hi
i was wondering if anyone can give me some comfort
i have been on ert for quite a few months ( dont need progesterone as i have a mirena coil) and did not seem to be working, i went to see my gyno 4 weeks ago tested my fsh level and came back as 37.5, he told me this was elevated.
i told him i didnt feel any better on the estrogen, so he upped my dose, it is nearly 3 weeks since i upped my dose and i still dont feel much better, does it take longer than this to feel good, i really need your input as i am getting very discouraged with all of this, am i being impatient i cant seem to find out how long it might take to work fully
You said the doctor tested your FSH levels...did he also test the levels of other hormones in your body. From what I'm coming to understand, a lot of women are on increased levels of estrogen when they are actually estrogen dominant. I've read that saliva testing to determine which hormones are high and which are low can be more effective.
You might still be feeling lousy because they've upped the estrogen when you're already at high estrogen levels.
Just a thought. My doctor said my FSH was normal but didn't have any of the hormone levels tested. I'm pushing now to get a more thorough idea of just where my hormone levels are on estrogen, progesterone, testosterone etc.
I am so confused over hormone testing. How accurate is it? Doesn't hormone levels change often when a women is going thru peri? How would you know if you're too high or low on any hormone if they change so frequently? That is really a concern when it comes to mixing bio-identical hormones. What might be right today could be wrong tomorrow. I have read where doctors won't do hormone testing because the tests are so unreliable. I think giving Rx's for hormones is a guessing game for doctors. I have never talked to one women who started on hormones and felt great right away. They always have to go back in and get adjustments several times before they feel better. Our symptoms change on a daily basis, makes sense that our hormones would too. Good luck Andrea on finding the right combo. Don't give up until you see an improvement.
I've been using compounded hormones for about 9 months and I still have times when symptoms seem to reappear or when I just feel simply BLAH!!! Then there are those times when I feel almost 100% normal again...I think I had about two weeks back in the Spring .
Recently I received the results from my saliva test and my progesterone, estrogen, testosterone and DHEA are below the minimum range. Since I've been taking progesterone for months and my levels are still below the range there is now the question as to why my body isn't absorbing the hormones.
I agree with Cruiser that this hormone business is strictly guess work, it's not a science and will require monitoring and tweaking. Although my doctor is basing treatment upon my symptoms and saliva test results there are doctors who disagree with the validity of the saliva test. Yes, this is all guess work, but I'm thankful that we do have options because no treatment is not an option for many of us.
thanks for all your replies, i live in the uk and they dont do saliva testing here or bio identical hormones.
i have a gyno appointment in 7 weeks and if i dont feel any better i am going to ask for all my hormone levels to be tested maybe then i will know what is going on.
we are also in the middle of a heatwave here and dont think that is helping along with all the peri symptoms, will report back when i have some answers
thanks to you all
I am so confused over hormone testing. How accurate is it? Doesn't hormone levels change often when a women is going thru peri? How would you know if you're too high or low on any hormone if they change so frequently? That is really a concern when it comes to mixing bio-identical hormones. What might be right today could be wrong tomorrow. I have read where doctors won't do hormone testing because the tests are so unreliable. I think giving Rx's for hormones is a guessing game for doctors. I have never talked to one women who started on hormones and felt great right away. They always have to go back in and get adjustments several times before they feel better. Our symptoms change on a daily basis, makes sense that our hormones would too. Good luck Andrea on finding the right combo. Don't give up until you see an improvement.
hey ya'll,
I'm new to this posting stuff. I was put on HRT about 5 months ago, and have been feeling great untill this past month. My symptoms have begun to return, but not as severly as before i started HRT's. I'm suffering from anxiety attacks, nervousness, listlessness, fatigue, I just feel yucky. This post really helped me by reading that HRT's need to be adjusted at times. I have a strong family history of heart desiese,both my grandfathers, my grandmother, and my dad died of heartattacks, and my mom has had a stroke, so i was really worried that I may be haveing small symptoms ,, or even symptoms of lung cancer. I have a doc appt the 20th, and thanks again to ya'll for easing my mind a bit :-)
I found a gyno 2 years ago (but had to move away and find someone else ) that gave me the saliva test. Her practice was based around more natural remedies for peri and menopausal women, including bioidentical hormones. At that time, all my hormones were at menopausal levels even though I was still cycling. I started on bioidentical hormones (compounded for me) and it did take about 3 months before I started feeling more back to normal. Some symptoms went away quickly (like fatigue), others took a while (like my racing heart). After 6 months, we did another test and my estrogen and testosterone levels were a little high, so we adjusted the prescription and I've done pretty well ever since. I still get pretty bad PMS and feel very sensitive to certain things (get anxious easily, insomnia at PMS time, cranky at PMS time, etc.) but this all seems to be more manageable now. It IS still pretty much guesswork, but if you can find a Dr. that is willing to work with you to find a happy medium, it's probably worth the effort. No matter what HRT you are taking, one size doesn't fit all.
Hopefully: I remember when I started with the hormones, my Dr. told me that we would retest because some women didn't absorb through their skin as well and in that case you would take pill forms (which I guess are a little harder to compound/prescribe than the cream form, but still doable. Ask your Dr. about this.
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) that gave me the saliva test. Her practice was based around more natural remedies for peri and menopausal women, including bioidentical hormones. At that time, all my hormones were at menopausal levels even though I was still cycling. I started on bioidentical hormones (compounded for me) and it did take about 3 months before I started feeling more back to normal. Some symptoms went away quickly (like fatigue), others took a while (like my racing heart). After 6 months, we did another test and my estrogen and testosterone levels were a little high, so we adjusted the prescription and I've done pretty well ever since. I still get pretty bad PMS and feel very sensitive to certain things (get anxious easily, insomnia at PMS time, cranky at PMS time, etc.) but this all seems to be more manageable now. It IS still pretty much guesswork, but if you can find a Dr. that is willing to work with you to find a happy medium, it's probably worth the effort. No matter what HRT you are taking, one size doesn't fit all.
