Estrogen Dominance

You don’t want your estrogen level to be too low or too high because it creates estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is a condition in which a woman can have deficient, normal, or excessive levels of estrogen, but has too little progesterone to balance the estrogen level.

Estrogen Dominance is common in both cycling and menopausal women. Hormonal balance doesn’t mean a steady-state, equal balance but a dynamic equilibrium. Within this dynamic there are reference ranges. When your hormones fluctuate outside of these ranges, that’s when you are most likely to experience symptoms. Fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone can have dramatic effects on how we feel, think, and function. Compared to other hormones, estrogen is very tightly regulated by the body, and it’s more powerful in smaller amounts than other steroid hormones. Even tiny changes in estrogen levels can cause symptoms. Keep in mind that your hormones are continually changing - even on a moment-to-moment basis.

A healthy woman’s body maintains appropriate ratios of estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone throughout life. A complex set of feedback loops determines how much or little of each hormone is being made at any one time. This ongoing communication takes place between the brain, the ovaries, and the adrenal glands, acting in concert with all your other bodily systems.

That’s why we use the phrase hormonal balance when we talk about “normal” ratios of hormones. But hormonal balance doesn’t mean a steady-state, equal balance but a dynamic equilibrium. Within this dynamic there are reference ranges. When your hormones fluctuate outside of these ranges, that’s when you are most likely to experience symptoms.

Fluctuations in estrogen can have dramatic effects on how we feel, think, and function. Compared to other hormones, estrogen is very tightly regulated by the body, and it’s more powerful in smaller amounts than other steroid hormones. Even tiny changes in estrogen levels can cause symptoms.

Keep in mind that your hormones are continually changing - even on a moment-to-moment basis. Diet and lifestyle have a tremendous effect upon your entire neuroendocrine (brain-hormone) system - and directly impact your estrogen and overall hormonal balance. While the symptoms of menopause range dramatically, they all are signs of hormonal imbalance.