Here's another long, probably TMI post:

Here's another long, probably TMI post:

I want to start by saying that those books I recommended a week or so back that were given to me by my doctor have some good points. But after finishing reading them and then doing some investigation, they were definitely pushing Testosterone pellets (implants that last 3-4 months) that they make. Not that I have full faith in the government, but the pellets aren't FDA approved and also not covered by insurance. They cost about $350/pellet out of pocket, and I just don't have it like that. Not only that, once implanted they can't be removed, and I don't want to try a hormone for the first time not knowing how I'll react to it without the option of quitting it/adjusting the dose if I need to.

I do, however, really like the idea of hormone treatment that releases over months. No roller-coaster from taking it, no affect on the liver - just in your body as if you made it. I may be open to trying the pellets one day, but it's just not a thing that can happen right now.

THAT BEING SAID, I am very pleased with how my visit went today.

She said that my thyroid is low. Still within normal range, but asked if I had any symptoms of low thyroid and I do. I have for years. But no doctor ever wanted to treat me for it because I was "in range." She prescribed me a thyroid medicine and said that I would probably feel better on it and if I do, then great, but if I have any negative side effects that I could stop taking it. I really appreciated that attitude because I felt like she was treating ME, not my labs. I go to the doctor to feel better, and she genuinely seemed to want that, too.

She also said that my testosterone is low, and I am not shocked because I have many of those symptoms, too. I'm going to start a testosterone lozenge and see how that goes. They only offer the pellets or lozenges, so it's my only option from this provider. She did say that the lozenges have better absorption than skin creams. She said it was really hard not to get T levels too high for most women with injections, so that's why they don't do it. Understandable.

The last thing we talked about is me quitting the estrogen patch. For one, my estrogen levels seem ok (I know it's not accurate to diagnose estrogen levels with one lab), but the reasoning is because it's preventing my body from doing what it's trying to do which is go through the change.

While I do feel like the estrogen might have helped me at first, that could be entirely inaccurate because I started progesterone at the same time. She said it was fine to stay on the progesterone to help with sleep, so I will.

I'm not sure about quitting estrogen; I will have to look into that. But I do like the idea of letting my body do what comes naturally, so long as I'm functional and also not miserable. I hope I have around 40 more years left, and that's a long time to have sleep issues and brain fog and low energy, etc.

Anyway. That's how that went and I'm excited to hopefully feel better soon.