Hi
I found this forum and am SO impressed by the knowledge base here. It gave me hope to post my conundrum in hopes that someone could help me to make more sense of my hormonal issues.
Ok, here goes. I am 54 years old, have been on bioidentical estrogen and progesterone for years. This is because whenever my estrogen falls, i get very ill. I get typical and atypical responses. I get so many symptoms though, that life is really intolerable. Here is the catch though. My estrogen had tested low for years, as did my progesterone levels. Even when I was taking whopping doses off estrogen, it still tested low or low normal. (I was taking 150 mcg or more by patch ). Of course with these huge doses, taking progesterone would be in order - however, my body distinctly dislikes progesterone (my progesterone is extremely low at 28- with a reference range of 100-300, but whenever i try to take more, my body rebels - as I believe it takes it as falling estrogen and I get the same symptoms as i do when my estrogen falls.
I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and believe I also have CFS, so that just complicates things.... I have had hormonal saliva testing labs (estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, etc done over time and am due to get retested soon.
So......my conundrum is this. I am terrified that my progesterone level is so low, especially while taking such high doses of estrogen. I am just not sure of any other way to get a better balance to protect myself, since I get so much more ill when I try to wean off of estrogen or raise my progesterone. My gynecologist seems to be stumped. I am also limited for money for naturopaths, specialists, testing, etc as I am on disability now.
I am not sure what I am hoping for here........insight, ideas, etc. All would be appreciated . I have been struggling with fibromyalgia for over 20 years but I still have hope that if I could balance my hormones, I might have some better success.
Any input?
Blessings
Dawn
On my more recent estrogen saliva tests, my estrogen was high at 17 with a reference range of 2-10, so i would obviously like to lower that. I have just started taking DIM and some other supplements. My DHEA is low at 2 with a reference range of 3-10. I have also taken DHEA in the last year in hopes of raising this.
I found this forum and am SO impressed by the knowledge base here. It gave me hope to post my conundrum in hopes that someone could help me to make more sense of my hormonal issues.
Ok, here goes. I am 54 years old, have been on bioidentical estrogen and progesterone for years. This is because whenever my estrogen falls, i get very ill. I get typical and atypical responses. I get so many symptoms though, that life is really intolerable. Here is the catch though. My estrogen had tested low for years, as did my progesterone levels. Even when I was taking whopping doses off estrogen, it still tested low or low normal. (I was taking 150 mcg or more by patch ). Of course with these huge doses, taking progesterone would be in order - however, my body distinctly dislikes progesterone (my progesterone is extremely low at 28- with a reference range of 100-300, but whenever i try to take more, my body rebels - as I believe it takes it as falling estrogen and I get the same symptoms as i do when my estrogen falls.
I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and believe I also have CFS, so that just complicates things.... I have had hormonal saliva testing labs (estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, etc done over time and am due to get retested soon.
So......my conundrum is this. I am terrified that my progesterone level is so low, especially while taking such high doses of estrogen. I am just not sure of any other way to get a better balance to protect myself, since I get so much more ill when I try to wean off of estrogen or raise my progesterone. My gynecologist seems to be stumped. I am also limited for money for naturopaths, specialists, testing, etc as I am on disability now.
I am not sure what I am hoping for here........insight, ideas, etc. All would be appreciated . I have been struggling with fibromyalgia for over 20 years but I still have hope that if I could balance my hormones, I might have some better success.
Any input?
Blessings
Dawn
On my more recent estrogen saliva tests, my estrogen was high at 17 with a reference range of 2-10, so i would obviously like to lower that. I have just started taking DIM and some other supplements. My DHEA is low at 2 with a reference range of 3-10. I have also taken DHEA in the last year in hopes of raising this.