Pheromone & Social Influence Research Forum

Hi! I was sent a link here by a former comrade from PT. I didn't post very often but found that it wasn't quite the right vibe for me - lots of drama and downplaying the actual science behind things. Not to say that there weren't a lot of smart people there, but I felt like there was an abundance of posters who'd fall into the trap of calling out some specific falling out in a relationship and blaming the event 100% on a bad/incorrect blend. Given, there's going to be a lot of confirmation bias and using it yourself, you're only going to have your own personal data. But I'd like to believe that with anything else that a lot more factors need to be taken into account.

I am very interested in pheromone blends from a scientific standpoint - I actually am not using them at all for attracting a mate, as it were, but trying to promote a different kind of vibe to others and help with my own self confidence/anxiety issues. I have some hormonal issues such as possible PCOS, low DHEA and elevated cortisol, as well as being on birth control pills for some time (may possibly be the DHEA issue?). I know that women on birth control have been shown in studies to dull the preference for mates with an opposite MHC gene, and other studies have been done about women being less desirable on birth control with the lack of ovulation. So obviously I have some hormonal shortcomings that I'd like to address to put me up to normal.

I don't know how many women are on this forum yet but I'd love to see some more to get a balanced view! If anyone has anything more to add about hormone deficiencies/cortisol/etc. and using pheromones I'd love to hear about it, both personal experiences and links to studies.

Welcome, Mariposa! I'm very glad to see a woman joining the fold, especially one with a special interest in the science. I am also interested in the hormonal issues you describe -- my wife has been struggling with some wacky hormones the last couple of years as well, which has led to much research.

Would you mind if I split your introduction off into its own thread, so we can possibly get a discussion going about those issues?

My wife's hormonal issues are still a work in progress. She always had really bad periods, and generally reacted poorly to birth control medications (which of course led the doctors to try her on like every single one of them, because what else have they got to work with?) Over the last couple of years, she gradually progress to retaining water pretty much all the time.

We had her hormones tested a few months ago and everything was normal, except for slightly elevated DHEA. Wtf, right? The doc put her on spironolactone, which helped for a little while and then stopped her period and other created weird side effects like skin temperature dysregulation. She's been off the stuff for like a month now and is still slowly coming back around to her normal state of not-quite-right.

I've got her taking some standard nourishments -- magnesium, d3, & a good b-complex. I'm going to try her on .5mg-1mg pregnenolone next and see if that maybe helps her level out.