Ep. 131: Reversing Estrogen Dominance & its Symptoms // Estrogen Dominance 101

We're hearing more and more about estrogen dominance -- but what is it exactly? What signs point to its possibility? And how can I reverse estrogen dominance in my own cycles?  Knowing these basics is the first step to identifying and restoring the underlying causes of hormonal imbalances like estrogen dominance. Today's episode discusses what causes estrogen dominance, natural and restorative ways to combat estrogen dominance, and practical ways to identify it in your own life.

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences.

Additional research on estrogen and its risks when elevated

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Estrogen Dominance 101

Other Woven Well 101 Episodes:
Ep. 24: Postpartum Fertility 101
Ep. 26: Miscarriage 101: Common causes of loss
Ep. 37: Infertility 101
Ep. 60: LUF Syndrome 101

Transcript

Caitlin: 0:06

Welcome to the Woven Well podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast. Over the last few years, there's been more and more talk in the women's health community about something called estrogen dominance, but it can feel a bit foggy trying to figure out what that is, how you know you have it, and what you can actually do about it. So today's episode is a primer of sorts, a 101, to provide you with information you need to get answers and results. Now, this isn't the first time we've provided these 101 episodes. We have similar ones on infertility, miscarriage, postpartum fertility, PCOS, LUF syndrome, all sorts of options. So be sure to scroll back through our episodes to listen to those and others that you may enjoy. And while you're at it, if you like what we do, would you please take just a few seconds to give us a five-star review so that other ladies can find and utilize our resources as well. We really appreciate it. So what do we know about estrogen dominance? In order to understand the overall picture, I think it's helpful to first understand the players involved. Estrogen specifically is pretty key here. So what is it? Estrogen is a type of reproductive hormone that is produced in both men and women, but it's especially strong and influential in a woman's reproductive system playing a key role every cycle in the preparation for ovulation. So estrogen is a hormone, and hormones themselves are chemical messengers between your body's different organs, including your brain. They send really important messages about what to do, how things are going, and what you need to prioritize in that particular moment. And they're absolutely critical to the healthy functioning of the whole human body. Without hormones, all the different parts of ourselves would not be able to communicate. And that's why when you have a hormone deficiency or an overabundance, you are bound to notice a few side effects. So what about estrogen specifically? Well, there are actually several different types of estrogen created throughout a woman's life, but we're going to focus on estradiol or E2, which is primarily produced during those reproductive years. I'm just going to refer to it as estrogen because it's a little bit easier. So estrogen does so many important things for the body. It tones the uterus, contributes to bone formation, dilates blood vessels, stimulates brain cells. In fact, some women actually notice increased energy and brainstorming during this time. They envision all sorts of projects and dreams that they'd really like to pursue, and they feel like they actually have the energy to get it done. So estrogen is a powerful and influential hormone during that particular time of the cycle. And it's actually produced by growing follicles that are preparing for the possibility of ovulation. So every cycle, multiple eggs are recruited to grow follicles that produce estrogen. Typically only one or two will actually ovulate, but the ones that do are the ones that have the largest follicles producing the most estrogen. So when you think about it that way, these follicles are growing and growing and growing, producing more and more estrogen right before ovulation, then naturally estrogen is usually the highest right before ovulation actually happens. Now, after that major event occurs, the follicles are changing into what we call corpus luteum. Corpus luteum is important for many reasons, but one of the primary things that it does is it changes the dominant reproductive hormone in your cycle from estrogen to progesterone. Now, progesterone has a very different effect than estrogen. It has a relaxing and normalizing effect on the body. It maintains the uterine lining, promotes sleep and relaxation, decreases anxiety. Brain cells, we love progesterone. But how could any reproductive hormone besides estrogen affect our conversation about estrogen dominance? Like why aren't we just only talking about estrogen here? Well, one of progesterone's main roles is to balance out the effects of estrogen. So Dr. Naomi Whittaker, a restorative reproductive surgeon trained in NaPro technology, refers to estrogen dominance as simply unopposed estrogen. So when there's nothing there to balance out the strong effects of the hormone estrogen, we're going to have symptoms. Now these symptoms are going to be different for each woman. So I don't want to provide a big list and then you think, well, I don't have estrogen dominance because I don't have all of those things. It's going to play out a little bit differently. But I do want to tell you what some of those symptoms are so that you can be aware of them and see if it's a possibility that your estrogen is going unopposed. So here are just a few. You may notice bloating, weight gain, PMS or PMDD, breast tenderness, mood swings, irregular cycles, anxiety, depression, migraines, difficulty sleeping, hair loss, difficulty conceiving, PCOS, endometriosis, or uterine fibroids. So there are plenty to choose from there. And if you've heard our previous episode on all things progesterone, then you may notice that quite a few of these are very similar or actually the same as symptoms of low progesterone. What do you know? They're all connected just like we as human beings are. Interconnected, mind, body, spirit, our bodies are interconnected systems and organs and hormones. The health of one will naturally affect the health of the other and so on and so on. And I think it's important to mention that and hopefully to keep in mind as we look into what can contribute to estrogen dominance and what we can do to combat it. Because the suggestions there may not all seem obviously focused on the reproductive system. But remember, we are made up of a beautifully complex system and it's all worth understanding and of course honoring. But first I want to acknowledge that while the symptoms I mentioned are truly a hassle, they may not feel like they're always worth the effort to address. Women are pretty amazing. We can push through life with many of the symptoms that we just mentioned. But please don't feel like you need to just simply push through. You deserve to have these things addressed so that you feel better and that your quality of life is increased. But also unopposed estrogen can lead to some more serious concerns. So things like increased risk for stroke, blood clots, and certain types of cancer. So it is worth getting diagnosed and treated. We certainly don't want you to have blood clots or cancer. But also because there's no reason why you should have to live with symptoms like irregular cycles, depression or migraines, if there's a way to actually address them. So if you think you may have estrogen dominance, maybe you suffer from several of the symptoms I listed, or you've had high estrogen labs come back in the past, or you see some of the signs of unopposed estrogen on your cycle, charting like irregular cycles, excessive cervical mucus production, a short post peak phase or premenstrual spotting, then the next step for you is to identify the cause or the contributing factors. Now we've already mentioned a very, very common contributing factor, which is low progesterone produced by a weak corpus luteum. So this is a big one and it can be treated in a variety of ways based on what's causing the deficiency in the first place. So certainly you want to work with a restorative reproductive medical provider who can help you get to the root cause of that and treat it immediately. But there are other contributing factors worth noting. And again, these may not all seem obviously connected to estrogen, but because we are interconnected, they do affect it significantly. So one is stress, which can affect progesterone production. And so that could be the cause of the issue there. Or another is excess body weight because fat can actually release stored up estrogen that's in those fat cells or birth control pills, which often increase estrogen production on a continuous basis while you're taking that constant stream of estrogen from the pills themselves. Liver dysfunction--It's responsible for detoxifying the body and breaking down things like excess estrogen. So we want the liver to be able to properly function and help the body detox. Weak gut health can also be influential. We know that our gut microbiome has a huge influence on our overall health and impacts the production of estrogen. So that's one to keep in mind. And also synthetic estrogen sources. So synthetic estrogen tricks the body into thinking things like BPA, household cleaning items, beauty products, candles, fragrances, tricks into thinking that they are estrogen. And so it causes an unnecessary and unhealthy spike. It really can confuse those hormone receptors. So what can you do when you suspect you are experiencing estrogen dominance? Well, there's certainly good news. There are many things that we can do on our own to help us improve our ability to balance and process estrogen in a healthy way. Even basic things can make a real difference. So be sure to stay hydrated and consume less alcohol and sugary foods and drinks to help your liver detox the body, reduce your exposure to synthetic estrogen and other hormone disruptors by eating organic foods when possible. Cleaning up your beauty products. You know, be on the lookout for things like phthalates and forever chemicals, and eliminate fragrances. Try essential oils only. If you really still need a fragrance, then try essential oils instead of chemical fragrances. You can incorporate light to moderate exercise that allows you to sweat. So sweating is another way that you can detox from that extra buildup of estrogen. In fact, having regular bowel movements also helps this process of detoxification. And of course, increasing your sleep to seven to nine hours a night and decreasing your stress even in the tiniest of ways. So even tiny but intentional ways to decrease stress can make a big difference and can make a huge impact on your overall reproductive health. Now there are certainly also supplements that providers may suggest like omega-3s, DIM or dim, anti-inflammatory supplements or liver supports. But I don't want you to jump straight to supplements and ignore those other ways that I just mentioned to invest in your health because they really can be tremendously effective. We also don't talk a ton about supplements because as always, this episode is not medical advice. So I highly recommend working with a knowledgeable registered dietitian and restorative reproductive medical provider who can look for those underlying causes of the high estrogen. So those restorative reproductive providers, they're the ones that can investigate and diagnose why it's occurring. You and I can guess, and we can make lifestyle changes. I mean, the changes are good for all of us, so they're not going to hurt anything. But when it comes to deciding about things like whether or not to lose weight or how to evaluate progesterone production and assess the need for hormonal support, please find a trusted medical provider that's trained in restorative reproductive medicine, estrogen dominance. It's a big buzzword. There are so many reels and tiktoks about how it can affect your life and products that you need in order to combat it. But I hope what you take away from today's episode is a broader understanding of what it actually means and the variety of factors that can work together to cause it. Let's not just stop at " estrogen dominance," because ultimately estrogen dominance is simply a symptom. We can go a step further to identify what's causing the dominance and treat it at its source. And for that, of course, you need a clear picture of the symptoms you experience in a trusted medical professional who's trained in a restorative approach to reproductive medicine. Now you can find out more about both on our website, wovenfertility.com, including our free resources under the resources tab. As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.