Need Your Help:estrogen,progesterone, Testosterone And ???

[Ash]

Okay everyone, I need some input.if you read my hormones and clomid question post, you will see that my cardiologist wanted me to get a test to check for hormone imbalances, so off to the OBGYN I go (had to see the new partner in the practice and not my normal OBGYN as he is booked out forever ) well the whole time he was talking to me I felt like he wasn't listening or running the correct test and kept questioning that as well as called the office to ask questions and confirm the test he was running would show a hormone imbalance. The Doctor and nurse both assured me it would...yeah wrong! So the test they ended up doing was a Clomid challenge, which doesn't show hormone imbalance but shows fertility and if you have any problems with ovulation.. So today I went into see him to go over the results and after being in there for a total of five minutes he just kept telling me that I had no problems with ovulation and should not have any problems getting pregnant. I asked him about my progesterone and estrogen levels and he just said that the test they did was normal. So I asked him if I could go back to my cardiologist and tell him that I do not have a hormone imbalance his reply " you dont have any problems with fertility so your hormone levels should be in balance and I don't think a hormone imbalance would be causing any of your symptoms". So I left feeling really upset and disappointed as I really had high hopes that this other doctor would be able to give me some insight on something or at least listen. Now comes in Dr. Google, so I googled good tests to check for hormone imbalance and found that the 24-hour urine is a good test to run to check your hormone levels and I am actually in the process of doing a 24 hour urine right now for the cardiologist to check metanephrines which I think is related to adrenal function? So I called the cardiologist And asked if he could add the hormone panel to the 24-hour urine I'm currently doing, I got a call back saying that he could not run that test as it is out of his realm but to call the OBGYN and just ask them if they can call the lab and add it to the order. So I called the OB/GYN left a message with the nurse and she just called me back saying that the doctor doesn't feel that Test is necessary and that if the cardiologist wants it done he needs to be the one to order it. So, this is kind of when I lost it and went off on the nurse :/ and said that I need to know what my hormones levels are and that I never asked if I was fertile as this is not a concern at this point but needed to know if my dang hormone levels where out of whack. Because I cannot go on living the way I'm living anymore, I am so tired of being tired and having a high heart rate, digestive problems and insomnia and extreme fatigue and all the symptoms I live with every day and the only tests I have not had done in the past year have been to check my hormone levels and my adrenal function. So I need him to check my estrogen, progesterone and testosterone and any other hormones... Because, there might be a small chance that hormones are my problem, or part of it and if she were in my shoes she would want to test everything under the sun to feel good again, because as of right now i don't have a cure! So she is going to talk to him and call me Monday and let me know but my question now is there any other hormones that need tested that I need to ask to have done, the cardiologist doesn't know thus why I am seeing a "specialist" but it seems like I am the one that needs to tell him what we need tested. I do feel bad for yelling at the nurse but I guess at least I am hopefully gonna get results. Anything else you can think of would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the long rant but I really needed to vent to someone sorry for all the grammatical errors I am using the voice type thing on my ipad as I am feeling too POTSy to type and it isn't doing the greatest job.

[Hope]

How frustrating! I've had my hormones tested and was told they were in normal limits. It never occurred to me that they may not be doing the right test. I have nothing in print to show me what they were either. I think I will look into that. I know for insurance purposes they have to use certain criteria to get a blood test done. Insurance companies have too much control over our health I believe. I hope on Monday that they do what you ask them to do. I wish you well.

[sue1234]

I'm not familiar with urine female hormone levels, so not sure. However, if you are wondering about hormones in general that an OB/GYN might order, add cortisol to the 24-hour urine you're doing right now. And, if having blood drawn, maybe a DHEA-S thrown in. It is your precursor hormone to cortisol and progesterone.

By the way, the metanephrines are testing to see if you might have a pheochromocytoma(tumor on the adrenal). Not sure if they clarified that with you. Checking your 24-hour cortisol, if high, could point to Cushings. If low, I don't think they pay much attention to that.

[badhbt]

Hi there, I ran into the same problem with my Doctors and kept getting the run around. I wanted to know how things were also...especially when you don't know what is causing your symptoms.

I found a naturopathic Doctor that has been really helpful. They seem more open to checking labs. Now a days when I see her I just bring my list of labs I want .....lol. I don't know if that is a option for you. Here is Seattle insurance covers them.

[looneymom]

If this is POTS related, your cardiologist should be able to order those test. The only problem is that he may not know which test to order. You might could do some leg work for him there. Hopefully he won't be offended. In the past, when I have asked about certain test, I try to find a study that deals with the test. I can email this informatio to the cardiologist and he checks it out. Cardiologist are not POTS specialist, but it might help him to know what you are wanting tested. I know this can be a frustrating experience but hopfully you have found a doctor that is willing to look at underlying causes that may be causing your POTS.