Estrogen/Testosterone

[jc72]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum but I'm interested in testing estrogen and testosterone for a female. Can these be reliable tested via urine or does it require a blood test? My local clinic say we have to pay for the nurse to extract blood samples for private testing. Considering we are saving the NHS money on the tests it seems a bit much that we now have to pay for the nurse to take the sample.

I was also wondering if anybody here has had success with female medications for low estrogen or testosterone? Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Genova do them via Thyroid UK. Saliva or saliva/urine depending on the tests you choose.

Click on the link at the top of this page for the pdf with their list of tests you can order and go to page 4. They're not cheap, I did the Menopause Plus because I wanted a whole lot of things investigated.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

If you want to do one of the tests, the details of how to order and how to obtain the our results are further down that page.

[jc72 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Susie I'll take a look at these.

[Serendipitious]

I did some blood tests back in April to check Testosterone, Oestrogen and Progesterone. This was via Medichecks. I got the results in a couple of days. I've not done anything with the results yet so I can't advise on next steps.

thyroiduk.org.uk/medichecks

Might be a good alternative to what SeasideSusie has recommended if you specifically want a blood test. Blood tests are good for initial diagnosis and can be cheaper.

Saliva and urine are handy when you want to know how much of the hormone is being absorbed by the body. You could use this type of test after starting therapy for example. Choice is yours though. All the best.

[jc72 in reply to Serendipitious]

"Saliva and urine are handy when you want to know how much of the hormone is being absorbed by the body." Thanks Serendipitous I didn't know this. Just checked your link, they have a Female Hormone Profile based on 12 saliva samples. Seems like a good test to start with.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to jc72]

Genova will tell you that the saliva tests are not accurate if you are taking hormones orally or as cream. Been there.

[jc72 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thanks. The tests are to show baseline levels without the use of hormones so a decision can be made for treatment if that makes sense

[Angel_of_the_North]

I have been taking bio identical HRT for a long time. I wouldn't take estrogen without progesterone and I wouldn't take any sex hormones without the guidance of a medical professional who knows what they are doing. I didn't get on with testosterone at all, - gave me 'roid rage (really expensive on new crockery and cooker door), but I have DHEA instead.

[samaja]

Agree with Angel - definitely progesterone should be in the mix. Sounds like you might have been to the Menopause clinic where they told me I need oestrogen and testosterone (based on blood tests) but not progesterone as I am menopausal and therefore do not need progesterone any longer. Given that even when I started bioidential oestrogen/progesterone mix with Marion Gluck clinic I managed quite quickly to develop symptoms of oestrogen dominance anyway I wonder how the official line doctors cope with women they made unwell in the first place without this 'unnecessary' progesterone I needed a lot more of as it turned out!

I did also need testosterone and it made me feel much better (no crockery losses 8-)) and stopped muscle weakening.

Female hormones are far too important and delicate to be left in the hands of someone who has little idea of what they are doing (and sorry for the bias but male doctors usually don't know what the whole business of hormonal cycle is about having no experience of their own) so I would go for someone who really specialises in this area and can relate to the symptoms.

And lastly, the kind of testing needed is best determined by your symptoms, age and whether you are still pre, peri or post menopausal, what is general hormonal balance (including thyroid, adrenals etc) and what medications you might be taking.