Help with blood test results pls

[Thyroidrunner]

Hi there

Would be most grateful for any advice pls - I have been on HRT for nearly 5 months. I still have regular periods (i'm 48) but the HRT was prescribed because my hormonal headaches are getting so much worse so we are assuming I am perimenopausal.

I'm on HRT patches (Estraderm MX 50 patches (Norgine Pharmaceuticals Ltd) change twice a week and progesterone Progesterone micronised 100mg capsules x 2 for the second half of my cycle.

I haven't felt any benefit at all to being on HRT. I am not sure if it's because I'm not on the right medication or whether it's that the headaches aren't caused by perimenopause and therefore the HRT is a but pointless.

My GP sent me for a blood test which I had done on day 19 of my cycle which I understand to mean i was somewhere between Ovulatory peak and Mid luteal stages of my cycle. The result was:

17 B OESTRADIOL 656 pmol/L

Any idea whether this is good?! Such wide ranges when I've googled this plus I know this type of blood test isn't particularly reliable anyway!

Very grateful for any pointers

Thank you

TR

[DylanTheRabbit]

I can't really help with the blood test result.

I'll be seeing a menopause specialist in a couple of weeks and she has asked for me to get oestrogen level blood tests ahead of the appointment. It will be interesting to see how she interprets the results as my understanding is that levels fluctuate.

I'm on a different brand and higher dose patch to you (estradot 100). I was getting a big improvement in symptoms on gel, but feel like the patches don't work quite so well for me. I prefer the convenience of patches though and the gels are not available right now. So I'm hoping to get the dose increased a bit.

I have a fairly long list of symptoms, luckily migraine isn't one of them. My experience with starting HRT on gel was that I felt a very small difference on two pumps, which is a middling dose, after a few months I tried three pumps (in theory equivalent to a 75 patch) and got some temporary side effects- a bit of morning nausea and tender breasts for a week or so, then I got relief from most of my symptoms.

I hope you find a solution.

[Belle76]

Hi I also suffered with headaches with headaches from about 2 weeks onwards before my period. Then when I started HRT and I took utrogestan for for 14 days I still had the headaches. I now take utrogestan for 25 days and have a 3day break no more headaches. I’m not on patches I have the spray as I can’t get the gel and take utrogestan capsules so maybe change the HRT you are using.The blood test is a waste of time really but they might be looking at your hormone levels to see if they are in normal range on HRT