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Does anyone out there know what hormone levels are suppose to be??? I just had mine checked and they are at 46.8 and I am 60 years old!!! Doctor said they should be under 25 now..does anyone know anything about this??? Would appreicate some feed back on this..

Thanks
SCRAPPER

This really annoys me. There is no one level for everyone at any age, we are all different. Your doctor is doing what so many do- putting us all in a neat little category. Like, you can't be going thru perimenopause, you are only 39. I wish they would see us as individuals. Ellen

thank you for the comment on all of us in the same box... i am 32 years old and my hormone levels were 3.4... low so i dont know what to think either... i think that we are all a diffrent number because our chemistry is diffrent... like our dna thing.... i could be wrong... lord knows it wouldntbe the first time.... but none of this makes sense to me that i have all symptoms and no dr. to say its peri.... only becuaes of my age.... go figure... we just need to use our own judegment....

Hi Scrapper

Normal hormones levels are what mine arent!!

I have long given up worrying about what my normals are meant to be - I am listening to my body.........

I have had 2 "grossly raised" LH/FSH tests and one "normal" one - my Dr leapt from Premature Ovarian failure (never mentioned peri cos he said I was way to young for menopause at 43!!! Oh boy do I know different now!!!!!) to "OMG I was wrong about menopause" to "OMG you are post meno" - so I dont listen to him much anymore!!!!!!

Hormones are pulsatile and during peri are so unpredictable it is better to go by symptoms than blood test - cos by the time the test is back your hormones are likely completely different - that is why the body has so much trouble keeping up with the ride.....basically the FSH and LH test are pretty hopeless for any kind of 'diagnosis' of menopause. If you are having bio HRT then go for a saliva test - otherwise go with your body - feed it well and exercise it and calm it and treat it good - and it will find a path to balance

You need to be specific about what test you have had done - if you are talking FSH/LH which is the common blood test - then you can look up markers on the web via google

Menopause is unavoidable - akind of certainty in an unpredictable universe - how comforting......hormone levels decrease - the body adjusts - Drs and blood tests dont adjust and cant cope - blood tests look for disease - meno is not a disease and therefore not amenable to testing in that sense

What was the question again?

Mele

MEL... ARE YOU SURE YOUR NOT A DR.? YOU SOUND LIKE THE DR. I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE.... LOL DENISE

Hi Denise in Kentucky!!

Nope not a DR - but I needed to swot up a bit cos my Dr is so woeful when it comes to giving me advice on peri and womens health in general - I had this completely screwed view of the health service as the answer to all my troubles - now thank goodness I have grown up fast to realise this is my health and my responsiblity .........

Why it took me till 45 to get to this is anyones guess but I do think we put far too much faith in medicine and dont do enough to heal ourselves

By the by - I am going to train to become a medical herbalist - so I will be Dr of sorts in 3 years time.....I intend to be a specialist in womens health......

Mele

YEAH FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!! i am 32 and i have been trying to think of a way to give myself purpose... all this happening to me has opened my mid and eyes to alot around me... i want to go to college or do something... i am a good wife and mommy and i fell its time for me to be good tome... and maybe good to other people needing me ... i just dont quite know yet what to do.... hummmmm... i have always taken care of hubby and daughter that i am learning how to take care of me... i have no faith in drs... i now have to go have a mammogragm and ultra sound... nurses told me friday that i have fibrocyctic breasts... duh!!! i have been telling the drs. for 6 montyhs now that my breasts hurt... and they just look at me!!!! i have to say this site and people like you and tinks and so many others have helped me... its like my own place to be mentally... i dont have to share it with anyone here... and even if i did they would say oh well denise is nutty again... i still though am searching for that purpose and i think starting this peri thing early might be part of it... i beliveve i need to read and study more on thelongterm effects of depo provera..9 yaers is a long time without a cycle... coming off the injections have been worse... maybe thats where i need to find my purpose and to help other women... oh but where to start???? i have learned alot here though... more than any one ever will know... i never have had a strong woman influence in my life... my mother still dosent even talk to me... but i have learned to accept that... but growing up sexuality wasnt discussed... i was almost 17... like the day before my 17th birthday when i started my period and i went to my mother and she said... about time... late bloomer and said the pads and things are in the cabinet and left it at that.... my sister was only 9 when she strtd so i dont know how the poor thing functioned if my mother was that cold about it to her.... thank goodness for friends in high scholl and now... power surge!!! i truley do love all of you!!!! denise

Hey Denise - what you say makes absolute sense to me

I defintely see PS as a place where I feel understood and a place where I have leant so much from others - indclduing yourslef - cos we all share how we feel and that helps me to articlutae how I feel and helps me find solutions.......

I have found peri to be a time of a great awakening in me - a sense of self I had not known before - OK mixed up with the OMG I am not immortal thing too!!!!

In a way I am envious of you having this happen so young - cos I feel I walked about with my mind closed for years - it aint going to happen again.........I could have done with the peri kick in the pants a long while ago.....

I sat down and thought Waht do I want? And wrote a long list.... And then I paused and went back to that long list and thought - now What do I really want? ...OK a few items off the list...then I said What do I really REALLY want?? And I came up with herbalism cos it combines my abilities as a nurse and communicator and interests in plants and the natural world and also my desire to help people and learn more about plants and my skills as an ecologist and nurse - you know it ticked all the boxes for me...

I guess I dont so much not have faith in Drs but not so much faith that I dont take responsilbity for ME - I have realised I need to take control of what I want in MY life - and that goes for how I deal with other people - more empathetic and caring I hope yes - but also more assertive too - learning to say no and learning to find time for ME to just be ME. I am even leanring to be in the moment - dont manage it for long - just a few mins - but hey that is gong something for Miss jump about mind

I want to stop being Maybe Queen - blimey I am a master of procrastination - I am going to do some stuff for ME - like the herbalism - I'll deal with finding the money to pay for the course in the future!!!

Remember MEnopause starts with ME!!!!

Sorry about your mum - that must be a complex feeling to handle.......those memories from childhood esp the negative ones do cling on dont they - I seem to have more negative than positives from childhood...I am trying to deal with my anger and emotion over stuff from the past......I remember how my mum laughed at me when I said i needed a bra and my dad waved it around at the breakfast table asking what it was and why I needed one........man I had forgotten that......no wonder I am so loopy now!!!! I think they were both so embarrssed and unable to cope with emotion themselves they mocked anything to do with sex - they were strict christians and my childhood was very restricted and controlled cos of that........they looked for the differences between people instead of the similarities - I am still working on correcting the things I learned from them.......

So what do you really want to do??? New job - new course - new hobby???

How long have you been off the DP? Did it have any influence on your fibro breasts? You know I sit in front of my Dr and tell him what I feel and his eyes glaze over - he just hasnt got a clue - all he says is HRT or ADs.......I can tell him till I am blue in the face about peri and he just doesnt get it........I am either having cycles or I am post meno......

Good to chat.......hope you are having a good day

Mele

hi mele.... dont know what i want yet but i ask god every night.... let me live for my daughter and so i can find what purpose i have here.... who knows maybe i already have done something... but i dont think i have whole heartedly... now the next thing... i went on the depo at the age of almost 22... i stopped injections march 2004... so i have ead that it takes up to 22 months for it to completley leave your system(or does it?) my symproms all started in jan. 2006... so that is right on the money with time.... oh boy!!! i have had insomnia.. dizziness.. lightheadness... hot flash wit the adrenaline surge feeeling ove and over.. feeling like i am going to pass out... heart palpitations... major stomach aches.. cry at the drop of a hat... depression... sever anger... panic attacks..moody.. irritable... back ache and arms... tingly sensation... pins and needles stuff... runny nose...no sex drive at all... i could live without it... painful sometimes... breats get large and tender... hurt bad about 2 weeks before period starts... shakey feeling inside... sunburnt feeling on face...ugh!!! also my periods come and last either 1 day or 9 days... sometimes so heavy and clotty... other times light pink and no pain.... odd? they were 31 dyas apart now they are 22 days apart... in the 9 years of being on the depo i had no period ever.... nothing!!!!! and as i said before i started right at my 17th birthday...i have obly one child... she will be 11 in september... i since have not used any bcp...no babies... i have had ctscan of head neck to rule out tumors..and strokes... echocardi ultra sound of heart(normal).. wore a heart holter... showed very mild palpitiions... i had a v-ultra sound of uterus etc.. all good dr. said my uterus seemed a litlle enlarged but all was good... tons of blood work including thyriod... all good iron was a little low and i was not ovulating... hmm? wonder why...???? all any dr. has done is thrown bcp at me and say try this for your mood swings.... i wont do it... also dr. tried giving me beta blockers to slow my heart rate down... i refused that too... since the heart thig wasnt that big of a deal... the fastet i seen it happen was go form 80 to 125 in the er hooked up to a heart monitor.. and i was stressed out because apparnetly i had been having hot flashes that were causing me to panic... so thre you go with the heart rate... dr. kept saying i had panic attacks and that was it... i asked about peri.... no dont think so... you are too young... so this is where i am now... i have went on a strict diet... did away with red meat and white flour etc.. no pop... co caffien at all... including coffee... i quit smoking and i have lost almost 60 pounds... i feel alot better... the hot flashes are not as severe.. but ithink thats because i have accepted them... i do sleep some better... but i tell ya... if it werent for this site... i would be insane... i am not taking any meds... i havenet and i dont plan on it... maybe if things get worse will try herbal.... as far as the fibro breast thing goes... this is new to me also because i done even remeber having pms before i went on the depo... so i am thinking that i have been screwed up for years... also... my mom i think still has periods regularly... she i think is 52... also my sister is29 and never has been able to concieve... she has alot of female problems... but i dont talk to her either much... her and my mom are alot alike... i have tried so hard to be a good sis and daughter... but sometimes you cant keep turning the other cheek,,, i am a firm beliver now that if something or someone causes you grief and sterss... STAY AWAY FROM IT OR THEM!!! this is my look on things... well i guess i have explained it all... there it is... and what do you think? am i peri or nuts???? lol denise

MELE

Thanks for the response..I pretty much know my body by now..had very hard periods all my life and started early also. I kept telling everyone I know that I WAS NOT through menopause yet even at age 60!!! Everyone seems to go by numbers these days..by the book you should be done at 51..we are all different..I knew by the "mini" periods, hot flashes, 'internal" shaking and very little anxiety that it was me starting into menopause and am not yet there..it doesn't have to be a certain age for this to happen to you..we all differ..The hormone thing pretty much settle it for me by the numbers on my blood test..I did the EKG, everything came back normal except for hormones..I am trying to get through this on my own, don't want to have to take anything for it, want my body to handle it..
Thanks for the input..

SCRAPPER