Where can I get a private blood test from to test my levels of oestrogen?

[ChocChipOwl]

Just that really! I'd like to know what my levels currently are. I'm nearly 51 so I suppose I should be right in the throes of it all and maybe I am? It's hard for me to tell as my periods are regular and I have no hot flushes

Anyway, I'm toying with taking HRT for other little issues which could be peri menopause related but before I do, I'm keen to know what my levels are

Can anyone recommend somewhere decent and trustworthy? Thanks

I just read so many things about women not wanting HRT because of the bleeding or because they have issues taking the 2 weekly progesterone and I just feel like the mini pill / 100mg utrogestan daily eliminates those things so why don’t they recommend that for more women?!

I admit I don't see the logic of taking two different kinds of progestogen.

One reason it won't be offered to women is that it is a synthetic form of progestogen and some of these (the ones in prescribed HRT) increase the risk of breast cancer more, compared to micronised progesterone.

Obviously no long term studies have been done on women using the mini pill post menopause, but it is also possibly more risky re. blood clots in older women (some are still on HRT in their 90s.)

Not all women get on with the mini pill- you are assuming it has no side effects when in fact many women hate it and they put weight on , or feel depressed. It's very individual.

Used at the right dose, all progestogens will stop bleeding. Post-menopause, women take 100mgs Utrogestan a day. That doesn't cause a bleed.

As you are young, you will be having the mini pill under the guise of birth control or for your complex health issues.

It's not licensed as part of HRT on the NHS.

I have been considering the mini pill as well as continuous utrogestan to even out ups and downs. Gp said it's fine. Need to see how latest regime goes for a few months.

I know not all women get on with the mini pill. If you read through my replies you’ll see I’ve been clear that it doesn’t stop bleeding for all women - my dd aged 19 went on it as she can’t have the combined pill and despite trying it for 6 months she bled non stop and hated it. We are all different. But for me it really has been the best thing ever. It means I don’t have the huge, huge clots I passed every month to the point I was worried about having to go to a and e every month to have my womb scraped out (tmi). Just awful.

I have been told there is no increased risk of blood clots on the mini pill as it’s the oestrogen that causes clots - this is why - mistakenly - women with lupus relating clot issues are frequently told they mustn’t take HRT - but they can; just certain types. Women with lupus are told they can have the mini pill as there is no increased risk of clots.

I am not an expert. I may be wrong. I am just relaying information I’ve been given.

@WahineToa did you mean decrease thyroxine? Not hrt?

I'd read oral utrogestan helps t3 conversion. If you meant decrease thyroxine, it would explain the carry on I've had in peri with thyroid dosages.

I was keen to try continuous orally when it looked like periods weren't happening recently but a patch raise has brought on lots of bleeding now and I have to go back to cyclical (or try mirena or mini pill.) I couldn't tolerate it orally, felt so hung owner. (Though have wondered if higher oestrogen would even that out.)

I’m so sorry, and I can’t edit it! Yes I meant decrease thyroxine or NDT dose. My Free T3 & Free T4 had been stable years on 2 1/2 grains/tablets of NDT and I had to drop to 2 as they had both climbed over range.

That's really interesting and something to keep a further eye on!

I noted that Davina takes a lower dose of thyroxine than I do, only 100, on her continuous regime. I'm relatively slim but on 125. She's been on it a long time so I imagine completely reliant. I know everyone is different though.

I have been told there is no increased risk of blood clots on the mini pill as it’s the oestrogen that causes clots - this is why - mistakenly - women with lupus relating clot issues are frequently told they mustn’t take HRT

@Afterfire Oral estrogen can cause blood clots but not transdermal. That is why most drs now try to give women patches and gel.

I know, that’s what I’m saying. I am constantly correcting women in the lupus forums about this very point.

You have questioned, in your previous post, whether the mini pill increases the risk of blood clots and I am referring to that - I have been told there is no increased risk of clots as it’s the (old forms) of oestrogen that can do this.

I must admit I feel like every time I comment on a thread about HRT, which I am entitled to do just as much as anyone else, you tend to jump on me and try to pick apart my use of the mini pill in my HRT. I’m really not sure why. It’s a very safe and effective way of controlling bleeding and clotting for many women - not all- and can be safely used as part of HRT, as I am doing and no doubt- given this was suggested to me by Newson health and the NHS itself (!) - many other women are too!

@Afterfire I'm sorry that you think that (about the mini pill.) I'm not aware of discussing this with you before, but maybe that's old age making me forget!

Anyway the important thing that matters is that it's working for you.

If other women want to raise it with their GPs that's something they can do. All I can see online is that it's possible to use the mini pill as birth control alongside HRT.

I think it's also to completely stop periods as a birth control does, instead of mirena but not as part of hrt.

Or if a woman is already on the mini pill, you add the hrt in, plus utro .

I do know that generally they prefer what's the simplest way to take hrt so it's not common to start both at the same time.

I've considered it to iron out the ups and downs. I'm definitely not ready for continuous I've found! And not totally sure about mirena.

I don't think it really works like this. Most women don't end up with a definitive reading of their oestrogen level. It's common to think a blood test will answer questions. It's more about whether someone is having quality of life affecting symptoms and finding out whether HRT can help.

You can test testosterone levels more accurately.

An FSH test on day 3 of your cycle can give an indication of how close you are to menopause.

not with much reliability - you can have a normal FSH in the perimenopause

I actually wouldn't take it before you feel like crap! I took it early, at 47, because I was getting panic attacks. It helped those but also made my fibroids grow and my periods went TORRENTIAL. Eventually that led to my having a hysterectomy at 51, during which they removed my ovaries. I'm in full surgical menopause and it's awful.

So I say, wait. Wait until your symptoms are daily, and affecting your life.

Symptoms like hair loss, brain fog, memory loss, anxiety all the time, joint pain all the time.