What do these levels mean?

[Mazjak]

I'm 44 and have had very sporadic periods for a couple of years. My last period was last July. I had a blood test a couple of weeks ago and my doctor has confirmed perimenopause. My fsh was 58 and my estradiol was 223. He said that explained why I had had any "normal" menopause symptoms and said it means I don't need to consider hrt yet. Having Googled it seems unusual for estradiol levels to still be so high. Does anyone know what it might mean? Thanks

[Mazjak]

Thank you for your reply.
I had a baby in August 2014 and my periods were regular before that. They came back when she was about 4 months old and we're regular but short cycles. When she was about 1 they became more sporadic, some short cycles, some 2-3 months apart. Now I haven't had one for 7 months, the longest by far.

I haven't had any of the usual symptoms, I feel totally normal! The only exception being I ache when I get up in the morning but this eases after a few minutes. Maybe I'm not far enough through yet for symptoms, I don't know!

[br3501]

Yes that's a fairly normal level of estradiol pre-menopause.  the FSH is elevated but not nearly as high as it might be in menopause.  I'm still not yet through to the other side of menopause with estradiol at <10 and my FSH around 90.  You are in the age range to have perimeno symptoms.  These can fluctuate a LOT. You could all of a sudden begin getting regular periods again, keep  having them be spaced out or anything inbetween. Peri is a time of a lot of fluctuation in cycles, even for those who have had periods like clockwork in the past.  I started to have my first period irregularities in my mid-late 40's, probably around age 45 or so.  Were you never regular?  If you are still having that level of estradiol it may indeed be too early for HRT.  Are you having any other symptoms other than irregular periods?