Hormone levels and HRT - anyone understand blood tests?

[Rainsdropskeepfalling]

So I have a coil and started estrogel patches a month or so ago. I had a blood test for SHBG and testosterone - the first has come back below the lower limit (abnormal but no action required) and the second low but within the lower limit.

If the HRT is "working" should the levels be mid range? I am at last not waking every night, I still get too hot at night and the brain fog has got a lot worse in the last two months. I know I need to give the patches another 2 months before ringing the GP again....

The general advice is that doctors should be prescribing and tweaking levels of HRT based on your symptoms, and shouldn't be taking bloods as we're all different and what's normal for me might not be normal for you.

If the HRT is controlling your symptoms and you're feeling OK, you're on the right dose. If you're still having symptoms like hot flushes and brain fog, you might need to up the dose a little. The GP is probably going to tell you to give it more than a month though.

@Stroopwaffels thank you. My brain fog has definitely got worse over the last year and even more so over the last month. I know I have to stick with my current dose for 3 months before it gets reviewed - i lost my libido 10+ years ago so it may be too much to hope that it will ever return but it would be nice to be able remember my kids names all the time (I've only got two, how hard can that be?)