Buffy
My last blood test showed 320 for estrogen on 4 pumps, therefore I wonder if I am taking too much?
Impossible for me to say, but I just wondered as you said the night sweats coincided with your upping the dose of gel. The serum level we feel good on is very individual & not everyone needs a lot to feel their best. And it will change to some extent from test to test, but I've recently been getting differences of around 300 pmol/L from one test to the next & at times lower results on higher doses, suggesting much more erratic absorption than I was getting in the past, when I had somewhat better nights.
Often it's not being on enough oestrogen that's behind night sweats as you'll see frequently mentioned on the forum, but as like me you are in your 60s & don't feel good on quite a high dose of gel, perhaps a little less rather than more might just be what you need at this age. My thinking was, being on too much for your individual needs could be causing something of a stress response that's not helpful for sleep.
Like you I've had referrals to Rheumatology in recent years & the jury's still out on that, but I also have v longstanding autoimmune thyroid disease. If your inflammatory markers are a bit raised do you have a Rheumatology review coming up to discuss that? It might only be temporary, so please don't worry about my querying inflammation as possible cause of the sweats.
Yes, I've been through the entire sleep tool kit over the years & we're pretty much at a loss as to know where to go now. Melatonin doesn't help me either & actually made the overheating package worse. I looked into possible interactions & found to my dismay it can mess with oestrogen levels.
Like you, I also had cortisol tested some years ago to no avail.
Good suggestion the Amitriptyline, thank you, but frustratingly it exacerbates other conditions I have. That said, I've been thinking of asking for another trial as it's some years since I last tried it & you never know. I need to wait to see how the latest change of HRT pans out first.
Please don't apologise for telling it like it is - we can't help each other on here if we don't have a reasonable amount of detail & this is a safe space for offloading where no one judges us & there's a lot of understanding support. Your post wasn't at all long; you should see some of mine - almost guaranteed to put anyone to sleep!
Wx
P.S. few more quick thoughts - I'm sure you will have considered/tried these but just in case . . .
1) splitting your dose of gel a.m & p.m?
2) Having a look at diet to be sure you're eating in a way most conducive to blood sugar stability. If it drops too low overnight that can be one cause of night sweats.
3) Although with continued use, gels, like other transdermal methods are supposed to form a reservoir in subcutaneous fat to promote consistent levels, I've repeatedly found I do worse on gels than on patches. If Evorel didn't suit you, Estradot might, as I think Sheila suggested. Bloods showed I used to get more consistent levels from Estradot some years ago than I have more recently on Evorel.
