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[GetStuffedPeri]

So, let me give you 2 sets of symptoms......I really hope someone has an answer to this!

Day 1:  ravenous on waking, appetite insatiable (yet nothing hits the spot as taste buds completely haywire), elevated, emotional, irritable, noise and smell sensitive, angry, nauseous, headache.  An occasional mini hot flush/temperature change. Libido up.  (this can then go on for a few days/week at a time)

Day 2:  hot flushes on waking, zero appetite, temperature swings all day and all of a sudden too anxious to walk down the stairs (whereas yesterday was running down them in a rage whilst starving), raging tinnitus, itchy skin (this will usually only last for 2 days at a time before reverting to above).  Zero libido.  Completely calm and not raging or irritable in the slightest.  Increased thirst.

There seems to be no in-between here - it's either a Day 1 or a Day 2, and they can switch at the drop of the hat. 

My question is - on which of these days is estrogen at its lowest?  Both days contain symptoms of low estrogen. 

2 periods in past 13 months.  Currently hitting day 100 since last one (prior to that had gone almost 300 days before 3 day period - you can imagine how welcome that was).  Around the 200 day mark last time things improved significantly and "Day 1s" were few and far between. 

I know the classic symptoms of low estrogen so believe that the Day 2 example above is likely the lowest estrogen day, but can you still be estrogen dominant after years of skipped/missed periods?  I know progesterone is likely to have pretty much disappeared by now but still - Day 1 seems very unusual for so few periods doesn't it?  Especially the libido bit?  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!!

Not on HRT.  Just take supplements. 

Thanks!

 

[KittyKats]

Hi GetStuffedPeri, it sounds like you still have fluctuating background hormones and you are in peri menopause. I was having similar Day 1 symptoms in my luteal phase in peri. It's very difficult to pinpoint which hormones are responsible and they change hour to hour. I remember reading that testosterone doesn't drop until after the menopause so that might be why the libido is still there!

I haven't had a period for 10 months and I can still tell the days when my oestrogen is up. Better sleep, cooler and less palpitations. More like my old self. I'm constantly variable too. Gynaecologist said I am still making a bit of my own oestrogen. I've had enough of feeling so bad with it all so am starting HRT. I do hope you find a suitable treatment and feel better soon.

x

[Perinowpost]

Hi Getstuffedperi yours is a complicated question and that's maybe why no one has answered.

Firstly I feel (learned from others on this forum) that oestrogen dominance is a myth.

Secondly, I cannot answer re all your symptoms as some may just be individual to you, and the fact you?re going through peri, and may settle down eventually as you transition through menopause. However, I would say that personally I have always found too much prog makes me depressed/low mood, this resolves as soon as prog is removed. AND too high a dose of oestrogen can  lead to anxiety/agitation - I have always found an average level (for me 50 patches) best.

Hop this helps x

[Dotty]

Hi from what I've read I agree that oestrogen dominance is a myth but I'm not clued up enough to explain it x

[Mary G]

There is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion surrounding the subject of oestrogen dominance.  For oestrogen dominance read oestrogen spikes.

It's taken me literally years to realise that my silent migraines are caused by oestrogen spikes.   They started in 2004 at the onset of the menopause and I now know that my own (well balanced) hormones had been protecting me from these migraines pre menopause and it was in fact the lack of my own produced progesterone that caused the oestrogen spikes and the migraines. 

The right type of progesterone used at the right dose balances hormones and stops oestrogen spikes.  Wildly fluctuating hormones are bad news in every respect.

[KittyKats]

Hi Ladies,

I find Menopause Barbie useful for info. She is a gynaecologist who does rather entertaining menopause education videos.

This one is What Is Estrogen Dominance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8VGKKm5LrA

And this one:

Estrogen Dominant Versus Estrogen Deficient | What's The Difference?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8VGKKm5LrA

Hope this helps! x

[CLKD]

I wonder where Hurdity is 

[Hurdity]

Hi there  GetStuffed peri! I don't know what you want me to say?

The point is if you are peri-menopausal then your hormones will be doing their own thing surging up and down and now and again you will ovulate so progesterone will surge and fall too as well as the oestrogen. There is no way of knowing exactly what is the cause and especially as there is a lag (eg between fall in progesterone and some symptoms)

You could try keeping a daily diary of your symptoms and the days of your cycle, bleeds etc to see if there is a pattern. Also keep a diary of what you eat and exercise and see if this related to your symptoms.

It may not simply be a question of oestrogen or progesterone anyway. For example have you had a thyroid test recently? What about blood sugar (you mention thirst)? Are you overweight at all?  What is your diet like ie what sorts of foods comprise most of your intake? Could be all sorts going on.

A high libido will be a sign of high oestrogen and possibly testosterone and should be highest around the time of ovulation , although probably goes up the creek a bit at peri-menopause!

Low libido will mean lower oestrogen and if you have ovulated, then could be progesterone which also dampens libido and has a sedative effect (which some find calming in small doses but some find depressing in large doses taken as part of HRT).

If you had a look at one of the videos KittyKat put up, the um ghastly woman (!) does explain what is going on in the normal menstrual cycle. (I couldn't bear her! with her drawling slow American accent, silly pink gloves, and a bookshelf full of a million shoes behind her whaaat?).

It's all a red herring the oestrogen dominance thing just as Perinowpost says. Also like the pink lacy gloves woman said - it was dreamed up by the so-called "alternative" movement as a condition to sell progesterone-based products which could be made and sold without needing licenses ( not sure how it works in US).

Depending on your age you could regulate your cycle with one of the modern COC pills which is a bit like HRT so would prevent all those extremes, or take regular HRT which would prevent oestrogen crashes and regulate bleeding back to monthly.

Firstly though I would ask for some blood tests ( difficult at the moment) just to check there isn't another endocrine explanation for your symptoms, especially the thirst and insatiable appetite.

Hope this helps but has probably skated around your question....

Hurdity x

PS I'm not an expert on this but I like to give an opinion if I have one