So, I finally had hormone levels done. I'm about 7 months on HRT. My T was low normal for male which is expected and she added finasteride. Good so far. My "Estrogens, total" though are 671 pg/ml. Note that is pg/ml. That seems really high. She said we are fine though. I know timing is a big part of lab values. I was fasting and it was about 4 hours after I took my oral meds. I take estradiol oral twice a day. (I know not to mention doses.) I feel fine and have no issues, I just wanted to see if anyone had any insights. Thanks.

Others know more than I do on this topic, but the 28 day cycle cis-gender women experience before menopause drives a wide range of levels.  During pregnancy, measurements go sky-high as part of the normal biological process. 

Mine's probably around that level a lot of the time.

I like this chart. It shows what's "normal".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrogen#/media/File:Estradiol_during_menstrual_cycle.png

My total estrogen is over 700 and my estradiol runs about 50 (pg/ml). Total estrogen is estradiol and estrone. Estradiol is about 14 times more powerful than estrone so high estrone numbers aren't much of a worry. In addition, this is common when you are using pills. To get lower number while getting sufficient estradiol you need to use injections or patches. Your doctor is correct about these numbers being correct. If you want to get the whole picture, ask your doctor to include estradiol in the testing.

Thanks, I feel better.

Quote from: Wanda Jane on August 09, 2017, 05:20:01 PM
So, I finally had hormone levels done. I'm about 7 months on HRT. My T was low normal for male which is expected and she added finasteride. Good so far. My "Estrogens, total" though are 671 pg/ml. Note that is pg/ml. That seems really high. She said we are fine though. I know timing is a big part of lab values. I was fasting and it was about 4 hours after I took my oral meds. I take estradiol oral twice a day. (I know not to mention doses.) I feel fine and have no issues, I just wanted to see if anyone had any insights. Thanks.

At my first lab test after starting HT, I posed the same question. Dena gave me the same answer and a few others chimed in. The link to that is here:

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,219572.0.html

I will add that for my most recent lab tests, I asked for an estradiol level in addition to the total serum estrogen test. This time, I delayed the test to the very end of my dosage cycle. The test results indicated estradiol at 103 pg/mL and total estrogen 515.1 pg/mL At the time of the first test, Kay speculated that the ratio could be about 5:1.

As it turns out, in my latest test, it was exactly that.    YMMV

Hope that helps,
--AshleyP

Oh, I take pills.

515-103 = 412 pg/ml estrone

412/103= 4

4:1 ratio, close enough.