Hi Everyone,
OK im confused. when i get my hormones checked it always comes back within normal ranges for everything so im afraid to use any estrogen, but i am wondering if thats exactly what my body is screaming for. i have been crying for days and my mind is racing and i feel like im losing all control. usually i can stop the racing thoughts by doing deep breathing and calming myself , but lately nothing seems to work like it used to. my anxiety is constant and my chest feels tight and i can feel im carrying all this stress in my neck and throat. thats usually where i carry it. some of you may know that my mom is dying and im struggling with that right now, so do you think that maybe thats whats going on and its not estrogen at all? ive heard so many women say that their body gave a sigh of relief when they used estrogen, i want to feel that too. but then ive heard women say that bc pills made them feel crazier, i sure dont want that. and ive read the same things in books, its good and its bad to use.i feel like my control ( what little i have had ) is slipping away and im afraid of going back to where i was in the beginning of all this 4 years ago and not being able to function. i cant take AD's , ive tried some with bad results, so now what. i also have a cyst on my ovary and hypothyroid with a little polyp on my thyroid and im afraid estrogen might make them both grow bigger and become really bad. Any advise?

Can you post your blood work results (with ranges) and on what day of the month they were drawn on?

Sometimes doctors say it is normal but not normal for you.

Have you had your thyroid tested including antibodies? Dr. Larrian Gillespie’s book “You’re Not Crazy, It’s Your Hormones!” is very helpful with figuring out what tests to ask for.

Have you had your ferritin tested? I read in the book above that with hypothyroid if your ferritin is low you can have a hard time adjusting your thyroid and you can feel hyper symptoms because of the low ferritin.

Kathy

Kathy, i will have to find my test results and i will post them, hopfully today. i have hashimotos so yes i tested positive for antibodies. my tsh lvl 4 years ago was almost 6 (5.97 ) and ive been using armor thyroid ( 15mg ) ever since and now my lvl's are down to 1. something, cant remember, so im afraid to up my dose of that. i have never heard of the other test you mentioned. sometimes i wonder if all ive been going thru for the past 4 years is from my hypo instead of peri! but then again my periods have been changing and my progesterone was very low back then. how low of a dose of a natural estrogen safe to use and for how long? i worry that if i start to use it i will suffer more in the long-run because i'll eventually need to stop using it. am i right? i dont smoke or drink ( even tho i'd love to go thru this time of my life in a constant buzz ) so my risk factors are pretty low, but 2 of my worst health anxiety issues are heart attack and stroke!! but if i take it and my mind calms down and i can think like a normal, rational person again , maybe i wont obssess about it. i'm really confused arent i? lol

My book has a huge list of symptoms of low Ferritin. Ferritin is the test for iron stores in your body. I think you need to be around 80-100 to feel your best and for your thyroid meds to work properly. Lower and higher levels can cause problems especially with thyroid. Stop The Thyroid Madness .com has a message board and an area that talks about Ferritin. Adrenal problems can also cause problems with your thyroid. The Thyroid Madness website talks about adrenal problems as well.

When I first started estrogen I took a tiny 1/32 teaspoon dose of triest three times a day. I think that little dose actually helped me. Now I use generic Estrogel and I take about about 1.25 grams of the product. This is a new dose for me so I am going to have to see how I feel over the month. I plan on taking estrogen for the rest of my life.

I think it would be a good idea to make sure that low Ferritin and adrenal issues are not contributing to your problem, also look at your estradiol levels to make sure that they are actually low. The “It’s You’re Hormones” book or the Thyroid Madness site may be able to help you get an idea on what is going on and what tests to ask for.

Kathy

Kathy, i dont have a copy of my latest hormone test. the last one i have is from july of 2006 and my estradiol was 92, estrone-63. progesterone was 7.93, testosterone-43.i dont remember what part of my cycle i was in at this time.