Significance of Low Estrogen
Either premature ovarian failure (early menopause) or a temporary condition called hypothalamic dysfunction.
Hypo–WHAT?? The hypothalamus is an area of our brain, the control center, the master hormone regulator. It secretes regulating hormones to stimulate the ovaries to do their job–ovulate and make hormones! In times of severe stress (physical, chemical or emotional) the hypothalamus will decide NOT to stimulate the ovaries. This is reversible, provided that the source of stress is resolved.
Physical stress is being underweight, or having a low body fat percent. Elite athletes can have this issue. Chemical stress is toxins. And emotional stress is, well, stress! During times of significant stress, the body is wise enough to acknowledge that getting pregnant is not a good idea. Therefore the brain will shut down the ovulation system, and hormone levels drop.
Testing to Consider
Several tests may be helpful to determine your next best step:
Check your serum estradiol levels. This hormone fluctuates widely during your menstrual cycle–ranges from 45 to 300 are common.
FSH and LH are the regulatory hormones from the hypothalamus. If they are elevated then the diagnosis is menopause. Depending on your age it is either expected or premature menopause. If these hormones are not elevated then it is an issue with the hypothalamus…
If your issue is hypothalamic in nature (low estradiol as well as low FSH and LH) that will take some investigating to determine the cause.
Importance of Estrogen
There are sooooo many benefits of estrogen–bone health, skin elasticity, pelvic health, but the biggest one, in my opinion, is BRAIN health. Appropriate estrogen levels help maintain memory. We NEED our brains!
The big question, though, is WHY. You can take bioidentical estradiol while you figure out why your estrogen is so low, but, because the causes are potentially serious, that could lead to more problems over time, it’s important to KNOW the cause and then move forward with healing.
One Thing I Don’t Recommend
Your regular doctor may tell you just to take birth control pills, because it’s a quick fix. But I don’t like that plan. The estrogen in “the pill” is not the same as your body makes. Taking it orally leads to inflammation. Plus there’s the issue of the other health problems that would be associated with malnutrition, stress and toxins… Please don’t ignore this. Get help!
If You Need Help We’re Here for You!
If you are ready to get help, reach out to my team and we can set you up with a call to see if we’re a good fit to work together. Just follow this link to request a session.