Hello
New here and would love some help with all this.
Just a little background to try and cut a long story short. I'm 44 years old, and I have been on Cyclical Bio-identical HRT for two years. Estrogel/Utrogestan. I was put on these by an Endo in another country I was living in. Before going on to HRT I had gone down the NHS route trying to get help with VERY severe PMS. I used to be very ill around ovulation and a week running up to my menses. My cycle was very short and could be irregular so I spent a lot of time in a very bad place. It was a long journey on the NHS and after blood tests it came back I was no where near the Menopause but I had very high Testosterone and Androstenediol.They though I had PCOS and ordered a scan, the scan came back absolutely clear, and I showed no other symptoms of PCOS, I am very insulin sensitive and weigh 8 stone, no acne, no infertility issues etc, so they said it was adrenal probably, or it could be "just me" and they could shut me down in my brain (Hypothalamus) but that would put me straight into Menopause. Or, they offered me SSRI's . I did not want either, I thought I would try and find out the route cause of my hormonal imbalance.
I had a lot of tests done by the Endo abroad and he found the same, that my Tesosterone was very high, and my Estradiol at that time, at Luteal was 122ng/L (range100-210) and at ovulation 130ng/L (range 150-600) but the weird thing is my FSH was 5.4 IU/L at Luteal(range 2-13) and 11.6 IU/L at ovulation (range 5-22). All other FSH were low on the NHS, as was my LH tests. So I was told I was not near menopause but I had a big hormone imbalance with very high Androgens and low Estrogens. I have Hypothyroidism which he treated successfully by changing to a different medication. He also said I had an enzyme problem which was the root cause of my issues, maybe no Aromatase?
? It was the same for my Thyroid,lacking an enzyme for conversion of T4 to T3, so I started on T3 as well as T4. He put me on Cortisol as my Cortisol was extremely low and this did get my Androgens into normal levels for the first time in years!!!!...which stopped the PMS in it's tracks. Life was good for a good 18 months
He put me on Estrogel 3 pumps a day and utrogestan 100mg from day 15 to day 26...I felt great for months..then the last 6 months PMS symptoms are getting really bad around ovulation again, I put on huge amounts of fluid 9/10lbs OVERNIGHT which sets of Angina due to an underlying genetic heart condition. I got tested last year and Estrogen suddenly went low on Estrogel it seemed to be swinging, after it spiking high the first 8 months he told me to go down to 2 pumps a day, androgens were still normal but I came off the Cortisol as I was worried about shutting down my own adrenal glands. It took some doing!!!! A very slow arduous wean!
I had recent bloods done as I was feeling so pumped up all the time, I run Marathons and I feel I need to run all day again, so I was thinking I wonder what my Androgens are again. My Testosterone was 75.09 ng/ml (range(0.5-50.0) So I am going high again. My Progesterone was 15,3 ng/ml (range 0.38-27-30) . My progesterone has actually come down after Utrogestan from my natural level?
But here was the killer my Estrogen was 373 pg/ml (range33-300) so too high as well now. I have been on 2 pumps a day for a good year now.
What I'd like to ask you ladies is... Do you think I should be on HRT with a low/normal FSH?? I have sought two other opinions from Gyne's one said yes, one said NO WAY??
Would my ovaries be kicking in now because my thyroid is in a much better place? Has anyone come off Estrogel here? I am getting a day 3 cycle test done for Estrogen next week, so I will see what I am like in that.
Also can anyone please suggest any names for Private Endo's/Gyne's who could help me at all in the UK? as we are now back living here full time after working abroad for a number of years.
Sorry for long ramble, it may not make much sense
but any help would be appreciated, as I feel pretty wired and running at 90 miles an hour again and I hate it, terrible ovulations and bad PMS AGAIN, which I have alway had since teen years, but so much worse from my late 30's. The NHS don't seem to offer much help as their stance is with my multiple underlying health issues especially with my heart they don't want me anywhere near HRT, but high Testosterone in itself is very hard on the heart but they do not want to help me with that, or the cyclical Angina
Thanks in advance ladies ...for anything