An Holistic Understanding of Oestrogen Dominance

Everything in nature has a balance consisting of ebbs and flows or yin and yang and we can see this in the cycles of the seasons, the breath, waves on the beach and the monthly moon cycles which are so connected to our own menstrual cycles. The hormonal cycle is very much like the daily cycle and the yearly cycle in that there is an active half (corresponding to day, spring and summer) and a resting half (corresponding to night or autumn and winter).  

The first half of the cycle is driven by oestrogen.  The root of the word oestrogen is the latin word ‘oestrus’ which means frenzy and heat.  This reflects the fact that oestrogen is a very activating steroid which tells the body ‘go go go!’ Associated with sexual passion it also makes you feel very activated, focused and driven. This part of the cycle is good for creating and coming up with new ideas.  Women feel more extrovert and driven to connect and care for others in this part of the cycle. Physically oestrogen produces growth and proliferation.

The second half of the cycle sees a gear shift when progesterone should become dominant after ovulation has occurred. Progesterone has the effect of slowing things down and stops all the growth and it has a more balanced effect on the nervous system.  If oestrogen is the accelerator then progesterone is the brake.  Progesterone creates a shift from busyness, giving and doing to resting, being, meditating and daydreaming.  Progesterone promotes quiet stillness and gestating. When a woman can get the balance between these two modes of being right then she can create a life that is joyful and content and healthy.

In our society we are increasingly driven and pressurised to work and be doing for more than half the day and the value of rest and relaxation has been undermined by the use of devices, night shift work, electric lights etc.  We use caffeine and other stimulants or painkillers to keep going when our body is calling out for rest so is it any wonder that more people suffer from conditions such as burn-out and chronic fatigue?  As women we are now in a position where we have more to do than ever in terms of caring for the home and family as well as working.  Rest and relaxation and time to ‘just be’ is often sacrificed and put off until later due to the pressure to keep doing and achieving.

We are living in a society where it is thought that around 50% of women over 35 now have oestrogen dominance and where levels of oestrogen relative to progesterone are elevated.  There is clearly an imbalance between the ‘doing hormone’ and the ‘resting hormone’.  Whether the imbalance is caused by too much oestrogen in the body or not enough progesterone to balance it out but the symptoms will still be much the same.  Some of the possible symptoms of oestrogen dominance include the following:

• PMS/mood swings
• Menstrual problems
• Polyps, fibroids and endometriosis
• Hair loss
• PCOS
• Sore and tender breasts
• Oedema
• Weight gain
• Fatigue, Insomnia, Anxiety
• Headaches
• Infertility
• Dry skin
• Dry eyes
• Thyroid dysfunction – oestrogen blocks the conversion T3 to T4 its active form and excess oestrogen can also interfere with the uptake of thyroid hormones by the cell.

The theme of excess oestrogen is ‘bigger, faster, quicker’ and we can see this playing out in the spheres of industrial farming where animals are fattened for meat as quickly as possible using artificial hormones and and in our society in the pressure to achieve more and appear both youthful and successful.  There are many possible physical causes of excess oestrogen in a woman’s body but environmental or xenoestrogens due to industrial farming techniques and our use of synthetic hormones and plastic have had a dramatic impact on hormone balance in women and men.  Liver congestion due to stress and excessive use of alcohol or prescription drugs can make matters worse as the liver is key for eliminating excess hormones and toxins from the body.  Digestive issues such as constipation can also exacerbate imbalances because the body is not excreting excess hormones efficiently.

Stress has a huge impact on health and hormonal balance.  Our nervous system (like the daily cycle of night and day) also has two sides which balance and compliment each other: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.  The parasympathetic nervous system tells the body its time to rest and digest but too often the opposing sympathetic nervous system is overstimulated due to stress and we end up stuck in and adrenalised ‘fight or flight’ mode for much of the time. 

The impact of stress on our hormones is really important for menopausal women to understand because our adrenal glands are our back-up source of progesterone.  If a woman is ovulating then she produces progesterone from the corpus lutes post-ovulation BUT we also get some of our progesterone from the adrenal glands. If a women is living in a state of stress and that becomes her habitual state then in the interests of self-preservation the body will prioritise making extra cortisol because cortisol is the ‘endurance hormone’ that helps her keeping her going  under intense pressure. However the same substrate that makes progesterone also makes cortisol and the other stress hormones so if a woman is in a chronic stress mode this substrate can become depleted and she runs the risk of running out of progesterone. Due to lifestyle built around stress many women can become progesterone-deficient.

As women we need to allow ourselves time to rest and reflect even though we are living in a culture which generally does not support this.  We need to understand that everything in life has to be balanced and that it just isn’t possible to give and do for others endlessly and that it’s ok to say no sometimes.  Start shifting your energy by devoting more time to activities that restore your energy and try as far as possible to eliminate activities which deplete energy.  Spend time reflecting on whether your need for rest is being met and say no to unrealistic demands on your time.  Even 30 minutes a day spent in meaningful ways will lift your mood, morale and motivation so don’t delay, start to redress the balance today!

Homeopathy can tackle the problem of oestrogen dominance in various ways such as:

• Detoxing environmental oestrogens
• Detoxing synthetic hormones from the body
• Decongesting and supporting the liver
• Improving digestion and treating constipation
• Tackling the emotional and mental causes of stress
• Supporting organs such as the adrenals and thyroid
• Rebalancing reproductive hormones naturally from within the body