Aromatase Inhibitors - Reddit AMA #1, Part 1

Excerpt from our first Reddit AMA podcast video: What are aromatase inhibitors? Who should use them and why? Are they the same for everyone?

Transcript

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What's your take on aromatase inhibitors?

Brian Mckinley:  And so there's a couple of things about that. So what it, what is that right? What are a eyes? When you all go on to your tea, you're injecting or adding outside testosterone to your body. Your body likes to maintain a stable environment between testosterone estrogen. It doesn't like when they change. And so when you add more testosterone, your body tries to change that ratio back to the way it was take some of that testosterone turns it into estrogen. AI is essentially tell your body. Do not do that. And in a lot of cases, that's what a lot of people do want, because they're looking to get more testosterone, not necessarily more estrogen, And so there's a lot of opinions on this which is either AI's do nothing, AI's are good guys, or AI's are bad.

Brian Mckinley:  And so what's the opinion of professionals and people who would prescribe it? Well, the answer is that like all those are correct. Those are all correct answers.

Brian Mckinley:  And when it comes down to is personal need because every single person is different, right? So some people, maybe they need more estrogen in their life, where? Okay, they add some testosterone extra. Estrogen is good for them. It turns out, they don't get any of the negative side effects from it, because what it also does is it can improve your mood. If it's the right amount it can help a lot with libido. And estrogen is also responsible for maintaining a lot of other bodily functions that can also help with like weight loss, things like that. And so having a healthy balance of that is quite good and so some people may not need it at all, and it may be beneficial to not prescribe it. Whereas on the opposite side of that.

Brian Mckinley:  Some people don't need it and then do get prescribed. It and what it does is just bottom out there estrogen. So for those people, that's totally not good. Now all of a sudden, you know, they're having libido issues. They can't drop weight. Their feelings, get all mixed up and the third and final one. Someone has a lot of side effects. You know, we have we have patients who, you know, after they inject same day they get, you know, essentially sensitive nipples. Like they have the side effects and the absolutely need it. They take the pill. Those sensitive nipple feelings, go away. There's no concern for any gyno or anything like that. And so what it really is is you need your provider To take a look at that with you us as a TRT provider, our main approach is to not prescribe it, unless people need it.

Brian Mckinley:  Kind of see how you go because again, the thing about bottoming out that estrogen can actually make you feel really bad. And you're not, you're not going to know until you see someone. How they respond to treatment. So, like, one size doesn't fit all on this category. And so for us, it's good. If it's good for you, it's bad. Bad for you. You need someone to look at it AIs are useful. They do what they do, but they're completely separate for everyone. That's our take on it.