Smart to use tape, Kit. I worried about accidentally washing the patch off without having a clear visual of it.
Julie, do you consume soy-based products that could boost your levels? Likely you still have some ovarian output of estrogen that factors into your levels.
Good question. I don't eat soy because of GMO concerns. Re. ovarian output of estrogen; I'm guessing that's most likely the real culprit here. Perhaps my own levels could have diminished causing the huge drop
At 62, my doctor refuses to even measure my levels, since he will not respond by altering the ultra-low dose. I don't think we know what level is considered optimal for women in their 60s.
I fully agree. I don't think we know what level is considered optimal for any post-menopausal woman. I've been shooting to stay low (around 50 pg/mL) because of concerns that it could interfere with my ability to reach mild ketosis, but not THIS low
Julie, I meant the blood level trough at the end of the patch as it's empty then the rise as the new one goes on. Very few drugs have an absolutely flat blood concentration over 24 hours. You'd need a very long half life like thyroxine for instance. So I meant time from application of the patch to time of blood testing might have been different.
I don't think my previous link related to the patch's pharmakinetics (scroll down to the graph) was underlined: http://www.drugs.com/pro/estradiol-patch.html
Stavia has the most likely explanation for the variation. This reminds me that we need to control the patch placement timing with the testing levels.
Ah, Stavia- you brilliant girl That does make sense. Thank you both for helping me sort this out. My gyn DID up my dose to .1 mg, but soon irrelevant as I turn it over to Dr. Bredesen
Julie honey it doesnt really matter about the peaks and the troughs. Like I said, most drugs do that. The trough won't be for long, I'm not sure what the absorption time is but it's not likely to be more than a couple hours. So even if you get a lower blood level for 2 hours, you'd be in what is called "therapeutic" levels for most of the day.
It now appears that hot flushes are not merely symptoms of low estrogen levels; they may themselves lead to other neurologic problems. In oophorectomized women, hot flushes have been directly correlated with memory impairment.[13] In addition, single proton emission computed tomography (SPECT) of healthy menopausal women revealed decreased cerebral blood flow during hot flushes.[14] The greatest change occurred in the hippocampus, a center for memory and cognition. Regional patterns of cerebral blood flow during hot flushes resembled those characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. ERT resolved the hot flushes and restored normal patterns of cerebral blood flow.
now this is very interesting. Does anyone know anything more about this?
now this is very interesting. Does anyone know anything more about this?
I do...personal experience AGAIN Rectifying my hot flushes with HRT helped restore cognition issues for me. Somewhere buried in this thread, is a section (linking multiple studies) on the correlation between hot flushes and impaired cerebral glucose.