I'm not sure I can be of much help. I just had some hormones rechecked.Plumster wrote:Question: Do most of you take a DHEA supplement, in addition to estradiol and progesterone? I am low in all three.
Also: How is progesterone measured? I know it needs to be 1-20 ng/mL optimally, but my doctor says it's "impossible" to measure progesterone with a lab test. My test shows it's 0.30 ng/mL despite supplementing 100-200, but to her, it's not a number that tells us much since progesterone is "everywhere" in the body. Are there different kinds of tests? What am I or she missing?
I am COMT++ but I am going to try Estradiol despite of this, starting today (I eat healthy, exercise a lot, don't drink, and am hoping that my family history of no cancers of any kind will make this doable).
I think maybe when we post that a lab should be in a certain range, such as progesterone needs to be 1-20 ng/mL, we should specify whose range we're mentioning. I believe you're referring to Dr. Bredesen, and I think his range is for pre-menopausal women. My post-menopausal progesterone, using 100 mg Prometrium, was at 1.71 ng/mL, at the bottom of Dr. Bredesen's range, but way above the Quest lab range of <.14 for post-menopausal women. Your result of .30 ng/mL sounds more in line with menopausal ranges, but I'm not sure Dr. Bredesen has made a recommendation for us.
I think Slacker makes a good point that many other blood labs conventional doctors rely on are testing things that are all over the body. All I can think is that she believes saliva testing is better because it tests the levels in tissues (at least that's my understanding).
FWIW I don't supplement DHEA, but I think my DHEA-S was in normal range. I should circle back and double check. I need a good adrenal hormone check.
I do supplement pregnenolone because I had consistently low readings and taking it has consistently corrected them.
