Progesterone and thyroid function
Thank you to everyone that commented on my last post about progesterone effecting thyroid function.
Further to this though, I understand that low progesterone effects t4 to t3 conversion, but would Thyroid function still be effected if you were on T3 only treatment?
In a nutshell do low sex hormones / unbalanced effect uptake of thyroid hormones regardless of treatment?
Thanks
Thanks in advance.
Hi, I’m following this post with interest!
You’ll be able to see from previous posts that I’ve been chasing down different theories for the last year, trying to sort out my I’ll health and low energy.
Despite asking doctors months ago if my hormones were an issue, I was told they’re normal, sigh. However, through a process of elimination and treating one thing at a time, I’m now about to try progesterone cream in the next week or two.
I feel this is hopefully the last remaining thing for me to fix! V long story short - at the time I became v unwell I had a coil, and my gut instinct was that it wasn’t helping. I had it removed.
Over the last year my thyroxine levels have been up and down (having previously been ok) so I have addressed my adrenal health and recently saw Dr Toft who advised a dose increase again. I’m a little sceptical as I was over medicated on this dose before but maybe if my body is now “working” more efficiently, it’ll be ok.
This is where my progesterone trial comes in! Having never had any gynae issues, I now have endometrial hyperplasia and my cycle has gone weird! The main issue is the pain each month but I have v sore boobs too and I wonder how many other symptoms I attributed to my hypo are actually hormonal (weight, headaches, fatigue etc).
So there it is, I’m sorry I don’t have anything to contribute to your question at the moment, but I’m intrigued to see if I can reduce my levo dose in future once the progesterone is better balanced.
Watch our space I guess!
Keep me updated!! Read the book by John lee- what your doctor doesn’t tell you about the menopause/ hormones before starting the cream. A lovely lady on here advised me on that first which I bought off amazon x
anna.blog.wellsprings-healt...
Have a look at this link - I found this a few days ago and after weeks of “will I, won’t I” about progesterone cream, this convinced me.
I had a very traumatic year last year so while I think that was probably the trigger for everything that followed, I firmly believe that the coil and the hormonal changes because of it (or it’s removal 🤷🏼♀️) had a lot to do with it too.
Everything is so chicken and egg with hormones... does the hypo cause adrenal issues - do the adrenal issues affect the hypo, do sex hormones affect the thyroid - does the thyroid affect the sex hormones, which then affect the adrenals..... aaaggghhhh!! It’s a total minefield!
At least we have this forum 👍🏻
Well, post menopause the adrenals are left trying to make our oestrogen and testosterone, so if we are hypo and they are trying to make thyroid work as well, it's easy to see that everything will suffer.
Which would explain lots if I were menopausal..... but I’m not!! 🤔
Perimenopause can start in your later 30's and will cause sex hormone imbalance. So unless you are very young, it still might factor into things.
This is true. I’m 41, so it may well be peri for me but as it all kicked off around the time I had the coil, I’m finding that a bit too much of a coincidence. And, as all my other hormones have been off for the last year or so, I betting that my sex hormones are too.
Once I’ve given the progesterone cream a while to work and might be able to tell better 🤞🏻
Please can I ask how you are now? How
Did you get on with the progesterone cream? Xx
Yes, fine.
I’m not sure its had/having any effect in my thyroid function but the extreme pain I had during my period and the sore breasts etc have all gone.
I ran out of cream at one point and didn’t realise it took so long to be delivered so the following month my symptoms were much worse again - proof enough.
I’m just not sure now whether to continue with it long term, or look at another option going forward 😊
Thank you I’m glad to hear. I think it’s safe for
Long term isn’t it?
Yes it is but I worry that monthly pain won’t go properly until I do something else about it 😉
I'm way past the menopause (still getting hot flushes - probably for over 20 years), but only in the last several years got thyroid symptoms. Thought it was just part of getting old that energy and concentration were not as they used to be. So there's a link with sex hormones, which of course naturally lower when you age.
Hmmm....
out that low progesterone causes the same symptoms and can completely diminish thyroid function ....
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I saw a menopause hormone doctor on Friday who said if my oestrogen and testosterone were too low my body would not be able to deal with the thyroid hormone, no matter how much I put in.
Basically, as I understand it, all the hormones dance together. Having any of them out of kilter will upset the others. I have felt no benefit of the Levo I have been taking. Maybe this is why. I have had my oestrogen increased, my progesterone dose will stay the same because although I'd quite like to take it every day it puts me to sleep so it needs to be every other day, and I'm getting some testosterone cream later this week to start using a tiny bit of that. My energy has been appalling for months. I am hoping this will help. I am due a raise in Levo going by the blood test results I got last week. But she's told me to hold off for now, so that we can see how I react to the other changes. Don't change everything at once. That's when she said I would not be able to utilise the thyroid hormone if the other levels were off.
Thank you. The fact I’m not having periods shows there’s a problem..
I feel no different on quite a h Gg dose of t3. Having Genova hormone tests next week. X
Definitely something isn't right there then. If you are in the UK there are private hormone doctors you can see, or you can ask your GP for a referral to a menopause clinic which should be able to help. The waiting list is long in many areas though.
I don't think we can look at either sex hormones or thyroid hormones in isolation. They work closely together.