Why dont our doctors tell us everything about estrogen?

[Emily Ray]

I have been doing a great deal of reading these last two months about Estrogen and progesterone imbalance. I am convinced that taking high doses of estrogen can lead to possible brain damage if some type of progesterone is not taken with it. What I am talking about is the damage high levels of glutamate can cause to neurons in the brain.

The male body produces progesterone in two areas the adrenal glands and the testis. When we take high levels of estrogen the male body stops producing progesterone in the testis and what is created in the adrenal glands is used to produce cortisol. That leaves the transwoman in a state of cronic low progesterone.

Progesterone is found in GG's in its highest concentrations in the brain. It is there that it helps protect the neurons from the damage caused by glutamate. Now I am not going so far as to say that low progesterone is going to cause MS, Alzheimers or Dementia, but low levels of progesterone are found in all three of these diseases.

So, I know that estrogen increases glutamate levels which kills neurons, low progesterone is associated with terrible diseases and because of my transition I am being set up for possible future problems. Now I am not going to stop taking estrogen because of these risks, but if I can't get a prescription for progesterone from a Doctor soon I will take matters into my own hands.

Key terms to locate information for further reading.

Progesterone deficiency
Estrogen dominance
Excitotoxicity

Huggs

Emily Ray

[Jennifer_Lynn]

I agree with Emily,

I just started estradiol valerate injection that my doctor prescribed. I have notice a serious lack of energy since starting. It takes time to get used to meds so I'm really not too worried. The biggest thing I'm worried about is estrogen dominance. I am way colder than I use to be and that being one of the signs of ED. I have talked to my Endo about progesterone and ED. Although he is my doctor I am his first male to female TS. Now if are brains are very much like female brains as its thought, then why would we not benefit from a dose of progesterone. Forget that it may or may not help in breast development. I'm more interested in body health and balance. And since our testies have stopped making pretty much anything I do believe that at least some progesterone is needed.

Isabella

[Julo]

I have been worried about my hormone situation since I just had a burnout. And I had all the symptoms for a long time. Stress has to do with adrenalin and cortisol and I wonder how an MtF HRT situation effects and is effected. I will contact my endo too but not so sure I will get any good answers. It´s pretty much experimenting this whole HRT business as it looks like.
I have always been scared of the health issues of hormones but see no alternative. Same with SRS.

[veronica nickie]

Hi

I am mtf ts and having been on theraputic levels of estrogen for about three years I am always interested in anything I can learn on this topic, especially since most of us are being treated by compassionate if not all knowing dr's on gender transition.

Do any of you know the name what would be on any of my blood test to identify the levels of progesterone??  Then do you know what is considered normal ranges for male and female of this??

thanks!

Veronica

[Emily Ray]

Julo- Progesterone is the precursor to cortisol, because our bodies are not producing the progesterone that we did before starting HRT. Cortisol is the body's stress hormone and as we all know transition is stressful. So our bodies use up all the cortisol it can produce and it runs out of the chemical precursor progesterone and the adrenal glands suffer from fatigue.

Progesterone also effects how the thyroid functions. If you have cold hands and feet you may be suffering from hypothyroidism. You can treat the symptoms with thyroid hormone or treat the cause low progesterone.

The important thing to remember with all of this is it can be fixed, but you need to find the right doctor. I have an appointment with a new doctor for my HRT next Tuesday. She is an OB/GYN and has been treating transgender patients for at least 15 years. I know from discussions with other transwomen in my area that she regularly prescribes progesterone to transwomen.

I have lost faith in board certified endocrinologists. The ones I have dealt with in the past didn't see me as a woman but as a male bodied person only interested in feminizing my body. They never considered how the hormones they prescribed for me would effect the rest of my body or how I can now have a host of problems that are normally considered in a female population.

Huggs

Emily

[Julo]

Thanks.
My problem right now is that I don´t know where my it starts from since I am under ALOT of stress even without transitioning. But it makes sense that Estrogen has made my situation worse since I started to lose control after my dose was increased.
My E and T levels have been correct though. My T is down to normal bio female levels without T blockers. It´s a mess and I have a really bad burnout and my SRS is going to be in about two months.

[Julo]

Hope your new doctor will be good!
I will have a proper talk with mine to check what they know.

[Emily Ray]

Veronica- the blood test is called Serum Progesterone. In normal ovulating females it varies from .5 ng/ml to 20 ng/ml. In normal men serum progesterone levels are lower than 1 ng/ml. It is important to recognize that we are not normal men and our progesterone production is even lower than normal men and is on par with post menopausal women. But, we are not post menapausal women we have estrogen levels of a teenager going through puberty and without proper progesterone levels we can suffer a host of problems.

Huggs

Emily

[lilacwoman]

English doctors won't prescibe high estrogen HRT for menopausal women as it has found to cause dementia/paranoia type problems and shrinkage of brains in a significant number.

BRSS is the name for this shrinkage as it is an unacknowldeged problem affecting lesbians who ingest significant amounts of vaginal estrogen from an early age - the body has its own idea of what is normal/good so adding estrogen is not good and explains the problems GGs and lesbians get and logically might explain why a newbie TS on E passes through the phase of social anxiety/paranoia about passing/harassmnet etc.

I had a few blood tests but the doctors didn't know what half the numbers meant and even the endos say that while my health is good all that is needed is to keep the E high and the T low.

Considering that todays' nutrition standards are so low that my local hospital says over 40% of patients are technically malnourished from lack of a varied diet we have to think that as our bodied reflect what we put in them this malnourishment probably means that the body isn't getting some tiny bit of a element/chemical that it needs to be perfec tly tuned so trying to get every blood test number absolutely perfect for transition is probably impossible for the vast majority of people.

[veronica nickie]

Thanks Emily Ray!

A serious topic and as so many we face so few in the medical profession in tune, despite some with great acceptance and compassion!!

thanks
Veronica

[Annah]

yes, i have to say that hormone replacement therapy introduced into an opposite gender (or same gender for that matter) is still pretty much an unexplored medical territory. There are tons of theories very just a few concrete outcomes.

Which, in my opinion, makes it all the more important to be monitored constantly by a doctor versus getting it done by yourself.

[Joelene9]

yes, i have to say that hormone replacement therapy introduced into an opposite gender (or same gender for that matter) is still pretty much an unexplored medical territory. There are tons of theories very just a few concrete outcomes.

Which, in my opinion, makes it all the more important to be monitored constantly by a doctor versus getting it done by yourself.

It is unexplored territory.  They still don't know all of the facts of the most important hormone, insulin.  The diabetics still get blind and or lose limbs from their condition despite the advances in treatment.  We are the guinea pigs here with the sex hormones.  We and the doctors have to go by the anecdotal evidence here because of the few number of us.  Reading the anecdotes on Susan's there are differing results with each person.  No real standard.
  There are at least 100 molecular compounds identified as estrogens.  Some of these occur naturally, we get Premarin from pregnant mare's urine.  That and the other estrogens we take have different strengths, side effects and warnings.  It is the hormones of any kind that ends up in our food and water that is a concern now with health officials.  Some of the things that are found are xenoestrogens made from manufacturing processing wastes.  Molecules that act like estrogen but their real properties are unknown.  We eat this stuff, these are found in a lot of our foodstuffs. 
  Still a lot to study on this hormone. 
  Joelene.

[Colleen Ireland]

I just started estradiol valerate injection that my doctor prescribed. I have notice a serious lack of energy since starting.

I've heard this from other girls, too, who are on Spiro and Estradiol without progesterone.  I'm on Suprefact, Estrace and Prometrium (micronized bio-identical progesterone), and I've noticed none of those things.  I have a normal amount of energy, I don't get extra-cold, my extremities are fine, and my development is proceeding nicely.  I got my prescription by seeing a reproductive endocrinologist.  He runs a clinic mostly for women who need help conceiving, or are perimenopausal, but he knows his stuff with regards to MTF, also.