Right now I'm seeing a local psychologist for general problems with anxiety, neuroses, depression, etc.. She suggested today that I see a doctor and get my hormone levels checked; she suspects that I might have abnormally high estrogen levels...

Has anyone else had this done? What do the results mean, if anything?

My psychologist has never asked that of me... I did get my levels checked before going on hormones, but I didn't check if anything was high. Sounds a bit fishy to me. I hope they won't use normal hormone levels as an excuse to say you're not really trans. 

As far as I know, the theories right now about what causes transsexuality are that some kind of hormone imbalance occurs in the womb, but I don't think current hormone levels would be any indication.

Interesting that your therapist suggest it, unless you are already on estrogen and they may think your dosage is a little high thus causing you some emotional issues.  An endo/doctor will want to check your levels before they put you on HRT naturally, to get a starting point.

My therapist never suggested getting my levels checked and even when i had my first Endo appointment he didn't even want to have them done, i insisted because i had been self medicating for the previous 9 months and wanted to be safe. I had Testosterone checked and it came back 25ng/dL normal male is 220 - 1000 so i am at castrate levels, my Estrogen level came back as 159pg/mL female range is 65 - 165. I agree she may suspect that you have a hormonal imbalance, however as far as being Transsexual we diagnose ourselves the therapist is really there not so much to diagnose us but to guide us.

Paula. 

Quote from: Kiera on March 10, 2009, 06:35:15 PM
lol That you may indeed not be a "Transsexual" after all but rather . . .

A True Woman? [immediate exit stage right]

lmao

it means they merely suspect a hormone imbalance maybe responsible for some of your thought patterns. we are chemically driven creatures after all

My PCP suspected that about me as well. But mine came back as normal enough.
I think it's a common misconception among trans people that pre-HRT masculine or feminine features/characteristics must be the result of abnormal hormone levels. And for a few, this may be the case.
But adult hormone levels have nothing to do with being trans.

My T lvls were really really low from the start.

I used to have my T levels checked every 3 months now its every 6. Just so my Dr could monitor my T levels and make sure everything was as it should be. Its nothing to worry about.

Jay

I'm not sure you need to be overly concerned. It might account for some of what you are feeling (the depression etc), or it might say nothing. At the least it would be interesting to see what your hormone levels are like.

I had my hormone levels check when I returned from my surgery.

I had completely normal testosterone levels for a woman, but the doctor told me that I had the record for the highest estrodial level that she had ever seen (over 4000!).

Apparently it was a combination of my dosage level being a little on the high side and the blood test taken just a couple of days after my injection.  They normally like to take the blood count just before the intake of hormones not after.

My dosage level and schedule was re-adjusted and over the next couple of months my hormone levels were back in the normal range for a post menopausal woman.

Anyway, during that period I suffered from wide emotion swings and night sweats that would saturate my mattress.  I would lose about 1-2 pounds of water each night.  I never really had hot flashes, but I think I would have gladly traded.

Once my levels came back into balance, my night sweats are no longer a problem and my emotions aren't quite so unpredictable.

-Sandy

Hi. 

My therapist also suggested that I check hormone levels as well as a genetic karyotype.  Like you, I wondered, "What's up with that?"  Later, I realized that she is being thorough in making her diagnosis and analysis.  Actually, this is excellent professional behavior.  She also told me that the standards of care recently changed.  Maybe they require these things to be checked.  Anyway, just go with the flow.  Can't hurt.  Good luck.

Hugs.