Hormone Spotlight: Estrogen

breast tenderness, painful periods and heavy bleeding - time to check out your E2 🩸

This week there’s been a recurring theme coming up

⭐️ ESTROGEN ⭐️

You have been asking about her on insta

I’ve been hearing about her symptoms of painful and heavy periods all week

Heck, estrogen is even coming up in casual dinner convos (I know, I’m a fun party guest)

and to be honest, I’m not surprised since issues with estrogen are SO common

everything from our digestion and liver, to our chemical exposure and stress levels are going to impact this hormone

+ unlike some of the more subtle hormones (looking at you LH) estrogen’s impacts can be FELT

She impacts our skin, our periods, our energy, our body composition.

And too much or too little can also throw other hormones off balance

So, let me introduce you to the two faces of estrogen: high and low—and how to recognize when something’s out of balance.

But First, Let’s Estrogen: Your Queen Bee Hormone 🐝 👑

Estrogen is often called the “queen” of hormones because of its influence over so many aspects of the body.

We need estrogen - she plays a dominating role in our lives, from puberty, giving us our womanly figure, to menopause, when she slowly starts to decline

But estrogen is way more than just a reproductive hormone

Estrogen plays a crucial role in:

• Supporting our mind and mood: estrogen influences neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which help us to feel good. This is why when she’s low, we can start to feel a bit blue

• Skin and Hair: she helps to keep skin plump and hair shiny

• Regulating cholesterol and bone health: estrogen keeps cholesterol levels in check and even plays a role in bone health.

• Giving us shape: she’s responsible for our curves 🍑

• Menstrual cycle support: but prob most importantly IMO, estrogen plays a key role in our menstrual cycle. Estrogen helps the body prepare for ovulation and build up our uterine lining. Too much or too little can start to take a toll on our cycle health

Signs of High Estrogen (Estrogen Dominance)

So “estrogen dominance” is a common term that is being thrown around these days

And just so you have all the facts, it’s technically not a “real” condition

But it does describe a hormonal landscape where estrogen is high - either on its own, or in comparison to progesterone.

remember progesterone? we wrote all about her here

Hormone Spotlight: Progesterone

and it’s more common than you might think. Here are some signs that estrogen might be running the show:

• Heavy, painful periods

• Cyclical breast tenderness or swelling

• PMS symptoms that seem to get worse as your period approaches

• Acne around ovulation

• Shorter menstrual cycles (<21 days)

• Mood swings, irritability, or anxiety

• Cyclical migraines

• Weight gain, especially around the hips and thighs

So What Causes High Estrogen?

OoooOOOoooh estrogen is a fickle one and can be influenced by so many factors

Here are the primary ones I tend to see contributing to high estrogen