going round in circles!

[Henson1980]

looking for a little advice as I don’t know what to do with my latest blood results.

iv been on 100 levothyroxine for underactive thyroid for 5yrs now. Levels seem to fluctuate every now and again so it was upped to 125mg then reduced back to 100mg but levels have remained fairly stable in recent months. I started HRT back in August, initially 1 pump of oestrogel and Utragestan. I upped to 2 pumps on advice of the doctor due to my meno symptoms returning. I haven’t felt great recently ie tiredness/weight gain mood changes etc so thought I would get a private test done as it’s too much of a headache to get a docs appointment.

My results show that my oestrogen levels are sky high and my TSH is 3.6

Now I’m confused as ever! Do I go down to one pump of oestrogel and up my levo to 125mg?? Such a guessing game it drives me nuts! ☹️

[sungirl55]

I'm in the U.S. and I'm in perimenopause. The only estrogen I take is vaginal estrogen. My mom has taken Premarin (it's an estrogen pill) and she says it's a delicate balance. She's constantly having to adjust her dose. Sometimes she cuts a pill in half and other times she'll skip a day. She says the symptoms are the same for too much estrogen and too little. She gets an achy feeling, like she's sick, when she has too much estrogen and the same when she has too little. She doesn't have thyroid problems. I hope this helps and you get it figured out.

[Lizzo30]

If your estrogen is high then surely that what you should reduce ?Estrogen will affect hypothyroidism especially if your hypothyroidism is due to hashimotos which is autoimmune

Autoimmune disorders are more common in women due to estrogen dominance - progesterone moderates estrogen

[Peanut31]

Hi

You may get better advice on your thyroid results from the thyroid forum.

However, your TSH is too high, and your T4 is low.

Your TSH should be 1 or lower and T4 mid range. You need your T3 testing too, I wouldn’t reduce your levo.

I would suggest testing your vitamin levels too, but really you need TSH, T4 & T3 testing all together.

Did you stop taking your levo 24 hours before taking the test, and the test taken first thing in the morning before 9am or earlier?

I am peri menopausal and started taking HRT in June.

I have stopped taking it, as I started to feel awful and packed the weight on, my boobs were huge and painful too. My moods were terrible too, it didn’t seem to help me.

I was on 2 pumps a day (oestrogel ) and taking 2 tablets (200mg) of Progesterone 14 days on 14 days off. This was from the advice of my menopause clinic.

I also suffered trouble vaginal atrophy, not knowing it was that after being on antibiotics, bladder scans etc, urine samples.

I asked for a trial of vagifem and this has worked for me, no more feeling the need to empty my bladder all the time. However, I have to use this daily as when I reduced the dosage, it comes back.

As mentioned I am with a private menopause clinic and all they kept saying was increase increase increase my gel.

However, after researching myself and joining another menopause forum, and emailing the founder of the menopause matters magazine (she is a doctor).

It was advised to reduce my gel.

I can tell you that once I decided to decrease my pumps I felt so much better and the weight fall off again.

I have stopped my HRT altogether at the moment, as I have increased my thyroid medication to see if this helps as my thyroid results could be better, so this maybe some of my symptoms.

I’m going to test my vitamin levels too as I suspect my iron levels will be too low, as I’m feeling the cold. You may feel the cold with your low T4 results.

I am going to see how I feel with my increased thyroid then will review my HRT.

If I went back on HRT, I may only try 1/2 a pump a day or every other day.

If your peri menopausal you may not need as much yet.

I’m not suggesting you stop HRT, but I have Hashimoto’s too, so this can effect my thyroid too.

Best wishes

Peanut31

[Henson1980 in reply to Peanut31]

thanks Peanut I appreciate you taking the time to reply. It’s a minefield when your dealing with both thyroid and menopause at the same time as the symptoms are obviously very similar so it’s hard to know what’s causing what therefore not knowing what meds to stop, what to increase /decrease etc

I’m feeling pretty rough at the moment, bad back pain, aching/weak joints and tiredness. I ended up speaking to a private menopause specialist on Monday and she advised to drop to 1.5 pumps, keep my levo the same but start taking the vitamins again which I previously stopped. I have another blood test end of the month so I should have a clearer picture at that point.

I would be really interested to hear how you get on with your journey in stopping the HRT and trying to balance out your thyroid xx