Estrogen dominance

The term "estrogen dominance" was coined to describe the 'Adverse' symptoms often encountered by women if they have a naturally high level of estrogen or have been on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) or the contraceptive Pill for any length of time and therefore have low progesterone levels.

Initially progesterone therapy will make the body more sensitive to the oestrogen present. This is because progesterone activates the oestrogen receptors so making oestrogen the dominant hormone which makes many women feel worse.

With progesterone therapy progesterone gradually becomes the dominant hormone and symptoms begin to ease. Some women never experience estrogen dominance, in others it can take several days, whilst in others it can last longer. Much depends on the amount of excess oestrogen that is present. Men never experience oestrogen dominance when first using progesterone.

Conversely supplemental oestrogen can initially make us feel better. The reason for this is oestrogen activates the progesterone receptors so making progesterone the dominant hormone, but it wears off as oestrogen becomes the dominant hormone.

This is one of the reasons so many women keep changing their HRT script. There are some women who do not suffer any adverse affects, but the risks of using HRT or the contraceptive pill for any length of time are not worth it.

Estrogen dominance is characterized by any of the following symptoms...

nausea
mild depression
bruising
dizziness
headaches
aches and pains
hot flushes
migraines
bloating/weight gain due to water retention
constipation
tiredness
breast tenderness
spotting
a period which comes either early or later than usual
skin problems
hypoglycaemia

If you experience any of these symptoms then your choice is to either...

increase the dose and persevere with the symptoms, or
reduce the dose considerably to begin with and then gradually increase it over a month or two

The Pill and HRT contain estrogen and synthetic progesterone (which is commonly called 'progestin'). Progestins cause natural progesterone levels to drop, leading to many of the above symptoms.

For a comprehensive list of symptoms please click here.

Learning more about how to use progesterone cream can help lessen the effects of estrogen dominance.

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