Susan's Place Transgender Resources

For several years now I've been taking sprionolactone and topical estradiol. Everything was going along great with normal female levels for both estrogen and testosterone. Now my T levels are back in the normal male range, almost 400 but my E levels are unchanged. My doctor has been helpful but still no answers yet. Has anyone else had this happen to them? I've never heard of this happening before.

Welcome to Susan's Place. Spiro wasn't available when I transitioned so what I know is through the reports of others. Several possibilities come to mind. First the lab may have messed up when they ran the sample. It doesn't happen often but it can happen. It's possible your medication was improperly handled and isn't as effective as it should be. It's also possible that your body has built up a tolerance to Spiro and the dosage may need adjustment or another drug needs to be considered. It is possible to transition without Spiro but even with Spiro's side effects, it's better if you have it. If you have questions for me, feel free to post them on this thread and I will do my best to answer them.

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Thanks for the warm welcome.
Unfortunately this has been going on for about six months and I've gone through different lots of Spiro from the pharmacy so I know it's not that. Increasing Sprio makes me nauseated so we're looking at another anti-andogen. My T levels were checked three separate times with similar results and I'm having unpleasant physical symptoms so I know it's not false readings. I've never heard of anyone developing a tolerance to Spiro and can't find anything on it so I'm not sure about that.
My doctor has checked my adrenal glands which appear normal and I'm getting checked for testicular cancer next week. This thing has me wondering what is going on.
 

Have you made any change that would compromise your absorption of spironolactone?

My doctor mentioned that the Spiro not being absorbed was a possibility. Nothing has changed that I can think of except that I've been on Prilosec for over a year now. Getting off that is my next priority.
I just got back from getting a testicular exam and had an earlier a ultrasound to check my adrenal glands, everything looked good. It looks like I'm not absorbing the Spiro or metabolising very quickly for some reason. 

Prilosec....
It can most definitely affect absorption !you have to make sure that you take the spiro at least 2 hrs- before or 2 hours after Prilosec. If you only take one dose of spiro a day then have that on the opposite time of day as yiur Prilosec. Another thing is, some people can manage with Prilosec once every other day. I do, so speak to your dr about that possibility. Particularly if you start coming up with vitamin and mineral deficiencies like anemia.

Prilosec decreases acid and as a result, can compromise absorption, not only of medications but of nutrients in foods like B12 and iron.