does any of it mean anything?

actually not a depiction of my current philosophical state, but
prompted by a glance at my blood test results. haven't talked with
the pcp yet, but most everything looks ok.

i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
provide any info at all?

on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
(which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.

any light will be absorbed.
thanks,
ellen

x-no-archive: yes

ellen wrote:

> i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
> estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
> they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
> provide any info at all?

Hormne testing is definitely not useless. But taking a serum level
snapshot out of context usually is. 24 hour urine collections are
helpful for hormones, saliva testing is often more reliable than serum,
and you must know which day of your cycle you're testing estradiol, FSH
and LH on for them to be meaningful.

In addition, you must know how high (or low) the sex hormone binding
globulin is to interpret sex hormone tests. Both free and plasma levels
should be tested, in addition to saliva and urine.

>
> on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
> (which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
> limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.

What is the reference range for the cortisol and what time was the blood
drawn?

Susan

"ellen" <epdpster@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1185393073.042447.187260@g4g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...
> actually not a depiction of my current philosophical state, but
> prompted by a glance at my blood test results. haven't talked with
> the pcp yet, but most everything looks ok.
>
> i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
> estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
> they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
> provide any info at all?

They tell you where those levels were the minute the blood was drawn. ;-)
But as the PCP said, your levels can be all over the map from week to week,
day to day... & so that snapshot means nothing in terms of where you are on
the general menopausal spectrum. IOW - one day the blood's drawn the
results might indicate that you're likely in peri, or maybe that you haven't
even entered peri yet. Yet while drawn on another day they may indicate
that you're post-menopausal.

Cathy


>
> on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
> (which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
> limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.
>
> any light will be absorbed.
> thanks,
> ellen
>

On Jul 25, 4:55 pm, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> ellen wrote:
> > i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
> > estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
> > they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
> > provide any info at all?
>
> Hormne testing is definitely not useless. But taking a serum level
> snapshot out of context usually is. 24 hour urine collections are
> helpful for hormones, saliva testing is often more reliable than serum,
> and you must know which day of your cycle you're testing estradiol, FSH
> and LH on for them to be meaningful.
>
> In addition, you must know how high (or low) the sex hormone binding
> globulin is to interpret sex hormone tests. Both free and plasma levels
> should be tested, in addition to saliva and urine.
>
>
>
> > on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
> > (which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
> > limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.
>
> What is the reference range for the cortisol and what time was the blood
> drawn?
>
> Susan

alas, no meaning then. re: coritisol - the blood was drawn around
9:30 am after at least a 12 hour fast (don't know if that matters for
this) & the range was 7.0-28.0 ug/dl.

ellen

On Jul 25, 6:39 pm, "Cathy F." <clfrc...@adelphia.net> wrote:
> "ellen" <epdps...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1185393073.042447.187260@g4g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...
>
> > actually not a depiction of my current philosophical state, but
> > prompted by a glance at my blood test results. haven't talked with
> > the pcp yet, but most everything looks ok.
>
> > i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
> > estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
> > they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
> > provide any info at all?
>
> They tell you where those levels were the minute the blood was drawn. ;-)
> But as the PCP said, your levels can be all over the map from week to week,
> day to day... & so that snapshot means nothing in terms of where you are on
> the general menopausal spectrum. IOW - one day the blood's drawn the
> results might indicate that you're likely in peri, or maybe that you haven't
> even entered peri yet. Yet while drawn on another day they may indicate
> that you're post-menopausal.
>
> Cathy
>
>
>
> > on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
> > (which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
> > limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.
>
> > any light will be absorbed.
> > thanks,
> > ellen


i can't understand why she bothered running them then, unless some
extreme snapshot result would be indicative of ? what the heck - as
far as i know i am heading in the correct direction (this is one i
pretty much can't screw up).

ellen

x-no-archive: yes

ellen wrote:

> alas, no meaning then. re: coritisol - the blood was drawn around
> 9:30 am after at least a 12 hour fast (don't know if that matters for
> this) & the range was 7.0-28.0 ug/dl.
>
> ellen
>


You need to have cortisol drawn at 8 a.m. or 4 p.m. for a lab reference
range, though midnight cortisol over 5 is suspicious for Cushing's and
7.5 is 100% diagnostic.

But the cortisol secretion may cycle off and on, from 12 hours to 85
days, so testing often continues, with a knowledgable doc, for months or
years, using saliva, urine, and serum.

It's also hard to evaluate what hormone tests mean if you don't also get
levels of the binding globulins; free cortisol will be low, for example,
if cortisol binding globulin is high. It means that my elevated 24 hour
urinary free cortisol test would've been much higher in someone without
elevated CBG such as mine.

Susan

Ellen,
Re the TSH of 1.37, my last TSH number was 1.32, which puts us both
within normal limits (0.35 to 4.94, according to my report). I have
heard that TSH tests can be unreliable, and you might need a more
sensitive test. But when I've had both kinds of tests, the results
have been the same.
Les



On Jul 26, 10:04 am, ellen <epdps...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 25, 6:39 pm, "Cathy F." <clfrc...@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > "ellen" <epdps...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:1185393073.042447.187260@g4g2000hsf.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > > actually not a depiction of my current philosophical state, but
> > > prompted by a glance at my blood test results. haven't talked with
> > > the pcp yet, but most everything looks ok.
>
> > > i think that i recall reading here that measuring levels of fsh,
> > > estradiol, testoterone, etc are useless. the pcp did indicate that
> > > they are just snapshots since things fluctuate so much. but do they
> > > provide any info at all?
>
> > They tell you where those levels were the minute the blood was drawn. ;-)
> > But as the PCP said, your levels can be all over the map from week to week,
> > day to day... & so that snapshot means nothing in terms of where you are on
> > the general menopausal spectrum. IOW - one day the blood's drawn the
> > results might indicate that you're likely in peri, or maybe that you haven't
> > even entered peri yet. Yet while drawn on another day they may indicate
> > that you're post-menopausal.
>
> > Cathy
>
> > > on the other endocrine front, tsh was 1.37 & am cortisol was 16.7
> > > (which again - does it have any meaning?). my interpretation &
> > > limited knowledge of the tsh is that this falls within normal.
>
> > > any light will be absorbed.
> > > thanks,
> > > ellen
>
> i can't understand why she bothered running them then, unless some
> extreme snapshot result would be indicative of ? what the heck - as
> far as i know i am heading in the correct direction (this is one i
> pretty much can't screw up).
>
> ellen- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

x-no-archive: yes

sage hen wrote:
> Ellen,
> Re the TSH of 1.37, my last TSH number was 1.32, which puts us both
> within normal limits (0.35 to 4.94, according to my report). I have
> heard that TSH tests can be unreliable, and you might need a more
> sensitive test. But when I've had both kinds of tests, the results
> have been the same.

Low TSH and T3 can be caused by excess cortisol, too. High TSH can
sometimes be secreted by pituitary tumors.

Susan

On Jul 26, 3:12 pm, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> ellen wrote:
> > alas, no meaning then. re: coritisol - the blood was drawn around
> > 9:30 am after at least a 12 hour fast (don't know if that matters for
> > this) & the range was 7.0-28.0 ug/dl.
>
> > ellen
>
> You need to have cortisol drawn at 8 a.m. or 4 p.m. for a lab reference
> range, though midnight cortisol over 5 is suspicious for Cushing's and
> 7.5 is 100% diagnostic.
>
> But the cortisol secretion may cycle off and on, from 12 hours to 85
> days, so testing often continues, with a knowledgable doc, for months or
> years, using saliva, urine, and serum.
>
> It's also hard to evaluate what hormone tests mean if you don't also get
> levels of the binding globulins; free cortisol will be low, for example,
> if cortisol binding globulin is high. It means that my elevated 24 hour
> urinary free cortisol test would've been much higher in someone without
> elevated CBG such as mine.
>
> Susan


thanks susan,

this all seems so complicated. i expect to speak next week with the
pcp who ordered the bloodwork. from what you described, it sounds
like there's not alot to be gleaned by the cortisol snapshot in
absence of the other variables.
perhaps one of the first things i should learn is understanding blood
panels in general.

ellen

On Jul 26, 4:41 pm, sage hen <desertny...@cwo.com> wrote:
> Ellen,
> Re the TSH of 1.37, my last TSH number was 1.32, which puts us both
> within normal limits (0.35 to 4.94, according to my report). I have
> heard that TSH tests can be unreliable, and you might need a more
> sensitive test. But when I've had both kinds of tests, the results
> have been the same.
> Les
>
>
thanks, les, to you & susan for the tsh responses. i recall testing
1.37 a couple of times in the past few years. & when the insomnia hit
in a big way i tested lower in the tsh range of normal & low in the
range for ft4; the doc wasn't concerned in any way. & i was too busy
trying to figure out sleep strategies that turned out to be
counterproductive - working out alot in the morning, but still wired
all night. like someone turned on something that normally has a self-
operating on & off switch.

hope all is well.

ellen

On Jul 26, 5:31 pm, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> sage hen wrote:
> > Ellen,
> > Re the TSH of 1.37, my last TSH number was 1.32, which puts us both
> > within normal limits (0.35 to 4.94, according to my report). I have
> > heard that TSH tests can be unreliable, and you might need a more
> > sensitive test. But when I've had both kinds of tests, the results
> > have been the same.
>
> Low TSH and T3 can be caused by excess cortisol, too. High TSH can
> sometimes be secreted by pituitary tumors.
>
> Susan


by the way, susan, how are you doing?
ellen

x-no-archive: yes

ellen wrote:

> by the way, susan, how are you doing?
> ellen
>

Not too bad, thanks.

Susan