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[joziel]

It's hard to say, you need FSH - not estrogen. Estrogen levels can vary even in a pre-menopausal woman from 50 to 800+ over the course of a month. Which is why it's not reliable to look at estrogen levels.

The HRT has to add in a stable amount for you as an individual, if you keep the same level of patch or whatever, I'd have thought. That's what it's designed to do.

Were you always a 75 patch, across all those tests? If not, it's a bit impossible to figure anything out...

[Floo36]

sorry to confuse you Nas but id say its not definite that you are post.  When you did those bloods in 2019 were you on HRT and the same dose?  Its just the symptoms you mention especially a libido that comes and goes is like me when I have spikes of estrogen, this will happen until meno hits, the ovaries can spurt out massive amounts of estrogen at times, I fluctuate a lot.  I wonder how much we can fluctuate in the first year or two of meno. 

You can't really go by FSH either in peri as you could be menopausal one minute and not the next, that's my experience anyway. How are we meant to work it all out?  All I know is that i have worked most of it out and know that I need estrogen to rid me of my dreadful symptoms and be well again. 

[Nas]

I’m beginning to think you are right Floo, maybe I’m peri after all.

Those bloods in Oct 2019 were after 3 months on 1mg sandrena I think. By December 2019 they had dropped to 118 on the same dose.

To be honest, i don’t know where I am any longer. The libido has vanished, the mood is low and my tummy hurts. Can’t get this coil removed and no clue what oestrogen i need. 

A monumental mess comes to mind!!

[Floo36]

Sounds like it Nas, it explains things.  If you still have symptoms you probably need more estrogen, dont rely on bloods.  It took me a long time to work it out as I was told i was meno or post that was in 2019 and I am not, shouldn't be long but not there yet and still trying to get estrogen into me.

[Nas]

Oh lord Floo, what am I going to do. Ive had breast cancer and specialist isnt a fan of high doses at the best of times!

What a bigger mess! 

[Nas]

Floo, any clue how to push forward with this? Im having huge fluctuations every few days now. I mean real highs and lows.  The libido has literally gone!

[Floo36]

I would say it depends how bad your meno symptoms are and if you can manage or are they really affecting your quality of life.  I think its got to be a balance and a joint decision but ultimately your decision.

[Nas]

Yes, clearly the oestrogen i'm on now, isn't enough.

[SummerBat]

There is this fear of Estrogen amongst professionals, I wonder if they would fear it if they didn’t absorb it well and needed high doses too.  It’s not about the dose but about how much we take in which cannot be established by blood tests in peri. I absorb barely anything whether oral or transdermal so it’s really upsetting when doctors concentrate on dose rather than symptom control. As I am peri I know what my low, fluctuating and high symptoms are which are very different, it has taken me a long time to work out though.

Floo (Hi!), I know this is an old thread but my searching brought me here and I'm so interested to know how you know whether your estrogen levels are high, low or fluctuating? I have been trying to work out what is going on with mine for a long time. I've been on HRT for 8 months and life is definitely much better but I do still struggle with symptoms in the first half of my cycle. The symptoms being lack of refreshing sleep, fatigue, dry mouth, gurgling guts and churning belly, general lethargy. I've been round and round in my own head about histamine, iron, low estrogen, high estrogen.... I know you are not me and there might not be relevance but I'm so keen to hear your experience. I know for me there is a big iron involvement too. I was anaemic and got very ill a few years ago and I still struggle to keep the levels up despite lots of supplementation. I had lots of investigations at the time and it's thought to just be heavy periods but i know there's a hormonal involvement. Thanks for anything you can share.

[Bungo]

Two high FSH readings are pretty conclusive that you are menopausal.

It's only during peri that we can't tell what is happening because your estrogen could be all over the place whilst your FSH is still low.

When you say menopausal do you mean postmeno or also include perimenopausal?