Do you feel like your hormones are “out of balance”?
You’re not alone!
Many women feel like their hormones are out of control – but they don’t know which ones.
Over the next 4 weeks I’ll be introducing you to 4 of the main hormones that could be responsible for many common symptoms women experience, so you can start to become more aware of the importance of hormonal balance.
Let’s start with estrogen!
Estrogen is an important hormone for women.
Estrogen is made mainly in the ovaries for women who are still having their periods. Estrogen is made during the first half of your menstrual cycle (before ovulation occurs), to really help prepare & thicken the uterine lining for implantation after ovulation and successful fertilization.
But sometimes estrogen can be too high (estrogen excess) and sometimes it can be too low (estrogen deficiency) resulting in many symptoms that fluctuate over a woman’s cycle and lifetime.
Possible signs of estrogen excess:
- Anxiety
- Breast tenderness
- Heavy & irregular periods
- Irritability
- PMS symptoms
- Weight gain in the hips & waist
Estrogen excess can be seen in women with endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS and fertility issues.
Possible signs of estrogen deficiency:
- Dry hair, skin
- Fatigue
- Hot flashes
- Sleep disturbances
- Urinary incontinence
- Vaginal dryness
Estrogen deficiency can be seen in women with fertility issues, menopause, and post-menopause
To complicate matters, both estrogen excess and deficiency can lead to similar symptoms, for example:
- Fertility issues
- Decreased sex drive
- Mood swings
- Tearfulness
How do we know if estrogen is too high or too low?
Sometimes it can help to test your estrogen levels as well as for other factors involved in estrogen level changes. This can be done via blood testing.
What happens after I get my estrogen results?
Sometimes, once we know more about what your levels are, then we can help address your hormones more effectively.
To balance estrogen excess, options may include cruciferous vegetables, fibre and restoring gut health to eliminate estrogen more effectively, as I’ve discussed here in my Hormone detox series and again here in my Fertility series. If you’re look for more information on other important hormones for fertility click here.
To improve estrogen deficiency, options may include nutritional changes, supplements and herbs to help to support the body’s own production of estrogen. If necessary, we also may need to consider whether bio-identical compounded hormones are necessary.
Final Thoughts
Now remember, even though you may see one or more of your symptoms in either the estrogen excess or deficiency category – that’s not the end of the story. That’s because your hormones don’t function in isolation from one another. They can overlap in function, interact with one another, and can even modify the function of one another. This means that your symptoms may be due a combination of hormonal imbalances and not just estrogen. To achieve whole body hormonal balance we need to understand your other hormones are functioning as well.
Next week, we’ll be learning about another important hormone – and here’s a hint – it’s important for blood sugar balance.
Take care until then!
If you’re ready for one-on-one naturopathic care backed by 15 years of experience helping people start and expand their families, click here or on the button below to get started.
You can also use the above button to book a complimentary no-obligation 15-minute Optimal Health Meet & Greet Visit so you can ask me questions about my approach to helping you feel your best through perimenopause & beyond – before committing to an initial naturopathic visit.
