What is estrogen dominance?

#estrogendominance #hormonebalance #hormonalmigraines #PMS #migraines #fibroids #xenoestrogens #cravings #muffintop #fibroids #breastcancer #tenderbreasts

Estrogen dominance is one of the most common hormonal imbalances women (and even men) experience today...

It’s actually so common that the symptoms related to estrogen dominance - like PMS, having a muffin top, cravings & binge eating, headaches, and fibroids - are considered pretty “normal.” But let me show you that they’re not, and that there is a way to fix it.

There’s different scenarios to estrogen dominance

1. You can simply have too much estrogen - your levels are above normal

2. You can have too little progesterone, meaning that your progesterone-estrogen ratio is off. You have too little progesterone to balance your estrogen levels. This is called "relative estrogen dominance". You might even have too little estrogen too in this scenario, but if your progesterone is even lower, you would still suffer from symptoms of estrogen dominance.

3. You may have detoxification issues: estrogens are excreted from the body via different pathways. If you're overusing a specific (and less favorable) pathway or your liver and gut aren’t doing their job well, this can overload estrogen receptors and lead to dominance symptoms.

   
   

Did you know that you actually have 3 different types of estrogen:

• Estrone, or E1, is the primary form of estrogen after menopause. It’s mainly produced in fat cells

• Estradiol, or E2, is the primary form of estrogen for cycling women.

• Estriol, or E3, is dominant during pregnancy and is responsible for vaginal tissue health and urinary control.

If you have estrogen dominance, you may have several of the following symptoms:

• Breast or nipple tenderness

• Breast fullness

• Bloating, puffiness or water retention (usually because of low progesterone in relation to estrogen)

• Pelvic cramps with or without bleeding

• Heavy bleeding or postmenopausal bleeding Rapid weight gain, particularly in the hips and butt

• Ovarian cysts, breast cysts, endometrial polyps, fibroids or endometriosis

• Irritability, impatience or mini breakdowns

What causes estrogen dominance?

There's several factors that can influence your estrogen levels:

• Eating a high carb diet, especially high in processed carbohydrates like baked goods, white-flour products etc.

• Alcohol: a glass of wine per day increases a woman's chance of breast cancer by 40%

• Digestive issues that have an impact on the estrogen detoxification process in the liver and overproduce cortisol which blocks progesterone receptors

• High histamine: estrogen will cause the release of histamine from the mast cells present in the reproductive organs of both men and women. The more estrogen you have, the more histamine will be released into the bloodstream

• Poor liver function, as the liver is responsible for eliminating used up estrogens

• Chronic stress

• Being exposed to pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones and antibiotics through food or water. They have a huge impact on your hormone balance.

• Exposure to xenoestrogens – a number of chemical compounds (like phthalates, BPA, SLS, and many others) found in consumer products such as detergents, packaging and skincare products.

• Use of synthetic estrogens such as the birth control pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

• Lifestyle choices such as drugs (prescription and recreational), smoking, and alcohol

• Genetic predisposition

What about perimenopause and menopause?

Many people still think hormonal imbalances only start at menopause. But with the constant hustle, processed foods, long-term birth control use, and everyday exposure to hormone disruptors, most women enter perimenopause already hormonally depleted.

Perimenopause -the transitional time leading up to menopause -can begin as early as age 35, often lasting 5–10 years. During this time, progesterone levels drop by about 75%, while estrogen decreases only about 35%.

That’s a recipe for relative estrogen dominance.

This is why migraines, PMS, fibroids, insomnia, weight gain, and anxiety often worsen during perimenopause. Your body isn’t “broken” - it’s trying to cope without enough support. And estrogen dominance becomes even more common as the gap between these two hormones widens.

What can you do to reverse estrogen dominance?

1. Consider BHRT or other ways to boost your progesterone

2. Do a detox to flush out excess hormones

3. Eat organic to avoid pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormone and antibiotics in your food

4. Heal your gut: make sure you are evacuating every day and have a balanced microbiome. If you are experiencing constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea, acid reflux, burping, and frequent stomach aches, your digestive health needs some work! When distressed, your digestive tract will provoke the adrenals to release our stress hormone cortisol. And cortisol will block the production of progesterone. That's why any form of stress (emotional, physical, digestive, etc.) can lead to estrogen dominance. But that's not all: we also know now that there is a subset of our gut bacteria that helps metabolize estrogen, called the estrobolome. If you don't have enough of these guys, they might be responsible for your estrogen dominance. Contact me for help or work with a skilled practitioner to fix your digestive issues.

5. Give your liver some love: it is responsible for evacuating the used up estrogens

6. Avoid xenoestrogens - they have chemical structures similar to estrogen and act like estrogen in our body. They are found in products such as creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos, perfumes, hair sprays, and room deodorizers. But also in: car exhaust, petrochemically derived pesticides, herbicides, fungicides; solvents and adhesives from nail polish; paint removers, and glues; dry-cleaning chemicals; practically all plastics; industrial waste such as PCBs and dioxins, and synthetic estrogens from urine of women taking HRT and birth control pills that are flushed down the toilet and eventually find their way back into our drinking water and food.

Hormonal balance doesn't happen overnight. But your symptoms are not random, and they’re not just “a part of getting older.” Whether you're in your 20s, 40s, or post-menopause, your body is always communicating with you.

If you’re dealing with the signs of estrogen dominance - especially during perimenopause - you don’t have to just “live with it.”

There is a way back to balance. Let’s talk if you’re ready to get started.