Estrogen dominance

What is estrogen dominance?

Estrogen dominance refers to a condition where a woman has an imbalance of estrogen levels in her body, either relative or absolute. Specifically, it means she has too much estrogen in relation to progesterone, another important female hormone.

Some key signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance include:

• Irregular periods or spotting


• Heavy or painful periods


• PMS symptoms like mood swings, anxiety, and irritability


• Bloating and water retention


• Fibrocystic breast tissue


• Weight gain around the hips and belly


• Brain fog and trouble concentrating

What causes this hormonal imbalance? There are a few potential culprits:

• Diet and lifestyle factors - eating lots of processed foods, not exercising, chronic stress, lack of sleep


• Environmental toxins like xenoestrogens that mimic estrogen


• Ovarian problems like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)


• Perimenopause in the years leading up to menopause

Estrogen dominance can negatively impact a woman's quality of life and wellbeing. At Hormone Care Center, our functional medicine doctors specialize in natural hormone balancing treatments personalized to your unique needs. We help women restore optimal estrogen and progesterone levels naturally through diet and lifestyle changes as well as bioidentical hormone therapy when appropriate.

The effects of this excess estrogen without enough progesterone to balance it out can be quite debilitating. Some potentially more serious health risks include:

• Impaired blood sugar control and increased diabetes risk


• Thyroid disorders like hypothyroidism


• Fat gain and adipose tissue dysfunction


• Female reproductive cancers like breast cancer and endometrial cancer


• Uterine fibroids


• Endometriosis


• Infertility issues

For younger women, developing estrogen dominance in their 20s or 30s is often traced to poor diet and lifestyle habits or environmental toxins - while in older women perimenopause tends to be the underlying cause as ovulation becomes less consistent.

How do you test and diagnose estrogen dominance? Diagnostic tests may include:

• Female hormone panels - checks estradiol, estrone, progesterone, testosterone


• Saliva hormone testing


• Blood sugar tests - high blood sugar suggests insulin resistance driving the imbalance

Once the lab testing confirms a relative excess of estrogen, targeted natural treatments can help restore balance.

Ask my colleagues at Hormone Care Center about a customized evaluation for hormone balancing. We offer consultations in-clinic or via telehealth to provide personalized solutions through nutrition, supplements, stress reduction, targeted exercise plans, and more. Our goal is to enhance your vitality and quality of life.

In summary, estrogen dominance refers to having disproportionately high estrogen levels, usually in relation to low progesterone. This hormonal imbalance can negatively impact menstrual health, fertility, blood sugar regulation, weight management, and cancer risk for women. Testing key hormones with lab panels and saliva tests helps diagnose this condition, and personalized multi-modal treatment helps restore balance.