Hormone levels

[Jennygirl]

That is wonderful- thank you for the info, Catherine Might you PM me your endo's name? I would like to have mine get in contact with them about the progesterone implant if you'd be comfortable with that.

Currently I am on a schedule to go in every 2 months for a progesterone shot. My endo told me progesterone wouldn't work subcutaneously... I think he mentioned something about the size of the molecule they have been able to synthesize... But perhaps they have discovered a new way to synthesize it which would be fantastic. I'd love to know my progesterone levels are just as steady as estradiol and skip the shots!

Thanks again, woop!

And yes, I am very happy with the steady delivery rate! It's one of the main reasons I went for implants as well.

[Jennygirl]

Also I just found this PDF online that details subcutaneous HRT implants... A good read for anyone who is curious about them.

http://www.collegepharmacy.com/images/download/BHRTPelletFAQ.pdf

I wonder if it's the same place they order them from- the publisher is from Colorado USA

[A]

Even though I'm not too fond of being cut, implants sound nice. I don't think we can get those in Canada, though. It would be awesome if it could be an "intelligent" implant though. One that would monitor your blood levels, and pick proteins from the blood, make estradiol out of them, and release them to keep levels at the desired range. And of course, since it would produce, not release, hormones, it would be a permanent, one-time procedure. :p Pretty awesome indeed.

[Catherine Sarah]

Even though I'm not too fond of being cut, implants sound nice. I don't think we can get those in Canada, though. It would be awesome if it could be an "intelligent" implant though. One that would monitor your blood levels, and pick proteins from the blood, make estradiol out of them, and release them to keep levels at the desired range. And of course, since it would produce, not release, hormones, it would be a permanent, one-time procedure. :p Pretty awesome indeed.

I believe it's coming out in the next software release, A. 

My Endo checked his site from the last one and siad there was no sign of scarring. With a local anaesthetic shot you feel nothing.It's only a 3mm incision I've felt more pain during electrolysis. This guy was like a mosquito bite. 

But yes; the set and forget for 6 months is nice. Nearly goofed this morning reaching for my progesterone pill.  Plus knowing this is the most efficient form of delivery. My Endo imports his supply from, of all places, Colorado, US.

Give them a go. You won't look back.

Huggs
Catherine

[kae m]

Wow, that's weird.  I kinda wondered if my E wasn't a bit low? I mean it's in the female range but my endo just said it's fine and I was thinking most trans women have 2x as much it seems like (but she just adjusted the spiro the first time).  But she also suggested maybe patches before bloodwork was done.

The LH/FSH thing confuses me cause mine were varied, My LH was 6.4 which is in the middle of the reference range, FSH was around 1 I think, which is low? (Sorry I don't remember the units, just the standard ones)

Unfortunately I don't recall what my E levels or LH & FSH levels were specifically, but the endo said my estrogen was jumping between too low and too high over the time we were trying to get things sorted out. What I remember was the endo's attempt at humor asking me if I was taking fertility drugs to try to get pregnant while also using steroids to bulk up - evidently that's what my levels looked like to him.

[Jamie D]

Wait.. like androcur? You can't get that in the US? D:

Ughh I was gonna suggest that to endo if the spiro increase did nothing

I was prescribed bicalututimide (brand name Casodex) because of a drug interaction between spirolactone and lisinopril, one of my heart medications.

[Maegan]

I was on Androcur for about a year. (It is available here in South Africa) I got a shot every second week. I can tell you one thing, Androcur is chemical castration!
Not that it bothered me at all. I went over to Spiro a couple of months ago and I am getting better results. Okay, I do pee like a racehorse on steroids, but have learnt to live with it.

Spiro is also a lot cheaper here than Androcur.

Both work well though.

Huggs

Megs

[A]

Catherine Sarah: It's not a matter of choice. If some higher-up in the health system doesn't decide you can use a medication, you can't, period. Higher-ups who are usually quite cautious with health risks, as well as costs.

Maegan: Yes, it is. They use it on some criminals. I find it a much more sensible approach to the trans issue (at least once everyone is sure of the problem), because instead of just fiddling with testosterone and eventually getting levels down, its main purpose is to, well, destroy, not to mention it's a progestin, so whatever unproven advantages there could be with progesterone, you might as well get them too. Switching to spiro after a while makes sense, too, I guess, since once the organs aren't producing so much anymore, fiddling with what is left might be the most effective course of action.

[Alainaluvsu]

My T has stayed suppressed since the first test I took. But I had 1 less T test than E because the doctor considered it suppressed enough not to test for it all the time.

Test 1 (2 months) - 25 ng/ml
Test 2 (5 months) - 9 ng/ml
Test 3 (10 months) - 7 ng/ml
Test 4 (12 months) - 18 ng/ml
Test 5 (16 months) - <3 ng/ml (ie undetectable)

My E has bounced all over the place.

Test 1 (2 months) - 175 pg/ml
Test 2 (5 months) - 722 pg/ml
Test 3 (8 months) - 88 pg/ml
Test 4 (10 months) - 112 pg/ml
Test 5 (12 months) - 230 pg/ml
Test 6 (16 months) - 135 pg/ml

Progesterone was in the 12.5 range every time it was taken.

My CMP, TBC, Liver Panel tests always showed normal on everything.

I've had pretty good results with HRT. I'm a B cup (bordering a C), my muscles thinned out to the point where they look cis, cheek fat is coming in nicely, skin tone is feminine, I pass now when I never could've before HRT.

[Tammy M]

I just got my hormone levels tested again at the 9 month HRT mark and they are:  Estrogen 183.6, Testosterone less than 10.  My sodium is a little low so the doctor wants a 25% reduction in Spiro, which should be ok because my T is so low anyway.  Also I am going to increase my estrogen dose by 25%.

[judithlynn]

Hi Girls;
I must admit I am about confused about all these levels as my Doctor/GP in Melbourne says that testing E levels is very unreliable but for me its all about getting the T Levels as low as possible.

Currently I am only on Oestrogen 2 tablets daily (No dosage). My Doctor says that Progesterone is not worth it for me as my T levels are so low ll it would probably do is cause a rise in my T levels and give me depression and  other stuff without really doing anything on the breast development.

I am now coming up to 4 months on HRT

When I started my T Levels were 8 ng/ml
After 1 month my T levels were 7.9 ng/ml
After 3 months they had dropped to 5.8 ng/ml

This is when my Doctor increased my doasge of Oestrogen

His aim for me is to get my T under 2.0 ng/ml but he said anything now under 4 ng/ml will start to get some more dramatic results. Already down below has stopped working completely which is just wonderful.

I am not sure why though that he says E levels are not worth testing for me.

Hugs

Judith Lynn

PS Sarah, can you email me the name of your Sydney Endo as I would love to get a second opinion about possible implants.

[muuu]

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[muuu]

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[A]

My estrogen level is 128 pmol/L. While my endocrinologist says it is perfect  I am not so sure because that brings me in the normal range of men and post-menopausal women.
I am very worried that with such a low level I will never get an optimal feminization. Does anyone of you have advice or some knowledge about this?

I am pretty much in the same situation. Very similar blood levels, too. I have not had any feminization at all, or very little of it.

My endo aims for 400-600 pmol/L (more or less; forgot what he said exactly), and the only reason I'm being kept as such low levels (which are indeed the "bare minimum" that's being aimed for in menopause) is that I've had a streak of "falsified" results because of Estrogel that had been applied to the sampling area not long before the test. Two successive tests appeared at 1100 and 450 pmol/L, both unrealistic numbers (and once is twice as much as the other).

Unless they're saying it's okay "for a start" and they want to start slow (which is perfectly fine), your endo is treating you like a post-menopausal woman. Which won't do. Have a serious talk with them and/or find someone else. It would even be surprising to have any visible feminization at all with such levels. At over one year with such levels, the most I've had is sore nipples.