How Do I Balance My Hormones?

[Natalia]

Hi. After being on birth control around age 16-17, I noticed that I began growing coarse hair around my nipples/navel. I have been off birth control for a few years. Also during the first couple days of my period I have extreme cramps. I suspect it could be from high estrogen. How do I treat this problem?

 

[MatheusPN]

I would use Progesterone, vitamin E, all topically while using some aspirin.
For cramps, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D, rich foods. Estroban has, A, D, E, K. Thyroid reigns supreme
For more info, Ray has lots of advice

 

[Natalia]

I would use Progesterone, vitamin E, all topically while using some aspirin.
For cramps, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D, rich foods. Estroban has, A, D, E, K. Thyroid reigns supreme
For more info, Ray has lots of advice

Thank you for the advice :)

 

[redsun]

Hi. After being on birth control around age 16-17, I noticed that I began growing coarse hair around my nipples/navel. I have been off birth control for a few years. Also during the first couple days of my period I have extreme cramps. I suspect it could be from high estrogen. How do I treat this problem?

Eat a nutrient dense whole food diet before touching any supplements. You may barely need to supplement anything if you spend a few weeks on a proper diet and be very wary of using hormones. Are you still young? Your body can easily fix itself at this age. Hormones and being too supplement happy when you are young can easily worsen things. Emphasis should be on animal proteins such as red meats, dairy if you can tolerate, eggs, organ meats, seafood. Zinc, copper is especially vital for balanced hormones so examine your intake of zinc/copper and see where you stand.

Best zinc sources are red meat (steak, ground beef), oysters and certain cheeses. Copper foods are potatoes and some fruits are high in copper, but liver takes the cake for copper. Veal liver has less copper but also provides zinc in reasonable quantities which to be honest prefer for that alone.

If those are pretty low thats the first problem to look at. Carbohydrates preferably from unprocessed starches (limit white flour, think rice and potatoes) and quality fruits.

 

[MatheusPN]

Thank you for the advice :)

If you want a sharp change, progesterone seems very promising applied directly topically.

Ray Peat: "Both hirsutism and hair loss seems correlated with high prolactin"
"Thyroid supplement is a very reliable way in most women to control prolactin or vitamin A, calcium also helps to inhibit excess prolactin"

He has more on hirsutism and similar issues... Estrogen is also very correlated with hirsutism
Simply ideas I would do, I am not a doctor.
A good place to look at:
Guide To Ray Peat: Simple, User-friendly Guide To Applying Lessons Learned From The Research Of RP

 

[Natalia]

Eat a nutrient dense whole food diet before touching any supplements. You may barely need to supplement anything if you spend a few weeks on a proper diet and be very wary of using hormones. Are you still young? Your body can easily fix itself at this age. Hormones and being too supplement happy when you are young can easily worsen things. Emphasis should be on animal proteins such as red meats, dairy if you can tolerate, eggs, organ meats, seafood. Zinc, copper is especially vital for balanced hormones so examine your intake of zinc/copper and see where you stand.

Best zinc sources are red meat (steak, ground beef), oysters and certain cheeses. Copper foods are potatoes and some fruits are high in copper, but liver takes the cake for copper. Veal liver has less copper but also provides zinc in reasonable quantities which to be honest prefer for that alone.

If those are pretty low thats the first problem to look at. Carbohydrates preferably from unprocessed starches (limit white flour, think rice and potatoes) and quality fruits.

Thank you for the advice! :)

 

[Natalia]

If you want a sharp change, progesterone seems very promising applied directly topically.

Ray Peat: "Both hirsutism and hair loss seems correlated with high prolactin"
"Thyroid supplement is a very reliable way in most women to control prolactin or vitamin A, calcium also helps to inhibit excess prolactin"

He has more on hirsutism and similar issues... Estrogen is also very correlated with hirsutism
Simply ideas I would do, I am not a doctor.
A good place to look at:
Guide To Ray Peat: Simple, User-friendly Guide To Applying Lessons Learned From The Research Of RP

I will check that out :)

 

[LUH 3417]

Aspirin and vitamin E give me estrogenic symptoms like swelling under my eyes and fibrocystic breasts. It’s contrary to all the advice you will read here but just sharing my experience.
progestE is excellent for relieving premenstrual stress. I can tell the months my estrogen is higher because I get this horrible restless feeling in my legs before bed and bad cramping in my pelvis. ProgestE eliminates both and helps me sleep.
avoid toxins, smoking, pollution, too many beauty products, eat nutritious easy to digest foods, and move your body. My heaviest periods with clots and horrible pain came from the time I was eating lots of dairy and orange juice and being completely sedentary.
I find magnesium water and topical vitamin D supplementation helpful. That plus a b complex regulated my cycle after it went out of sync during a stressful time I was experiencing.

 

[Natalia]

Aspirin and vitamin E give me estrogenic symptoms like swelling under my eyes and fibrocystic breasts. It’s contrary to all the advice you will read here but just sharing my experience.
progestE is excellent for relieving premenstrual stress. I can tell the months my estrogen is higher because I get this horrible restless feeling in my legs before bed and bad cramping in my pelvis. ProgestE eliminates both and helps me sleep.
avoid toxins, smoking, pollution, too many beauty products, eat nutritious easy to digest foods, and move your body. My heaviest periods with clots and horrible pain came from the time I was eating lots of dairy and orange juice and being completely sedentary.
I find magnesium water and topical vitamin D supplementation helpful. That plus a b complex regulated my cycle after it went out of sync during a stressful time I was experiencing.

Thank you for the advice!:) would progesterone help with excess body hair?

 

[LUH 3417]

Thank you for the advice!:) would progesterone help with excess body hair?

It’s supposed to, I don’t have excessive body hair so I can’t tell you from personal experience. Were you diagnosed with pcos?

 

[Natalia]

It’s supposed to, I don’t have excessive body hair so I can’t tell you from personal experience. Were you diagnosed with pcos?

No, I was not diagnosed

 

[redsun]

Thank you for the advice!:) would progesterone help with excess body hair?

Yeh it would help counteract excess androgens. Best thing to do that will counter excess androgens is to lose excess weight if you have any and improve liver health (which will raise SHBG and reduce androgens) and eat a diet rich in minerals as minerals are vital for hormonal balance.

 

[LUH 3417]

No, I was not diagnosed

i was diagnosed with pcos but from having high testosterone, my imaging did not show cystic ovaries. you can try rubbing some progest-e on the coarse hairs. i have also rubbed it directly on my pelvis mixed with coconut oil and found great relief from premenstrual and menstrual cramps that way.

 

[danishispsychic]

get a saliva full hormone panel and start there - you should know what your levels are before you mess with progesterone imo

 

[MatheusPN]

get a saliva full hormone panel and start there - you should know what your levels are before you mess with progesterone imo

+1 but blood test, including at least T3, rT3 and prolactin. Temperature and heart rate is a great way to check thyroid function, very reliable

 

[Natalia]

get a saliva full hormone panel and start there - you should know what your levels are before you mess with progesterone imo

Thanks for the advice :)

 

[Natalia]

+1 but blood test, including at least T3, rT3 and prolactin. Temperature and heart rate is a great way to check thyroid function, very reliable

What range of temp/heart rate determines the thyroid function?