[TibetanPrincess]

Just a few months but I cannot afford it right now but I am monitoring everything and copying what my doc prescribed but through different and cheaper sources.

[JustintoMe]

So the results are in:

-Cortisol levels are normal.
-Estrogen is normal.
-Thyroid is normal.
-High testosterone (PCOS test ordered).
-Very low progesterone (prescribed Camila - progesterone only BC).
-Anemic.

I also met with the surgeon today so that's in the process now.
Just wanted to post an update, sending good boobies vibes to everyone.

[AbiDrew85]

-High testosterone (PCOS test ordered).
-Very low progesterone (prescribed Camila - progesterone only BC).
-Anemic.

These three taken together even without an estrogen imbalance are more than enough to recommend that PCOS test you ordered! Good call!

Not so good call on the Camila IMO... Despite what you SAID it was and what the Big Pharma are going to try telling you: that's not progesterone, but a progestin. That's a SYNTHETIC progesterone-LIKE hormone. And it's dangerous. It looks like it's one of the least dangerous progestins from what data I've been able to get on it, but... try to get on USP PROGESTERONE instead. Maybe even talk to your doc about what PC they'd recommend and how much of it they think you should use.

Anemia of course I can't begin to stress how nasty that can be...

Good luck getting this stuff sorted out ok!

[TibetanPrincess]

I had a feeling you were estrogen dominant and needed progesterone. PM is a nono for you. I wouldn't do BC pill. But that's just my opinion.

This is great news you know now.

[Doll]

Wow, sorry to hear you need surgery. Good luck!

Glad you got tests done, seems like you really needed it! It sounds like you definitely may have PCOS, so good to hear you're looking into that as well. hopefully now you'll be able to come up with a better NBE plan once you start back up on it.

Also, I'm against BC, and won't try to push that on you. I just suggest that you look into it a lot beforehand. BC screwed me up big time. And for that reason, get your estrogen levels checked as well just in case before getting on any type of birth control. I think that's what made my BC screw me up so bad before; they gave me something random without having the slightest idea as to what my body actually needed, and therefore ended up giving me the completely wrong thing. So just be careful. PC has done some wonderful things for me so far, and I don't even use the full amount that it says to on the jar. So always consider that option.

Good luck girl!

[JustintoMe]

Thanks for the well wishes & suggestions you guys.

My doctor and I both thought that trying Camila would be an okay place to start despite my past negative experiences with BC. The logic behind this was that because both BC I had used before and experienced adverse symptoms were with estrogen only BC, being that progesterone is practically nonexistent in my body (.6, normal is 11) this was a recipe for disaster. Since my progesterone is so low my doctor noted that it is very likely that I hadn't been ovulating every month. This means that luck isn't the reason that my guy and I haven't gotten pregnant - instead I was not that fertile.

So my doctor and I agreed that since I REALLY do not want to get pregnant, I should be on BC (trust me you guys, this is not a decision that I took lightly). She did inform me that Camila is not bio-identical progesterone, but rather progestins. Her logic was that since I need both some form of BC as well as something to make up for my body's lack of progesterone, Camila would be a good place to start. I agreed to try, only because I'm 22, preparing for law school and despite having been with my guy for nearly 6 years, I'm nowhere near ready for kids. My doctor did order blood tests in 2 months. If I have a bad experience with Camila or it fails raise my progesterone levels to normal (which I doubt it will since I'm so low), my doctor will most likely prescribed bio-identical progesterone.

At the moment I am in the process of correcting my vitamin deficiencies - taking prescription Iron, B12, Magnesium and Vitamin D supplements.

[TibetanPrincess]

Thanks for the well wishes & suggestions you guys.

My doctor and I both thought that trying Camila would be an okay place to start despite my past negative experiences with BC. The logic behind this was that because both BC I had used before and experienced adverse symptoms were with estrogen only BC, being that progesterone is practically nonexistent in my body (.6, normal is 11) this was a recipe for disaster. Since my progesterone is so low my doctor noted that it is very likely that I hadn't been ovulating every month. This means that luck isn't the reason that my guy and I haven't gotten pregnant - instead I was not that fertile.

So my doctor and I agreed that since I REALLY do not want to get pregnant, I should be on BC (trust me you guys, this is not a decision that I took lightly). She did inform me that Camila is not bio-identical progesterone, but rather progestins. Her logic was that since I need both some form of BC as well as something to make up for my body's lack of progesterone, Camila would be a good place to start. I agreed to try, only because I'm 22, preparing for law school and despite having been with my guy for nearly 6 years, I'm nowhere near ready for kids. My doctor did order blood tests in 2 months. If I have a bad experience with Camila or it fails raise my progesterone levels to normal (which I doubt it will since I'm so low), my doctor will most likely prescribed bio-identical progesterone.

At the moment I am in the process of correcting my vitamin deficiencies - taking prescription Iron, B12, Magnesium and Vitamin D supplements.

This is just a suggestion, how about you find out the culprit of why you are not creating your own adequate amount of progesterone???

Is it your ovaries? Your adrenals? Both?? This is what is actually going to help you in the long run. BC can be a quick fix. Bio identicals can also be only a quick fix as there is no guarantee that it will signal your body to start producing its own. I've asked my Dr. and he said he couldn't promise this would have such an effect on my glandular system so I decided to research herbs that will help my body create its own.

But sooner or later, your body is going to have to start doing the work. It looks like NBE should be on hold until you figure this out.

Sure, you may get pregnant but can you keep the pregnancy? THIS is what my concern would be if I were wanting to have a baby. I would hate to see my self pregnant just to risk losing my unborn because my progesterone levels could not sustain through out my pregnancy being off of BC. Think about it.

I am one like so many who took BC for 5 years to get off it to realize it had made me sterile in producing my own hormones. I was on a medium dose of estrogen BC.

Good you caught this in time, its no wonder your body type was similar to mine being underactive, I love how there are tell tale signs of estrogen dominance. Some women do not want to listen but its all there and tests can confirm it with details. I wish I knew this in my early twenties!

[JustintoMe]

Thanks a bunch Tibetan, as always, I appreciate your suggestions.

As for my finding out the cause of my low progesterone, I choose to attempt to remedy some of my symptoms of low progesterone (listed here). I do intend to still research the causes but am unsure where to start as my cortisol blood test results were normal (12.2 mcg/dL at 8A). I've been thinking about the possibility of my having some sort of genetic predisposition towards hormonal issues as hormonal issues are common amongst the women in my immediate family.

Still I think that my doctor was right to proceed with caution and prescribe BC rather than bio identical progesterone. I doubt that the BC will prevent the real cause of my low progesterone from being seen. Also, my doctor and I are not sure how low my progesterone really is as I was tested 21 days after my appt w/ her (which was 2.5 weeks before my period during the follicular phase). My lab results state that it is normal for progesterone levels to <1.0 during the follicular phase.

SO wouldn't that mean that another blood test should be done during my luteal phase to confirm that I have low progesterone?


As stress is often a cause of low progesterone my I expected my cortisol level to be high but it wasn't. Does this mean that I can rule out faulty adrenals of the cause of my imbalanced hormones? I'm considering requesting that I have more blood tests done sooner than in 2 months, so that I have a more comprehensive picture of my hormone levels before my doc & I start trying different things.

Thinking about requesting:

-4 point saliva test to monitor cortisol levels + blood tests back up saliva test results
-Dexamethasone-CRH Test
-Estrogen test to be done during my luteal phase
-Progesterone test to be done during my luteal phase
-Referral to endocrinologist (possibly for CT scans of my endocrine glands in hopes to finding the causes of my imbalanced hormones)
-DHEA sulfate test
-Urinanalysis
-Glucose (tracking for risk for diabetes)
-FSH + LH (checking ovarian hormone output)

I am considering calling my doctor Monday morning and asking her to email me the lab paperwork so I may have the tests done this week.

I know that because my doctor specializes in integrative medicine she is starting me on vitamins (rather than prescribing bio-identicals) in hopes that this with help my body function more normally.

[TibetanPrincess]

Thanks a bunch Tibetan, as always, I appreciate your suggestions.

As for my finding out the cause of my low progesterone, I choose to attempt to remedy some of my symptoms of low progesterone (listed here). I do intend to still research the causes but am unsure where to start as my cortisol blood test results were normal (12.2 mcg/dL at 8A). I've been thinking about the possibility of my having some sort of genetic predisposition towards hormonal issues as hormonal issues are common amongst the women in my immediate family.

Still I think that my doctor was right to proceed with caution and prescribe BC rather than bio identical progesterone. I doubt that the BC will prevent the real cause of my low progesterone from being seen. Also, my doctor and I are not sure how low my progesterone really is as I was tested 21 days after my appt w/ her (which was 2.5 weeks before my period during the follicular phase). My lab results state that it is normal for progesterone levels to <1.0 during the follicular phase.

SO wouldn't that mean that another blood test should be done during my luteal phase to confirm that I have low progesterone?


As stress is often a cause of low progesterone my I expected my cortisol level to be high but it wasn't. Does this mean that I can rule out faulty adrenals of the cause of my imbalanced hormones? I'm considering requesting that I have more blood tests done sooner than in 2 months, so that I have a more comprehensive picture of my hormone levels before my doc & I start trying different things.

Thinking about requesting:

24 hr urine test to monitor cortisol levels
Dexamethasone-CRH Test
Estrogen test to be done during my luteal phase
Progesterone test to be done during my luteal phase
Referral to endocrinologist (possibly for CT scans of my endocrine glands in hopes to finding the causes of my imbalanced hormones)

I know that because my doctor specializes in integrative medicine she is starting me on vitamins (rather than prescribing bio-identicals) in hopes that this with help my body function more normally. I hope that this works.

SO wouldn't that mean that another blood test should be done during my luteal phase to confirm that I have low progesterone?


Yes! You can even do a spot blood test or saliva test for progesterone only and I know with progesterone, you do it around day 19 of luteal phase. I believe the range is a few days in luteal. I don't know why they would test you in follicular for estrogen and progesterone in the first place.

As stress is often a cause of low progesterone my I expected my cortisol level to be high but it wasn't. Does this mean that I can rule out faulty adrenals of the cause of my imbalanced hormones?

Absolutely not! By the time your adrenals give out, they can no longer produce adequate amounts of cortisol. If you have High cort levels, your adrenals are over working, if you have low than normal cort levels, you are past this phase and can possibly be stage 3 adrenal failure! Be careful with this. Please test all 4 cort levels with saliva if you haven't yet. If they are normal cort levels, keep them that way. You are okay. Its just better to have both blood and saliva done to be sure.

[JustintoMe]

Enough about my blood tests and doctor appointments...

I have not given up on NBE. I am still on a break, cleansing my body of herbs and taking care of it. Until I am able to get my progest level up, PM is definitely a NONO for me. Even though I have had USP progest. cream in my possession for months now, I am holding off on using it simply because I want to be a methodical as possible now. I've learned to take things that have to do with my body slow.

So I'm planning to:

-either join a gym or devise a workout regime for target areas on my body (i.e. back, arms, stomach, butt).

-start BBT charting more seriously
-track changes due to new BC (even bought a new journal), I hope that it helps out in the boobie dept. since I am low on progesterone but have normal estrogen levels
-massage more diligently
-start NG'ing more regularly
-listen to blaketalks more often


BTW Thank you AbiDrew, while we do have a difference in opinion, your comment did prompt me to look into the research on Camila. There are a great deal of negative reviews on it and a lot of people have complained about it giving the a number of symptoms (mood swings, runaway bleeding, acne, migraines). If I notice any of these symptoms after I start Camila, I will be scheduling an doctor's appt. ASAP.