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Confused About My Current Levels

by Lisa
(California)

I'm a 51-year-old female, ad my doctor told me a few months ago that my FSH was 120, and therefore that I was "way into menopause." I last had a period seven months ago, although I did have some bleeding that perhaps could be considered a light period about two months ago. I had a blood test done last week to measure my levels of progesterone and "total estrogen." My only regret is that I had just started using natural progesterone cream (Emerita Progest) one week before the blood was drawn and tested (I was using 40-80 mg daily during that week: 20-40mg in the morning and 20-40mg in the evening). I wish that I had had the blood drawn before starting on the progesterone cream, to see what my levels were before starting therapy. In any case, my lab results just came back, and my progesterone is .6 ng/mL and my "total estrogen" is 331 pg/mL. According to the reference ranges, both of these numbers can be normal, depending on menstrual phase; however, since I am not really having regular periods, and was told that I was "way into menopause" according to my FSH level, something doesn't seem right. .6 progesterone for a post-menopausal woman seems right, but 331 total estrogen for a post-menopausal woman is pretty much off the charts, isn't it? The reference range given was <40 pg/mL for post-menopausal women. I've definitely been experiencing estrogen dominance symptoms since starting the progesterone cream (I understand I should probably increase the dosage to counter that), but could one week on the progesterone cream have caused that much estrogen dominance? Or do you think I was severely estrogen dominant before I even started on the progesterone cream?

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