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[WeeVee]

I recently had blood tests to check my hormone levels. These showed my oestrogen was sky high and testosterone through the floor. My GP thinks it is highly likely that I'm histamine intolerant which is exacerbating the high oestrogen issue I have. We immediately reduced my Oestrogel to one squirt per day and introduced Androfeme testosterone.
That was 10 days ago and during this time I've been feeling very fatigued and achy, and all my usual meno symptoms (including allergies) appear greatly amplified. There is no sign of improvement as yet, and I was wondering, has anyone else experienced a transitional period when altering hormone dosages like this?
I'm hoping this is just a short-term situation as my body adjusts to the testosterone and tackles the oestrogen overload. I'm also following a low histamine diet to try to improve this further.

I go back for repeat bloods at the end of this month to see how things are panning out.

[CLKD]

Hi!  how are your periods overall?  Are U in the UK? 

Blood tests for hormone tests are reliably un-reliable  .  Some ladies find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use to chart progress. 

Menopause is when the periods stop.  Prior to that ladies can feel really weird, ill, hot, cold ......... peri-menopause comes as a shock for many.  The Change - does what it says on the tin.  With teeth sometimes.

Browse round.  Make notes.   

[WeeVee]

I've been on HRT since November last year, my periods prior to that were irregular to non-existent. My local GPs were a waste of time in terms of helping me get the dosages of oestrogen and progesterone sorted, so last month I went to Newson Health in Stratford. The reason for the bloods was to find out how out of whack my hormones were, not to ascertain whether or not I needed HRT.

I do keep a diary of symptoms.

I was interested in hearing from women who may have experienced similar symptoms when altering dosages, but thanks for your reply.

[Hurdity]

Hi Weevee

 

I am just wondering why you had (oestrogen) blood tests done at all? Was this your GP who then told you to reduce oestrogel? Normally GPs should go by symptoms unless there is a good reason why not so presumably you had ongoing symptoms which led you to visit your GP in the first place? Could you tell us what these were maybe so we can possibly help?

I do hope your current symptoms settle!

Hurdity x

[WeeVee]

Hi Hurdity, thanks for replying.

I'll try and give you a bit more history to help!

November 2019 - Went to local GP with menopause symptoms. Given Estradiol 2 pumps per day and Utrogestan 200mg per day for 12 days, orally.

December 2019 - Progesterone left me feeling worse than before HRT so after speaking with my GP it was agreed to trial it at 100mg a day for 12 days, again orally. By this time I was feeling no discernible benefit from HRT.

January 2020 - Same dosage as December, but I only managed 10 days before stopping the progesterone and it took another 10 days for me to start feeling better mentally and physically.
Tried to get an appointment with local GP to discuss but couldn't been seen for two weeks and in the meantime I was due to start progesterone dose again.

February 2020 - Same dosage of oestrogen, lowered progesterone to 7 days, taken orally. By this time I'm convinced that my testosterone levels are low and know I won't get anywhere with NHS on this subject, so I made an appointment with Newson Health menopause specialists in Stratford upon Avon.

Had this appointment at which my history and symptoms were discussed thoroughly. Bloods were taken to check hormone levels, specifically testosterone.
My oestrogen was three times the recommended range, testosterone was far lower than recommended range.
Oestrogen dose halved and testosterone introduced immediately. Also advised to up progesterone back to 200mg per day for 12 days, but take it vaginally.

During this consultation it was noted that my allergies have been far worse since starting HRT. I was given advice on histamine intolerance and its association with hormones.
The reduced oestrogen dose is to help combat this and will be reassessed as my allergies settle.

I'm booked to have another blood test at the end of the month to see how these changes have altered the levels.

Phew! Hope that's enough to go on. 

[Bobidy]

Oooo can you give more details on histermine. I seem to be allergic to everything since peri hell started! X

[WeeVee]

Oooo can you give more details on histermine. I seem to be allergic to everything since peri hell started! X

With pleasure! Here are some links I was given by the GP at Newson Health.
I think I've had histamine intolerance all my life, now I've started reading up on the subject.

https://www.drtinapeers.com/symptoms-of-hit

https://mthfrsupport.com.au/2016/09/her-stamine-the-link-between-histamine-and-estrogen/

https://www.histamineintolerance.org.uk

https://www.histaminintoleranz.ch/en/introduction.html

https://thecommunality.com/hit-mcas-treatment/

Happy reading!

[KBallinger]

WeeVee I don't know if you will adjust but I would say that the progesterone ratio to oestrogen is higher so you will feel the effects of the progesterone more  (Fatigue and for me aching knees) as well as the effects of lower oestrogen which you may get used too.   

What did they consider high oestrogen levels?

Depending on whether you need high levels to feel well my understanding of histamine intolerance ( recently diagnosed as well) is that high levels feeds histamine and that can increase oestrogen and you get caught in a cycle, but you don't need to reduce the levels of oestrogen you need to manage the histamine with diet and prescribed antihistamines.

If you don't need high levels than great.

I was also advised that histamine intolerant women are always progesterone intolerant to some degree. So increasing progesterone may be making you feel worse.

I don't want to complicate things and am not a dr. it's just my experience and advice I was given.

[Hurdity]

Hi WeeVee

Thanks for the information. As KBallinger said, I am wondering what they classed as high oestrogen levels? Do you have the readings?

I don't think you've mentioned your cycle at all ie periods and how often they are or were before starting HRT, in terms of regular or irregular, cycle length, flow etc? Thing is if you are still ovulating fairly regularly then your oestrogen levels will reflect where you are in your cycle as well as the additional amount from HRT. The standard oestrogen dose is not sufficient to prevent ovulation so it just carries on in the background until the ovaries fail.

Were you experiencing flushes and sweats which initially sent you to the doctor?

I can't comment on your allergies and histamine etc as I know nothing about this! Great list of links though for those who are interested

Hurdity x

[KStar777]

Hi WeeVee

Just wondering how you are doing now.

From what I understand about Newson Health, they accept higher ranges of oestrogen than most NHS GPs, so if they think that they are high - they must be high.

Katie