Oestrogen Dominance

Violet

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
88
I'm really hoping someone can give me some advice cos' I'm not feeling so good right now.

I was diagnosed with Oestrogen dominance last May. My symptoms were chronic fatigue, insomnia, severe depression, weight gain, menstruating every two weeks, a lot of thyroid symptoms too (always cold, low blood sugar etc. My T4 is borderline low, my t3 is in the last 20%).

I was put on Duphaston. Initially it didnt do anything, until my second course of treatment in June, when I also started taking Vitex. Then the difference was like day and night: boundless energy, positive mood. The weird thing was that my taste buds changed, and I began eating fully Peat, after several months of subtle implementation. I also began using the Progestere oil.

It's been nearly 3 months since starting to feel good, and over that time I only had energy crashes were when I got my period. (I presume this is because my progesterone gets low.) The period hits me pretty hard: I get totally exhausted, and start to feel depressed. The feelings last for three days or so. The bad thing is that my periods have started coming every two weeks again :( Even though I'm still taking the progestere oil. The last energy crash was the worst one yet - it lasted for nearly a week.

Things started to turn about two weeks ago: I started sleeping really badly. Waking up for hours during the night, not being able to get back to sleep until I ate something. (this used to happen to me a lot when I got really sick with the OD last winter). Then my energy started to get worst. I decided to change my treatment and five days ago started taking Raw thyroid. I stopped with the vitex and the progesterone oil cos I read that you should give your body a chance to prcoess the thryoid without the progeseteron added to it.

THe problem is that since starting to take it, I'm really tired! :( Yesterday I took it and from about 2pm I was falling asleep at my desk. I went to sleep that night at 11.30pm, woke up at 4.30am, but for a change, got back to sleep, and slept until 10am! Which is really unusual for me - I normally get up at 6am. Why might this be happening?

there are two more things: about two months ago my hair started falling out, and now it looks like ***t :( Also, initially eating Peat I was losing weight steadily, now it's stopped. I'm relieved I lost something, but I still have about 7lbs to go before I get back to my pre-allthishappening weight.

Sorry this has become an essay, but I'm in the UK so am on the waiting list for an Endo, and in the meantime I'm floundering trying to figure out all these things myself. I've decided to start taking the vitex again - should I start taking the progeestone oil too?

Would really really appreciate any advice!
 

Edle

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
54
Hi Violet,

I don´t know how much advice I can give. I feel for you. I have gone through something similar, not just as severe - am still not over it, though I feel okay most days.

In my case I started with desiccated thyroid, and did not add progesterone until more than nine months later. I think it is important to increase the desiccated thyroid dose very, very slowly.

I think the thyroid alone can help regulate the menstrual cycle. After 1.5 years on desiccated I decided to go off it. I did it very slowly. I feel about the same, but my cycle has gotten shorter again.

After about five months or so on thyroid, I started pregnenolone (the powder from beyond a centrury recommended on this forum). It did nothing to regulate my cycles, but I found it helped for sleep and even mood - even though my mood was not that bad, but it certainly made me more upbeat. But I would recommend going very easy on the dosing. I had quite severe negative side effects from more than 40-50 mg per day. Also, the effect will lessen after a while. Now I just take it from time to time when I wake up at night and really cannot fall back to sleep.

Maybe 40-50 mg a day could help you during your period. I suppose you take the Progest-E cyclic?

I don´t think there are any quick fixes to the estrogen issue though. You have to experiment and see, not adding too many new things at the same time.

I think a Peat like diet can help, but I also try to be flexible. I am at a point where I am just fed up of restrictive diets.

I do chart my cycle using FAM - which helps understand how low the progesterone really is.

I think the up-and-down is very common - and yes, very frustrating. I have had these backlashes myself. In my case, I have become very sensitive to "stress". If I am in nature with little pollution and generally have relaxing days, I tend to sleep well. Long European summer days also seems to help. International travel and work related stress can get me off very easily. A few years back I would have coped fine, but I just don´t any more. So I am trying to limit stressors more. But it is not always possible.

About the weight - maybe better to focus on feeling better first, and then think about the weight second. I know this is easier said than done, but this is what I try to tell myself. I am not overweight, but I feel better a few kg less. But I try to tell myself repeatedly that this is not at all a short or even medium term priority.

Let us know how it goes.
 

Padmaaa

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Messages
16
To Violet,

I also have very bad estrogen dominance that causes me lots of symptoms. The most disturbing ones are fibrocystic breasts, insomnia, high adrenaline after ovulation until the start of menstruation, extreme bloating, water retention, etc.

I also take Vitex, Progest-E, pregnenolone, Aspirin, lots of salt, and still my symptoms haven't changed much.

I wrote to Ray Peat explaining my symptoms and his answer regarding how to decrease estrogen:

"A thyroid supplement (enough to lower the TSH to less than 0.4) would be the thing most likely to correct the ratio of estrogen to progesterone."
"Many people feel best with a ratio of two or three T4 to one T3. Starting with 3 to 5 mcg of T3 with a meal is a good way to start. "

And I also read in one of his article that "Supplementing a small amount of T3, Cytomel or Cynomel, usually stops symptoms such as breast pain, irritability, and restless energy, in less than an hour."

So I started taking Nutri-Med Thyroid, it helped with some of my symptoms but did almost nothing with estrogen dominance. Then I started taking 1/8 Cynoplus 3 times a day, plus 1/8 Cynomel 3 times a day, (I always take Cynoplus and Cynomel separately), so in total I take T3 6 times a day.

I've just started doing this two weeks ago, but I'm far from finding the proper amount and ratio. Currently, I'm in my second half of my cycle, so I'm supposed to have very painful, cystic breasts now, however, the number and the size of cysts has decreased alongside with the pain. The pain and size of the cysts are totally depends on my estrogen level.

So, Ray Peat is right, T3 can decrease the amount of estrogen, by helping the liver to metabolize/detoxify estrogen. But he also mentioned, that it can take several months, while the estrogen/progesterone ratio will normalize.
 

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