Hormone Levels

On Fedi I talk quite a bit about struggling to dial in my hormone - levels. Part of that involves getting tested and such. So this page is - going to be where I catalog everything so its easier for me to share more - clearly whats going on.

The Problem

I switched to injections from pills to injections in April of 2023. - After a few weeks of injections I start to notice that over the weekend I - am just wrecked. My emotions are all off, I feel like I did pre-HRT and I - start getting depressed. This has been happening every weekend since - starting injections.

My dosages

I currently (as of August 04, 2023) on 0.15mL of 20mg/mL Estradiol - Valerate injecting weekly on Monday mornings.

My original dosage was 0.1mL of 40mg/mL of EV.

The trials

So my doctor tested my levels on a Thursday a week after my initial - message (due to my own error missing a call to get the next day locked - in). Since I wouldn’t be testing for a week she asked me to do 0.15mL of - the 40mg. I tested. And then tested again 1 week later. Both results were - in the mid 900s pg/mL which is insanely high. I was averaging in the high - 200-300 range on pills.

So she had me immediately return to 0.1mL and then actually dropped me - to 0.75mL of the 40mg and prescribed 20mg EV so I could take 0.15mL of - that instead.

Thus began a 6 week waiting period while I adjusted to the lesser - dosage. And the feelings only got worse.

Where I am now

I got my bloodwork done on the afternoon of Friday August 4th to - conclude the 6 week trial and am awaiting results.

Update: The results came back as 253pg/mL. Awaiting - call from provider.

Update: On August 9th I followed up with my doctor - about the levels and she recommended moving to a .1mL of the 20mg EV - (down from .15mL of the 20mg EV) and inject every 5 days.

So I am going to follow-up again in 3 weeks and report how I feel.

What Fedi has helped with

Some possible things to note are:

What day are you testing? Ideally I should’ve been testing the day - before or morning of.
I am doing weekly dosages. Some girls do every 5 days.
I am generally stressed and anxious. But I can feel the hormonal - difference on the weekends. Especially on Sat/Sun.
I could switch to Friday injections since rarely do you test the - day after. So that would allow for any day at the latter half of my - injection cycle.

But I suspect there is the possibility I am feeling the dip and not - the actual level itself. So I feel amazing on the peak but the end of the - cycle ramp down is so sever I just get depressed from it. In which case - increasing frequency or other medical intervention (maybe - anti-depressants) could combat this.