Raloxifene for High E2?

Bamboo · Mar 27, 2022

Start out with a brief history. Im 56 type 1 diabetic. Have been for 53 years. Been on TRT for 5 years has improved my overall blood glucose and I have sex drive again.

3 years ago i found a pretty good TRT Doc. I'm in Idaho and choices are limited. Last summer 2021 he handed me off to a new physician within his clinic. At that time my testosterone was averaging between 550 and 700 tested quarterly.

Was taking.
Test cyp. 20 mg evry 3.5 days. 200mg/ml. Equaling 80mg every 7 days.

Anastrozole .5mg every 3.5 day

My E2 was averaging 26/36 pg/ml.
E2 was 70+ range with out anastrozole. Test was ultrasensative.
SHBG 40 nmol/L
Free 60 pg/ml
Bio available 105 ng/dl

I felt pretty good. Sex drive was decent . Morning wood was rare.

New Doc wanted too see my numbers higher.

Upped my dosage. Double to 160mg a week. Split every 3.5 days subcutaneous.
Kept anastrozole the same . Starting feeling much better. Morning wood was a thing again.

In September I got a bad pain in my left foot . Seemed to be plantar fasciitis . Did a lot of stretching didn't help. Walking helped some ibuprofen some.
During this time I wanted to see if my E2 would stay down if I got off anastrozole. So I dropped it about 4 weeks before quarterly testing.
Pain went away in my foot. I didn't link it to anastrozole.
When I tested E2 was 74. So i started back on anastrozole and foot pain immediately returned. Thought maybe it was coincidence so I stopped anastrozole again and within 3 days the pain subsided. A couple weeks passed and to eliminate any doubt I started back on anastrozole. Pain returned within 60 hours.
Also the foot pain started 2 weeks after my second covid vaccine inj . I definitely think the pain from anastrozole was triggered by the vaccine.
TRT Doc. Agreed it was the anastrozole causing the tendon issue.
He then put me on 60mg a day of Raloxifene.
I have taken it for 3 months and my E2 is still 70. No change. Now he wants to double the dosage to 120mg a day.
From what I have read . Raloxifene is used primarily for gynecomastia. Not for lowering E2.
Hoping to get some feed back on the use of raloxifene for high E2.
Election quality has dropped . Not sure if it high E2 or Raloxifene.

Also what is best alternative to anastrozole for AI ?

Thanks in advance.

Systemlord · Mar 27, 2022

My E2 has been 70-90 and no symptoms whatsoever. The problem with anastrazole is it blocks aromatase evenly throughout the body, the problem is your body aromatization needs are different for bone and brain.

Have you considered dropping the anastrozole dosage down to .250 or .125?

Bamboo · Mar 27, 2022

Systemlord said:
My E2 has been 70-90 and no symptoms whatsoever. The problem with anastrazole is it blocks aromatase evenly throughout the body, the problem is your body aromatization needs are different for bone and brain.

Have you considered dropping the anastrozole dosage down to .250 or .125?

I have thought about trying a smaller dose. Really curious rather the raloxifene can even lower it. I definitely feel better when E2 is around 40.

Cataceous · Mar 27, 2022

Raloxifene is a SERM—selective estrogen receptor modulator. These medications block estrogen's access to certain receptors, selectively reducing or increasing estrogenic activity. They do not reduce the level of estrogen. In contrast, an aromatase inhibitor such as anastrozole blocks the formation of estradiol, decreasing levels and reducing all estrogenic activity. One problem with SERMs is that the precise effects are a little difficult to ascertain. There's a table on Wikipedia listing some tissue-specific effects. You'll see that raloxifene is anti-estrogenic in the breasts, estrogenic in the bones and liver, and shows mixed activity in the brain. SERMs can be helpful if they happen to reduce estrogenic activity where you need it reduced.

What you need to figure out is whether your bad reaction is to anastrozole itself or to the lower level of estrogens. There are various other AIs you could substitute if your reaction is only to the particular drug. For example: exemestane or letrozole.

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable with such a high dose of testosterone in the long run. You might consider experimenting with some intermediate doses to see if you can find a lower level that maintains the ostensible benefits of the higher dose.