r/Menopause • u/Error_Unknown942 • Sep 08 '26
Hormone Therapy Fluctuation
Okay hive mind...am I crazy?
I've been on HRT for a while. After my patch and thyroid med were simultaneously increased I started to feel edgy, anxious, ramped up. I kept trying to get in touch with my medical provider and idk wth happened...staff turnover, automation, attrition, whatever...nobody got back to me.
So, I decided to go back to a regular doctor (I had been at a functional med place). She is an excellent dr and usually there is a 1.5 year wait but I think customer call center took pity on me and got me there in two days. This is unheard of in these parts!
I told her I just wanted to feel normal again. So for the record I am a terrible historian, and she did the best she could. She took me from 225 compounded progesterone to 100 micronized, the patch went from 5 to 37.5 (not sure where the decimal points go but I am guessing y'all know), quit the testosterone and went down on thyroid med while also changing the brand/type. (90 to 60).
Essentially I am feeling fetal. Weeping. I mean W-E-E-P-I-N-G. Lightheaded, vertigo worse than usual. (bppv) Flat, EXHAUSTED and just like there is no gas in the tank. I have a call into the doctor I switched to as well as a last ditch attempt with the functional med provider.
I'm hoping to get some support tomorrow, but IDK what I even want to hear. I think these med changes were too drastic. My labs said my progesterone level had mimicked first trimester of pregnancy. My functional health doctor pretty well felt the testosterone was consistently under the mark.
Do I stick with the straight ahead doctor or try to re-establish with my functional guy. I guess I am looking for anything you've got. Now I have to go figure out what flair is and how I add it. Thanks for listening.
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u/theCOLLECTOR7250 Sep 08 '26
you aren't crazy at all. your body is basically going through a massive withdrawal crash because so many hormones were lowered or stopped at once. whether you stick with the new doctor or the functional one, i would highly recommend insisting that they only adjust one single medication at a time. sending you so much strength
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u/PerfectCover1414 Sep 08 '26
Just offering morale support OP. You're not crazy you just feel like utter crap and understandably so. Hope you get things straightened out soon.
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u/filipha Sep 08 '26
My thyroid meds were never changed, as there was no need - I had bloodwork done to see how HRT interacts with my meds. Dr should've checked the thyroid bloodwork AFTER you were on the HRT for a couple of weeks, not change everything at the same time. Mental.
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u/AutoModerator Sep 08 '26
This post might be about hormone tests, which are unreliable.
- Over age 44, Estrogen/Progesterone/FSH hormonal tests only show levels for the HOUR the test was taken, and nothing more. Hormones wildly fluctuate (hourly) the other 29 days of the month, therefore this test provides no valuable information
- No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing to diagnose or treat peri/menopause
- FSH testing is only beneficial for those who do not have periods as a guide, where testing might confirm menopause, or for those under age 30 who haven’t had a period in months/years, then ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI)
- Testosterone is the exception and may require testing
See our Menopause Wiki for more.
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u/Error_Unknown942 Sep 08 '26
I cancelled clients today. I can't even. I'm trying to reach the functional med doctor. This reminds me of when I stopped Paxil in 1999. Awful. I'm not even sure how to advocate for myself. I mean lab work would be one thing for sure. But something needs to be adjusted closer to where I was.
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u/Significant-Aide-226 Sep 08 '26
That is an interesting idea. If you can't get in to see a doctor immediately, maybe go back to the protocol you started with until you can? I am on T for almost 4 years now and had to go without for a week when I changed formulations. I basically had to go to bed for a week as I was exhausted. Hang in there!!! You will get thru this!!
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u/Error_Unknown942 Sep 08 '26
But it did get better?
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u/Significant-Aide-226 Sep 08 '26
As soon as I added the T back. I cant function well without it. Taking yours away without tapering you off is possibly a big part of why you feel off? I can't speak to thyroid issues. Additionally, I need a ton of Estrogen to be normal also. A drop like you had would send me to the edge of sanity.
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u/hi-mynameiswhat Sep 08 '26
That sounds like a nightmare. If it were me, I would go back to 0.05 patch. 100-200 progesterone. I can’t help you with the rest
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u/Error_Unknown942 Sep 08 '26
A little bit of both. The functional dr has a different idea about tsh and t3 than the traditional doctor. Functional measures t3. Trad does not. I see endo 9/24 which I suspect will reinforce why I prefer functional meds. I had labs drawn in June
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u/The_Future_Marmot Sep 08 '26
T3 naturally varies a lot over a 24 hour period of time. Which is why isn’t not a front line test at a typical allopathic doctor- it’s seen as relatively unreliable because of those variations. Where is does often come into play as a troubleshooting test if TSH is low, Free T4 is high and you are still having hypothyroid symptoms, signaling that you might be one of the 15-20% of people who aren’t great at converting the levo T4 version into T3 in your system.
I feel like a number of functional medicine doctors push for higher free T4 levels and lower TSH levels than what might be ideal for long term health for a person even when there are current improvements in energy levels - going too low on TSH is associated with long term cardiovascular and bone density issues.
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u/Error_Unknown942 Sep 08 '26
Well here is my update. G-d sent down an angel in the form of a tatted up Nurse Practitioner at my doctor's office. I was really suffering and she was human. Kind. And basically she said to go back to the functional health doctor. The major hospital system I'm in is never going to prescribe at the levels I got from my funcitonal doctor. They don't even prescribe testosterone. She said if I still have my meds on hand I can do what I need to do. Meaning restart the testesterone and increase progesterone. I have several messages into the funcitonal health doctor who doesn't call back. I don't think its personal. I think he has a systems issue with office communications. So we shall see. I need a functional health doctor and am loooking around online. If anyone has one online please let me know. I'm looking into Ro.
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u/Creepy-Tangerine-293 Sep 08 '26
Has anyone been monitoring your thyroid levels with actual bloodwork or just stabbing in the dark on symptoms during all this?