I am posting here instead of my normal thread mainly because this is hrt and levels related rather than transitioning journey related.  I've been working with my doctor to get my levels in an ideal range which now they are.

E 355 pg/ml
T 8 ng/dl

My e levels were much lower and I am happier emotionally with this higher level.  My t was only 5 the last few visits so we cut down on Spiro each time to get it around this level.  However, I'm noticing two side effects that are unwanted.  One is that I'm testy.  I don't know if a small change from 5-8 would do that, but I feel it.  My family does not see it, Btw, they think I'm happier and more calm.  I am, way more happy and calm than when I was not on hrt at all.  When my e and t levels were lower maybe I just didn't have the energy to be testy.  So, now that I do, maybe this is part of my personality I have to work on.  I'd love to hear comments on that.

The second is that I've seen a hair or two in my brush every time I use it, and see it in my hoodie too.  I wasn't losing any hair till now and that feels alarming to me.  I am taking finasteride and progesterone too, maybe I should stop progesterone?  Argh.  Comments are welcome!

Bari Jo

My personal experience is that women are more testy, and you're loaded up on estradiol. Almost twice the level my doctor wants me at. My T is 53 and I don't feel out of sorts at all.

Hugs, Devlyn

I can't comment on your 'testyness',  the difference between 5 and 8 is well within the margin of error,  so I doubt that's anything to worry about.
On the hair front, as my hair grew, hair drop became far more visible,  just because the hairs were bigger/longer. I think the typical average is about 80/day for an adult, If you feel you're consistently losing more than this you could see your GP. X

Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk

If it's anything, it's the progesterone. It could be, not enough or too much.
Talk to your doctor.

A few things come to mind:

- progesterone converts to neurosteroids (i.e. allopregnanolone) which rise and fall rapidly when taken orally. These neurosteroids are believed to reduce anxiety, make us feel calmer, more relaxed, happier. The fall could result in irritability/edginess. A study found that combining progesterone with a high dose of dutasteride prevented this as probably neurosteroid levels remained low and constant.

- high estrogen (?): in one study in ciswomen, high levels (above 150 pg/ml) were found to trigger anxiety/irritability/aggression. The addition of progesterone in these women cancelled that effect but the dose was higher than typically prescribed in us and was only taken 10 days every month.

- do you take your progesterone continuously or cyclically? If the latter, then this could perhaps account for the "testiness".

- progesterone is anti-estrogenic, reducing tissue sensitivity to estrogen so perhaps this could be the reason as estrogen in some women actually seems to have a "calming" effect.

- T is too low (?): even in women, too little T may cause anxiety despite good levels of E2.

If ciswomen are testy, it's likely because of their hormonal fluctuations which we don't experience to the same degree because our levels are usually more stable.

These are just possibilities I'm raising but that you should bring up with your doctor and discuss in more detail. I ain't the expert here.

Good luck.

Thanks, my next appt is next Thursday.  I wanted to check here just in case im missing anything.  I may ask if progesterone is needed.  The hair loss has me flumaxed, but I'm not changing anything without her approval.  I take that orally everyday, BTW.  E is pellets, and Spiro orally

Bari Jo

Finasteride turns progesterone into Estradiol.
There is a long ->-bleeped-<- post about it! Google it.
You risk estrogen dominance when taking progesterone and Finasteride together.

Quote from: Transfused on February 22, 2018, 02:17:49 PM
Finasteride turns progesterone into Estradiol.

As far as I know, this is not scientifically substantiated and chemically not feasible.

QuoteYou risk estrogen dominance when taking progesterone and Finasteride together.

Also, not supported by any evidence.

 

While we do not give medical advice we do also not give advice that is utterly scientifically false.

That something is posted on ->-bleeped-<- is more a reason to be cautious and check the veracity rather than accepting such blatantly false comments.

I have removed a comment from the thread.

Cindy

My neighbor mentioned that when her estrogen levels were high she has hair loss.  Something to bring up to my doctor for sure.  I don't know if her level of high is the same as mine if course.

Bari Jo

Be wary of anecdotes. I had similar experiences where I eventually found out those women actually had VERY low levels of estradiol, under 50 pg/ml. During pregnancy, hair typically becomes thicker, grows longer, etc. and this is when estrogen (and progesterone) levels skyrocket. Estrogen prolongs the anagen (growing) phase of (scalp) hair.