that bicalutamide can turn into an agonist of the ARthe second thing is that bicalutamide isnt exactly a silent antagonist in every tissue in the entire body, so in some tissues like muscle and bones (confirmed), bicalutamide probably acts as a partial agonist of the AR. this happens from day 1the symptoms that you are experiencing are either brainworms (unrelated to sexual hormones or whatever) or the inability of bicalutamide to antagonize very high levels of androgens. Im saying this because while bicalutamide has been confirmed to cause androgen like effects on bones and muscles, it consistently shows that it completely prevents androgen effects on body hair, skin, etc
>>41214842Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. But if bicalutamide can act as a partial agonist in some tissues like bone and muscle from day 1, why couldn’t a similar mechanism explain androgen-like effects in hair follicles or skin after chronic use, especially with AR upregulation? In my case I also have pretty high DHT levels, so I wonder if switching to dutasteride would give me a better feminization outcome than staying on bica. Do you personally feel better just on estradiol, and also, why did you stop dutasteride yourself?I with it was just brainworms, but unfortunately I am not your regular BPDemon.
>>41209961>abnormous DHT mutation (855 ng/dl)that's like 10x the normal MALE levels, do you have too much 5-alpha reductase or something?what does your endo think?
>>41215017No clue. I live in a country... in a complicated situation, so to speak. I don't have (I'm not authorized to have) access to a doctor, only to laboratory tests.
>>41214982>why couldn’t a similar mechanism explain androgen-like effects in hair follicles or skin after chronic use, especially with AR upregulation?no such thing was ever found. researchers divide androgen effects into anabolic (muscle, bone) and virilizing (body hair, MPB, sebum, etc) bica has consistently been found to promote anabolism or to prevent muscle and bone density loss from low androgens, but completely antagonizes virilizing effects. it has been tested in men and women. idk why this happens, but im pretty sure that ARs in bones and muscles have a different mechanismwhat happened with me was that i started with just E for 6 mo. i found it weird that my skin and hair were extremely oily and my scalp was itching. i did a blood test and my DHT came back at 60 ng/dl. i started bica and it completely solved my problem. i did blood tests again, and this time my DHT was 90 ng/dl. i decided to add duta because i wasnt sure if bica was enough. blood tests again months later, and my DHT was still at 90 ng/dl. i researched why and found out that the blood test method i was using is trash (ELISA), so i decided to test again but with LC-MS this time, and my DHT came back undetectable. i continued that for almost 4 years and felt the effects of having zero androgen levels. my skin basically didnt produce any sebum, my hair was completely dry, and i could go weeks without washing it if i wanted. i had no odor, zero libido, zero energy levels, zero motivation. my eyes were constantly dry in a weird way and i experienced an annoying brain fog (both probably because of duta). after that, i decided to stop with bica and i likely will never use it again because of the agonist behavior, and with duta to check if i have any DHT problem, but actually correctly this time and because of the side effects. im feeling better now, but the oily skin and scalp, and body odor all came back. but idk, it can be normal or i just have high sensitivity to androgens in general
>>41215245Since bica is good for bones, could femboys just use that without hrt
>>41215265bica monotherapy is basically HRT
>>41209832bica works as a tissue selective AR agonist, like skeletal muscle after some time. It's anecdotal, but I've been using bica for 3y (confirmed via nmr its real bica) and ive shed a ton of muscle in the first 6-12 months and had no further muscle loss. People asked me 3y in if I worked out as I looked athletic. Now taking enzalutamide and ive shed 1-2kg in 1 month which I suspect is muscle
>>41215307>Now taking enzalutamideare you rich?
>>41215321no, but sourced it from china. Obviously have no idea if its enza but I'm waiting on an NMR report. paid $250 for 30g, I found from studies its effective enough on 60mg per day
>>41215321>>41215339also completely anecdotal again, but I've never really had soft skin permanently, on some days my skin was very soft, most of the time it wasn't. after starting enza, around 1 week my skin is noticeably softer and sofar stays soft
>>41215286How does it work?
>>41215339have you looked into trying to get it from india? they denied the patent
>>41215359bica blocks androgen receptors. androgens convert to E. low androgens high E = feminization
>>41215366>indiai have not really bothered since the only time I ordered smth from india, it got seized. At least the chinese have figured out a really robust pipeline to ship to europe without customs problems, and the bica I had from years ago was actually from china, so sofar never really had problems with them. Definitely would be cheaper over india
>>41215370Is there anyway to keep healthy bones and just block t + dht? Without any feminization
>>41215378gnrh modulators + bica or other SARMpartial suppression with gnrh antagonistsSERMs (limited feminization in theory)bica or other SARM + aromatase inhibitorall are trash, just take E tbhon
>>41215307Oh, hey, I remember you from earlier in the year. How is everything going?
>>41215432huh, from where? Not sure to what exactly ur referring to but still working on my own nmr. Got pioglitazone, went up from 72 to 79kg and now on my weightloss cycle again, this time with tirzepatide. Target is 65kg. Def saw a reduction in waistline with the pio at least
>>41215446Yeah, I remember you mentioned making your own NMR to check your Bica. Have you seen decent results in other areas while on Pio or just waist? I ended up starting Pio myself like 3 months ago, best thing I ever did, ended up with boob growth of an inch, which was not something I even expected, or think would happen.
>>41215402I don't want any effects from hrt except maybe nicer skin
>>41215477good luckbica or other SARM + aromatase inhibitor doesnt work ignore that
>>41215461> or just waist?I took 15mg for, maybe 1.5 months, which wasnt super long, but I def noticed most of the fat going to my thighs and butt. Boobs also went from 93cm to 97cm but went down to 94 now at current weightI'm now 73.5kg after around 1 month of tirz and am off the pio for 2.5 weeks now. measurements before pio at 72.5kg>waist: 72cm circumference>hipbutt: 99cm circumference>underbust: 75cm circumference>thighs: 54cm circumferencenow at 73.5kgmeasurements before pio at 73.5kg>waist: 71cm circumference>hipbutt: 103cm circumference>underbust: 77cm circumference>thighs: 58cm circumferencecurious where the measurements are gonna lie when i reach my target weight. Sofar I feel like most growth has been dorsal rather than lateral haha, my widest point hipwise is still 36cm on both, I think i was 37.5cm when i was 79kg. on one hand i feel a bit lucky since i got nearly no fat there and "could gain" a lot, but on the other hand, kinda sucks. really hope pio and prog will make a difference especially in that area when im gaining again
>>41215504>measurements before pio at 73.5kgwoops meant after
>>41215504>most growth has been dorsal rather than lateralNoticed that as well, I did gain some hip-wise, but minor compared to the ass that filled out. My weight has been bouncing around 59-61kg in that time, though. Anyway, going to guinea pig for longer and see what happens.
>>41215749how much are you taking daily? I have like a 2 months supply left if I took the full 30mg. wouldn't be impossible to get more though
>>4121586515mg at the moment, I tried 30mg early on and felt horribly bloated. I might try 30mg again once I'm finished with antibiotics.
>>41215881> felt horribly bloated.very interesting how thats the case. I actually felt like i looked worse or the same and as soon as i stopped pio, the bloating disappeared and the actual gains from it were more visible.will prob try 30mg but thanks for the info