Dr. Ray Peat, a pioneer in the field of natural hormone therapy, coined the term “Estrogen Dominance” to describe what happens when the normal ratio or balance of estrogen to progesterone is changed by excess estrogen or inadequate progesterone. Estrogen can be potentially dangerous when not counter-balanced by adequate progesterone. Syndromes such as Lupus (SLE), Fibromyalgia, and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (ovarian cysts) can actually be symptoms of the greater picture of estrogen dominance.
While hot flashes and night sweats are classically a sign of decreased estrogen levels in the body, the answer may not be as simple as taking synthetic or even natural estrogen. It is possible that your estrogen levels are low, but rarely does a case exist where the levels of progesterone are not also just as low or lower. How does this happen? Women are easily susceptible to becoming Estrogen Dominant in our culture today. Our animals are fed growth hormones and estrogenic hormones to cause rapid growth so they can be marketed sooner, and then we eat those hormones. Sugar and chemical ingestion in processed foods create chemicals called “xeno-estrogens” in our bodies, stimulating a vicious cycle in which fat cells are enlarged due to these estrogens, and then fat cells themselves make more estrogen in the body. Young girls, and even young boys, are developing breasts at an alarmingly young age, and adolescent girls are starting their menses as early as age 7 or 8!
For adult women, Estrogen Dominance leads to weight gain, especially the breasts, waist and mid-section of the body. High cholesterol, joint pain, mood swings, PMS, irregular bleeding, cramps, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, sweet cravings and more all are often a result of too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. Please review the lists of symptoms for hormonal imbalance; most of those problems are a result of too much estrogen, as well as overly saturated estrogen binding sites.
By now, I'm sure you've heard the stunning news that hit the media hard recently about "The End of the Age of Estrogen" (Newsweek's lead article, July 22, 2002). After women have been told for decades that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) would preserve their youth, protect their bones and prevent heart attacks, the conclusive evidence is now in: hormone replacement therapy (HRT) doesn't help. In fact, it is just the opposite: it is now proven that HRT can elevate your risk for cancer and an early death. Please click here for detailed information on the study.
For many women without other options, synthetic estrogen was a blessing. Eliminating the hassle of hot flashes and improving sleep patterns were vital to their sense of health and well-being. However, it has risks associated with it that simply don’t exist with natural hormones. For example, women taking synthetic estrogen have a 50% greater risk of developing asthma than those who never used hormones. Changing to a natural hormone regime can help lower your chances of developing asthma, some types of cancer, blood clots, TMJ (jaw problems) and overall pain.
If so, you are a prime candidate for natural products to help bring your system back to health and wellness. If you visit the clinic in Austin, you may have a customized, transdermal cream created based on your saliva testing.
You should never take estrogen alone; it should always be accompanied by some form of natural progesterone and possibly other balancing herbs. For menopausal women who have used prescription drug HRT for years, simply switching to a nontoxic natural progesterone cream will often not meet their needs. Complaints of severe hot flashes, getting up often at night to urinate, insomnia, partial loss of bladder control, moderate to severe mood swings, headaches, etc. are all too common when stopping your HRT, even with the use of natural progesterone. In your system, what is happening after HRT withdrawal is that excess dangerous estrogens must be detoxified and removed from your body, in addition to supplementation with bio-identical progesterone. This must be done gradually. The good news is that clinically, we have seen up to 95% of the symptoms of HRT withdrawal easily resolved by using our clinically tested Optimal Hormone Balance Program.
(Source: Nutrition News and Views, Sept/Oct 1998, Vol. 2, No. 4)