We all know about the damage that can be caused by Estrogen deficiency to the female body but do all clinicians know what damage the excess can do?
I notice more and more in my practice that many clinicians ignore the fact that some women in their perimenopause/menopause are not Estrogen deficient in the first instance and their symptoms are often attributable to the relative excess. Something that is referred to as Estrogen Dominance.
Hence approaching these women with standard HRT therapy can very often worsen symptoms and pose unnecessary risks.
When our hormones start to decline as our ovarian reserves exhaust and cycles are no longer ovulatory, every woman’s ratio of Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone will change differently. This is where it is very important that your clinician has a specialist understanding of this. These are advanced scientific concepts familiar to specialists who practice integrative management of restoring hormone balance. It is a chapter that does not exist in standard hormone replacement therapy teaching.
When a woman has high levels of Estrogen relative to her progesterone, she can be suffering extreme anxiety, sleep disturbance, migraine and PMT-like symptoms to name a few. Her period may be heavy and frequent.
If we, therefore, apply the stamp model of perimenopause and menopause equals Estrogen replacement, then symptoms can get worse. The lining of the womb can start to thicken and over time can lead to sinister outcomes such as pre-cancer and cancer of the lining of the womb.
Please ensure that your clinician is an expert in their field and not just chasing hormone levels in number and figures only and are focussed on your individual health. We all may not tolerate high levels of hormones. Treatment should be personalised.
As the awareness of menopause and perimenopause increases, there is always a risk that a lot of practitioners will enter the field from the standpoint of commercial interest without having either comprehensive knowledge or experience of advanced concepts.
So please ensure that when you choose your specialist, they are experts in their field and have knowledge of what the latest research is telling us and are focused on YOUR hormonal balance.
Just bumping up Estrogen levels for the sake of and in the hope, it will work can come with a price that may be too high to pay.