Estrogen and cortisol
Common Questions and Answers about Estrogen and cortisol
cenestin
If this goes on for long enough a man (yes, and a woman) can become oestrogen Dominant (too much oestrogen relative to Testosterone). By lowering stress and thus.. reducing cortisol, my progesterone levels should return to normal levels. If that is the case then why wouldn't it counter the extra oestrogen in my body automatically and remove the effects of oestrogen dominance? Why would I continue to suffer the symptoms of oestrogen dominance?
Also from my doctor, I learned that one can be both estrogen deficient and estrogen dominant at the same time if progesterone and estrogen are low, and due to our exposure to estrogens & phyto estrogens in environment and foods. So alot of balancing is required and diary your symptoms for your doctor, and balancing your doses of the creams based on your symptoms, always start low and work up, also know that with estrogen, the symptoms of too much and not enough, are the same.
Then with that --- levels of progesterone and testosterone are unbalanced with the amount of estrogen and cortisol building. So now instead of a sluggish thyroid disorder holding you back - Almost your whole endocrine system is out of whack. Then insulin falls and spikes then organs start to be harmed.
Symptoms can alert a person of these changes happening.
I went through a serious bout of stress from my job a couple of years ago and ended up leaving.
My hair thinned, I started getting fat round my waste and on my chest giving me the dreaded man boobs look. The stress and lack of sleep got so bad at times that I often forgot what day it was and could not sleep or stop my hands from shaking.
Now the problem remains and I can't get rid of it. My DHEA is fine and so is my testosterone.
My tests show I have low estrogen (also taking birth control pill), decreased cortisol in the morning and increased at night and elevated DHEA. I'm just baffled as to why I am sweating so much. Should I get treated for the estrogen or should they level out once my thyroid is fixed? I am taking natural supplements for my adrenals and might want to try HC but I have heard not so good stories about it. Are there natural adrenal meds or how should I go abouts treating it?
I read that this was due to low cortisol levels because cortisol is made from Progesterone so if your Progesterone levels are low, your cortisol levels will be low and cortisol has an anti-inflammatory affect on the body. Also Estrogen dominance promotes the release of histamine.
I started on 20mg of progesterone Kokoro cream twice a day because I am thin & I read that thin women need higher doses for 3 or 4 months to get progesterone levels up.
You keep pumping in that estrogen with synthetic medicine and than other things start to fail. Estrogen dominance is linked to hypothyroidism and adrenal ( cortisol) issues. The more you take in ( estrogen) the more the thyroid will slow down it's receptors to pump out what you need to stabilize the body. This is probably why you had the miscarriage and had a TSH level so high. If you were on a product like YAZ - then this TSH level does not suprised me at all.
No, I was off the cortef for 2 weeks prior to testing. Yes, it shows a normal rhythm, but the morning levels are WAY too low. Optimal cortisol levels for morning should be at the upper end of the range so a person has energy to get out of bed. I have no idea if I'm primary or secondary and I've never had an ACTH test. I refuse to see endos because they have no training in adrenal fatigue.
Supplementing with DHEA could improve your depression symptoms by reducing your cortisol level. Testosterone also play a crucial role in mood and sex drive so I think it will help. It will also help with your memory. You must be careful with the dosage tho because too much testo or estrogen is not good. High estrogen production thru supplementation or diet rich in phytochemicals producing estrogen are linked with tumor growth.
I am 49 years old and just going through menopause. My new doctor recommended me to have a salivary test to test hormone levels/cortisol/dhea. The results show what she called estrogen deficiency and high cortisol levels. progestrone level is okay. She said that I could try "natural" estrogen cream but I have tried bioidentical progestrone cream before and this brought on bleeding again just after 3 days of use. I also experienced giddiness with it use.
They start with the adrenal balancing since if your adrenals are out of balance (cortisol and DHEA), your sex hormones will be out of balance.
There is a gynecologist here in Canada who is world-reknown for using biodentical (natural) hormones. He used to be the head gynecologist at the Toronto hospital for many years. He is totally against HRT because of the dangers involved.
It can also be cyclical and you were not high that day - or like me, I was so high at night and so low during the day, my average was ok, but I was still very sick. Also, 24 hour urine (and saliva) are free type of cortisol and that type can be impacted by estrogen, medications and other things so you really need a specialist.
I know that when I was testing and I was taking estrogen, estrogen will bind to free cortisol (saliva and urine) making those tests lower than they really are...
ACTH can be low due to the test tube being put into the bin instead of the centrifuge - was it put, while you were sitting there, into a centrifuge? And was it a chilled tube? If not, the test was inaccurate from the get go.
I would get off the supplements, and get another re-test. Anything you are on can impact testing.
T4 meds take time to build up - that is why you cannot test for 6 weeks after you take them. So 2 weeks is not enough. And it sometimes can take a lot of time to hit the right dose.
The adrenals only produce a certain set of hormones - as far as androgens it produces DHEA. If yours is higher then it should also be raising your estrogen and testosterone as well as that is all it does - it converts to those hormones.
Since my cortisol levels have been very low in the morning for months and all the herbal adaptogens aren't working, my doc is going to start me on a low dose of HC. Since I'm allergic to all the fillers, it has to be compounded. I know some people have had bad experiences with HC, but I really hope this helps. If I can get my adrenals back in to shape, maybe my thyroid will follow.
I also found out I've been taking my sex hormone supplements at the wrong time of day.
DHEA is a precursor hormone that will convert to either estrogen or testosterone. I had high T and low E (I never was normal lol) and when I took DHEA, I simply kept raising my T! So keep an eye out on your levels - you cannot pick how you convert. If your skin gets greasy or your acne gets worse or you get acne, scale back.
Good thing you get copies! Push for more testing - one set does not diagnose anything. Make sure the time is correct - 8am fasting.
So, it looks that you have to fix both, the stressed adrenals / low cortisol AND the estrogen dominance/ low progesterone, as they're all interlinked.
For now, I suggest you look into improving your progesterone levels to offset the estrogen.
You can use a natural (bio-identical) progesterone cream, which I believe is a superior way to supplement.
Using the cream properly is not an exact science, as frequency, site of application, strength, time of the day applied, etc.
Hi there, I am a 54 yr old woman in menopause.
I've been on Armour 0.5GR once a day for over a year.
Recently my TSH was .50 and free T4 was .61. My Dr. felt both were on the low side so he upped my Armour to 0.5GR twice in the AM and once at night. Does this sound like the correct thing to do based on my blood test ?
1 When absorbed, DIM promotes estrogen metabolism to produce healthy and cancer-protective 2-hydroxy estrogens,2 and minimizes the activity of pro-inflammatory enzymes,3 thereby reducing cellular inflammation. Activating these pathways encourages remarkable weight loss and hormonal balance and provides many other benefits towards healthy aging.
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