Estrogen dominance - Balance Health Clinic

What is estrogen dominance?

Estrogen dominance refers to a condition where a woman has excess estrogen in relation to progesterone. This hormonal imbalance can lead to various symptoms like:

• Irregular periods
• Heavy bleeding
• Bloating
• Weight gain
• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Fibrocystic breasts

What causes estrogen dominance?

There are a few potential causes:

• Perimenopause - As women approach menopause, progesterone levels start to decline faster than estrogen levels. This leads to estrogen becoming more dominant.
• Obesity - Fat cells produce estrogen, so overweight/obese women tend to have high estrogen.
• Stress - Chronic stress can disrupt hormonal balance and tilt it towards estrogen dominance.
• Environmental toxins - Xenoestrogens (estrogen-mimicking compounds) in foods, plastics etc can increase estrogen.

How is it diagnosed?

Doctors may diagnose estrogen dominance through:

• Symptom evaluation
• Physical exam
• Blood tests to measure hormone levels
• Saliva tests to check daily hormone patterns

What is the treatment?

Treatment aims to restore hormonal balance by:

• Lifestyle changes - Reducing stress, maintaining healthy weight, proper sleep and diet, exercise etc.
• Progesterone supplements - Natural progesterone creams, pills or vaginal gels.
• Herbal remedies - Chasteberry, maca, black cohosh etc. have progestogenic effects to counter estrogen.
• Reduce xenoestrogen exposure from household/beauty products, plastics etc.

The treatment plan needs to be tailored to the individual patient. So work closely with your doctor. Maintaining a symptom journal and tracking daily hormonal patterns is also very useful.