does low estrogen mean high testosterone?

xfilegirl · 06-23-2007, 04:09 PM

I have been taken Ortho-Tricyclen bcp for about 4 years now. For the past year I have been taking the active pills only for like 3-4 months at a time. I am not always great at making sure I don't miss a pill here and there which sometimes results in the start of a period, in which case I would let the period finish and then start fresh again. After my last period, I started a new pack and I haven't missed a single dose.

Problem is, I started spotting after the first week and now, the day before I would technically start the placebos, I basically have my period. I never bled while on the active pills before. I read that that means that your estrogen is low? Why would this happen all of a sudden? And if my estrogen is low, does that mean that my testosterone is high?

The only thing I am doing differntly now is that I started taking some vitamins and herbs to combat my hairloss. Amongst the other things, I am taking Saw Palmetto which i read has the same anti-antrogen effect as Spiro (which I used to take). Since going off the spiro, my facial hair has started coming back, so I thought I'd try to saw palmetto before going back to the meds. Could that be effecting my estrogen levels? If anything I thought it would help them?! Any ideas? Oh, and my skin has cleared up beautifully which I thought meant that the vitamins and herbs might be helping to balance me out...if my testosterone was high and estrogen low, wouldn't my acne be back to full blast like it was before I was on any bcp? I'm so confused!

CrumpledCrystal · 06-23-2007, 05:56 PM

I don't really know the answer to your question, but you may have ovulated and that is why you are having a period now. Also, if your lining is very thick sometimes it breaks down on its own. I don't think your testosterone is necessarily high if your estrogen is low, they can be high together or low together. With PCOS, they are often high together.

I hope you get some answers to your questions.