And yet another data point, plus some interesting new results; Michelle haz a happy!
I just got my three month labs (except for testosterone; still in the counter...)
Prolactin: 40 ng/mL
Estradiol: <50 pg/mL
Sodium and potassium levels look good. I'm on spiro so we track those. Creatinine and the lipid panel are disgustingly healthy.
OK, so why are these bad numbers good news?
The prolactin test isn't clever enough to tell the difference between monomeric prolactin, the stuff that helps us start nursing, and the giant megaprolactin molecules that are inert. A chromatographic test that separates them shows monomeric prolactin at 9 (normal range 3.4-14.
. So my little monster is just a boring microprolactinoma and won't be causing me any problems with growth or lactation.
But, the low estradiol? I'm on biweekly patches, one per week. These patches deliver for 84 hours, and rapidly drop off after that. Serum estradiol has a biological half-life of just a few hours. The lab blood was drawn 98 hours after the patch went on, so I expected the result to be below the minimum of the basic test.
So, now that we know my biology works like most humans, and my prolactin issues are an inert molecule bogey, I have the go-ahead to use two patches per week. Yay me!
= The End =
