how do i know if im on too low of a dose?
hi there, i started medically transitioning about 5 weeks ago and i’m concerned that i may have gotten prescribed too low of a dose of estradiol. i wanted to come on here to ask if anyone else has experience with this, because i’ve asked my doctor(s) about it and haven’t gotten any direct answers.
i was started on 100mg spiro and a .025mg patch by my first doctor, which seemed exceptionally conservative estradiol-wise, but i was just happy to start so i went along with it and started immediately. i felt almost nothing at first obviously but after a few days started to get mood dips into depression/irritability daily. i knew this was to be expected so i kept taking the same dose, but after about 3 weeks the dips were so frequent and strong that it was becoming concerning. i messaged my doctor about it, but she must have left the company or something because i was reached out to by a different doctor to schedule an intake appointment.
the second doctor asked me to get another blood lab done once completing 4 weeks of the patches/spiro combo, and that’s what i did (6 days ago as of my writing this). my estradiol level went DOWN from 37pg/mL pre-HRT to 28pg/mL and my testosterone levels have yet to come back, but i was kind of frustrated and it felt very dysphoric to see that my estradiol dropped after a month. i know it’s a long process but i don’t think it’s healthy for my estradiol to be THAT low still. and it’s clearly having an adverse effect on me.
so now i’m on 5mg of estradiol valerate via IM injection every 2 weeks, but i’ll be honest and say that still doesn’t feel like enough to me. or at least the every 2 weeks part doesnt sound ideal since the half-life is apparently ~5 days. i did my first injection 4 days ago and i’m still dipping into a bad depression daily, so i’m just wondering if that’s normal or if most people see an immediate difference when switching to injections. and yes i know that hormones can do crazy things and i will probably end up waiting a few weeks to truly see if my dosage needs tweaking, but i just wanted to gauge responses from others who may have had a similar experience. thanks!