kateandlisaIs This Estrogen Dominance or Something Else?
Are you having light periods and also experiencing lots of symptoms that point to estrogen dominance?
Estrogen dominance does not mean high estrogen in every case!
Estrogen dominance has to do with the relationship of estrogen to progesterone. 
You can be estrogen dominant even if your estrogen is normal or low. Estrogen dominance means your progesterone to estrogen ratio is low. Light periods are more commonly seen with lower estrogen levels, and heavy periods can be seen with higher estrogen levels. So, yes, it is possible to be estrogen dominant with lower estrogen levels and light periods.
We can use hormone testing to show us your picture of estrogen dominance and then develop your personalized next steps
For example, estrogen dominance is more complicated than high estrogen. You can actually be estrogen dominant and have normal or even low estrogen.
Common symptoms of estrogen dominance:
- Cramps, PMS
- Jawline acne
- Anxiety
- Bloating
- Breast pain/tenderness
- Depression
- Constipation
- Heavy bleeding/clotting
- Brain fog
- Migraines/headaches
Estrogen dominance is when estrogen is high in relation to progesterone.
With estrogen dominance, you want to identify your picture:
- High estrogen, normal progesterone
- High estrogen, low progesterone
- Normal estrogen, low progesterone
- Normal estrogen, normal progesterone but low Pg/E ratio
This will let you know whether you need to focus on estrogen metabolism or supporting ovulation or both. With functional lab testing you can see normal estrogen and low progesterone. You could see high estrogen and normal progesterone. Both are pictures of estrogen dominance and can show up with the same symptoms but have different root causes-the things to address.
We even can see normal levels, but poor estrogen metabolism (how your body is breaking down and clearing estrogen from the body). Estrogen is metabolized in the liver and removed from the body through the stool. We can tell with a functional lab test which pathways the estrogen is being moved through. This will help us to know what we need to do to have a better balance.
A healthy period lasts 3-7 days and is 5 mL – 80 mL.
A heavy period is more than 80 mL and could also last longer than 7 days. With this, high estrogen and/or poor estrogen metabolism is going on.
A light period is less than 5 mL and could be less that 3 days. I may see low or suboptimal estrogen and/or no ovulation with low or no progesterone.
So, if you have been experiencing symptoms for a long time, tried to manage your symptoms and are still experiencing them, it can be beneficial to do some functional lab testing and uncover what exactly is driving your symptoms. This way your root causes can be addressed.
Let’s chat and see if some functional lab testing can be helpful for you!
