Estrogen Dominance Symptoms

The symptoms listed below, as well as many others, often arise when estrogen overstimulates both the brain and body. All of these symptoms are exacerbated by stress of all kinds. um…covid stress anyone?

• Decreased sex drive

• Irregular or otherwise abnormal menstrual periods

• Bloating (water retention) and Breast swelling and tenderness

• Fibrocystic breasts

• Headaches (especially premenstrually)

• Mood swings (most often irritability and depression)

• Weight and/or fat gain (particularly around the abdomen and hips) - and an overall sluggish metabolism

• Thyroid dysfunction (Cold hands and feet and hair loss)

• Foggy thinking, memory loss

• Fatigue and trouble sleeping/insomnia - ugh!

• PMS gets worse

Estrogen dominance has also been linked to allergies, autoimmune disorders, breast cancer, uterine cancer, infertility, ovarian cysts, and increased blood clotting, and is also associated with acceleration of the aging process. Basically…you’ll want to get proactive.

And Conventional Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) puts you at a much higher risk of developing hormone-based cancers and conditions because they aren’t treating the root cause.

Now, the reason you become estrogen dominant in the first place is that your body (specifically your liver) becomes inefficient at cycling out excess estrogens from your bloodstream, leaving them to recirculate back into the body. And your gut needs to help with this process. And if your progesterone isn’t doing it’s job in balancing out estrogen, this adds to the imbalance.

If you believe you might be estrogen dominant, you are not destined to feel ‘off balance’ forever. Taking some time to understand what’s really going on by reading this entire blog. Then, deciding that you are worth it.

You deserve to feel your best so that you can share your strengths with the world and feel great doing so.

You just need a plan.

I work with women using natural supplements , diet tweaks and lifestyle choices to support the body’s ability to heal.

Is this sounding like you? Check out my. hormone quiz to see.

Understanding the role of the liver, gut and progesterone

THIS is why I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to support your liver. It plays a big role when it comes to safe estrogen metabolism. The condition of your liver determines which pathway the estrogen follows in your body.

Let’s focus on what you CAN DO to support your liver and its ability to detoxify estrogens.

LIVER DETOX PHASE 1 FOR CLEARING EXCESS HORMONES

This is where the liver converts estrogen to different metabolites.

• Cruciferous vegetables: One of the best ways to encourage the 2-OH pathway is to eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, broccoli sprouts, and Brussels sprouts. If you’re looking for an easier way to get the benefits of these vegetables, sulforaphane and DIM are powerful supplements that pack in the benefits of pounds and pounds of these vegetables into convenient pills to help your liver metabolize estrogen.

• Glutathione: This is a powerful antioxidant to support your liver’s ability to detox safely and effectively.

• Resveratrol: This is a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant that can help you support your liver’s health. Studies also show that it can prevent breast cancer by limiting how estrogen interacts with your DNA.

All the supplements from Phase 1 are also helpful here, plus:

• Choline: This is an essential nutrient that your liver relies on for the methylation process. Research shows that choline supplements protect your liver and keep it functioning at its best.

• Methylated B Vitamins: These are a must. Your body NEEDS B vitamins to kickstart the methylation process. But if your B vitamin supplement isn’t methylated or activated, your body will have to go through another process to get it ready to use (and many of us struggle with that activation step). What does that mean? You can be taking B vitamin supplements, but you won’t get to experience their effects because your body gets hung up on the activation step.

• Slow elimination: That’s right, if you don’t poop every day, the waste has a higher chance of re-entering your body. One of the best ways to support regular pooping is Magnesium. Work with your healthcare provider to find the right form of magnesium for you!

• Imbalanced bacteria: Your microbiome is essential for keeping things moving in your gut. Quality probiotics and fermented foods can help support your intestinal bacteria to make sure the estrogen gets OUT.

If you’re ready to fight back against estrogen dominance, this is where you start! By supporting your liver and gut, you can give your body what it needs to break down and remove excess estrogen from your body so you can get yourself back.

But please stay with me for this final but very important step.

Re-balancing Progesterone:

Never under-estimate the power of progesterone. This hormones is your super power. When low, it can lead to insomnia, anxiety and even panic attacks. Be sure to test…don’t guess!

How to rebalance it:

1. Master your sleep - trust that your body needs restorative sleep to build hormones and detox well.

2. Take Methylated B Complex: (esp B6) which helps produce stress hormones. When you are stressed, you burn through your vitamin B.

3. Consider zinc - stimulated FSH is required and zinc is building block to many hormones

4. Decrease outside estrogen exposure: Avoid drinking from plastic bottles, clean up beauty products or anything you put on your skin, eat hormone free meat and dairy. Getting a DoTerra account will help with this one!

5. Address gut issues - see above

6. Consider supplementing with Magnesium - this is a calming mineral and most in NA are deficient. Needed to produce sex hormones

7. Consider L Arginine or chasteberry or using a Clary Calm Roller (contains vitex and clary sage) - can increase progesterone levels.

8. Work on vagus nerve health or try acupuncture - key to re-programming the way your body handles stress.

In Summary:

First, complete the quiz to see if your hormones are out of balance.

Second, considering getting support! As you can see, it takes a little bit of strategy to figure things out but at the very least, start supporting your gut health now!