First Blood Test

[Artesia]

Well, it's been about 5 months on HRT and the VA checked my blood for Estradiol levels for the very first time.  This is the second total blood test they have administered, but the first one was a BMP and didn't include hormone levels.  They haven't checked for any other hormone levels.  My Estradiol level is 147pg/mL.  Is this normal at this point?  The test was taken about 5 hours after taking my Estradiol pill.

[Deborah]

Yes, that is higher than mine was at that point.  It should continue to go up more.  I plateaued at around a year.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

[JeanetteLW]

   My first blood tests after I told my VA doctor I had started taking spiro and Estrogen (about 6 weeks in) showed all my T levels were well within the female ranges and my estradiol level was 97 also within the desired female range (about the middle of it)
   My doctor was good about my revelation, no recrimination at all and supportive. He immediately added the hormone tests to the labs I was already scheduled for.

    Jeanette

[Dena]

Estradiol tablets can produce reading all over the place depending on how they are taken. If you swallow the pill the levels tend to be low but reasonably constant. If you hold them under your tongue or in you cheek you will get very high levels that fall to far lower levels in just a few hours. Normally you would want to measure your levels just before your next dosage in order to find the low point. In my case, I only take one a day so I need to be 24 hours away from my last dosage. The level you are at is within the transition range and if you are at that level or higher, you should have no problem.

[Artesia]

I take one a day, about 6:30 am.  I hold it under the tongue, it dissolves in about 10 minutes.  I take it before work.  Would changing my time have any adverse affects?   My next appointment is March first at 2 pm, and is supposed to include another blood test.

[Dena]

You need to discuss when to take your last dosage before the test as they will be far lower had you waited 24 hours. There is a chart where a dosage using this method was mapped and it peaked out at around 500 shortly after the dose but ended up under 40 24 hours latter. At 5 hours, the level had dropped to 80. Estradiol only has a half life of a few hours in the body and unfortunately pills have issues with shifting levels. When I swallow mine, my body converts almost all of it to estrone which isn't very useful. I am trying holding the pill in my cheek and I can feel it's working better but I am still a couple of months from a blood test so I don't know how much that changes things.