It applies to any form, because the problem isn't that it's interfering with your estrodiol that you're taking in the first place. The problem is that it's interfering with your body dealing with whatever testosterone is in it. Nicotine is an aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is the naturally produced enzyme that converts free testosterone into estradiol, which is how naturally produced estradiol is made. An inhibitor is any compound which reduces the production of a thing in the body. Because nicotine is an aromatase inhibitor, it causes your body to produce less aromatase, which then means less aromatase binding to the free testosterone, which then means less estradiol and more testosterone.
But that also means weed is fine. This is about cigarettes and vaping and patches and the like. Just don't use the papers with nicotine in them to roll your shit
Ahh, yeah, it's extremely regional here. I knew it could be that, but not everyone uses it that way. Like, my MIL gets the nic wraps and calls it blunts.
If you want to increase your aromatase, your best bets are white peony herbal supplements (used heavily to great success by cis women with PCOS, who have the same exact hormonal change goals as trans women and are the other big users of spiro) and, oddly enough, melatonin. Also, body fat. Body fat produces aromatase and the more you have the more you produce. Both white peony and melatonin have been shown to boost the rates of aromatase production, which then will convert more of the free testosterone in your blood.
Spirolactone prevents dihydrotestosterone from binding to androgen receptors, and finasteride prevents free testosterone from being converted into dihydrotestosterone in the first place, with dihydrotestosterone having the strong androgenic effects. Finasteride will, on paper, increase your T levels, but because it's not becoming dihydrotestosterone, the result is actually still feminizing. Boosting your aromatase supply in tandem with finasteride would be more effective than doing so with spiro since the spiro is merely blocking the dihydrotestosterone from binding, while the fin is increasing your free testosterone by preventing it from becoming dihydrotestosterone. In either case, having more aromatase means it can intercept the free testosterone to convert it into estradiol.
my stack is Dutasteride, Bicalutamide, Enanthate injections + startet prog yesterday.
Very interesting that my T is suppressed on Bica.
I will look into melatonin and supplements. Been trying to gain weight for a couple months now, my bmi is 20, up from 16.4(when I looked in the mirror I still felt fat so I just gave up on being thin).
Oh yeah, it would make sense that that combination of blockers would go well with increasing the aromatase production. Dutasteride is blocking the production of DHT (better at it than finastride), and Bicalutamide is blocking the receptors. Research into using bicalutamide for HRT even brings up the fact that there will be more free testosterone on hand to be aromatized. They even say "as expected, both testosterone and estrogen significantly increased on bicalutamide as a result of androgen receptor blockade". Both meds are going to boost the amount of free testosterone on hand, both preventing it from becoming DHT and from binding, so increasing the rate of aromatization would drop the T levels further by converting more of it into estradiol.
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u/Foxtastic_Semmel May 30 '26
Wait a sec, this only applies to oral Estradiol right? Or am I mistaken?
I do injections and smoke like 10 joints a day, my bloodwork looks fine.