Hi WishClean, Im quoting you because you take a different brand of DIM than hearts did and I do (Natures Way). I received a reply from Natures Way and they affirmed that the American and Canadian formulas are the same but labeled differently because of varying National regulations. So Natures Way DIM Plus does only contain 12.5mg of actual DIM per pill, the rest is powdered vegetables and vitamin E (hence why it is called a complex). My question for you WishClean is: how much actual DIM is in your brand per capsule? I know you said hearts that you went up to three pills per day in order to accelerate improvement. Im currently taking two pills per day. I just got another breakout (although it could be a result of eating french fries). Im wondering if I should be taking three pills per day, though Im worried about boosting free testosterone? Ive been taking DIM for nineteen days, though the first few days I was only taking one pill per day. Did either of you mostly clear on DIM but continue to breakout out sometimes? Reading reviews on amazon, it sounds like everyone for whom it worked for ended up with perfect skin. Need encouragement!
Every hormonal treatment is really a gamble. I took some gambles myself, and some of the results went contrary to theoretical research. So, I guess you will have to take some risks and go with your gut. Starting slow and with a low dose is always the safest bet.
Hey brenmc,
Sorry for the delayed response...I'm currently preparing to move from the US to Europe and it's been a long process. I'll try my best to keep up with acne.org until the end of the month, when I'll finally have a new place to live.
Did the DIM amount get reduced after the new rules (in EU, not sure if they affected Canada too) about supplements? Because another user was saying that the nature's way vitex now has a much lower % of vitex in it in the European version and I think it's because pharmaceutical companies are getting concerned about the fact that people can now replace some treatments with over the counter supplements.
I take anywhere between 50mg to 150mg (depending on the day and the mood) of Olympian Labs DIM. Each capsule is 100mg, but sometimes I'll take half for example.
btw, if if helps, I always break out from fried food no matter what, so your breakout could be coincidental.
Well, DIM might be wearing off a bit for me whenever I lower the dosage, but my melasma gets better. It's so strange, because I read that it can help with hyperpigmentation/ melasma, but when I take 150mg of DIM (or when I was taking up to 200mg), my dark patches look darker. No idea why, but these past few days I increased inositol and the melasma appears to have faded slightly.
I was concerned about DIM increasing testosterone too, but so far it's only helped me...I even noticed more baby hairs growing along my hairline, which seems to be a positive sign...and less facial hair (although that could be the inositol). I will say, however, that I seem to have gained a bit of weight and some days I feel bloated. When I finish moving, I plan on exercising every day like I used to, and avoiding grains and too many carbs to see if that makes a difference. My bloating/ weight gain could be because I haven't been too strict about diet and exercise recently.
Hi WishClean, Im quoting you because you take a different brand of DIM than hearts did and I do (Natures Way). I received a reply from Natures Way and they affirmed that the American and Canadian formulas are the same but labeled differently because of varying National regulations. So Natures Way DIM Plus does only contain 12.5mg of actual DIM per pill, the rest is powdered vegetables and vitamin E (hence why it is called a complex). My question for you WishClean is: how much actual DIM is in your brand per capsule? I know you said hearts that you went up to three pills per day in order to accelerate improvement. Im currently taking two pills per day. I just got another breakout (although it could be a result of eating french fries). Im wondering if I should be taking three pills per day, though Im worried about boosting free testosterone? Ive been taking DIM for nineteen days, though the first few days I was only taking one pill per day. Did either of you mostly clear on DIM but continue to breakout out sometimes? Reading reviews on amazon, it sounds like everyone for whom it worked for ended up with perfect skin. Need encouragement!
No worries about the delay WishClean. I just thought Id bump my post to the top of the page to ensure it would be seen. Congratulations on your new endeavour; moving to Europe sounds very exciting. I hope youll still check in with acne.org now and then, as your research and experience is invaluable.
I dont know if DIM Plus used to have a higher concentration, as Ive only been taking it for less than a month. However, the label on the US version states that each dose contains 100mgs of DIM Complex, while the Canadian version states it contains 12.5mgs of DIM per capsule (so 25mgs of DIM per dose). I emailed the company and they said that the US and Canadian versions are the same but labelled differently due to national regulations. My bottle says manufactured in the US and distributed in Canada, as well. So your brand is not a complex, its pure DIM? I have upped my dose to three per day and am awaiting, hopefully positive, change.
In reading reviews, many people claim the effects of DIM ware off in time. Here is a comment from this website: http://thelovevitamin.com/12578/problems-estroblock-dim-acne/ :
Katrina says
January 26, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Estroblock worked like a dream for me for about 3 months, and then just stopped working! It was very shocking to start seeing large hormonal breakouts, nearly all month long too. (Not limited to just the pre-period week.) Im taking liver support supplements, and just ordered Calcium D-glucarate to see if that helps but Im sort of at a loss as what to do. I was so happy with it that I ordered a bunch of the product so I feel like I want to continue at least with the bottles I have. I had started with a different DIM product and then moved to regular strength (3 a day) and now take the extra strength (2 a day). I also take Vitex, zinc, and probiotics, and eat a fairly clean diet (no dairy, etc.). Have you heard of this happening to anyone or have any advice for me? It is hard to be in my 30s and still suffering from this.
Thanks so much for all your helpful articles and advice. Do you know why this would be? Do you think DIM is losing effectiveness for you generally or just because you vary your dose?
Half way down the comments section a commenter named Lisa talks about having melasma as well:
Lisa says
January 18, 2014 at 10:53 pm
Hey Tracy!
I have a question for you, I hope you can help me out. I have signs of androgen excess (facial hair/excess body hair, thinning hair on my scalp), and high estrogen (mid-section weight gain, melasma). I had success with vitex & EPO in the past, but it made my hirsutism worse. Anyway, I decided to go back on vitex again, and so far my skin is worse. I added DIM (Olympian Labs brand) a few days ago, and my breakouts seem to be getting worse! Should I stick it out, knowing that vitex has worked in the past?
Btw, I tried saw palmetto and other DHT blockers with no luck, so I know that its not the way to go for me.
I also had a nasty allergic reaction to milk thistle, so Im scared to take any detox supps/ liver support while taking DIM and vitex. Do you think I can go without the liver detox supplements while on this regimen? I really dont want to take too many supplements, and I already know I react badly to anything that causes a detox reaction too quickly. I dont know if this helps at all because we dont know if she was saying that vitex and EPO was helping with her acne or her melasma. But it might be worth looking into further. She also takes the same brand of DIM as you.
The Estroblock brand of DIM is affiliated with the website that I linked to, so biases must be considered when reading through the website. Estroblock contains I3C as well, which hearts explained is more volatile than DIM alone. Here is a link to the formula: http://www.amazon.ca/Estroblock-Capsules-Anti-Estrogen-Aromatase-Inhibitor/dp/B0073W96PS . It contains fairly high concentrations per dose, but we dont know if the formula contains lots of DIM or lots of I3C. Regardless, Im still confused as to how much DIM I should be taking, as 12.5mgs per pill (and now Im taking three pills) seems low.
Ive weaned down to 87mgs of spiro for a month and decided yesterday to make the bold move of dropping to 50mgs. I had dropped to 75mgs for a couple days prior but then decided it would be best to just go for a larger decrease (I had planned to wean very slowly, by like 10mgs per month). I did so because Im concerned that spiro could be muting the potential positive effects of DIM by just adding more estrogen. Ill know shortlyif my acne gets much worsethat I need to increase my dose of spiro. The other reason why I decided to decrease my spiro dose is because my skin is already bad, so it wont matter as much if I get another breakout from doing so.
I am also wondering if you could tell me how many milligrams of inositol is in your daily dose? I know you measure by teaspoons but does it say on the bottle how many milligrams are in each teaspoon?
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain myself thoroughly and link in those quotes. Thanks WishClean!
Hey brenmc,
Sorry for the delayed response...I'm currently preparing to move from the US to Europe and it's been a long process. I'll try my best to keep up with acne.org until the end of the month, when I'll finally have a new place to live.
Did the DIM amount get reduced after the new rules (in EU, not sure if they affected Canada too) about supplements? Because another user was saying that the nature's way vitex now has a much lower % of vitex in it in the European version and I think it's because pharmaceutical companies are getting concerned about the fact that people can now replace some treatments with over the counter supplements.
I take anywhere between 50mg to 150mg (depending on the day and the mood) of Olympian Labs DIM. Each capsule is 100mg, but sometimes I'll take half for example.
btw, if if helps, I always break out from fried food no matter what, so your breakout could be coincidental.
Well, DIM might be wearing off a bit for me whenever I lower the dosage, but my melasma gets better. It's so strange, because I read that it can help with hyperpigmentation/ melasma, but when I take 150mg of DIM (or when I was taking up to 200mg), my dark patches look darker. No idea why, but these past few days I increased inositol and the melasma appears to have faded slightly.
I was concerned about DIM increasing testosterone too, but so far it's only helped me...I even noticed more baby hairs growing along my hairline, which seems to be a positive sign...and less facial hair (although that could be the inositol). I will say, however, that I seem to have gained a bit of weight and some days I feel bloated. When I finish moving, I plan on exercising every day like I used to, and avoiding grains and too many carbs to see if that makes a difference. My bloating/ weight gain could be because I haven't been too strict about diet and exercise recently.
Hi WishClean, Im quoting you because you take a different brand of DIM than hearts did and I do (Natures Way). I received a reply from Natures Way and they affirmed that the American and Canadian formulas are the same but labeled differently because of varying National regulations. So Natures Way DIM Plus does only contain 12.5mg of actual DIM per pill, the rest is powdered vegetables and vitamin E (hence why it is called a complex). My question for you WishClean is: how much actual DIM is in your brand per capsule? I know you said hearts that you went up to three pills per day in order to accelerate improvement. Im currently taking two pills per day. I just got another breakout (although it could be a result of eating french fries). Im wondering if I should be taking three pills per day, though Im worried about boosting free testosterone? Ive been taking DIM for nineteen days, though the first few days I was only taking one pill per day. Did either of you mostly clear on DIM but continue to breakout out sometimes? Reading reviews on amazon, it sounds like everyone for whom it worked for ended up with perfect skin. Need encouragement!
Hey brenmc,
Sorry for the delayed response...I'm currently preparing to move from the US to Europe and it's been a long process. I'll try my best to keep up with acne.org until the end of the month, when I'll finally have a new place to live.
Did the DIM amount get reduced after the new rules (in EU, not sure if they affected Canada too) about supplements? Because another user was saying that the nature's way vitex now has a much lower % of vitex in it in the European version and I think it's because pharmaceutical companies are getting concerned about the fact that people can now replace some treatments with over the counter supplements.
I take anywhere between 50mg to 150mg (depending on the day and the mood) of Olympian Labs DIM. Each capsule is 100mg, but sometimes I'll take half for example.
btw, if if helps, I always break out from fried food no matter what, so your breakout could be coincidental.
Well, DIM might be wearing off a bit for me whenever I lower the dosage, but my melasma gets better. It's so strange, because I read that it can help with hyperpigmentation/ melasma, but when I take 150mg of DIM (or when I was taking up to 200mg), my dark patches look darker. No idea why, but these past few days I increased inositol and the melasma appears to have faded slightly.
I was concerned about DIM increasing testosterone too, but so far it's only helped me...I even noticed more baby hairs growing along my hairline, which seems to be a positive sign...and less facial hair (although that could be the inositol). I will say, however, that I seem to have gained a bit of weight and some days I feel bloated. When I finish moving, I plan on exercising every day like I used to, and avoiding grains and too many carbs to see if that makes a difference. My bloating/ weight gain could be because I haven't been too strict about diet and exercise recently.
Good luck on the move, WishClean! I hope everything goes smoothly for you! (:
No worries about the delay WishClean. I just thought Id bump my post to the top of the page to ensure it would be seen. Congratulations on your new endeavour; moving to Europe sounds very exciting. I hope youll still check in with acne.org now and then, as your research and experience is invaluable.
I dont know if DIM Plus used to have a higher concentration, as Ive only been taking it for less than a month. However, the label on the US version states that each dose contains 100mgs of DIM Complex, while the Canadian version states it contains 12.5mgs of DIM per capsule (so 25mgs of DIM per dose). I emailed the company and they said that the US and Canadian versions are the same but labelled differently due to national regulations. My bottle says manufactured in the US and distributed in Canada, as well. So your brand is not a complex, its pure DIM? I have upped my dose to three per day and am awaiting, hopefully positive, change.
In reading reviews, many people claim the effects of DIM ware off in time. Here is a comment from this website: http://thelovevitamin.com/12578/problems-estroblock-dim-acne/ :
Do you know why this would be? Do you think DIM is losing effectiveness for you generally or just because you vary your dose?
Half way down the comments section a commenter named Lisa talks about having melasma as well:
I dont know if this helps at all because we dont know if she was saying that vitex and EPO was helping with her acne or her melasma. But it might be worth looking into further. She also takes the same brand of DIM as you.
The Estroblock brand of DIM is affiliated with the website that I linked to, so biases must be considered when reading through the website. Estroblock contains I3C as well, which hearts explained is more volatile than DIM alone. Here is a link to the formula: http://www.amazon.ca/Estroblock-Capsules-Anti-Estrogen-Aromatase-Inhibitor/dp/B0073W96PS . It contains fairly high concentrations per dose, but we dont know if the formula contains lots of DIM or lots of I3C. Regardless, Im still confused as to how much DIM I should be taking, as 12.5mgs per pill (and now Im taking three pills) seems low.
Ive weaned down to 87mgs of spiro for a month and decided yesterday to make the bold move of dropping to 50mgs. I had dropped to 75mgs for a couple days prior but then decided it would be best to just go for a larger decrease (I had planned to wean very slowly, by like 10mgs per month). I did so because Im concerned that spiro could be muting the potential positive effects of DIM by just adding more estrogen. Ill know shortlyif my acne gets much worsethat I need to increase my dose of spiro. The other reason why I decided to decrease my spiro dose is because my skin is already bad, so it wont matter as much if I get another breakout from doing so.
I am also wondering if you could tell me how many milligrams of inositol is in your daily dose? I know you measure by teaspoons but does it say on the bottle how many milligrams are in each teaspoon?
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain myself thoroughly and link in those quotes. Thanks WishClean!
I don't know what would be going on with those girls on Estroblock... it is a different formula like you said. DIM didn't lose effectiveness for me at all and I took it for a pretty long time. I could see varying the dose making the effectiveness varied, though.
About the dose of DIM Plus... in my experience and reading about others, whether it's written as 12.5mg or 100mg, two to four pills of that brand seems to be enough for most people if it does work. On my bottle it says you can double the dose to 4 pills (8 if you are male) for more extreme cases. I'm not sure if the "enhanced absorption" of the complex that helps or what. I just wanted to say that again because I did not have mild acne... I had quarter-sized cysts all over my upper back and neck, along with nodules that wouldn't go away for months. If it was only 25mg of that particular DIM concentrate that cleared me, I'll take it! (:
Good luck with weaning down with spiro! Just remember if you are stopping something while starting something new, it will be more difficult to tell what exactly is going on, so don't get discouraged too easily. One month is still way early. (: I found a post that made me feel better about the weight from inositol not coming off yet... I bring this up because sometimes hormones take their time doing their thing!
Thanks very much for replying hearts. I agree, it is a risk to be weaning down from spiro while taking DIM; however, as the study that WishClean posted on this thread (which led me to understand and believe I have estrogen dominance in the first place) stated, spiro can increase estrogen. Therefore, I am hypothesizing that taking DIM will be of little effect if I keep adding estrogen into my body in the form of my nightly spiro. Do I remember correctly, you started DIM while you were still on”but almost weaned off of”spiro too, right?
You™re probably right about the dose, unless the formula has changed since you used it, two to four pills should be OK. That™s a good point about the œadded absorption that Nature™s Way supposedly has. When you added three did you notice significant improvement as opposed to just the two?
I™m happy you found some reassurance about inositol and weight gain. I wonder if you took DIM with it, it might help process any excess estrogen that could possibly have built up from the anti-androgen effects of inositol?
I really hope DIM works for me as well as it did for you, I need these nodules gone! It™s very distressing to have something that makes it painful to even smile. 
Hey brenmc,
Sorry for the delayed response...I'm currently preparing to move from the US to Europe and it's been a long process. I'll try my best to keep up with acne.org until the end of the month, when I'll finally have a new place to live.
Did the DIM amount get reduced after the new rules (in EU, not sure if they affected Canada too) about supplements? Because another user was saying that the nature's way vitex now has a much lower % of vitex in it in the European version and I think it's because pharmaceutical companies are getting concerned about the fact that people can now replace some treatments with over the counter supplements.
I take anywhere between 50mg to 150mg (depending on the day and the mood) of Olympian Labs DIM. Each capsule is 100mg, but sometimes I'll take half for example.
btw, if if helps, I always break out from fried food no matter what, so your breakout could be coincidental.
Well, DIM might be wearing off a bit for me whenever I lower the dosage, but my melasma gets better. It's so strange, because I read that it can help with hyperpigmentation/ melasma, but when I take 150mg of DIM (or when I was taking up to 200mg), my dark patches look darker. No idea why, but these past few days I increased inositol and the melasma appears to have faded slightly.
I was concerned about DIM increasing testosterone too, but so far it's only helped me...I even noticed more baby hairs growing along my hairline, which seems to be a positive sign...and less facial hair (although that could be the inositol). I will say, however, that I seem to have gained a bit of weight and some days I feel bloated. When I finish moving, I plan on exercising every day like I used to, and avoiding grains and too many carbs to see if that makes a difference. My bloating/ weight gain could be because I haven't been too strict about diet and exercise recently.
Good luck on the move, WishClean! I hope everything goes smoothly for you! (:
>No worries about the delay WishClean. I just thought I™d bump my post to the top of the page to ensure it would be seen. Congratulations on your new endeavour; moving to Europe sounds very exciting. I hope you™ll still check in with acne.org now and then, as your research and experience is invaluable.
I don™t know if DIM Plus used to have a higher concentration, as I™ve only been taking it for less than a month. However, the label on the US version states that each dose contains 100mgs of DIM Complex, while the Canadian version states it contains 12.5mgs of DIM per capsule (so 25mgs of DIM per dose). I emailed the company and they said that the US and Canadian versions are the same but labelled differently due to national regulations. My bottle says manufactured in the US and distributed in Canada, as well. So your brand is not a complex, it™s pure DIM? I have upped my dose to three per day and am awaiting, hopefully positive, change.
In reading reviews, many people claim the effects of DIM ware off in time. Here is a comment from this website: http://thelovevitamin.com/12578/problems-estroblock-dim-acne/ :
Do you know why this would be? Do you think DIM is losing effectiveness for you generally or just because you vary your dose?
Half way down the comments section a commenter named Lisa talks about having melasma as well:
I don™t know if this helps at all because we don™t know if she was saying that vitex and EPO was helping with her acne or her melasma. But it might be worth looking into further. She also takes the same brand of DIM as you.
The Estroblock brand of DIM is affiliated with the website that I linked to, so biases must be considered when reading through the website. Estroblock contains I3C as well, which hearts explained is more volatile than DIM alone. Here is a link to the formula: http://www.amazon.ca/Estroblock-Capsules-Anti-Estrogen-Aromatase-Inhibitor/dp/B0073W96PS . It contains fairly high concentrations per dose, but we don™t know if the formula contains lots of DIM or lots of I3C. Regardless, I™m still confused as to how much DIM I should be taking, as 12.5mgs per pill (and now I™m taking three pills) seems low.
I™ve weaned down to 87mgs of spiro for a month and decided yesterday to make the bold move of dropping to 50mgs. I had dropped to 75mgs for a couple days prior but then decided it would be best to just go for a larger decrease (I had planned to wean very slowly, by like 10mgs per month). I did so because I™m concerned that spiro could be muting the potential positive effects of DIM by just adding more estrogen. I™ll know shortly”if my acne gets much worse”that I need to increase my dose of spiro. The other reason why I decided to decrease my spiro dose is because my skin is already bad, so it won™t matter as much if I get another breakout from doing so.
I am also wondering if you could tell me how many milligrams of inositol is in your daily dose? I know you measure by teaspoons but does it say on the bottle how many milligrams are in each teaspoon?
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain myself thoroughly and link in those quotes. Thanks WishClean!
Thanks very much for replying hearts. I agree, it is a risk to be weaning down from spiro while taking DIM; however, as the study that WishClean posted on this thread (which led me to understand and believe I have estrogen dominance in the first place) stated, spiro can increase estrogen. Therefore, I am hypothesizing that taking DIM will be of little effect if I keep adding estrogen into my body in the form of my nightly spiro. Do I remember correctly, you started DIM while you were still onbut almost weaned off ofspiro too, right?
Youre probably right about the dose, unless the formula has changed since you used it, two to four pills should be OK. Thats a good point about the added absorption that Natures Way supposedly has. When you added three did you notice significant improvement as opposed to just the two?
Im happy you found some reassurance about inositol and weight gain. I wonder if you took DIM with it, it might help process any excess estrogen that could possibly have built up from the anti-androgen effects of inositol?
I really hope DIM works for me as well as it did for you, I need these nodules gone! Its very distressing to have something that makes it painful to even smile.
I completely understand your theory about spiro raising estrogen. I think that is the biggest reason I had side effects while on it. I didn't take DIM while on spiro, though, I had completely stopped spiro before starting it. I don't know if the estrogen from spiro would affect DIM... I'll look into it.
Though I think taking three pills instead of two helped speed things along, I can't be totally sure since I haven't tried taking only two the entire time. If I were in your position I would consider taking three but it's up to you!
Thanks for the suggestion! I've thought about adding DIM back in to help with processing out inositol but I think I'll just try to be patient and see what happens before I do... I'd rather not take anything I don't really need to. (:
Oh, and I totally understand what you mean about the pain... there were times it would hurt to eat or sleep, or even breathe because of where the acne was located. There is hope, though! (: I hope it works for you too, and works soon!
Good luck on the move, WishClean! I hope everything goes smoothly for you! (:
Thanks hearts! I'll be checking in with you ladies here and there, then will be more regular as of the end of the month when I finally make the big move. Hope everything is well with you!
No worries about the delay WishClean. I just thought Id bump my post to the top of the page to ensure it would be seen. Congratulations on your new endeavour; moving to Europe sounds very exciting. I hope youll still check in with acne.org now and then, as your research and experience is invaluable.
I dont know if DIM Plus used to have a higher concentration, as Ive only been taking it for less than a month. However, the label on the US version states that each dose contains 100mgs of DIM Complex, while the Canadian version states it contains 12.5mgs of DIM per capsule (so 25mgs of DIM per dose). I emailed the company and they said that the US and Canadian versions are the same but labelled differently due to national regulations. My bottle says manufactured in the US and distributed in Canada, as well. So your brand is not a complex, its pure DIM? I have upped my dose to three per day and am awaiting, hopefully positive, change.
In reading reviews, many people claim the effects of DIM ware off in time. Here is a comment from this website: http://thelovevitamin.com/12578/problems-estroblock-dim-acne/ :
Katrina says
January 26, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Estroblock worked like a dream for me for about 3 months, and then just stopped working! It was very shocking to start seeing large hormonal breakouts, nearly all month long too. (Not limited to just the pre-period week.) Im taking liver support supplements, and just ordered Calcium D-glucarate to see if that helps but Im sort of at a loss as what to do. I was so happy with it that I ordered a bunch of the product so I feel like I want to continue at least with the bottles I have. I had started with a different DIM product and then moved to regular strength (3 a day) and now take the extra strength (2 a day). I also take Vitex, zinc, and probiotics, and eat a fairly clean diet (no dairy, etc.). Have you heard of this happening to anyone or have any advice for me? It is hard to be in my 30s and still suffering from this.
Thanks so much for all your helpful articles and advice. Do you know why this would be? Do you think DIM is losing effectiveness for you generally or just because you vary your dose?
Half way down the comments section a commenter named Lisa talks about having melasma as well:
Lisa says
January 18, 2014 at 10:53 pm
Hey Tracy!
I have a question for you, I hope you can help me out. I have signs of androgen excess (facial hair/excess body hair, thinning hair on my scalp), and high estrogen (mid-section weight gain, melasma). I had success with vitex & EPO in the past, but it made my hirsutism worse. Anyway, I decided to go back on vitex again, and so far my skin is worse. I added DIM (Olympian Labs brand) a few days ago, and my breakouts seem to be getting worse! Should I stick it out, knowing that vitex has worked in the past?
Btw, I tried saw palmetto and other DHT blockers with no luck, so I know that its not the way to go for me.
I also had a nasty allergic reaction to milk thistle, so Im scared to take any detox supps/ liver support while taking DIM and vitex. Do you think I can go without the liver detox supplements while on this regimen? I really dont want to take too many supplements, and I already know I react badly to anything that causes a detox reaction too quickly. I dont know if this helps at all because we dont know if she was saying that vitex and EPO was helping with her acne or her melasma. But it might be worth looking into further. She also takes the same brand of DIM as you.
The Estroblock brand of DIM is affiliated with the website that I linked to, so biases must be considered when reading through the website. Estroblock contains I3C as well, which hearts explained is more volatile than DIM alone. Here is a link to the formula: http://www.amazon.ca/Estroblock-Capsules-Anti-Estrogen-Aromatase-Inhibitor/dp/B0073W96PS . It contains fairly high concentrations per dose, but we dont know if the formula contains lots of DIM or lots of I3C. Regardless, Im still confused as to how much DIM I should be taking, as 12.5mgs per pill (and now Im taking three pills) seems low.
Ive weaned down to 87mgs of spiro for a month and decided yesterday to make the bold move of dropping to 50mgs. I had dropped to 75mgs for a couple days prior but then decided it would be best to just go for a larger decrease (I had planned to wean very slowly, by like 10mgs per month). I did so because Im concerned that spiro could be muting the potential positive effects of DIM by just adding more estrogen. Ill know shortlyif my acne gets much worsethat I need to increase my dose of spiro. The other reason why I decided to decrease my spiro dose is because my skin is already bad, so it wont matter as much if I get another breakout from doing so.
I am also wondering if you could tell me how many milligrams of inositol is in your daily dose? I know you measure by teaspoons but does it say on the bottle how many milligrams are in each teaspoon?
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain myself thoroughly and link in those quotes. Thanks WishClean!
oh wow, the 2nd quote sounds very similar to my situation. I also read some posts on one of those beauty forums about DIM helping melasma. Some women were recommending it along with other supps like vitamin C and NAC. But for me, only inositol helps with melasma, DIM seems to intensify it. It's so bizzare. Which just goes to show that everyone reacts differently to supplements and other treatments.
btw, the lovevitamin website sometimes contains unfounded generalizations...the founder, Tracy, is not that knowledgeable on HOW supplements work. She just describes what worked for her, but when it comes to explanations, she can't really offer much or explain things in a clear way. I know we don't know for sure how some supplements/herbs work either, but at least we try to understand the various possibilities. But as you pointed out, some of the comments her website gets can be useful in trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Perhaps I can try EPO again..it used to make my skin glow, but after my digestion issues got worse, nothing seemed to work and I also got a reaction to vitex :/ I think my body just can't handle too many things at once anymore.
Ok, so what I have been taking most days:
100mg of DIM...sometimes I'll add another 50mg if I had a cheat meal or am under a lot of stress.
Inositol in the morning on an empty stomach,I guess it's around 600mg. Sometimes I'll go up to 800mgs. The bloating comes and goes depending on the time of the month...but so far I can handle it. I'll up the exercise when I move and see if that helps...my body usually snaps back with a little discipline.
Thanks hearts. I guess I was mistaken, I thought I had read that you were starting DIM while weaning off spiro, but maybe it was the progesterone cream that you started while coming off of spiro? Ive read so many posts and reviews that its difficult not to have some transference.
I have started three pills of DIM, just to try an accelerate things. You said in an earlier post that you continued to breakout like normal for weeks after starting DIM, but when did you start to notice improvement? I just need some encouragement ! How long did you take DIM for in total?
Thanks for sharing your experience with me hearts.
Thanks very much for replying hearts. I agree, it is a risk to be weaning down from spiro while taking DIM; however, as the study that WishClean posted on this thread (which led me to understand and believe I have estrogen dominance in the first place) stated, spiro can increase estrogen. Therefore, I am hypothesizing that taking DIM will be of little effect if I keep adding estrogen into my body in the form of my nightly spiro. Do I remember correctly, you started DIM while you were still onbut almost weaned off ofspiro too, right?
Youre probably right about the dose, unless the formula has changed since you used it, two to four pills should be OK. Thats a good point about the added absorption that Natures Way supposedly has. When you added three did you notice significant improvement as opposed to just the two?
Im happy you found some reassurance about inositol and weight gain. I wonder if you took DIM with it, it might help process any excess estrogen that could possibly have built up from the anti-androgen effects of inositol?
I really hope DIM works for me as well as it did for you, I need these nodules gone! Its very distressing to have something that makes it painful to even smile.
I completely understand your theory about spiro raising estrogen. I think that is the biggest reason I had side effects while on it. I didn't take DIM while on spiro, though, I had completely stopped spiro before starting it. I don't know if the estrogen from spiro would affect DIM... I'll look into it.
Though I think taking three pills instead of two helped speed things along, I can't be totally sure since I haven't tried taking only two the entire time. If I were in your position I would consider taking three but it's up to you!
Thanks for the suggestion! I've thought about adding DIM back in to help with processing out inositol but I think I'll just try to be patient and see what happens before I do... I'd rather not take anything I don't really need to. (:
Oh, and I totally understand what you mean about the pain... there were times it would hurt to eat or sleep, or even breathe because of where the acne was located. There is hope, though! (: I hope it works for you too, and works soon!
Yes, I was/am concerned about DIM losing its effectiveness, but I found that if I up the dose by 50mg when I hit a plateau then it keeps working...and then I lower it back down to 100mg. I tried 50mg for a while but I think 100mg is the right dose for me right now.
Also, I had lowered my inositol to about 200mg-400 per day, and noticed that the melasma was getting darker...now I upped it to the regular dose (about 800mg) and the melasma seems to have faded a bit. It's crazy how my body reacts to hormonal supplements & herbs. It seems that I need both inositol and DIM, which is fine since I'd rather take those than birth control or anything else.
I've also been minimizing grains lately, and if I had more discipline, I think it would help my skin a lot more. The optimal PCOS diet doesn't have many grains anyway (perhaps except rice and millet), so I'm trying to stick to it as much as possible. I still have some little bumps under the surface of my skin, but I noticed they got much better when I upped the inositol to 800mg...I've also been wearing less makeup and did a lactic peel recently, which could have helped too.
Thanks hearts. I guess I was mistaken, I thought I had read that you were starting DIM while weaning off spiro, but maybe it was the progesterone cream that you started while coming off of spiro? Ive read so many posts and reviews that its difficult not to have some transference.
I have started three pills of DIM, just to try an accelerate things. You said in an earlier post that you continued to breakout like normal for weeks after starting DIM, but when did you start to notice improvement? I just need some encouragement ! How long did you take DIM for in total?
Thanks for sharing your experience with me hearts.
No problem (: I think I took it for a year and a half? Maybe longer. It's hard to remember when exactly I saw improvement starting, probably 2-3 months. Hopefully taking the increased dose helps you see progress sooner!
Thanks hearts! 
Thanks hearts. I guess I was mistaken, I thought I had read that you were starting DIM while weaning off spiro, but maybe it was the progesterone cream that you started while coming off of spiro? I™ve read so many posts and reviews that it™s difficult not to have some transference.
I have started three pills of DIM, just to try an accelerate things. You said in an earlier post that you continued to breakout like normal for weeks after starting DIM, but when did you start to notice improvement? I just need some encouragement ! How long did you take DIM for in total?
Thanks for sharing your experience with me hearts.
No problem (: I think I took it for a year and a half? Maybe longer. It's hard to remember when exactly I saw improvement starting, probably 2-3 months. Hopefully taking the increased dose helps you see progress sooner!