Oestrogen way too high perimenopause

[124totland]

I’m 44 the doctor has given me hrt. I don’t think I’m in peri yet. They won’t give me blood tests. I had a private one and the oestrodiol is so high it’s off the chart! I am very scared now.

Has anyone else had ridiculously high oestrogen levels and what were your symptoms

I haven't experienced this but my understanding is that hormone tests are pretty unreliable in perimenopause as the whole point is that your hormones are fluctuating wildly. So your levels may have been high that day but that doesn't mean they're consistently high.

I'm on a fairly low dose of HRT and last year had some mud cycle bleeding. I had ultrasound etc and doctor had ruled out anything nefarious but told me it may just have been two months where my natural levels spiked which affected my cycle when HRT was added, before settling down to more usual levels. The bleeding didn't reoccur.

Not sure if that helps at all.

Was the oestrogen high before you started HRT?

My symptoms were feeling like a zombie, tired and foggy almost confused, so when they couldn’t find anything wrong they said try hrt but wouldn’t test my levels. I don’t feel any better on hrt and maybe even worse. I’m worrying that hrt will have a detrimental affect if my hormones aren’t low enough?

I did a finger prick blood test from randox. Do you think the oestrogen gel i use could affect the blood test results even tho I thoroughly washed my hands?

They start you on the lowest dose which may be having little effect. I had to experiment with oestrogen dosage to begin with and when it was too high it made me feel edgy and wired. I have been settled on 100mcg which is the highest your GP can prescribe, but it is right for me.
If you are still experiencing lethargic symptoms then it is likely you aren’t getting enough oestrogen.
I have an mirena but have also been taking additional oral progestogen which has helped hugely with disturbed sleep and mild night sweats.

I started on Hrt and felt really bloated and headaches for 3 weeks. They do seem to be easing off now.

I started taking her about 4 weeks ago. I had bloating and stomach ache with progesterone, I woke up in the night and thought I had pancreatic cancer. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous but I was worried sick and it got out of hand. I have just felt so low for so long I don’t think I will ever feel myself again. I have a 5 year old son and I want to be the best mum for him not a miserable zombie that is scared to go out.

*hrt not her!

I can’t concentrate and and everything seems like a total mission. Things I did last year I couldn’t dream of doing this year

Are you saying you don’t take progesterone just oestrogen? I didn’t think that was allowed?

I think depression can also cause fatigue and zombie symptoms.

I take oestrogen for 2 weeks and then oestrogen and progesterone for 2 weeks together

Ah that’s ok then. And the progesterone weeks don’t feel better? I would have thought ( not a gp) that if you were oestrogen dominant, you would feel better when the progesterone was balancing it out a bit. I’m inclined to think the pin prick thing was misleading. As others have said, peri is about wild fluctuations.

i think I felt very sleepy on the progesterone and it upset my stomach so I was mostly thinking about that?

Do patches upset your stomach? Would that be a better way to take hrt?

What dose are you on and what was the test result?

My test result for oestrodiol were >110000 which must be wrong and I’m taking 2 pumps of gel twice a day (750 per pump)

I found the progesterone made me sleepy and a bit spaced out for the first 2/3 months of taking it then it settled down.

Is it worth taking hrt when will I start feeling better because so far I think I feel worse!

@124totland

I understand you're worried BUT...

The blood test you did is meaningless. Sorry!
They don't do them in peri anyway as levels vary and they don't do them post meno.

Even my meno consultant who's one of the best in the country won't test my estrogen (on HRT) as they say readings are meaningless and only relevant if done over a constant 24 hours. (And it's not about the cost as this I see them privately.)

Soooo....I think you need to give your HRT time to settle down. They say 3 months so be willing to give it time.

3 months is typical to try and see if it settles.

You can also reduce the Utrogestan to 12 days.

That's on the patient leaflet.

The 2 weeks on/ off was designed to make it easier for women to remember.
There is no medical reason for 14 days unless the withdrawal bleed is very heavy.
12 is enough, once a month, starting on the same date each month.

I'm no expert and I'm not sure what unit of measurement your result is in, but I seem to recall when having fertility treatment my estradiol was only a few thousand after a couple of weeks of injections, so yours seems incredibly high! I was also going to suggest giving it three months and then reviewing.

See my post above.