Birth Control Pill - effect on libido and mental health

[PPC]

Update time.

I've been off BC for over a month. I just got back my blood test and I was hoping for some input from other members.

LH 5.6
T 14
DHEA 79.1
Estradiol 83.1

Thank you!

First thing I'm seeing is your T. Pressing forward in life with a total that low will be difficult. But we don't want to get away with ourselves because you had only been off birth control for one month at the time of the testing.

It may be hard to tell what these levels mean....have you had a period since the pill? If so, do you know what day of your cycle these tests were taken? That will help clue us in.

While E (estrogen) at 83 may be okay during your period....at any other time it is too low. Most premenopausal women stay above 100, sometimes well over 2-300 and then dip just below 100 for their period. Think back to how you feel at your period. Most of us have low mood due to low E levels causing lack of seritonin. We have more aches and pains. Most of us feel our worst at that time. You don't want to be in that state constantly.

Dr Elizabeth Vilet offers the following numbers as a good guage for E levels for premenopausal women. You'll notice we have 2 estrogen peaks. Most women try to test on day 18-21 to catch their second peak. If you are only 83 during that time...you are likely missing out on better well being and health.


menstrual phase (days 1-4) 80-90
follicular phase (days 4-14) average 200
follicular phase peak 350-500
follicular phase average (days 14-26) 200
luteal phase peak 200-300
premenstrual phase (day 26-28) E2 drops sharply (she does not give numbers for this drop)

Your T level: If a premenopausal woman is a natural low T type - not much natural muscle tone or body hair, then she may be in the 20-30 total T area. A healthy range is 40-60 but many athletic women are naturally quite a bit higher than that. Some labs have the top of the level at 100. My mom just got her total T levels back while on T cream and they were 87. Her doc was pleased and her libido is real high.

Your level is similar to what many untreated menopausal women have. Maybe it will take a few more months off BC, your ovaries will wake up a little more and your numbers will come up. This current T level may be even higher than what you were on BC. If nothing changes in the next little while, then I think your life will really improve by adding these hormones that are on the very low side.

I don't see a progesterone level...did your doc test that? It will be important.

Your dhea level is low. Optimum is close to 200 for a woman. Are you supplementing with any dhea right now?

Most importantly, how do you feel? Are you doing okay?

[BengalWoman]

First thing I'm seeing is your T. Pressing forward in life with a total that low will be difficult. But we don't want to get away with ourselves because you had only been off birth control for one month at the time of the testing.

It may be hard to tell what these levels mean....have you had a period since the pill? If so, do you know what day of your cycle these tests were taken? That will help clue us in.

While E (estrogen) at 83 may be okay during your period....at any other time it is too low. Most premenopausal women stay above 100, sometimes well over 2-300 and then dip just below 100 for their period. Think back to how you feel at your period. Most of us have low mood due to low E levels causing lack of seritonin. We have more aches and pains. Most of us feel our worst at that time. You don't want to be in that state constantly.

Dr Elizabeth Vilet offers the following numbers as a good guage for E levels for premenopausal women. You'll notice we have 2 estrogen peaks. Most women try to test on day 18-21 to catch their second peak. If you are only 83 during that time...you are likely missing out on better well being and health.


menstrual phase (days 1-4) 80-90
follicular phase (days 4-14) average 200
follicular phase peak 350-500
follicular phase average (days 14-26) 200
luteal phase peak 200-300
premenstrual phase (day 26-28) E2 drops sharply (she does not give numbers for this drop)

Your T level: If a premenopausal woman is a natural low T type - not much natural muscle tone or body hair, then she may be in the 20-30 total T area. A healthy range is 40-60 but many athletic women are naturally quite a bit higher than that. Some labs have the top of the level at 100. My mom just got her total T levels back while on T cream and they were 87. Her doc was pleased and her libido is real high.

Your level is similar to what many untreated menopausal women have. Maybe it will take a few more months off BC, your ovaries will wake up a little more and your numbers will come up. This current T level may be even higher than what you were on BC. If nothing changes in the next little while, then I think your life will really improve by adding these hormones that are on the very low side.

I don't see a progesterone level...did your doc test that? It will be important.

Your dhea level is low. Optimum is close to 200 for a woman. Are you supplementing with any dhea right now?

Most importantly, how do you feel? Are you doing okay?

PPC - Thanks for your help! I'll try and answer all of your questions.

The blood test were done 6 days after the start of my cycle. (Done for 3 days).

The doctor did not test progesterone. I asked her but no response yet.

I am not supplementing DHEA at this time. But can do easily.

I do not feel like me! Libido sucks and life wears on me. And these damn doctors that are suppose to be helping everyone just put up road blocks.

Do you take pregnanolone? That too I can do easily.

Again thanks for all of your input.

[PPC]

PPC - Thanks for your help! I'll try and answer all of your questions.

The blood test were done 6 days after the start of my cycle. (Done for 3 days).

The doctor did not test progesterone. I asked her but no response yet.

I am not supplementing DHEA at this time. But can do easily.

I do not feel like me! Libido sucks and life wears on me. And these damn doctors that are suppose to be helping everyone just put up road blocks.

Do you take pregnanolone? That too I can do easily.

Again thanks for all of your input.

By the time you took this test, estradiol should have been rising. Six days after the start of your cycle, E is in an upward trend. If 83 is indicative of your upward trend then help may be needed along the way with a compounded E cream with both estradiol and estriol. Raising your E levels helps you cope with the stress of life. Things are jjust gloomy with low E. But you may want to give it a another month or two and see if your own ovaries want to put out more. I think you will end up needing a good doc that specializes in female hormonal issues (the AA type). There will definitely be a need to test for progesterone.

DHEA can help with lagging libido in females. I don't think it goes as far as T does to get it up there but I noticed a mild libido boost when I started using it. It's just good to take anyway since it is a powerful immune booster and helps protect against breast cancer.

Most women cannot tolerate more than 20 mg of DHEA. Acne is the first sign that you are going too high. My dose is 10mg per day. I use a brand that has bioperine in it for better absorbtion. I have tried increasing the dose 3 times and I always end up with acne on my chin when I do, but that's just me. Going back down to 10 mg - the acne disappears. It seems to take about a month on a certain dose to notice results and side effects.

I have tried using pregnenolone. I did a trial with a lipid matrix brand that is supposed to bypass the liver. The dose was 150 mg. I did fine until I was in the part of my cycle where I have to add my progesterone. The combination of these two was too much for me. I got headaches, brain fog and my cycle got messed up. I believe my dose was too high. Pregnenolone apparently swims downstream into progesterone so I was just overdosing on that likely. I need to try again at a better dose sometime like 50 mg.

Pregnenolone will not raise your estrogen or your testosterone and those are the ones you are lacking on your tests. It may help with your cortisol and progesterone. Using a low dose probably would not hurt you but won't fill the othe other gaping holes.


I believe using exogenous T will ultimately help your libido and energy levels. Sometimes it takes a while for T receptors to open up and for one to 'feel' the changes. You have not had much circulating T in your body for a long time so it will be interesting to see how long it takes for your receptors to open up and for cell changes to occur if you start using T.

My Mom used a T cream for 6 months with no libido change, but then it gradually climbed and now she is constantly chasing my Dad LOL. I noticed the effects of T much sooner than that. I actually had to lower my dose due to hypersexual feelings and a bit of a personality change that occured. T is a powerful hormone in females it seems and it is a big brain space changer. On too high a dose, I was less tolerant of my children and more ready to be combative with my husband - awful. There is that 'just right' dose for every individual but it's not always the easiest road getting there. It's worth it though.