two mos in and I realized I stopped waiting for my endocrinologist to tell me if HRT is working. I just started measuring stuff… week 3: the 3pm wall is gone. I used to crash hard every single afternoon.
didn’t happen this week. week 4-5: baseline mood is different. the irritability I mentioned before just stops. week 6-7: night sweats gone.
sleeping through without that 2am soak. week 8: energy crashes are less sharp… clothes fit different. I’m tracking: sleep quality (actual quality, not hours), hot flash timing and intensity, mood at different times of day, when energy crashes happen, how I feel mid-work.
my endocrinologist says estradiol is ‘in range’ and to wait for the next panel… but I’m not waiting. I’m measuring the stuff that’s actually changing in my day… some of it’s probably placebo.
the patterns don’t lie though… something’s shifting before the labs catch up. question: what do you actually measure to know HRT is working? because ‘estradiol in range’ sure isn’t enough
that’s my take.