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Estrogen Dominance & Progesterone
Deena_Bean
Posts: 906 Member
Brief background: I'm 37, I take Microgestin 1.5/30 on a continuous schedule of 12 weeks. At Labor day I decided to extend my pills through another 2 packs to work around vacations and whatnot. I've done it in the past with no problems, so I figured why not. I had already started spotting when I made that decision and I figured the new pack would probably make it stop. It didn't. I spotted through all of September and went to the doc last week. She told me to have a cycle and start a new pack afterwards (from a new lot). She suspected that the lot of pills I had may have been slightly chemically altered and making me spot. So the new lot may help. She checked for polyps in my cervix while I was there and there weren't any. She said if I start spotting again after I start the new lot (and complete a cycle) I would have an ultrasound to check the uterus for polyps (and if present have a D&C). So I'm mid-cycle now and it's heavier and more painful than usual. My thoughts are just that the lining was getting thick and I needed a cycle - so I'm not too worried that I have polyps.
In the meantime, as any of us would do, I've been wondering wtf is going on with my body and trying to read things and sort some of it out. I've since decided (with the kind guidance of @knitormiss who has been subjected to my ranting and raving, mood-swinging, skeptical, critical, whiny self LOL) to add vitamin K and Zinc to my other supplements (B, C, D, Fish Oil and Magnesium).
After doing more reading I found a page about Estrogen Dominance. I'm not 100% on it, but I could see that being part of my problem, too. I don't know, though, and I hesitate to act on it. This was an interesting article: http://www.drnorthrup.com/estrogen-dominance/
The thing is - a lot of those symptoms are also symptoms of stupid PCOS, so I don't know. I thought about buying the cream they talk about and trying it - but then I start to think I'm going off the deep end and becoming one of those people that keeps finding things wrong with myself and treating them. I don't want to be that way either. I also don't know what kinds of reactions all the stuff I am taking may be having with each other in my body - then adding another player. Will I create more problems? I would go to the doc and ask, but they almost always say, "You don't need that." Maybe they're right...
Just bouncing ideas here...
In the meantime, as any of us would do, I've been wondering wtf is going on with my body and trying to read things and sort some of it out. I've since decided (with the kind guidance of @knitormiss who has been subjected to my ranting and raving, mood-swinging, skeptical, critical, whiny self LOL) to add vitamin K and Zinc to my other supplements (B, C, D, Fish Oil and Magnesium).
After doing more reading I found a page about Estrogen Dominance. I'm not 100% on it, but I could see that being part of my problem, too. I don't know, though, and I hesitate to act on it. This was an interesting article: http://www.drnorthrup.com/estrogen-dominance/
The thing is - a lot of those symptoms are also symptoms of stupid PCOS, so I don't know. I thought about buying the cream they talk about and trying it - but then I start to think I'm going off the deep end and becoming one of those people that keeps finding things wrong with myself and treating them. I don't want to be that way either. I also don't know what kinds of reactions all the stuff I am taking may be having with each other in my body - then adding another player. Will I create more problems? I would go to the doc and ask, but they almost always say, "You don't need that." Maybe they're right...
Just bouncing ideas here...
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Without having read the article, I was previously diagnosed with estrogen dominance and low progesterone. I did a compounded progesterone cream, and I will tell you - EVERY SINGLE MONTH I FELT PREGNANT. Complete with morning sickness, tiredness, extreme moodiness, all of it. At the time, I was TTC, so it about made me lose what little sanity I had left. Also, it DIRECTLY would interfere with you BCP, making them less effective. If you want to stop estrogen BCP, you'll likely want to look into different types of BCP, low estrogen or progesterone only.
@stacicali recently had some good info on this, too, if I'm not mistaken. I'll bounce out and look at this article to be sure what I said above wasn't totally left field, and I'll also look for the other related threads if it is what I expect.0 -
Yikes. No thanks on the prego feeling - and I don't want to stop the pill. I think I'll just stick to the other methods she recommends in the article (holistic approaches). After this cycle is done if everything seems to be ok, I'll assume I was just panicked and looking for a fix LOL. Thanks again for the chime-in.
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Oh, wow...now I'm really concerned. Having taken the cream (pretty sure my % was higher, but don't recall for sure), I was told the only safe way to use it was on your thigh, as it has to absorb slowly through a fatty layer.
But any of these techniques, @Deena_Bean, any anything you do to reduce estrogen will likely interfere with your BCP... Basically, that applies to menopause and such - at which point folks aren't worried about conception. I would do a TON of research on this...before trying even the natural things.
The BCP we BOTH take is higher in estrogen. I was truly worried about how it would affect me, but for me, it leveled out my moods and cycles, as well as stopped breakthrough bleeding and the like. I do take it continuously - no breaks, and am monitored, but I have pelvic organ prolapse, and that's a part of why I take it continuously.
That being said, I have added a liver support supp to my regimen... I've changed a lot of things around, and my other female hormone levels have improved, so something I'm doing is helping things... I couldn't tell you what, obviously, for sure.
I do know that insulin jumping up and down like a wild roller coaster will wreak havoc on estrogen levels...so I don't know if that plays in or what... Hoping some other ladies chime in...
EDITED TO ADD:
P.S. Messing with inositol to help balance my hormones is part of what left me in so much chaos last year... Balancing hormones while on BCP just isn't likely to happen. Leveling out the rest of the body might help, though. Also, if you don't want to take all the different supplements, a whole one split into AM and PM might help better. I'll send you a link in PM so you can research the only one I know about like that. It's pricey, but should replace all the other supps.0 -
Most of the things she recommends doing to keep the estrogen in check, I already do in terms of taking supplements and the diet. I get fiber from the veggies I eat, but I don't eat many fruits. I eat the meats and fats, though, and that's on her list as well. Of course some of it is always a goal (lose weight/exercise, de-stress your life, etc.). The only one I definitely do not do at any capacity is add progesterone. I don't intend to at this point anyways because I want to see if my body straightens itself out with what I'm doing. My LC WOE has been crap lately, too, so I'm going to try harder at that as well. I have basically been a train wreck, so it shouldn't be surprising that everything seems to have fallen apart. I'm on the uptick now, started lifting again - want to start some cardio soon - and intend to buckle down on the food as well. Sometimes trying to find the right path seems impossible. I also feel like I overthink everything, too.1
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I don't have PCOS but am intrigued that you were told to rub the cream on the fattier parts of the body. We're usually told the opposite. I use progesterone for estrogen dominance in menopause.0
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@Sabine_Stroehm - I wonder if that has to do with the fact that I was using it to repair a deficiency and trying to get pregnant in my late 20's, early 30's - and you're using it to neutralize estrogen dominance to make menopause more bearable... Also, the prescription strength I was taking is likely stronger. It had to be compounded by a pharmacy. I had to rub it into the top of my thigh daily, alternating each day each thigh - so Monday left, Tuesday right, etc. My progesterone was literally so low at the time it didn't even register on the blood test when it should have been at it's highest during my cycle.
This was also before we knew I had adrenal fatigue and that my other hormones kept stealing the progesterone to convert to cortisol and other stuff I was dead in - and several years before anyone even brought up PCOS as a possibility. Additionally, it was BEFORE I started losing weight badly. The AF caused me to keep minimal levels because it kept stealing the prog to convert it...0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »@Sabine_Stroehm - I wonder if that has to do with the fact that I was using it to repair a deficiency and trying to get pregnant in my late 20's, early 30's - and you're using it to neutralize estrogen dominance to make menopause more bearable... Also, the prescription strength I was taking is likely stronger. It had to be compounded by a pharmacy. I had to rub it into the top of my thigh daily, alternating each day each thigh - so Monday left, Tuesday right, etc. My progesterone was literally so low at the time it didn't even register on the blood test when it should have been at it's highest during my cycle.
This was also before we knew I had adrenal fatigue and that my other hormones kept stealing the progesterone to convert to cortisol and other stuff I was dead in - and several years before anyone even brought up PCOS as a possibility. Additionally, it was BEFORE I started losing weight badly. The AF caused me to keep minimal levels because it kept stealing the prog to convert it...
Perhaps. But I've never seen it recommended that way. It usually says the thinnest skin, like inner upper arms. Interesting.
Mine, btw was 1. ONE. lol. I'm slowly getting it up. Reproductive years goal is 25. Post menopausal goal is 10. Mine is compounded as well, by the pharmacy. I tried prometrium twice and hated how I felt with that.0 -
@Sabine_Stroehm - Mine was not measurable, zero. I remember them re-running the test, flipping out. Mine was a 25 in 2014, but I don't know what that compares to...or what other numbers mean with it. That was the 17-hydroxyprogesterone test, btw.0
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »@Sabine_Stroehm - Mine was not measurable, zero. I remember them re-running the test, flipping out. Mine was a 25 in 2014, but I don't know what that compares to...or what other numbers mean with it. That was the 17-hydroxyprogesterone test, btw.
YIKES!0 -
The immeasurable part - or the most recent result?0
This discussion has been closed.