Hysterectomy still making Testosterone

[Janice99]

My doctors are confused. Background: I had a hysterectomy over two years ago and was on two pumps of estrogel a day. My internal med doctor put me at one pump of estrogel a day about 9 months agao and I started to break our and grow hair on my face. (Went back on 2x a day - felt better, but hair and break outs still there.) My doctors sent me to a specialist at UCLA and after all the tests he is confused why my testosterone levels are high. He said that my adrenals are not oversecreting androgens.

Any ideas how I am making more testosterone?

Thanks!

[captain71]

Janice, I'm not a doctor, but I remember reading somewhere that having a hysterectomy does not cure PCOS, because it is an endocrine disorder, not a disorder of the ovaries. I guess other organs or glands must produce testosterone and if the underlying problem is not being controlled or corrected we could still have the hormonal imbalance. If your doctor can't figure it out, I would ask for a referral to another specialist. There has to be an answer somewhere. Good luck.

[sweetsunshine72]

If you have too much estrogen in your body, it will actually convert it to other hormones, such as testosterone! So, you could be "feeding the fires" with your meds! Also, other glands in the body, such as the adrenals, make hormones, too. Us "cysters" are also typically low in Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), which will bind testosterone to make it less available. If you're low in SHBG, then there is more testosterone available, therefore symptoms of high testosterone, but technically the same amount in your body. Different blood tests will look for different things. They might have only done one looking for available testosterone, not total, or perhaps not compared them against each other.

Long story short - PCOS is a metabolic issue that happens to have gyno symptoms. Removing the gyno organs will not cure it, nor will prescribing hormones. The only true treatment is to look at the metabolic issue that's causing all of the problems - in almost all of us, that is Insulin Resistance. Some of us also have thyroid issues, too, and there are a handful of us that have other contributing factors, as well.

You need a good endocrinologist!

Good luck, HTH!