Have had an orchiectomy. Have had blood work done for years now, taking pills, level has always been on the low side... 60 or so. xxx pills a day... just estrogen.
Decided to switch to injectables because I kept forgetting to take the pills. Did injectables for a month... decided to stop because it was very painful (would limp for a few days afterwards each time).
Got blood work done before switching back to pills... estrogen level was around 1,900.
Doctor said it was probably just my body reacting differently to the injectable estrogen. I didn't really think much of it because I've always felt pretty confident in her abilities. She said something in regards to the way my body metabolized the hormones. Didn't really ask further about it.
Since my estrogen level was low before hand while on pills, we go ahead and get me back on at xxx a day.
A month passes, I get more bloodwork done... my levels are still at 1,900... a few number above actually.
She tells me that she's sent my info to some local agency who I infer knows a thing or two about hormone levels in transwomen. She tells me the same metabolizing thing... I try to ask her exactly what could be going on... if I could somehow be producing too much hormones all of a sudden... she off-hand says something about tumors, but then quickly dismisses it.
She ultimately suggests waiting a few weeks off estrogen and then doing blood work again.
A week or two goes by and I begin to feel moody, crying a lot, hot flashes... and I really get to thinking about what she told me and what I really know... I get online start googling for info and the only thing I can find about estrogen levels so high involve women with ovarian cysts.
So I call her to ask if I can go ahead and get blood work done early to get a snapshot of exactly what is happening sooner than later, and I also ask her more detailed info about what the numbers mean.
She says the 1,900 is "active estrogen"... I was trying to get out of her whether there was just estrogen laying around my system not being used since the injections, or if this was stuff floating around my body was actually using.
I try asking her about how much estrogen could be in my body from the pills / injections... like actual numbers... since she seems to have a hypothesis the levels are based on "left lovers" from the injections... but she seems really vague about everything and not really grasping what I'm trying to ask her.
I ask her if she's heard back from what ever organization she sent my info too and she says that she hasn't heard anything.
I finally get frustrated and decide to get a second opinion from a local trans-doctor who specializes in HRT (my current doctor is recommended by local therapists but I don't believe she is as specialized as the second opinion I'm going to go see in a few weeks).
So today I go to get blood work done, and next week I'll see what it turns up as and grill my current doctor further.
Unfortunately the second opinion isn't going to happen till the end of the month.
Anyhow... I am posting this here because I am frustrated, a little frightened, and would really like more info on such high levels in transwomen, because I can't for the life of me find anything on the internet about anyone going through such a thing.
