Estrogen seems to make me feel better...

LizAnn

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I am new to Ray Peat, and I understand that the more estrogen we have the less healthy we tend to be, but I find that without fail, during the days/week of my cycle when estrogen is highest, I feel happier and more energetic. Can someone help me understand why this is?
 

InChristAlone

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As women we absolutely need the good estrogen that is produced in preparation for ovulation. As we age less and less of the good estrogen is being produced and we may even stop ovulating which is called menopause. You will know when estrogen gets too low when sex hurts and you have little drive for life. Don't let Peat fool you in to thinking we only need progesterone. Estrogen makes us females.
 
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LizAnn

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As women we absolutely need the good estrogen that is produced in preparation for ovulation. As we age less and less of the good estrogen is being produced and we may even stop ovulating which is called menopause. You will know when estrogen gets too low when sex hurts and you have little drive for life. Don't let Peat fool you in to thinking we only need progesterone. Estrogen makes us females.
Thank you so much! I feel like I am low in Thyroid and minerals like magnesium and copper, and I tend to be low energy and depressed, so a lot of what Peat says resonates with me. But this past year, I’ve noticed that I have one really good week a month when I feel happy, clear, and actually have energy—the second week of my cycle when my estrogen is highest. This has made me question whether maybe my estrogen is actually too low. I’m thinking about trying the Dutch test.
 
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LizAnn

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Thank you so much! I feel like I am low in Thyroid and minerals like magnesium and copper, and I tend to be low energy and depressed, so a lot of what Peat says resonates with me. But this past year, I’ve noticed that I have one really good week a month when I feel happy, clear, and actually have energy—the second week of my cycle when my estrogen is highest. This has made me question whether maybe my estrogen is actually too low. I’m thinking about trying the Dutch test.
Something else I’ve noticed—I’m just 44, but when my estrogen drops at the start of week 3, I have awful incontinence, which I understand is common w low estrogen. I haven’t used birth control in years, so I’m not sure why estrogen would be low. I appreciate any ideas or insight!
 

lampofred

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I wonder if dopamine is confused for estrogen. Dopamine increases hormone production so it will raise estrogen but it is because of dopamine that you feel happy and energetic and not because of estrogen. After menopause prolactin rises (which has the opposite effects of dopamine) and dopamine decreases.
 
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I wonder if dopamine is confused for estrogen. Dopamine increases hormone production so it will raise estrogen but it is because of dopamine that you feel happy and energetic and not because of estrogen. After menopause prolactin rises (which has the opposite effects of dopamine) and dopamine decreases.

Maybe.
As a male I also feel best with higher estrogens. Could be the dopamine.

Feeling good doesn't mean being healthy, I understand, but I'm sure nature has its ways to let you know you are on the right track or not, and feeling good seems like a hint from nature.
 

InChristAlone

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I wonder if dopamine is confused for estrogen. Dopamine increases hormone production so it will raise estrogen but it is because of dopamine that you feel happy and energetic and not because of estrogen. After menopause prolactin rises (which has the opposite effects of dopamine) and dopamine decreases.
It is still estrogen that needs to peak to cause ovulation and then the corpus luteum produces as much as 40 mg of progesterone a day. Without that peak of estrogen though... No corpus luteum.
 

Mito

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I find that without fail, during the days/week of my cycle when estrogen is highest, I feel happier and more energetic. Can someone help me understand why this is?
“The Mount Sinai research team discovered that estrogen intensifies the brain's dopamine reward pathway and demonstrated that cocaine has its most potent effects during the estrous/menstrual cycle, when release of estrogen is at its highest.”
 

GreenTrails

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I am new to Ray Peat, and I understand that the more estrogen we have the less healthy we tend to be, but I find that without fail, during the days/week of my cycle when estrogen is highest, I feel happier and more energetic. Can someone help me understand why this is?
Yes. I agree. I felt my best on my high estrogen days--happier, more energy and better sex.
 

PolishSun

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i feel bad when estrogen is high, but good for you, keep it up, stress hormones feels good until they dont.
 
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LizAnn

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I wonder if dopamine is confused for estrogen. Dopamine increases hormone production so it will raise estrogen but it is because of dopamine that you feel happy and energetic and not because of estrogen. After menopause prolactin rises (which has the opposite effects of dopamine) and dopamine decreases.
Thank you. This might be a possibility. I have taken Wellbutrin in the last, and though I understand it acts more on norepinephrine (is this right?), I felt more energetic and motivated.
 
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LizAnn

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Maybe.
As a male I also feel best with higher estrogens. Could be the dopamine.

Feeling good doesn't mean being healthy, I understand, but I'm sure nature has its ways to let you know you are on the right track or not, and feeling good seems like a hint from nature.
Thank you.? It sure feels like a positive sign....
 
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LizAnn

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“The Mount Sinai research team discovered that estrogen intensifies the brain's dopamine reward pathway and demonstrated that cocaine has its most potent effects during the estrous/menstrual cycle, when release of estrogen is at its highest.”
So interesting! Thank you for the link.
 
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LizAnn

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Yes. I agree. I felt my best on my high estrogen days--happier, more energy and better sex.
Yes definitely better sex too! My husband would probably appreciate if we planned getaways around this week of my cycle...?
 
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LizAnn

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i feel bad when estrogen is high, but good for you, keep it up, stress hormones feels good until they dont.
Interesting. So maybe my body is under stress from the extra estrogen, but I don’t yet recognize it as such? I’m trying to be better about keeping track from month to month to notice patterns and see changes. ? Right now, I seem to have 10 good days a month, and I’m hoping to change that.
 

GreenTrails

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Interesting. So maybe my body is under stress from the extra estrogen, but I don’t yet recognize it as such? I’m trying to be better about keeping track from month to month to notice patterns and see changes. ? Right now, I seem to have 10 good days a month, and I’m hoping to change that.
I think we know when we are feeling good, and it's not the same as being under stress.
 
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A hormone specialist advised me that food PUFA Estrogens are different from the natural estrogen that our bodies make. Could that be a factor??

Following Peat’s advise, I stopped my hormone cream for 4 months, and I have found that I have reduced energy, and my skin has lost a lot of its elastin. I have that mottled crepe-paper all over my legs and buttocks which had not been an issue previously. I also have no drive for sex. I am considering going back on compounded Estrogen cream again while continuing to avoid PUFA foods.
 

GreenTrails

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Wtf that describes exactly my ex. The nickname I had given her was Eeyore
Many women start losing estrogen (all at once) quite early, in their 40's. Men don't start losing testosterone until much later, and they don't lose it all at once, but very gradually, and still can have sex when they are 80. Not so with most women unless they get bio-identical hormone replacement. And still, women are told that estrogen causes cancer. Men aren't told that testosterone supplementation causes cancer. Plus men have made viagra, etc., to help them. The help that women have is estradiol and a little testosterone. But this is frowned on, and it's very difficult to find a doctor who understands hormones and who will prescribe bio-identical hormones. Doctors don't know enough about women's hormones, but they all have heard about the large study of Women's Health Initiatives, the results of which showed that women on HRT showed an increase in breast cancer, etc. However, very few doctors seem to know that the WHI study used Premarin (horse urine estrogens) and Progestin (a synthetic compound). Prempro (a combination of estrogen and medroxy-progesterone) was the kind of HRT used in the WHI study. The study did not use bio-identical hormones. Progestin is not the same as bio-identical progesterone; neither is Premarin the same as compounded E2 (Estradiol as it exists in the body). Premarin contains at least 10 forms of estrogen, including estradiol, but it also has equilin, and is approved and regulated by the FDA.
 
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LizAnn

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A hormone specialist advised me that food PUFA Estrogens are different from the natural estrogen that our bodies make. Could that be a factor??

Following Peat’s advise, I stopped my hormone cream for 4 months, and I have found that I have reduced energy, and my skin has lost a lot of its elastin. I have that mottled crepe-paper all over my legs and buttocks which had not been an issue previously. I also have no drive for sex. I am considering going back on compounded Estrogen cream again while continuing to avoid PUFA foods.
I have noticed that there seems to be less collagen or elastin on my skin the last few years. And yes, maybe our estrogen receptors are occupied w bad estrogens from PUFAS and other things in our environments and this is why estrogen is low?? I’m sorry to hear you have such side effects coming off the hormone cream. ?
 

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