The doctor I see is pretty lax on my hormone levels. She only tests my metabolic panel so I went through Private MD Labs and had them tested myself. I'm 4 months into HRT. Results came back with

- 15 ng/dL testosterone
- 45.8 pg/mL estradiol

The reference range is for male hormone levels and says it's low for testosterone and high for estradiol which is expected considering the reference range should be for female hormone levels. But I would like to know if these are ok levels for transgender women. I know my t level is ok I think but is my estradiol level too low?

Seems very low. My doctor has me targeted at 400 pg/mL estradiol and I feel best at 600 pg/mL

The testosterone level is good.  Most Dr's aim for estradiol levels closer to 200 pg/ml.


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Thanks girls. I may ask about having my dosages increased and I've also been considering estrogen pellets.

That is way way low. 

Estrogen levels FLUCTUATE. Do you take estrogen sublingually? How long after your last application/dose did you have your blood drawn?

The important thing to focus on, I think, is how your body/psyche is responding, i.e. breast growth, softer skin, reduced body hair growth, feeling of calmness, increase in fat deposits in buttocks/thighs/face, etc. If there are marked changes and you feel good, I personally wouldn't be concerned.

There is a good graph at the link below that shows the timeline of blood levels of estradiol after taking it orally.  The difference between one hour and 12 hours after a dose is as high as a full order of magnitude.
https://shrtm.nu/L3uH


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Wow yeah I hadn't taken my hormones before the blood test and didn't get home until 2 so that would have been over 12 hours since I had taken my last dose.

Quote from: KayXo on September 29, 2017, 10:52:13 AM
Estrogen levels FLUCTUATE. Do you take estrogen sublingually? How long after your last application/dose did you have your blood drawn?

The important thing to focus on, I think, is how your body/psyche is responding, i.e. breast growth, softer skin, reduced body hair growth, feeling of calmness, increase in fat deposits in buttocks/thighs/face, etc. If there are marked changes and you feel good, I personally wouldn't be concerned.

This is where I got confused because I've noticed significant changes, just not a lot of breast growth.

Have  you ever considered taking shots?   Discuss that with your doctor if you want to. 

Serena,

If you are really concerned about Estradiol blood levels, then you need 2 blood samples. One sample right before you take your Estradiol and another 1 or 2 hours after you take your Estradiol. In Pharmacokinetics ( the study of drug distribution within the body) These are called the peak and valley. Since you did not take your Estradiol before your blood collection, the blood level you mentioned would be a valley and a valley of about 40 pg/ml is just fine. Your peak will be much higher. But really, the exact blood level is NOT that important. You just need to be in a normal female range for at least a year before you get any real change in your breast size. Yes, some girls report fantastic results in 6 months and others take several years and still only have small breasts.

Genetics and nutrition play a very important role here. Eat a balanced diet with lots of vegetables and fresh fruit. Take your HRT meds daily, but don't expect too much more breast growth than your female relatives. Most of us report that it takes about 3 years of good HRT to fully mature. Which, come to think of it, is the about same for almost all teenage girls.

Thanks! It definitely makes sense now considering it was over 12 hours since I had taken my prescription. I will be going back next month to have them tested again and def keeping this in mind.

Quote from: Dani on October 01, 2017, 10:38:11 PMYou just need to be in a normal female range for at least a year before you get any real change in your breast size.

Normal female range is quite wide and even overlaps male range (10-60), from as low as 20 pg/ml to as high as 700+. A number in that range does not guarantee good results. Less than 100 may not be enough for some, less than 200 also but these are both within "normal" range. Some may need much higher. It depends. Cisfemales developed breasts and other female features at actually much lower levels, during puberty and if we tried to mimic this, the vast majority of us would probably not get any decent results. This alone shows the fallacy of comparing us to cisfemales and trying to aim for a too wide, unreliable 'normal' range.

QuoteGenetics and nutrition play a very important role here. Eat a balanced diet with lots of vegetables and fresh fruit. Take your HRT meds daily, but don't expect too much more breast growth than your female relatives. Most of us report that it takes about 3 years of good HRT to fully mature. Which, come to think of it, is the about same for almost all teenage girls.

I eat healthy and ALL the women in my family have large breasts. After 13 yrs on HRT, I have small breasts, AA. After 3 yrs of HRT, my breasts had spurts of growth at different time periods so that really, breasts continually change, grow and atrophy depending on a host of variables.