Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Dandelion]

I think one thing to check first is whether you need more estrogen. If you find that you were doing fine before, then you get older and into post-menopause and suddenly things are not good again, to me that would suggest your own ovaries have stopped producing estrogen and supplementing what you were getting from HRT before. And you may need more estrogen.

You say you are 'on HRT" but not what dose. If you are not on the max licensed dose (4 pumps of gel or 100mcg patch) then it is probably much easier (whilst you continue to sort out testosterone) to try increasing your E up to that.

If you need more E than that, you can also talk with the private menopause clinic about that as well. (They can prescribe above the max licensed dose.)

As for blood draws, I'm with Newson and they want venous draws and won't accept finger **** tests anymore. There are various ways you can get venous draws. One way is to find an aesthetics clinic nearby using google maps and then check out their services. These are the places which do fillers and botox etc, they often offer blood draws as well for about £30. You do have to deal with being treated by someone with a face full of filler which isn't my preference when it comes to feeling at home somewhere    But I've used 2 different aesthetics clinics for this now.

You can also see if there are any retired nurses nearby. I found someone who is a retired nurse who now runs an ear syringing business - for people to get their ears cleaned of ear wax. I emailed to ask her and she said that yes, she could take my blood - but it would be free of charge because she's not insured for this service and I'd have to sign a disclaimer. But she's worked in the NHS all her life and taking blood is routine for her. So she's taken my blood - for free - several times now. I try not to use her every time because she's free and I don't want to take advantage!

Then there are the services which offer their own blood draws when you buy the blood packs. Some of those you have to go to their clinics for (Randox) but I don't have any near me. Others (Lola) will send a phlebotomist to your house to take it for just £20. I'm about to try this next week so can update....  They need about 4 days notice and I am trying to coordinate it with the first few days of my cycle, so it's a bit tricky.

Hello and thank you for your post.
I am postmenopausal and I had to reduce my oestrogen to 25mcg in peri as I bled, so, without my GP's consent I gradually titrated my dose up to 75mcg as I thought I would be refused by the time-strapped GP, given the hassle I had before. It didn't make a difference. I used to need 100mcg, but when I gradually stepped down under the GP I was ok, apart from the night sweats coming back, then the dreaded morning loose stools which oestrogen got rid of, they wanted me to do a colonoscopy(sorry for TMI)

I went down 50 50mcg but still no joy. The Dr on this YouTube video "Testosterone | Dr Louise Newson" might as well have been speaking to me, I won't link it in case rules here don't allow.

Thank you for your information on blood draws and aesthetics clinics and private nurses. It's odd that aesthetics clinics test for progesterone, but then again, I never hears of aesthetics clinics.
I just don't feel like going to my GP for a test, I did try to fill out an online triage form (the way our surgery does appointments and messed it up so it didn't submit. I did this before with appointments for non meno issues.
Why did you not use your GP surgery for a blood test for testosterone?

I tried Randox and they only do finger prick tests.

Thanks also for the Lola information, I appreciate the update.

I will go on the AI chatbot and ask for local cheap blood tests in my area. The GP surgery is a half hour walk away, half hour there and half hour back, which I just can't be arsed to do. I don't feel so bad about this after watching how, in Dr Louise Newson's words, women CBA or can't be arsed.

[Emzib0b]

Hi Dandelion,

I don’t know if this is of any help but Randox offer a home test kit using a Tasso device for their female hormone test. You attach it to your upper arm and it draws a capillary blood sample. I used one earlier this year and it was so easy to do and I didn’t feel a thing! It costs £49.

[joziel]

Randox don't only do finger p rick tests, they have clinics where they offer venous draws. All on their website.

If your night sweats came back when you reduced E, that is a clear sign that you need more E. Night sweats are a classic low E symptom and more clearly associated with low E than any other specific symptom is. 

Aesthetics clinics can't test for P, but nor can anywhere else in the UK if you are taking oral P. Oral P is broken down into metabolites and if you test P it will show falsely high as a result. The only P test that is reliable is the LC MS P test but no where I can find offers it in the UK. In the US people are able to get this test and to test P even if taking oral. IN the UK we are stuck dosing P according to symptoms, bleeding etc because we can't test.

[Dandelion]

Hi Dandelion,

I don’t know if this is of any help but Randox offer a home test kit using a Tasso device for their female hormone test. You attach it to your upper arm and it draws a capillary blood sample. I used one earlier this year and it was so easy to do and I didn’t feel a thing! It costs £49.

Hello and thanks for your post.

[Dandelion]

Randox don't only do finger p rick tests, they have clinics where they offer venous draws. All on their website.

If your night sweats came back when you reduced E, that is a clear sign that you need more E. Night sweats are a classic low E symptom and more clearly associated with low E than any other specific symptom is. 

Aesthetics clinics can't test for P, but nor can anywhere else in the UK if you are taking oral P. Oral P is broken down into metabolites and if you test P it will show falsely high as a result. The only P test that is reliable is the LC MS P test but no where I can find offers it in the UK. In the US people are able to get this test and to test P even if taking oral. IN the UK we are stuck dosing P according to symptoms, bleeding etc because we can't test.

Hello.
Increasing my oestrogen to 75mcg did not work for any night sweats or other symptoms that came back.
My night sweats only came back when I stepped down from 50mcg E to 25mcg, they can be a symptoms of low testosterone as this, according to Dr Louise Newson, helps progesterone work or raises levels, I cannot remember which.
I am post menopausal, and was fine when my GP reduced it to 75mcg then 50.
It's the lack of libido, and I don't just mean sex drive which is virtually zero, I mean lack of joy or interest in anything.
My P is 200mg approved by a gynaecologist, and again by my GP in my HRT review, which I lied to him and told him I was ok, as I did not want any more menopause hassles and did not know the importance of testosterone in women.
My GP called me this afternoon, I thought I had not sent the triage form properly, so I am going to see a GP tomorrow, at my surgery I have never seen before and request bloods.
I don't think blood levels for hormones fluctuate for post meno ladies like me, but anyone please correct me if I am wrong.