I think I need progesterone...help!
I have been experiencing what I believe to be perimenopausal symptoms for about a year or so. My periods tend to be longer than usual in between (35+ days), and about 8 days before I get it, I become really grouchy/angry, and I get extremely hot and sweaty. By the time it's 2 days before, my moods have calmed down, and I'm fine...then when it ends, I start getting anxious and crabby again for about 2 days. It makes me feel really "nutty"!!! I'm perfectly fine for the rest of my cycle, but I do have other symptoms...bloating, belly fat, headaches, vaginal dryness and no sex drive, heart palps (have been checked, and my heart is fine), etc...and I recently began getting yeast infections which is new for me.
My gynecologist ran bloodwork, somewhat begrudgingly, and I had to BEG to get the progesterone done. I started my period the following morning after having the blood drawn in the afternoon. Here are the results:
FSH 4.0 range for follicular 2.5-1.4, luteal 1.5-9.1.
Progesterone 0.8 range for follicular 0.2-1.4, luteal 3.3-25.6. Post-menopausal 0-0.7
I wasn't sure if I was classified as follicular or not, since it was less than 24 hours later that I began my period. Also, is there a better time during the cycle to check these levels? Shouldn't she have also checked estrogen and testosterone levels?
My vitamin D is low normal at 35 (taking supplements daily) and my TSH was a tad highish within the normal range, but I had forgotten my thyroid meds twice the preceding week.
About a year ago, I did a saliva test and sent it back, and my interpretation of the results was that I had estrogen dominance and lowish progesterone at day 19 of my cycle, which was right around ovulation for me.
I just want to feel good, and not be plagued by tiredness and mood swings. Wanting to be close to my husband again would be pretty great too. I have considered using a natural progesterone cream, but I wasn't sure if that was a bad thing for me to do or not. I can tell you, aside from morning sickness in the first trimester, I felt fabulous during pregnancy!
Any advice would be much appreciated!