I'm new to this forum and desperate for some insight! A little background: I had a partial hysterectomy about 10 years ago with no complications. About 6 years ago, I had gained quite a bit of weight, did three rounds of hcg and lost about 20
lbs. I completely changed the way I eat (low carb, no gluten, sugar, processed foods, etc) and maintained well for about 5 years or so.
Shortly after finishing hcg, I went into adrenal fatigue. I was diagnosed with a cortisol problem, slightly hypothyroid and adrenal fatigue. I started taking cortisol and armor thyroid. After quite a bit of tweaking and time, I began to feel much better.
About 1 1/2 years ago, I began to have symptoms of periomenopause (anxiety attacks, night sweats, emotional, vaginal dryness, low energy, MAJOR brain fog, etc). I started on compounded progesterone cream (and stopped taking cortisol) and within 2 weeks, my symptoms had subsided.
I'm currently on progesterone cream, armor thyroid, DHEA (to help testosterone levels), and some other supplements. I was doing "okay" for quite awhile until the last 9 months or so. I've gained about 12 lbs, despite eating very clean and no changes in lifestyle. I don't feel great, don't have any energy, slightly depressed and can't fit into my pants! I have tried every way of eating known to man. I will lose 2-3 at the beginning and then nothing-every time.
My P.A. is very rigid and continues to ignore my weight gain and lack of energy, and brain fog saying I'm getting gluten from somewhere and not eating enough vegetables. I'm currently looking for another doctor, but in the meantime, I have been trying a modified leptin reset (eating within 30 minutes of waking, no snacking, etc). No weight loss, but my blood work came back really different this time. My T3 was way up from 12 weeks ago (which has never happened before), PA reduced my armor dosage. I spoke with another doctor who looked at my labs and said I should be on testosterone and that my estrogen was way too high. I have no idea how to interpret my blood work-every one has a different take on what my optimum levels should be.
Can anyone help me?? Here are my numbers:
TSH 0.731 (up from 0.612) Normal range: 0.450-4.500
T4 1.14 (was 1.13) 0.82-1.77
Testosterone serum 103 (was 116) 8-48
Testosterone Free 3.3 (was 2.5) 0.0-4.2
DHEA 83.1 (was 121.2) 57.3-279.2
Estradiol 171.3 (was 181.1)
Cortisol AM 14.2 (was 10.4) 6.2-19.4
Estrone, serum 104 (was 85)
Progesterone 8.3 (was 4.6)
Triiodothyronine free 6.4 (was 4.1) 2.0-4.4
TPO 8 (was 6) 0-34
I know this is a lot of ridiculous info. I just desperately need some help. I don't understand how to interpret these numbers, especially the female hormones, seeing as I don't have period anymore. I don't want to be talked into extra hormones that I don't need, but I can't handle this anymore. While my symptoms are MUCH better than they were 5 years ago, this sudden weight gain, brain fog, etc is more than I'm willing to live with . Something isn't right! THANK YOU in advance!