Are You Estrogen Dominant?

I used to be that girl.

I went to the tanning salon, I was on birth control for 12 years, loved my MAC makeup + perfume, burned those candles, loved the smell of a clean house, drank out of plastic water bottles or tap, cooked on non stick pans, heated up my perfectly counted pre-prepped macro meal in plastic in the microwave (but I was being healthy right guys?), ate all the PUFAs + conventional foods.

No wonder why I ended up with every estrogen dominant symptom in the book! I was not only getting estrogen endogenously but also exogenously with all these external sources.

I also had gut issues galore preventing me from not being able to eliminate estrogen appropriately.

I was stressed to the max depleting my body of progesterone, the most important hormone of them all and the only thing that could keep my estrogen in check.

There are 2 types of estrogen dominance. Straight up estrogen dominance- an excess of estrogen but other sex hormones like progesterone are in normal range and relative estrogen dominance- when estrogen is high in relation to low progesterone levels.

Symptoms:
Allergies/ histamine intolerance
PMS
Dry skin
Infertility
Fibroids, cysts, cancers
Sore breasts
Low sex drive
Difficulty losing weight
Varicose veins/ cellulite
Blood sugar swings
Osteoporosis
Heavy periods
Cramps
Cyclical headaches, migraines + acne
Fatigue
Water retention
Gut issues – SIBO, IBS, Bloating
Anxiety/ depression
Thyroid dysfunction

But Laura, I got my labs and it shows i’m low in estrogen but I have all the symptoms of estrogen dominance.

Welp, girlfriend that lab doesn’t account for all that excess estrogen being stored in your tissues. If your body is stressed the F out cortisol will be high and estrogen builds up in your tissues.

If you feel estrogen dominate but your labs are normal or low, chances are that you probably are.

One thing that grinds my gears, women that are told to take DIM but never address why they are estrogen dominant in the first place or if their detox pathways are open. This is harmful.

The first thing you can do is avoid endocrine disruptors + toxins that are mimicking estrogen in your body then address elimination.