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What should my levels be?

by Suzanna
(Chapel Hill, NC)

I'm a 42 year old female. I learned about Natpro and began using it October 2009. This was after being diagnosed with Endometriosis and having the surgery July 2009.

July 12, 2010, I visited an alternative doctor to have my hormone levels checked, she drew blood versus saliva. I usually get my cycle around the 21st of each month. She informed me my hormone levels are good and had I NOT been on the progesterone cream my progesterone levels would be too low. My Estradiol is 96.4 pg/ml and my Progesterone is 10.3 ng/ml. On some mornings when I first wake up I get hot really quick. I also tend to have an achey feeling in my feet. In addition if my feet are up on a stool or I'm laying down, once I stand up they will feel extremely achey. I also (at times) will have a sharp pain in the areas where my Endometriosis was found. I also continue to have problems off and on with my facial skin, breaking out, etc.

I'm extremely healthy, run every other day and work out at the gym on the other days. I take organic multi-vitamins for women over 40, Omega 3's, Vitamin D, Evening Primrose Oil, Vitamin C, CO Enzyme Q10. Drink green tea as well as a lot of water throughout the day. I do not use products that contain parabens. My skin care line is an organic line as well.

My question is, what should my estrogen/progesterone levels be? I've tried reading the area of your website that shows levels, however, it can be confusing and I hate guessing at something like this. I believe my body is trying to tell me something. Other than those problems, I feel really great.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful information you provide.

Comments for What should my levels be?

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Aug 07, 2010
 What should my levels be?
by: Wray

Hi Suzanna Thanks for the kind words! I have been re-doing our page on hormone levels, as it is confusing. Unfortunately labs give varied ranges and measure in ng/ml, pg/ml or nmol/L, so I've been trying to make better sense of it all. So pleased the progesterone has helped you, but it seems it could still be higher. As you know endo is stimulated by oestrogen, which is a known initiator of inflammation. The aches and pains you are feeling could well be due to too high a level still. Mid-luteal progesterone varies between 5 to 20 ng/ml and oestrogen in pre-menopause women from 30 to 400 pg/ml, so yours are still within the normal range. But it's not the amount of hormones present, but the ratio between the two which is critical. To find this you divide the progesterone result by the oestrogen result. But in your case oestrogen was measured in pg/ml, and the progesterone in ng/ml, so to convert the pg/ml to ng/ml, you divide by 1000. Which gives you 0.0964ng/ml oestrogen. Divide your progesterone result with this figure and you come to a ratio of 107:1. I've found to feel well the ratio should be well over 300:1, better if it's over 600:1. I can only suggest you try using a higher amount and see if that helps. I'm not sure how much you are using, but it should be between 100-200mg/day, if not more if symptoms are severe. Problems with facial skin are often a result of too high a level of insulin. This stimulates testosterone production which causes the outbreak. One reason teenage boys are affected more than girls. Oestrogen does upset blood glucose, as it can cause glucose and therefore insulin to rise. But so do carbs, as a runner maybe you are eating too many of these? For more info please see our page on Acne, it explains why the skin can break out. Everything else you are doing is excellent, but are you taking enough vitamin D and have you had a test done? This is critical for the skin, so is zinc. The minimum daily dose for vitamin D should be 5000iu's for adults, plus 100mg zinc for problem skin. This should be taken for a month or two, then reduce slowly to the 15mg/day standard dose. Please have a vitamin D test done, low levels reduce the benefit of progesterone. The following list gives an indication of levels of vitamin D found in the blood. The test should be done for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, also called calcidiol.....
Sufficient - 50?100ng/ml or 125-250nmol/L
Hypovitaminosis - less than 30ng/ml or 75 nmol/L
Deficiency - less than 25ng/ml or 62.4nmol/L
For more information please see here. Take care Wray
Aug 09, 2010
 Response to Wray
by: Suzanna

Wray, thank you so much for your very informative response as well as explaining to me how to read progesterone/estrogen levels.

My Vitamin D levels are 52.1 ng/mL. I take 2400 IU's per day. Based on your reply, I obviously need to up my dosage. For 2 months I took a higher dose (100 mg) of Chelated Zinc. I now depend on the zinc dosage (10 mg) in my vitamins. I'm using between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp of Natpro twice per day. I will up my dosage on that as well.

Regarding carbs, I try extremely hard to limit my intake. In addition, I'm not a big sugar eater. I tend to like salty foods more than sweet foods. I realize this most likely has to do with how much water I drink as well as the fact that I run/exercise on a regular basis. With that in mind, I'm also very aware of the amount of sodium that is added to processed foods and try to steer clear of those types of foods.

Since I began using the all organic skin line, my skin has gotten much better. I've learned the key to a good skin care line for women my age is one that offers a retinol. It's been very hard to find a line that has a retinol without all the preservatives and parabens. However, with my continued research and persistence, I now have one. In addition, this line offers a wonderful Zinc based daytime moisturizer/sunscreen. I've also started applying my applications of Natpro to my chest, neck and face. This seems to be helping my skin get it's natural glow back.

Wray, thank you again for all your wonderful insight as well as taking the time to explain my progesterone/estrogen levels. I continue to refer family and friends to your website/cream.
Aug 11, 2010
 Response to Wray
by: Wray

Hi Suzanna Thanks for the kind words and for referring people to our site, I'm pleased the info was of help. Your vitamin D level is actually higher than anyone who has written to me! It is at the minimum so I feel getting it higher still would certainly help your skin. I've found a vitamin D cream does wonders for it. If you're happy with the 10mg zinc you're taking then stick to that. White spots on your finger nails are an indication it's too low, so watch out for those. Pleased you avoid the sugar and carbs, as they play havoc with our skin. I don't like to throw a dampener on things, but please avoid retinol, in fact all forms of retinoids on the skin. Cosmetics and sunscreens normally contain retinyl palmitate. There is mounting evidence that it can cause skin cancer, until it's proven otherwise I think best to avoid it. Please see these two papers here and here. Take care Wray
Aug 11, 2010
 Would love to know what skin care line you use?
by: Nikki

Hi there!
I saw this post in the blogs and I hope you don't mind me asking, but I would love to know what Organic skin care line you are using? I have been trying to find one with retinol but without all the bad stuff, i.e. parabens, etc. I'm particularly interested in the zinc based Organic sunscreen.

Thank you so much.
Aug 14, 2010
 Would love to know what skin care line you use?
by: Wray

Hi Nikki Please avoid all cosmetics containing any retenoids, and please read these two papers here and here. If you are looking for an organic zinc based sunscreen please see the Sunumbra web site. Take care Wray
Aug 14, 2010
 Organic skin care line
by: Suzanna

The all organic skin care line is skinorganicsaw. This line is out of Austin, TX by Ann Webb. If you go to her website you will see she has the line at Whole Foods as well as quite a few other locations, however; you can order from her website as well.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again to Wray for all her wonderful information.
Aug 18, 2010
 Organic skin care line
by: Wray

Thanks Suzanna! Thanks for the link too, I'm all in favour of suporting someone who is making natural and organic skin care. But please take note of the retinyl palmitate info I gave, many companies are not aware the danger exists and are still using it. Take care Wray
Feb 16, 2015
 Hormones
by: Valerie Eads

Hi! I am 66 years old and my new doctor says I do not need hormones. My first doc. gave me hormones and then left to practice all naturel meds. I can't afford him so I stopped seeing him. My stomach and ankles were swelling and my hormones were low that's why he out me on them. My stomach no longer swells and I do fell better. I get my hormone from Life Extensions. I wont my doc. to send me for my hormone test and that's when he said I didn't need them .I only had hot flashes one year and never had them again. I started menopause at 43 because I had an eating disorder. Do you think hormones are ok for me at my age .I have all my insides and I am not on meds and never have been. thank you Valerie Eads
Feb 25, 2015
 Hormones
by: Wray

Hi Valerie Most doctors don't believe we need extra hormones, but there's no doubt they help thousands of women of all ages. For instance I put my daughter at age 14 on progesterone, she's now 33. I've used it for the same length of time, i.e. 19 years and I'm now 67, I will never stop. Not only is progesterone a potent antioxidant, so protecting the skin, it also prevents wrinkles see here. It protects the uterus if the woman is lucky enough to still have it as you do, it protects the breasts, the ovaries etc, I could go on! Maybe you could look through our pages on How to use Progesterone Cream and Menopause for more info. Take care Wray

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