Signs That You Might Have A Hormonal Imbalance
Women really only have two hormones to worry about. They are oestrogen and progesterone and they dominate our lives from puberty to post menopause.
What can go wrong?
Today women are the product of several generations of artificial hormone use from the first days of the contraceptive Pill to the newer implants and coils and finally HRT.
These all contain synthetic hormones and to be in good hormone health women need progesterone, the bioidentical natural hormone, as that is the only thing that will balance excess oestrogen.
Oestrogen is essential, but when found in excess in the body from artificial hormones, its presence in our food and water as residues from pesticides and plastics, we get out of balance.
This has come to be known as oestrogen dominance and was a term first used by the late Dr John Lee to refer to a state where oestrogen is not being balanced by progesterone in a woman’s body.
In fact there is not one oestrogen, but three: oestradiol, oestrone and oestriol. The relative amounts of these three oestrogens to each other vary at different times in a woman’s life and all three are secreted in the ovaries, adrenal glands, placenta and fatty tissue.
Whatever your age may be, these oestrogens need to be balanced by progesterone to prevent the benefits of oestrogen being outweighed by its potential problems.
Excess oestrogen is linked to breast and uterine cancer, breast tenderness, heavy menstrual bleeding, PMS and PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) as well as the many symptoms of menopause including hot flashes, mood swings and fatigue.
What are the symptoms?
It is fairly simple to see if you have oestrogen dominance by looking at the list of the effects of progesterone and oestrogen listed here.
If you have a lot on the oestrogen side then you may want to look at redressing the balance.
| Effects of Excess Oestrogen | Effects of Progesterone |
| Increases breast/endometrial cancer risk | Protects the breast |
| Stimulates breast tissue – tenderness | Stabilises the womb lining |
| Creates proliferation of the womb lining | Protects the womb |
| Increases body fat – especially stomach | Helps break down fat |
| Fluid retention and bloating | Natural diuretic |
| Depressive | Antidepressant/mood uplift |
| Suppresses action of thyroid | Supports thyroid function |
| Increases blood clotting | Normalises clotting |
| Decreases libido | Increases libido |
| Interferes with blood sugar levels | Stabilises blood sugar |
| Reduces zinc and retention of copper | Normalises zinc and copper |
| Reduces cell oxygen | Restores cell oxygen |
| Slows bone breakdown | Builds up bone |
What you can do
Oestrogen dominance can occur at any age and can be present even with low levels of oestrogen if progesterone levels are lower still.
Women need both progesterone and oestrogen to be in balance with each other for optimal hormone health, and a first step is to look at your lifestyle.
The basic building blocks start with a good whole food diet, regular exercise and stress reduction as those factors can play a major part in most hormonal symptoms.
Supplementing with bioidentical natural progesterone will also be necessary to get your hormones back into balance if you have a number of oestrogen dominance symptoms.
Because of the confusion between natural progesterone and synthetic progestins do make sure you get the real deal and not a chemical substitute.
You need a safe, guaranteed source and that is normally listed as USP progesterone so always check the ingredients list to make sure.
