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Female Hormone Panel
Dysmenorrhea and Indole-3-Carbinol.
This patient was a teenaged cycling woman with dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation). She had been taking progesterone cream (theoretically to raise progesterone) and indole-3-carbinol (I3C) (theoretically to lower estradiol). Both of these supplements should shift the hormone balance away from estrogen dominance, but how would a person have any idea how much to use on each day of the cycle?
I really hesitate to give any kind of hormone to a teenager. So, I was very glad that the doctor actually decided to measure the hormone levels using the Female Hormone Panel (FHP).
What we found was that her DHEA was very low, her testosterone was borderline low, and her estradiol was normal. On the other hand, her progesterone was about right except for 3 very high samples during the luteal phase of the cycle.
It is clear from her test results that if she continued to take her supplements, she would end up progesterone dominant instead of estrogen dominant.
Given the age of the patient, she might consider stopping the progesterone cream and the I3C. She also could consider taking a low dose of sublingual progesterone during the luteal phase to help with the pain. Also, given the low DHEA, the patient appears to be under quite a bit of stress. She likely would benefit from looking at her adrenal function using the Adrenal Stress Index (ASI).
Warm regards,
Dr. Mark Rhodes, Ph.D.
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