I know that medication dosages cannot be discussed here but I was wondering what other members hormone levels (E and T) are and what method of delivery they are on and how long they have been on HRT?  What levels does your doctor say is ideal?

Estrogen: 157 pmol/L according to me and common sense. 450 or 1100 according to my endo, both on the same dose. I made a topic on that. >_> 400-600 is more or less what he's aiming for, regardless of how horribly doubtful the results are.

Testosterone: 0.5 nmol/L. He's made no comment, so I assume that's fine. It's on the low side for women, so.

I've been on cyproterone acetate (Androcur), a medium dose.

I started with Estrace, a low dose, and then I switched over to Estrogel, a low dose as well, the same they give to menopaused women to reach the ~200 bare minimum to tame the worst symptoms. I wanted the more stable delivery. But as of today I'm going back to Estrace, because Estrogel fakes test results and the endo refuses to look at the valid results (24 hours since last dose), and on top, Estrogel is sort of expensive, and not covered.

My HRT time is, well, down here, in my signature.

My Estradiol level stays between 150-200 pg/ml... and my Total Testosterone level stays around 20-25 ng/dl. Generally most endos want to keep your E levels between 100-200 pg/ml and your Total T level below 40 ng/dl. I've been on HRT 3 years, sublingual E and oral T blocker.

For those members living in the rest of the world (Europe, UK, et al) with the metric system (ie SI units) to convert your Estradiol level to US units (conventional units) divide your level by 3.67, which will convert it to pg/ml. To convert your Testosterone level to US units (conventional units) divide by .0347 to convert nmol/L to ng/dl. For us here in the US to convert to SI units, simply multiply your levels by those same factors for E & T respectively. That way we can compare apples to apples. Not apples to oranges.

First blood test after my first implant 'E' was 2068 pmol/L, 'T' didn't read, hasn't for the last 5 tests. Second blood test (6 weeks later) 'E' dropped and stabilised at 1824 pmol/L, again no 'T'.

Heading off for my second implant this Friday and will have Progesterone implant as well. Should be interesting to see next result.

After coping with the patch 'checker board' over my stomach for the first 7 months of HRT, implants are just so easy and comfortable.

Huggs
Catherine

I have also considered the implant route. Does it not hurt and leave liitle scars Catherine?

Huggs

Megs

Quote from: Maegan on January 15, 2013, 09:00:35 AM
I have also considered the implant route. Does it not hurt and leave liitle scars Catherine?

Huggs

Megs

I had some discomfort once the the local anaesthetic wore off, but only for a day or so. I currently have a very short visible scar, but it's fading quite quickly..

Hi Maegan,

Good to see you round. Hope 2013 realises your every wish and desire in abundance.

No it doesn't hurt, nor leave a scar. It requires two stitches what need to be removed 3- 4 days later. The incision for a 3mm implant is about 1.5 - 2.0mm incision, depending on how clumsy your Endo is (Fortunately mine isn't). The Progesterone is even smaller and my Endo is looking for a large hypo style injectable device. But for now I think I'm in for an even smaller incision.

Just to show how individual we all are; a girl I know interstate had an implant double my dosage and she went from 322 pmol/L to 435pmol/L. And I went from 483 to 2068 pmol/L. Go figure.

I know I'm skating on thin ice here with respects to ToS, but should you ever reach those lofty heights, it certainly takes you psychologically to an all new level of understanding.

Hope whichever way you go, you achieve the goals you desire.

Love
Catherine

Quote from: JennX on January 15, 2013, 08:25:07 AM
My Estradiol level stays between 150-200 pg/ml... and my Total Testosterone level stays around 20-25 ng/dl. Generally most endos want to keep your E levels between 100-200 pg/ml and your Total T level below 40 ng/dl. I've been on HRT 3 years, sublingual E and oral T blocker.

For those members living in the rest of the world (Europe, UK, et al) with the metric system (ie SI units) to convert your Estradiol level to US units (conventional units) divide your level by 3.67, which will convert it to pg/ml. To convert your Testosterone level to US units (conventional units) divide by .0347 to convert nmol/L to ng/dl. For us here in the US to convert to SI units, simply multiply your levels by those same factors for E & T respectively. That way we can compare apples to apples. Not apples to oranges.

Considering the standard for the world minus the US is the SI, I think it would've made more sense to convert your numbers to those, but anyway. xD

Quote from: Maegan on January 15, 2013, 09:00:35 AM
I have also considered the implant route. Does it not hurt and leave liitle scars Catherine?

Huggs

Megs

Btw Maegan that injection implant is over R3000 every 3 months here in South Africa(This is just the T blocker one though I remember we only get E pills here)

T= < 20.2 ng/dl

E= 177.2 pg/ml

I coverted my units to the american units because most members here seem to use those.
I use pills

paigeme: Probably there's a recent medication change and she wants it to stabilise. 3 months is what's generally said for hormones to really stabilise.

LilDevilOfPrada: Don't spread the evil! D: Kidding, kidding.

QuoteBtw Maegan that injection implant is over R3000 every 3 months here in South Africa(This is just the T blocker one though I remember we only get E pills here) 

Wow, that is expensive! I remember someone telling me that the implant is no longer available here in South Africa.

@ Catherine: It is nice to be back although I never really went away. I just got snowed under by work.

I am sure that 2013 is going to be a fantastic year for ALL of us!

Huggs

Megs

At 3 months I was 88 pg/ml E and 11 ng/dl  T and after a dose adjustment (more estrogen, slightly less spiro), at 5.5 months I was 128 pg/ml E and 14 ng/dl T.  I go back next month at the 9 month mark and will have them read again.  I see some people report their doctors shoot for much higher levels.  Some of it may be due to the European units but some are reporting in the units I am using.  I do see the Endocrine Society recomends E of less then 200 pg/ml and T less than 55 ng/dl.

Quote from: Tammy M on January 15, 2013, 06:27:31 PM
At 3 months I was 88 pg/ml E and 11 ng/dl  T and after a dose adjustment (more estrogen, slightly less spiro), at 5.5 months I was 128 pg/ml E and 14 ng/dl T.  I go back next month at the 9 month mark and will have them read again.  I see some people report their doctors shoot for much higher levels.  Some of it may be due to the European units but some are reporting in the units I am using.  I do see the Endocrine Society recomends E of less then 200 pg/ml and T less than 55 ng/dl.

I think it comes down simply to that all docs are different. Some swear by oral pills, other prefer injections. Some prescribe Tylenol for pain, others swear by Advil. There is a general consensus +/- among all the E & T level posted here overall. Some docs might like to be a bit more daring, others more conservative. It's all about the destination for me. I could care less how I get there.

girl you look fierce, sounds like you're not responding well to spiro. A pity you're in the US and you can't try cyproterone.

Tammy M, 88 pg/mL should be about 320 pmol/L, which is an acceptable value, although on the low side. If you're having good results, it should be okay. It all comes down to what the doctors are aiming for. The average levels for women, the average levels for teenagers, the lowest normal levels for women... I think yours is shooting for the lowest normal female values or so. "The smallest dose for the desired results" philosophy that many doctors have, forgetting that in a trans person's case, the "desired results" are the maximum results. But it's also one of the safest approaches. Until trans HRT is more of an exact science, which will take a long time, I think it'll be hard to say who's right and who's wrong. Especially when you're not an endo. By the way, don't call them european units; they're international units. It's only you in the US who are still using units from another age, along with feet, degrees Farenheit and ounces. :p

(It would be nice if a dedicated mod edited posts so they all have both units.)

Nope, you can't. US authorities consider it too dangerous or something. I'm not really sure of the reasons. Perhaps it's because some countries use it as chemical castration of sexual criminals and they find it inhuman, even though they actually kill some of their criminals.

The best I can do is give you this link. :c http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiandrogen

They do. And in the mean time, there's orchiectomy you can have.

Quote from: girl you look fierce on January 15, 2013, 09:36:27 PM
My E is like 66 pg/ml and my T is like 700 ng/dl 

I take medium-high dose of spiro and low dose of oral estradiol.

Been on hrt for like 8 months and FT for most of that so wtf right? Oh well. Trying to get it sorted out :-/

Have you tried a different form of estradiol other than tablets? Tablets never worked for me because my body wasn't processing them properly. I won't go into the whole thing, but pre-HRT my T was at ~325 ng/dl, the uneven processing of estradiol tablets drove my LH & FSH off the charts which drove my T levels to over 1200 ng/dl, and in 6 weeks (3 shots) on injections I was down to 7 ng/dl and stable there. My development took off after that. I was taking the same spiro dosage the entire time, but it didn't do anything because my endocrine system was confused by the irregular fluctuation in my E level - the LH & FSH shooting up were my body trying to balance my endocrine system out.

I hope you find something that works for you...good luck!

I'm also on hormone implants, but with a progesterone injection. I didn't know there were progesterone implants as well? That is nice!

Can't wait to get my levels checked at the beginning of feb when the next progesterone shot is scheduled. Very curious!

Tomorrow is my week 6 anniversary, and things are happening... fast

Hi Jennygirl,

Just had a Progesterone and Oestrogen implant. My Endo has just imported them from, of all places, Colorado USA So go figure. As he said, implants give the most effective and constant delivery rate for any medication. I'm happy about that. Hope you are as well.

Huggs
Catherine