Can hormonal changes affect or can relax the lower esophageal sphincter leading to acid reflux

Dominique did you get adjusted? Are you on both Estrogen and Progesterone now? I was on both no problems until tapered down Estrogen a little from 1mg to 1/2 mg. Progesterone 100mg. Now Estrogen low at 14, progesterone same 1-2. Used to be none. Having throat symptom. Just posted my whole story. Wondering if I need to increase Estrogen again, or drop Progesterone.

Kate did you get adjusted? Are you on both Estrogen and Progesterone now? I was on both no problems until tapered down Estrogen a little from 1mg to 1/2 mg. Progesterone 100mg. Now Estrogen low at 14, progesterone same 1-2. Used to be none. Having throat symptom. Just posted my whole story. Wondering if I need to increase Estrogen again, or drop Progesterone.

If it was me, I'd try increasing the estrogen. Do you still have a uterus? Progesterone serves to protect the uterus lining from thickening due to estrogen therapy. If you don't have a uterus, there's not a reason in the world that you should use Progesterone. Why did you lower your estrogen dose? Were you spotting?

Thank you for answer. I do not have a uterus just one ovary. I was placed on estrogen 3 years ago because I had tremendous hot flashes and night sweats affecting quality of life. The Endocrinologist placed me on the progesterone because I had none .1 and I was under alot of stress and not sleeping due to the High cortisol from my adrenal tumor. I was also on triple Estrogen then from my regular doctor, because that was what she thought was wrong with me. Progesterone didnt bother me all year long. Only thing that changed this year was when I dropped Estrogen and of course new pituitary medicine for that tumor. I also switched my thyroid from Levothyroxine to Synthroid Brand. But that shouldnt of made a difference they are the same just generic verses Brand name. If increasing Estrogen doesnt help then Ill drop Progesterone too. i dont know its all confusing I always thought we were supposed to taper off things but maybe Estrogen is for life, because this stinks.

You have a lot more going on than regular menopause. I do not have a thyroid problem but communicate with many women who do. Some of those women don't do well using generics while others do fine, and some do better using a natural thyroid med like NatureThroid and another natural one that I can't remember the name of. Menopause is also a weird time in our lives and a lot us develop sensitivities to meds, and allergies that we never had before. Other than sinus issues which I've had all of my life, you wouldn't believe the crazy reactions I had to many foods. Thank goodness, those reactions stopped when I got my estrogen level back up. I LIKE to eat. Please remember that I'm certainly not a doctor. I'm just a postmenopausal woman who experienced nearly every symptom on the list of symptoms that I THINK is now up to around 34-35 symptoms. I never experienced ringing in my ears...thank goodness...which is on the list or a couple of other symptoms but at the time I was having symptoms, that list wasn't around and I was totally convinced that I was DYING from a terminal illness.

i know i have had every symptom to even ringing ears and vertigo. That is the problem i have too much going on to rule out what causes what, thyroid, menopausal, adrenal insufficiency right now from trying to taper steroids, and new pituitary medicine to shrink a tumor in my head and lower prolactin/growth hormone. Only two choices you can take and they have side effects. No surgeon will touch a 6 mm functional tumor. Cant imagine how that medicine works to target specifically in Pituitary. My wonderful husband who has been hanging in there says it looks like a pharmacy around here. I have done Armour, NP, Levoxothyroid, and Synthroid. That was enough in itself. Palpitations and loud heart beat in head was enough to drive me nuts also. My body feels like i should be in my 90s not 50s. Just went downhill and mentally. May i ask how old you are and how long they will have you stay on estrogen? Also since increasing Estrogen last few days from 1/2 mg to 1 mg throat lump just about gone. Still on Progesterone at night helps relax me to sleep. If and when i ever drop estrogen again i will stop progesterone first. i didnt have that that problem when on it before and tried to decrease just felt crummy and hotflashes returned again. i get a hint of normalcy then something else comes up. Changes have to be made small and one at a time like Mary had previously stated.

I turned 60 this past January. If I include the old fashion estrogen loaded birth control that I took from the time I was 17 until I had my partial when I was 35 and THEN was placed on estradiol just a few weeks later, I've been pumping estrogen into my body over 42 years and I never plan to stop UNLESS I should get cancer which will mostly likely be lung cancer because I'm also a smoker. I don't think my body knows what to do without estrogen. I've tried many different types over the years but my personal preference is the patch. I should say ESTRADIOL rather than "estrogen" because I use a bioidentical pharmaceutical patch. The bioidentical form of estrogen is known as estradiol. I have noticed that I don't need near the dose I needed when I was younger but using it the rest of my life is my plan. It keeps me agile and my skin healthy...not to mention keeping all of the horrendous other symptoms away.

May I ask what your estradiol dose is? i know patch is a little different. im on estradial pill 1mg recently dropped to 1/2 with terrible results. I have tried it twice but cant handle it. Also do you ever get loud heart beat in head. i though it was from thyroid, but now its either low estrogen right now or lowering steroids per my doctor. By the way lump in throat still gone. Nausea and generally not feeling good right now, but other meds too. Constipated too.

The patch dose that is equivalent to an oral dose is half of the oral dose. A 50 mg. patch is equal to a 1 mg. oral dose. Oral doses get broken down so much through the digestive process that very little enters our bloodstream. Personally, I prefer patches and other transdermals applications of estradiol because they bypass the liver and other vital organs. I started out on a 1 mg. estradiol pill that seemed to work fine for me for 7 years. After that 7 years, it suddenly stopped working. I experimented around with increasing and lowering the dose and had horrendous results. I was finally switched to the patch but had to use the highest dose patch and 1/4 to a 1/2 of another patch to address my symptoms. Needing the higher dose could have been due to the fact that I'm a bath person rather than a shower person. Heat and excessive water interferes with the patch delivery no matter what the pharmaceutical companies claims are that they do not. They word it a bit differently. They say that wrinkles in the patch can interfere with proper delivery which is exactly what excess hot water, and even sweating creates. I love the patch but have had to decrease my does now that I'm not as active as I once was.

Hello, it sounds like you have been through a lot the past several years. I am no doctor but it sounds like dropping the estrogen could be the culprit. I would stick with it. You may need to increase it some more. My GYN appt got cancelled due to the Coronavirus. I will be seeing her in June and am planning on getting hormones. I know I need estrogen. Keep us posted.

Do you do Progesterone? Thank you for answering.

Melissa, my experience with the hormones is I feel better when I leave them alone. I actually feel worse when I mess with them either supplementing hormones or using any type of supplement/herbs that may trigger or offset them. I m having throat symptoms, chest and stomach issues as well. Im trying to wait it out to see if it changes because I know around certain times I get these weird symptoms, ovulation and coming up to what would be a period time. But Im on 8 months missing a period.

After reading your full story concerning your symptoms, again, if it were ME, I'd drop the progesterone and get your estrogen back up. 14 is ridiculously low. I can't even tolerate a smear of progesterone cream or I end up feeling like my estrogen isn't working and get horrible heartburn. I had the lump in the throat thing that nearly drove me nuts! I had two endoscopies and one doctor even dilated my esophagus and put me on a ton of stomach meds that did nothing to help me. The ONLY thing that made the lump in my throat and a ton of other symptoms go away was when I got my estrogen back up. I had a partial over 25 years ago. Kept ovaries but the removal of my uterus cut off the blood supply to my ovaries and caused premature ovarian failure within weeks. I've been postmenopausal ever since a few months after having my uterus removed. Looking back, I wish my surgeon had of removed my ovaries since they ended up DYING after my partial anyway.

You aren't "officially" postmenopausal but it sounds like you're on your way. The reason HRT has made you feel worse in the past is because your ovaries are still producing hormones but erratically. I have a friend dealing with this very thing right now. Her estrogen level might be 400+ when she has labs and then drop to 0 a month later. I know the symptoms of perimenopause can be uncomfortable but in my honest opinion, it really is best to wait until you've gone a full year without having a period before you begin HRT. I know women who have gone 11 months without having a period and suddenly found themselves buying pads/tampons ago. Menopause sucks!

Would you just get on Estrogen or Progesterone too ? I dont remember if you had a hysterectomy.

Yes I agree..these hormones can he very confusing and surprising. Thats what happened to me last year . I went almost 8 months and BAM a period again so I had to start all over again. The last time I got hormones tested in Jan they were practically almost 0. Progesterone was 0.5 and estrogen was at 12, tetesterone was a bit low but not bad. I cant take any kind of hormones..as a matter if fact during the time I felt good except for dryness I used a bit of estriol oil and symptoms came back. same with progesterone. This lump feeling in throat is really irritating, along with the chest discomfort, bloated, etc...ugghhh.

Of course, you can tolerate hormones...lol...because you've tolerated your own for many years now. The reason you can't tolerate them right now is because you're not quite postmenopausal yet and your ovaries and adrenals have been behaving like evil little pranksters. One second, minute, hour, day, week or even month, estradiol might be topping the charts, other times, another hormone might blast ahead. I honestly believe the estriol oil and the return of your symptoms was most likely coincidental. Estriol is the weakest of the 3 estrogens...estriol, estrone, and estradiol. The only time women see an increase in their estriol level is during pregnancy when it has a purpose to serve. Estrone is the estrogen that goes up during once we're postmenopausal. Some claims are the high estrone compared to the most powerful estrogen, estradiol, can cause cancer. Estradiol has many protective benefits when used at least .5 mg per day in postmenopausal women. It prevents osteoporosis, keeps cholesterol levels in check therefore protecting the heart. Estradiol serves as the body's lubricant and not just for "down there". It helps keep the entire body lubricated including your eyes, joints and arteries which means that it prevents hardening of the arteries. It also helps with anxiety which COULD be why you are feeling the lump in your throat or it might be GERD causing the lump feeling which in MY case was caused from my progesterone being too high for my estradiol level. I also had horrible bloating. Estrogen does not CAUSE cancer...remember that. However, IF you don't stay on top of your overall health while using estrogen or a combo of estrogen/progesterone HRT...mammograms, paps, and regulars check-ups...and you get cancer that is missed due to ignoring your health, estrogen is a growth hormone that can cause cancerous and even benign tumors to grow at a rapid rate. Women who us estradiol therapy only have the lowest risk of developing breast cancer. The number increases slightly when a woman with an intact uterus is required to use a combination of both; however, progesterone is definitely needed to protect the uterus when estrogen replacement is being used or even if a woman with an intact uterus has a higher estrogen level compared to her progesterone level and isn't using ANY HRT and never has. It's usually heavier women who fall into this category because estrogen stores itself in fat cells. A woman usually continues to make testosterone a lot longer than estradiol. That's why we see older women who have never used estrogen replacement sprouting chin hairs and sometimes with mustaches. The ovaries and adrenals continue to produce testosterone long after they stop producing estrogen. Progesterone is a weird hormone in that we never know if it's going to convert to estrogen or to an androgen like testosterone. That's why progesterone helps some women relax and has the opposite effect on other women. If progesterone causes added uncomfortable symptoms, it's usually because the dose is too high for the amount of estradiol and women is using OR the delivery system needs to be changed. I'm not a progesterone user but have heard many women say that they tolerate vaginal progesterone or even oral much better than creams that are applied to the skin. Creams are hard to measure and can build up in the system fast. I hope my comment doesn't get removed but I strongly suggest that all women check out Menopause Taylor's menopause YouTube videos. She is a retired ob/gyn who has dedicated her retirement years to educating women about menopause. She is totally non-biased concerning how a woman chooses to address menopauses symptoms whether it be through the use of pharmaceutical or bioidentical hormones, herbal remedies, supplements, etc. She's one smart little cookie and the only "menopause specialist" online that I would personally recommend. I wish she had of been around 25 years ago when I was dealing with all this confusion. One more thing regarding HRT...it is not all created equally. In my opinion, a postmenopausal women should never give up just because she tries one form or one dose of HRT. There's many options and many doses. I had to try several types of estradiol, deliveries...oral, patch, creams, injections, and even pellets...before finding my fix that made me feel like my old self again. Another perk of estrogen is that it helps with circulation, hydrates the skin and helps the skin continue to produce collagen thereby decreasing wrinkles. It's also the hormone that prevents increased hair shedding and brittle nails in postmenopausal women. I can't even begin to describe how much it helps with cognitive issues which is known as "brain fog" during menopause. Some of us have that symptom worse than others. My spelling ability was suddenly reduced to that of a 2nd grader, I would be in the middle of a conversation and couldn't think of the next word I wanted to say to save my life, and found myself standing in rooms that I couldn't remember what I'd enter the room to retrieve. I thought I was losing my mind but that all improved once I learned that my estrogen had crashed and I found the right type and dose for me. And to the women out there who sailed through menopause without any symptoms at all: I hate you! I'm joking, of course, but some women DO seem to sail through menopause with little to no symptoms at all but those women are very rare. Hang in there...things will get better once your own hormones stop bouncing around. Once that happens, it will be easier for you to make a decision about whether you need replacement or not. My best to you.

thank you for that info. I really wished that it was coincidental but if thats the case than its coincidental all of the time. Even if I use flax seed it would trigger symptoms because it can be estrogenic. Its been 3 years now of having symptoms and have visited many holistic, conventional doctors, tried bhrt, hrt , supplements and all does the same. I was told that I have adrenal issues , along with mercury poison that s really causing the issues. I do have one ovary .. another thing I have so many food allergies, etc. A while back I was given an estrogen cream for dryness and only applied a bit but just a bit shot up my estrogen in a very short time to 400+ so my naturopath put me on DIM to detox it out because he said it was dangerous to have that much in my body. He was surprised how quickly it went up.from the cream because he said this usually doesnt happen . I would have already reached 12 months of no period but like i said earlier taking things such as flax seed( which my dr told me to take for hotflash ) brought a period on. I will see what happen once i reach 12 months. i can my body is depleted of hormones.

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Did you by chance have diarrhea during monthly hormone shifts? I notice a few days before my period decides to show up I will have upset stomach and then also around the time when I ovulate (when I do). As my hormones have become more erratic so has my digestive system.

i know for me i have all kinds of stomach issues. i thought alot could be thyroid too, which i suppose could. i did fluctuate from constipation and diarrhea frequently. Right now I am low estrogen and am constipated. Unforunately i also have a twisted long colon and forcing fluids is not appealing. So i think your fluctuations and/or your diet could play havoc. Are you old enough to have had colonoscopy yet?

I am 47. I have had plenty of endosocopies but not a colonoscopy yet. This issue with diarrhea just started in the past few months when my periods went crazy. I went three months without a period and then had three in one month. Just had vaginal ultrsound and all looks good except endometrial lining is very thin. Appt with GYN got cancelled due to Covid so I am set to see her in June.

Yes I did. I've had IBS-C since I was a child. It seemed that during my period was the only time that I had complete bowel movements which came as a blessing for me. There IS a hormone connection to this; however, I've forgotten which hormone is responsible for the loose stools...I'm thinking it is progesterone since it's the hormone that helps promote us to have a period. I'll look this up a bit later and provide you with info that I learned from researching this very thing. My granddaughter currently has my computer TOTALLY screwed up and it's only allowing me to open one window in my browser at a time. Hopefully, I can figure out WHAT she did and will post more once I conquer the complexities of an 8 year old!

400 is NOT a high estrogen level for a woman who is in perimenopause. Women's bodies are made to handle high estrogen levels. The levels of our estrogen shoot upward into the thousands when we are pregnant. Your levels are going to be all over the place until your ovaries finally stop producing estrogen. Just MY opinion from my own experience and the experience of other women I've been in contact with for many years but DIM is NOT a good option. DIM supposedly lowers the "bad" estrogen in your body which is known as estrone; however, it also zaps the estrogen that makes us feel good known as estradiol. I've been postmeno for since 1995 and my advice to you...just advice...doesn't mean it's right for you...is that you should stick with a mainstream gynecologist until you are postmenopausal and educate yourself more about hormones. You have no way of knowing which hormone you need to replace until your ovary stops producing. You'll learn as you go like all of us postmenopausal women have had to. WE absolutely have to serve as our own advocates because there's too many doctors, naturopaths, people who call themselves "hormone specialists", NP's, osteopaths, MD's, and even gynecologist who see us as cash cows...especially in the hormone pellet business. Some out there are making claims that progesterone is the cure all for all your menopause symptoms while others are pumping women full of testosterone to the degree that they are being given a secondary medication that comes with its own side effects to stop the testosterone masculinity effects it has a women. You will learn more from other women than you will learn from any doctor. Not sure if you're a Facebook person but if you are, there are many good support groups on Facebook with very knowledgeable members who will support you through this. Keep in mind that estrogen is the hormone that makes us FEMALES and if you have a uterus, a little progesterone is necessary to prevent your uterine lining from becoming too thick. Testosterone replacement studies for women are few but most doctors will tell you that the only thing a low dose testosterone MIGHT help you with is your sex drive. It doesn't mean that you're going to experience explosive orgasms but it DOES help some women WANT and THINK about sex more. I've been through it all and have fallen for every gimmick out there. When you're doing research, try to steer clear of those promoting a product or a service. Stick to basic medical information. It's also helpful to go back...way back to the basics...and find the role each hormone played in your body when you were younger. Most of us never understood puberty! We just know that we grew boobs, pubic hair, and had periods but we never knew which hormone promoted those things. Trust me, estrogen replacement will be your best friend someday UNLESS you fall into the category of being obese...VERY obese...not talking about a few vanity pounds.

I think it is progesterone that causes everything to relax which can cause the loose stools. As the years have passed I have also become intolerable to foods that never gave me a problem such as rice. Very weird. I can't even eat jello now as it irritates my reflux where as before I skipped a period for three months it was fine. Maybe a coincidence but I think my hormones are related to most of not all of my digestive and food sensitivity issues. I eat pretty much the same things everyday now and sometimes my stomach acts up and sometimes it doesn't. It's typically around period and ovulation times so that's how I know it's hormonal. My stomach holds me back from living life most of the time. I can't take most medicines any more either as I have so many side effects now. Ready to have some normalcy again. I am going to try and find a birth control pill that will work until I stop having periods and then I will switch to HRT.

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate your suggestions however to answer your questions I'm not a newbie to this forum. Unfortunately I'v been on this forum for 3 years now and it has helped me so much in addition to so many fb menopause groups. I've done tons and tons of research and talking to other women. In addition to journaling my symptoms daily to the point of where I just got tired of the same with no changes and stop. LOL . For me 400 was very high in comparison with progesterone which was almost at 0. I agree with you on the different doctors yes alot of them are just as clueless and going this perimenopause was definitely a learning experience. I wasted alot of money going to all kinds of doctors, testing, supplements, etc. There were many trials and errors for me, ( still is ) but the best teacher of all is my own body. I had to try different things to find out what worked for me. Lord knows I tried many many many things because of a suggestion I got from a doctor or another perimenopause woman. But what worked for someone else didnt work for me, so I kind of stirred away from it all and started doing my own experiment. What I mentioned to you above is no joke, what I found out that some of my symptoms or the reason some of my symptoms were worsening were actually coming something such as merc--- aggravating it. Would I have ever found this out from a gynecologist, dr or a regular dentist? Instead, they would have looked at me like I was crazy. Of course when I suggested it they only threw anxiety or depression meds at me. When I first started perimenopause and I had anxiety like crazy but a still small voice kept telling me that it was something else that was triggering to the extreme. I knew in my heart that the copper I-D was worsening it, although my gynecologist didn't agree, but anytime you're praying and asking God for answers he will always answer or lead me in the right direction. She agreed to remove it though didn't want to... as soon as it was removed my anxiety immediately decreased. I would shake daily like a leaf on a tree. The rest of the day I was so calm.. I still have anxiety on and off but nothing like it was before the removal. I know now my hormones are low because I have learn to pay attention to my symptoms and I know my body now. The higher the estrogen is when I have a increased in anxiety because of ratio to progesterone. I still have a uterus so yes I know I will need progesterone too but right now I cant tolerate anything. There is a nurse in a fb group that does cycling with the bhrt and many women have had success with it. I talked to her but the only thing that I don't like is that it brings back your period. There are women that are in their 60's and the oldest she told me is 80 and bleed monthly. I'm sorry but to me it doesn't sound normal. Their estrogen levels are of a young woman in the 800 or 900; to me it just doesn't sound normal. But many swear by it. I've found other things to help also, I'm looking for something for my libido now, I've come across things but trying to wait until the 12 month mark, because I don't want to trigger the hormones again. No, Im not obese, as a matter of fact I lost lots of weight since going through this, and I was already a petite person. Ive been trying to gain some weight back but cant. I have food allergies, stomach issues, etc and my diet is very strict. If I attempt to drink anything with any type of sweetner in it i will definitely pay for it. I only drink water, almond milk. I can only eat one type of meat and that is organic turkey. Everything has to be organic. So you see im very sensitive to many things .

I'm sorry...had no idea that you had done your homework. Please forgive me for suggesting that you had not. Now that you've let me know that you are in several groups and in touch with other women, I'm sure that you've encountered many, many women who don't seem to know a thing about their hormones and put all their blind trust in one size fits all doctors. You sound a lot like myself. You're in tune with your body and know what helps you. The problem I've always encountered are doctors who try to tell me how I feel! I'm sorry if I came across as trying to do that to you. NOBODY knows how we feel better than we do! I KNOW exactly what my body needs to feel well but can't find a doctor willing to listen to me! And, the other thing that gripes me is most docs in my area are MEN! How in the world would a man know I feel?

I also know what you mean about extremely high estrogen levels...a pellet doc once had mine up to nearly 1000 and it was simply because he was trying to override the high levels of testosterone he had pumped into me so I ended up with high levels of both. Yes, my gut told me that a woman my age should not have an estrogen level of a young woman in early pregnancy! Something I've come to notice about MY body is that it doesn't seem to matter what my levels are as long as I'm balanced. Since estrogen is the only hormone I'm "required" to use or can tolerate, I find that I don't NEED nearly as much or my levels very high at all as long as I don't allow a doc to insist that I need to add an additional hormone.

I saw a huge increase in allergy type symptoms when I first started this journey. I STILL have horrible sinus type symptoms if my estrogen is too low or too high...finding that find line is hard...especially when there's many other things that interfere with my level...such as stress. I also live in a rather remote area where I have to beg to get a doc to test more than my FSH level which is worthless. I've KNOWN that I've been postmeno for years. However, a high FSH level does let me know when my body needs more estrogen because it's the hormone that lowers FSH. Most of the doctors in my area including those who prescribe compounded bioidentical hormones don't even consider the adrenals, cortisol levels, or even test for thyroid problems. So, they certainly aren't going to test for food allergies.

I don't blame you one bit for not wanting your period back. I don't know how in the world women keep track of their doses who are using the Wiley Protocol but some women swear by it while others had horrible experiences with it due to being overdosed with progesterone. I totally get that we're all different. There's also women who do not have a uterus that say their progesterone replacement would have to be pried from their cold dead hands. Not for me!

By the way, everything I say is totally my own opinion and mostly based on my own experiences. I'm sorry if I came across as not acknowledging that all our needs are different when I know this better than anyone.

You might want to try a bit of topical testosterone cream for libido. Some women feel great using pellet therapy but keep in mind that you are stuck with that dose for -3-4 months. MOST pellet docs pump women full of testosterone and give the little to no estrogen. This absolutely did not work for me as well as many other women; however, some women feel great on high doses of testosterone and very low doses of estrogen. So, I acknowledge that we are all very different. Some of us have underlying conditions or additional problems with the endocrine system. All of us have very different lifestyles. Some women are gym-a-holics and work out faithfully which uses their hormones up faster. We all have varying amount of stress levels and diets. Not once have I ever had a hormone doctor ask me about my lifestyle. Like you, I've had to experiment and figure this out on my own and because I went through menopause so young, my needs have changed a couple of times over the years. What once worked suddenly stopped working and I had to start all over again. I'm doing that right now and it's been a nightmare. My greatest problem is that I was hyper all of my life. Now, I have no energy. I've tried testosterone to increase my energy level but it resulted in unwanted masculine side effects, rage, and I still felt tired and wired at the same time. The provider who overdosed me with testosterone insisted that I was mentally ill because I couldn't handle a testosterone level that was near 400 which is higher than my husband's T level! I'm NOT mentally ill but I certainly acted crazy when I was overdosed with the T! I don't think a little T is bad for a woman but our levels ran around 50 or so when we were YOUNG women! That's NORMAL range so why in the world would I want or need my T level near 400 in my late 50's?

I went to GYN today and had blood drawn to check FSH, thyroid, progesterone, estrogen and Vit D. Based on my symptoms Dr wants to start me on pill called Kelnor which has 50 micrograms of estrogen. That seems high to me and am a little scared to try it. I tried Lo Loestrin 6 months ago and had horrible night sweats every night for the seven weeks I took it. GYN said it was way too low of a pill. Anyone ever tried a pill with this amount of estrogen? My body probably needs it.

Actually if it is 50 micrograms thats low in my opinion its in micrograms not milligrams. So that would be equivalent to .05 milligrams (mg). I have no uterus and take estradiol at 1 milligram which is 1000 micrograms. So its low to me. i was on progesterone 100 mg recently but dropped it recently to see if helped stomach, and i had just increased my estrogen from 1/2 mg to the 1 mg. My estradiol was at 14. You can always wait until labs come back, but that seems low so a good starting point. I am just not familiar with birth control pills anymore and deal with individual ones. I have no period to regulate when to take pills. Maybe some other ladies will chime in. i would try something and see if it helps and adjust if need more or less of estrogen and progesterone.

Thanks for the feedback. My estrogen came back in the high 200's and progesterone at .7. FSH was 22 but labs were taken right at ovulation. I don't ovulate every month as I only have one ovary and periods are all over the place so my levels are wildly fluctuating. I will start with one pill and see how I feel and go from there. I know I will feel better once I can find the right balance.

Did your doctor say what was causing your diarrhea? It wasnt Progesterone since low, unless she she low compared to estrogen.

She didn't say really. She said it is not unheard of to have stomach issues when your hormones are imbalanced and it affects each woman differently. I just got labs back on Vitamin D as well and it is at 11 - very low. I have read a few things about low Vit D and IBS being linked as well. I think once I can get my hormones balanced and Vit D up I will feel better. I am hoping so anyway.