[EvaMarie]

Well she isnt comfortable with prescribing anything more than 4mg oral E, 200mg spiro and dutasteride right now... That despite the fact that Im on at least 12-14 mg of E... I told her that and my first lab test came out perfect (for a female anyway )... She is just a GP and not very experienced with this kind of thing she says so on August 7th I go to a referral to an OB/GYN

[GoneGirl]

Your GP's prescription is exactly what I'm taking right now and will continue to take right up to my appointment next month.

It sure seems like a huge dosage of E your taking, Eve. After a certain point you're just wasting money. How do you know that you need that much?

Clara

[SarahSchilling]

Your GP's prescription is exactly what I'm taking right now and will continue to take right up to my appointment next month.

It sure seems like a huge dosage of E your taking, Eve. After a certain point you're just wasting money. How do you know that you need that much?

Clara

Agreed. It's the same thing I'm on too, except you get more spiro lol. I've never read of anyone else taking that much E. To each their own, though, as I don't think we can stop you!

[EvaMarie]

Well from what I understand oral E is not effective for everyone, maybe the majority but not everyone

We all metabolize E differently and just because my script is a common one that dont mean its the right one I mean some people gain weight on HRT and some like me LOSE weight... Now since Ive really not changed my diet that much aside from eating just a bit less and switching from beer to mixed drinks Id say it must be a change in metabolism.... Its been a dramatic change for me as far as muscle and weight loss goes

Ive read a lot about smoking and drinking greatly reducing the effectiveness of oral E... I definitely think there may be something to that because there is a HUGE difference in the way I feel on transdermal E VS oral

When I mention these high dosages its also kinda hard to say for sure because gel and patches are different as far as just how many MG Im getting

I guess all I can do is estimate, go by how I feel and have my blood checked by a doc... I didnt try to "cheat" before my last lab test and my E was right at normal female level of 128pg/ml after taking 3mg gel and 2mg buccal E that morning... And my doc said to continue everything AS IS, she just isnt comfortable prescribing it....

I cant wait to get tested again and talk to my new OB/GYN doc about all this

In a GG all of her E goes right into the blood exactly backwards from oral E... IMO we should be getting ours the same way, WHY NOT

Like I said here in 2014 there HAS to be a better way to do this than sucking on menopause pills and taking heart/prostate meds

I envision a 24/7 possibly computer controlled artificial "ovary" with real time regulation and monitoring of hormones

Thats just a dream of mine though LOL

[EvaMarie]

Your GP's prescription is exactly what I'm taking right now and will continue to take right up to my appointment next month.

It sure seems like a huge dosage of E your taking, Eve. After a certain point you're just wasting money. How do you know that you need that much?

Clara

Agreed. It's the same thing I'm on too, except you get more spiro lol. I've never read of anyone else taking that much E. To each their own, though, as I don't think we can stop you!

I'll confess to upping my spiro to 250mg since going on the prescription stuff They are much harder to split than my illicit stash so Ive been taking 100mg morning 100mg afternoon and 50mg of the India stuff in the evening.... I LOVE the stuff and its like I can actually feel it killing the T Id like to see mine lower than the 25 it tested at, less than 10 sounds good to me

[GoneGirl]

It's interesting, Eve, that you often mention how you feel in relation to your meds and their doses. I don't have that sense of how my meds are working at any snapshot in time, rather only by seeing changes over long intervals which is why I try to stay on a regimen without changes until I have solid evidence it's not working right. I cannot sense that taking more or less spiro is having an effect on my T.

Like I said, very interesting how different people react to these meds.

Clara

[bobie]

I can tell the difference with the spiro, when i was on 100mg i was still getting erections, upping to 200mg stopped that dead, well unless i want one , i now have to watch i dont get dehydrated, anyone else on spiro found themselves sweating salt?, i can totally understand the desire to ramp up the dosage for fast results, often tempted myself but for now im sticking to 5mg finasteride, 200mg spironolactone and 4mg of estradiol a day, heard fa from the gic my gp has referred my to so need to chase that up, i may fork out for some private blood tests in a months time myself if the gic appointment isnt going to be anytime soon since my gp didnt feel the need to do them again, i dont like the idea of going more than a couple of months without knowing my blood results, im also very keen to see what my t level is like now

[Samantha Rogers]

I used to think I could feel my T going up or down, but blood tests have confirmed the low levels remaing constant. However my E has risen and fallen, so I have concluded is that instead I am noticing fluctuations in E. Regardless, I can feel the difference for sure.

[GoneGirl]

I'm curious what you girls are feeling when you sense a change in your E levels. Is it a change in emotional state? Short temper, easy tears, aches and pains? I can't say that I sense any changes, even when I used take breaks from PM back in the pre-syn days, or when I started taking E instead of PM. But then I've always been one to maintain a steady emotional state compared to most people. Dropping my T disrupted that for awhile when I started NBE, but I'm back to being an emotional gyro again...now pointing in the right direction...

Clara

[EvaMarie]

Well for me the dysphoria starts and I just dont feel as good. it doesnt happen often but sometimes I forget to take my spiro or E and its like WTF and then I'll be like oh I forgot to take my meds

I mean when its all right with the gel and now the gel and patches I just feel WAY more fem and I doubt its a placebo effect because I also notice my skin gets super soft and Im just told Im "nicer" VS all oral E

I donno spiro is supposed to increase aromataze of T to E too and that may be why I love it so much too

Oral E results in much higher levels of weaker estrone VS estradoil than transdermal but neither get the E ratios to the same ratio a GG has....

Only IM injections and implants can come close by completely avoiding the first pass through the liver...

I can just tell you about the difference in the way I feel on different forms of E and speculate on why that is...

Im hoping this new doc Im gonna see will be much more knowledgeable on all this than my current doc... Id think an OB/GYN would definitely have a very good understanding of female hormones though and I hope he will listen to my concerns on E ratios and the health risks and concerns about the effectiveness of oral E for me....

Im pretty much just winging it here so far and Id LOVE to be set up right with everything legit and state of the art

Im also hoping to get better lab testing than I am that includes free E and T, E1/E2/E3 level, P level and thyroid function