How do you feel in yourself?
These readings are quite a minefield I think and as long as the medics are quoting the 'ideal' levels for protecting brain, bones and heart, I have come to the conclusion that we are going to fixate more on them, than how we actually feel in ourselves?
I say this because I had an appointment with a meno specialist on Monday. I have been on the 75 patch since last August/September and have had loads of bleeding whilst on it. I said I felt my mood was better than on the gel and felt more balanced, but bleeding was getting me down and some symptoms were not really under control. She recomended to begin with, to lower the patch dose from 75 to 50 (with a synthetic progesterone). I am on day 1 today. No idea how it's going to go, but she said we have flexibiliy and options.
So back to you Ella. Your reading seems reasonable. BUT your symptoms have not improved. If it was me and I was not feeling great on the 50, I would be looking to increase to the 75 and monitor how I felt. It may be that your reading needs to be even higher for you to feel good and that is okay. Some women feel well with a reading of 100 or less. Before I even went on HRT, I had a reading of 750 (my own hormones must have been dropping!) I also had a reading of 400 with sky high hormonal anxiety. My last reading wasn't even detectable and I didn't think I felt too bad!
So, I say, ignore readings for now and go on how you FEEL :-)
If you feel grim on the 75, drop back to 50. Or switch to a different patch brand? Or, there is the new (ish) spray to try (Lenzetto). Plenty of options.
Good luck.
Hi Nas, thanks for taking time to respond -really appreciate it!
How do I feel? That is a great question and one that is not straightforward for me to answer. Mentally I feel like I could imagine someone feeling with too much estrogen stimulation (jittery, anxious, fast heart beat etc), but my body feels dry, I've lost weight, and I"m not feeling the slightest amount bloated, so from these signs I'd read I probably have too little estrogen...
![Huh? ???](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/huh.gif)
Due to my bodily sensations I was inclined towards being on the low side with oestrogen, as I know anxiety etc can also be caused by low oestrogen. But now seeing the reading with 480 I'm likely to think maybe it is the other way around...
Interestingly, during the time I've had estradiol measured, I've felt best (mentally) when it was 90 (before HRT). But I obviously don't want to go that low again, as I do want to get the benefits of HRT for brains, heart, bones etc. So I'm trying to figure what would be the lowest amount that still provides this protection, but would allow mental stability as well. Or does such level even exist..?
So true this is a minefield and the only way we can manage is to take ownership like you say!! I'm currently inclined towards keeping the 50 mcg for a little longer, and see if it starts to settle. If not, I might experiment going slightly lower first, and if it leads to worse, then moving up towards to the 75.
Hopefully you'll get on well with the 50 mcg patch and the bleeding will be controlled! Please keep us posted on your journey and good luck!
xxx