Estrogen dominance

[Asil737]

I am seeing a functional medicine doctor. He believes that I have estrogen dominance at 36 and that could have caused my Hashimotos. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Murphysmum]

As far as I am aware (and I’m very much not an expert), Estrogen dominance and therefore low progesterone can affect thyroid function, ie progesterone aids thyroid function.

However, Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease, meaning the body produces antibodies to itself, in this case your thyroid. That can’t be caused my estrogen dominance or low progesterone but may be (I think) worsened by it.

Hope this helps and I’m sure more knowledgeable members will be able to help you more 😊

[Jazzw]

What, a functional medicine doctor talking out of his arse? No...

Sorry, one of those Saturdays... But Hashimoto’s isn’t caused by oestrogen dominance. Oestrogen dominance can be a contributing factor to hypothyroidism more generally but it’s not the cause of an autoimmune disease.

[Jazzw]

A slightly more helpful response - Thyroid UK, the parent charitable organisation for this forum - has a good explanation of what Hashimoto’s is here: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

There’s a genetic susceptibility element to it (i.e., other family members often have Hashi’s) or it’s thought it can be triggered by intestinal permeability.

[TiredMummy]

If you are interested in establishing your hormonal staus you can find this out for yourself. Be very careful of people (anyone including doctors) saying they ‘believe’ you have oestrogen dominance. On what evidence? Get a blood test done at your local surgery on day 5 of your cycle that shows oestrogen, progesterone & testosterone levels. Get a print out of your results along with the reference ranges & arrange an appointment to discuss your hormonal status with your GP & take it from there. I learnt very painfully the hard way that I was not actually suffering from oestrogen dominance as the expensive private doctor ‘suspected’ but was actually suffering from progesterone dominance. I don’t doubt that there are some women suffering from oestrogen dominance but it is wrong to treat or advise anyone without establishing the facts first. A hormonal imbalance can certainly play havoc with your general stabilisation if you have Hashimoto’s but knowledge is key when it comes to addressing any imbalance.

[Foxtrot89 in reply to TiredMummy]

I too thought I had estrogen dominance but just had a test done (day 19 not day 5 though) which came back as high progesterone!

[Toria_Star in reply to Foxtrot89]

Any suggestions on which test to do for this sort of thing? Did you order it yourself or go through your GP?

[Foxtrot89 in reply to Toria_Star]

I don’t have the energy to argue with my GP as I doubt she’d agree to it anyway, so I used a private test by Verisana called Estrogen dominance. It measures estrogen progesterone and calculates the ratio. Very helpful indeed!

[MaisieGray]

Dr Marion Gluck explains it as oestrogen dominance impacting on thyroid health by stopping the conversion of T4 into T3 thyroid hormone which leads to low T3 levels; hence not a direct issue with the thyroid gland itself, but symptoms of hypothyroidism will be experienced. Additionally, too much estrogen can also block the uptake of thyroid hormones, once again leading to symptoms of hypothyroidism.

These symptoms often manifest most strongly during peri-menopause, when progesterone levels are significantly decreased but estrogen is still present. So as has been said, the connection is with hypothyroidism rather than Hashimoto's.

On the other hand, not everyone agrees that oestrogen dominance is "a thing" .....

[Murphysmum]

I would just like to add my current experience to this.

Since I had some sort of a “crash” as I call it last year, my hormones, both thyroid and female, have been all over the place. I also started having severe pain on a monthly basis and my dr confirmed I had cervical hyperplasia (but nothing to worry about, it’s common, she said!). Once I looked into it, I realised I was having lots of other estrogen dominant symptoms - very sore breasts, period starting and stopping etc etc so last month I started using

progesterone cream.

What a difference! No sore breasts and the pain during my period is greatly reduced. I will continue for the next few months at least and then decide whether to continue further or not.

I’m quite sure this has been affecting my thyroid as well, although it remains to be seen if my conversion will improve over time too.

I’m certainly peri menopausal and did have my hormone levels checked with the gp some months back. What do you know, they were “normal” but just because they were in the reference ranges (and female hormones are notoriously difficult to check anyway) doesn’t then mean that you can’t have an increased level of one vs the other, and therefore dominance of some kind.

I for one am glad I took a chance on the cream as my only other options were cauterisation or a hysterectomy.

[Asil737 in reply to Murphysmum]

That is really interesting. I really need to start tracking my symptoms. I’m on my period this week and I have had migraines every morning. I have also had worsened right sided cervical pain that radiates down to my chest and right arm. Last month was my first month of taking s progesterone pill, days 12-24. Going to do it again this month and take a saliva hormone test on day 19 of cycle.

[Murphysmum in reply to Asil737]

I have migraines for about a week before my period. Not sure why this is but I had them almost as soon as I started the pg cream last month so I’m guessing it’s to do with estrogen dominance and the “fight back” effect you get when you start the pg cream. We’ll see what happens this month.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Make sure you get vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin tested too

[posthinking01]

I have been on HRT (oestrogen only) since having a hysterectomy when I was 33 (now 70) - it changed my life - so much energy etc. - however hit 50 and everything went wrong as the progesterone went down even further - progesterone does have a significant impact on the adrenals etc and thyroid - and without enough you are unable to clear out thyroid antibodies - I have undertaken so much research on this subject it is coming out of my ears. hypothyroidmom.com/progeste...

I was amazed at what low progesterone can cause - and my levels are 0.1 - looks like most of the symptoms I have suffered years before thyroid trouble - allergies - skin issues - over anxiety were all due to low progesterone - even the fibroids at age 33. My adrenals were and are heavily implicated throughout my life and the HRT way back when fed the adrenals to help the case but then my body needed the balance of the other hormones and showed its distress.

[Asil737 in reply to posthinking01]

Thank you for the website! I will dive into some research

[posthinking01 in reply to Asil737]

I forgot to mention that low progesterone can also contribute to auto immune disease.

[Wolfiesmom08]

The Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden ND was very helpful.

[Furface]

I saw a private Dr a few months ago and was told i had oestrogen dominance. The Dr showed me how the tests showed this. No one here has mentioned about testosterone. Women need a small amount of that too. Both my testosterone and progesterone were on the floor, but since taking bio identical progesterone / testosterone cream, I am losing the fat i had gained, getting more muscle definition and feeling better generally. I stopped for a while due to cash shortage but found my weight increasing again after 6 weeks so back on and it is going back down again. I am inclined to think that progesterone, testosterone and oestrogen all need to be at the right levels for each individual so that the thyroid functions well. Its like having all the bits of a jigsaw that make the complete picture.