Have you had your Estrogen levels tested?

[lainier]

Haven't posted in a long while and was just wondering whether anyone here has had there Estrogen levels tested and if they showed up as low?
I had saliva testing done and my estrogen levels showed up very low. I am also going to get a blood test done soon to test my estrogen levels. I am 39 and have had Sjogren's for 8 years. I want to know because maybe I could benefit from a natural estrogen cream. Hopefully it will help the dry eyes.
Elaine

[DesignerS]

Elaine,
I have had my levels tested several times and am on bioidentical hormones.  I have gone through menopause (51), however, the low dose hormones do help me with some of the symptoms from estrogen being so low. 
Since low estrogen can cause dryness issues of the eye, it certainly makes sense that you could benefit from taking something. 

Designer

[pudmott]

Hi lainer

I saw an orthomolecular doc the other day and he is testing me for my hormone levels. he exoplained to me that low levels of estrogen can exacerbate AI issues and if found to be low he is going to put me on hormone cream to see if it helps.

Aparently there is literature to support all this, its just the regular docs look at things medically rather than at a cellular level and dont think of the hormone connection. It makes sense when i lot of women with AI actually go into a type of remission when pregnant.

Interestin thread thanls for posting i will be interested to see how many others have this issue

Pud

[lesleyjoy]

Hi lainier, my estrogen hormone levels are low and have been for some time  I'm 51 now and post menopausal but started pre menopause 10 years previous to this.  I think the low estrogen levels definitely exacerbate AI's.

Lesley

[DesignerS]

Can I just ask what ALs means.

Designer

[Linda196]

Designer, AIs are AutoImmune diseases, including but not limited to things like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Sjogren's and Crohn's Disease.

I've had many hormonal levels tested, and it was a bit difficult to tell when I was actually menopausal, if the doc had just looked at the one set...my levels had always been high, and my post menopausal levels fell into the range of low normal for pre...it was only the comparison with earlier levels that made things clear. I never took HRT, because the only symptom of menopause that I seemed to have was a slight increase in the frequency of "flashes" that I've had since I was in my 20s, and that only seemed to last for one summer.

Remember that one "estrogen" test isn't sufficient for an over all picture, because not only do the levels fluctuate on a daily basis, over 30 different forms of estrogen have been described; the most common forms tested are estrone [E1], estradiol [estradiol-17 beta, E2], and estriol [E3], and each of these factions respond differently to different conditions.

[Katybarstool]

Hi Designer

Very interesting question. Although I think Sjogren's has been in the background of my life for many years, it was only when I underwent a surgical menopause that things got out of hand. 9 months post hysterectomy I started using oestrogen gel and oestrogen vaginal cream. It helped the joints. I didn't realie how much until I was 12 hours late with the gel and all my joints flared up.  Interestingly, my rheumatologist stated that oestrogen can help with Srogrens symptoms. There is informtion about this here 

http://www.arc.org.uk/arthinfo/patpubs/6041/6041.asp

Kathyx

[Calli66]

My PCP has not tested female hormones---only did a testosterone test because I always complain of low libido. Should I go to another doctor and ask to get tested? I am post-menopause, and I think they figure testing for estrogen is a waste of time---or something. What kind of doctor does these tests?

Thanks,

Calli

[pudmott]

Calli
YOur PCP can order these blood tests. It could be worth checking out as a lot of literture is coming out about the effect of hormone levels on Auto immune diseases

Pud

[eyeamdry]

This subject has been talked about for years on a dry eye board.  It seems as many different observations as there are people!  For myself, I was on HRT for about 20 years and had to stop abruptly last year because of b. cancer.  My eyes felt no different before or after the HRT.  I went into menopause early naturally and started "those pills" and kept taking them forever. 

I think meds or hormones can affect your eye dryness, but i think that if your eyes are dry as a bone, stopping or starting meds does nothing.  I have stopped several meds over a period of years that supposedly can cause dry eyes.  Not a bit of difference.  Your mileage may vary, this is just mine.  Lucy

[Jesse88]

I find this topic very interesting especially since I just read on a lupus information site that taking estrogen as hormone replacement after menopause can be a trigger for lupus.  That's the only place I ever read this and since all the AI diseases seem to be related in some respects, it makes me wonder about triggering SJS as well. 

But I have to say that in my own experience, estrogen has helped me so much.  Before I was dxd, I started having joint and muscle pain and nerve pain that later turned out to be from the AI diseases, but before that I had already started replacement estrogen and it was a major help for me.  This is all very confusing.  I know some women feel much better during pregnancy and others are much worse.  As usual, there are no easy answers for us.

[Katybarstool]

Hi Jesse

My symptoms started long before the oestrogen was given. For me, I know the oestrogen helps the SjS symptoms.

Kathyx

[lainier]

Thanks for all of your interesting replies.
Having had the dry eyes for about 8 years I am wondering why I didn't pursue getting my hormones tested sooner. It was always a concern of mine as I notice a definate worsening of the eye dryness from my period up until ovulation.
I have mentioned this to many doctor's over the years but not one of them suggested getting my hormones tested. I've noticed some unwanted facial hair over the past few years as well, which I really do not like and I think is a sign of low estrogen as well.
Have been using natural progesterone cream for a few years but have run into some problems this year with my levels coming back as six times higher than they should be along with severe anxiety, depression and ocd. My dose was cut in half a few months ago and I am waiting for some relief from it all. The cream definately healed my endometriosis and prevented me from going in for laporoscopies but I still recommend that anybody consider very carefully before trying HRT even from natural sources and if you do decide to try it use very minimal amounts. Despite what your doctor may tell you, you can overdose on it.
I am still curious whether anyone here has tried natural estrogen cream and had success with dry eye pain? If so, for what period of time have you been using the estrogen cream?
Elaine

[nisha]

Can't help you on the cream, but will add my two cents about estrogen.

I have been on estrogen injections for many years (started after  both ovaries were removed).  Well, I decided earlier in the year to stop the treatment, and that proved to be a big mistake.  My sjs symptoms - all of them - flared up worse than they had ever been.  The dryness was extreme, also all the other issues I have (joints, digestive, migraines) were worse. 

So I went back to my estrogen injections, and within one day everything was back to how it normally is - not good, but nothing like when I stopped.

nisha

[gurs]

I've been dealing with this nasty battle ever since my total Hysterectomy a year ago.
I was taking a bio-estrogen cream at the time,(still taking) when all my sjogrens/lupus symptoms just went nuts. My estrogen levels tested low at 23.
Ive tried just about every natural/synthetic estrogen there is-  to get my levels up, and they just seems to make me sicker, even in low doses. Even though im still taking the cream, My dryness is horrible, I have terrible neuropathy-brain fog, joint pain, anxiety, systemic yeast..hair loss..the list goes on. Not sure if the symptoms are from low estrogen or autoimmune, or both Im guessing.

Ive read several studies where it also shows estrogen increases eye dryness?

I think the estrogen and hormone balance def will help with the autoimmune issues, they say it acts as an anti-inflammatory..lucky you if you can tolerate it.....Not no sure at this point if its helping me or hurting??? Im still searching. Looking into some natural alternatives, but dont think anything is going to combat this Sjogrens/menopause dryness..

Gursie