His and Her Health

I had a total hysterectomy in 2002, I am using a compounded hormone cream with estrogen and testosterone in it. My dr. recently did bloodwork to check my hormone levels but I haven't gotten the results yet. What consider normal levels in women who have had hysterectomies?

Your healthcare provider will probably utilize two tests. The first measures estrogen levels within the bloodstream and the second measures FSH (follicular-stimulating hormone). These tests look for low estrogen levels and high levels of FSH. Your healthcare provider can confirm the results and will modify your treatment accordingly.

First of all, you may not be asking the right question. <grin> Rather than asking what level of hormone is normal for a woman who has had a hysterctomy, you might want to ask what level of each hormone any woman needs in her body to feel "normal" and function well. And I don't think there is a simple answer.

I found useful information on lab tests and results in general at

http://www.labtestsonline.org

Especially interesting to me were the pages on "References Ranges & What They Mean." It explains how reference ranges ("normal" ranges) are established, and that they must be considered just one factor in the equation. Each person is an individual, and what is ideal for you might not be for me.

Having said all that, Dr. Vliet in "Screaming to be Heard" states that in her 20+ years of clinical experience, "optimal estradiol levels to help you feel your best are typically the levels produced for most of the time in a healthy menstrual cycle, i.e., somewhere in the range of 90-250 pg/ml." Yet when I had a test done for estradiol (E2) recently, I was told that my 35 pg/ml level was within "normal levels" for a menopausal woman. Go figure. I certainly feel like crap, have no energy, brain fog galore, etc. etc.

Dr. Vliet also says that for women to have an optimal sex drive and interest in sex, testosterone blood levels generally need to be about 40 to 60 ng/dl, tho she has treated women whose sex drive returned to normal when testosterone tested at 25 ng/dl (nanograms per deciliter).

Hope this info helps, but just remember that we are all different. these values, as well as the ones your doctor/lab use as the "normal" range, are all just a starting point. What really matters is the level at which YOU feel normal.

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I recently had a battery of hormone levels tests done and they all were within the normal range but my doctor (not a GYN) wants to prescribe everything from DHEA to testosterone and estrogen creams along with human growth hormone and vitamin B-12 shots.

Where can I find valid scientific studies on what is the standard of care? Red flags went up when she said b-12 shots since those seem sort of new age to me.