Hormone confusion

So I wanted to get a baseline as to what my hormones are doing. My doctor refused to test me because IMHO she is an idiot. So I ordered saliva testing off amazon. I tested originally in July during the follicular phase. I wanted to see what my results looked like at the base levels. One day after TOM ended. My estrogen was slightly low and my progesterone was very low.

Then I bought another test and tested during my luteal phase. 6 days prior to getting my period. This should have been when my estrogen and progesterone were higher. My estrogen was higher.. not by a lot. But my progesterone was exactly the same. How can that be? The result was very low.

I have to assume there was some error unless anyone knows if that is reasonable for some reason. My doctor did test my FSH and that apparently says I am not close to menopause.

Just of note: There are many point of care testing kits out there that are considerably unreliable.

It could be that your doctor is not doing some testing because he/she cannot justify it to the insurance if you do not have a diagnosis to support it, which they have to be able to justify it now so you don't have to pay for it. Unless you are willing to pay out of pocket for the test(s), which some are quite expensive, he/she may be trying to spare you that if does not think it is necessary. For example the one women's hormone panel in our lab out-of-pocket would be $2900 for example.

It may be worth it to you to get it done still depending on what it is, contact your lab or several labs to price compare finding out the best rate/ cost, and contact your doc back if so.

No sorry she is just playing god. I am 46 and quite likely premenopausal. If there isn't a time to check hormones now.. their will never be and every doctor knows at least 10 justifiable reasons to get any blood test they want. You can actually get your own blood tests now pretty cheaply. Health one labs is one I use but I refuse to pay for it myself when my doctor should. I will just ask my primary care next time I see her.

But I have heard the saliva testing is pretty accurate. And the amazon reviews are good. It is possible it was in error but odd that the estrogen results went up (as was expected). So it seems likely that it was correct.

Hormone tests for menopause are notoriously unreliable.

I think, normally, because people don't time them with their cycle. But here I did and I know the cycle was correct because of when my periods came.

Are you feeling some symptoms that lead you to believe you are pre menopausal? 46 is relatively young for this. Average is mid 50s. That's when it happens to me.

I probably used the wrong term. Perimenapausal. But I have been having symptoms that are more serious that I am taking a turn. Including skipping periods and heart palpitations.

Hmm if you told her this and she's not listening to you, maybe it's time to take you business elsewhere.

But if you're skipping periods, how can you know the timing of the test was correct?

I skipped for a few months earlier in the year but now they have evened out. Both tests were taken with TOMs and accurate cycle timing.

All doctors are like this. But my primary care is more willing to order tests. I will see her in November. I really like my primary care. I hope I never lose her.

Not all doctors are like this. I fire mine frequently if they keep me waiting to long or refuse to listen to me or won't do test that I want. It's hard to find a good doctor but the search is worth it. Hopefully your GP will listen to you and do what you want. Good luck