Not having adequate progesterone levels to balance the level of estrogen is known as estrogen dominance. Typically women in the peri-menopause or menopause phase of life will experience this to a greater degree as progesterone naturally decreases.
Estrogen imbalance happens when estrogen is dominant. Do not misunderstand. This does not mean that you have an excess of estrogen (though it can be that you do as well) but it means that estrogen is higher than normal proportions to other hormones. Generally speaking progesterone is usually out of balance with estrogen; but testosterone can be as well.
At around the time of pre or peri-menopause, women begin to experience the effects of estrogen imbalance due to diminishing levels of estrogens in the bloodstream. Part of this is due to the fact that declining fertility also means a decline in estrogen, which came from maturing follicles in the early part of the menstrual cycle.
When progesterone drops to a lower than normal level your body will experience the symptoms of Estrogen Dominance. These symptoms can be uncomfortable and interfere with your quality of life. You do not have to put up with that. Among other strategies, using a natural progesterone cream increases levels of progesterone in your system and thus keeps estrogen to manageable levels. Thus your hormones seek balance.
High levels of estrogen are not what is meant by Estrogen Dominance. Estrogen which is unopposed by progesterone manifest the symptoms of estrogen imbalance. It is because of the lowered / unopposed progesterone levels that many benefit from using a natural progesterone cream. Cold-pressed Cycle Balance Cream or Cycle Balance Cream PLUS (formulated with hormone balancing herbs) are two such creams.
Estrogen Dominance and Menopause
Estrogen imbalance affects mostly women nearing menopause (called pre-menopause or peri-menopause, those in menopause and those beyond but can also affect women in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. The chances are good that you experience some measure of imbalance due to lifestyle choices, age or environmental pollutants. It is difficult to go unscathed.
Estrogen imbalance and Xenaestrogens can also affect men. Men now suffer from something called andropause around the same time of life as women but we will stick to the ladies for this article.
Effects of estrogen imbalance concerning menopause often cause such uncomfortable symptoms as: night sweats, memory problems, lethargic depression, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, painful intercourse, and increased bladder infections. Read more about these in our article about Estrogen Imbalance and Menopause.
Millions of women will experience the effects of estrogen imbalance through excess estrogen caused by synthetic hormones including xenoestogens; man made chemicals in the environment that mimic estrogen in our bodies. Xena meaning environmental or social. This is called estrogen dominance and generally is tied to a lack of progesterone or the ability to manufacture proper progesterone levels.
There are two subsets of the effects of estrogen imbalance for the sake of this article:
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may be experiencing the effects of hormone imbalance:
These are only a sampling of what you may experience if you have an estrogen imbalance; especially estrogen imbalance due to low progesterone.
Effects of estrogen imbalance due to diminishing estrogen levels in menopause and beyond.
Effects of estrogen imbalance concerning menopause often cause such uncomfortable symptoms as: night sweats, memory problems, lethargic depression, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, painful intercourse, and increased bladder infections. Read more about these in our article about Estrogen Imbalance and Menopause. Typically women in the peri-menopause or the menopausal phase of life will experience these to a greater degree as progesterone naturally decreases. Remember that estrogen dominance can also bring about these concerns in the 20s, 30s and 40s as well.
Estrogen Dominance is the name given to the dominating factor of estrogen over progesterone in this way; preventing hormonal balance of the two. Low progesterone will inhibit the body from balancing the effects of estrogen imbalance.
Typically women in the peri-menopause or the menopausal phase of life will experience this to a greater degree as progesterone naturally decreases. More about those symptoms in our article about Estrogen Dominance.
Estrogen Dominance and Menopause