Hi Maggie:
Hmmmm, the gold standard for hormone tests is saliva testing, not urine testing. Not sure why he would choose urine, but I guess he has his reasons. I had a full panel done, measuring estrogen, progesterone, 4 point cortisol (AM, noon, PM, night), testosterone, and DHEA-S. My estrogen test was high, testosterone was low and everything else was normal. There are a couple of scenarios, but estrogen dominance is simply when the ratio of estrogen is higher than the ratio of progesterone.
The problem started when my cycles increased to around 40 days in length. I started charting my morning temps to see what was happening and began to see there was a problem - I wasn't ovulating. I was also having terrible sugar cravings and gaining weight. I was also an emotional wreck, couldn't sleep and night, and was having terrible memory problems.
DH thought I was starting menopause so we had my FSH & LH levels tested, but the results were normal.
After doing some research, I learned that blood tests weren't as accurate as saliva tests, so I went to my holistic doc and he ordered the saliva tests. I got the high estrogen results back, but the problem for me was that hormones like estrogen aren't high unless you're getting them from the environment. So we had to look at reasons why my estrogen was so high. I've been eating organic for 5 years, so that wasn't a reason. So we had to turn to my mercury fillings. Mercury is a hormone disrupter and mimicks estrogen. So I had my mercury levels tested and it was off the chart. That's why I've been going through this year-long process of having my mercury fillings removed. Now I'm getting ready for another mercury test to see where my levels are. If they're still high, I'll have to have the mercury chelated out of my system.
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He wants me to remove any non organic foods that come from the reproductive system of animals, from my diet. I eat organic eggs anyway, but he wants me to eat organic chicken too. I don't eat much dairy anyway.
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Yes, I eat all organic food, including vegetables. Chemicals and hormones can disrupt the estrogen balance b/c they're environmental estrogens.
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He also says that low carb is too stressful to do while getting off the thyroid hormones, so I'll probably up my carbs and do the zone next month when I get going. In the meantime I'm going to focus on losing as much weight as I can. If I can get below 150 I'll be happy for a while.
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Interesting! Why is that? I've read that prolonged LC can downregulate thyroid. Is that why?
There's a great site on
Estrogen Dominance by Dr. Lam. There's also the site of
Dr. John Lee who has the series of books .... What you're Doctor Many Not Tell you about Perimenopause/Menopause. Another interesting book I read is
Hormone Deception. It's mostly about how the xenohormones in our environment affect us. I have a folder thick with information I've copied off the internet. There's tons of info out there.
The other thing I started doing was taking DIM or IC3. Both are created from phytochemicals found in cruciferous veggies. It helps to promote healthy estrogen metabolism.
The Life Extension Foundation has some really good info about IC3 if you scroll down to the bottom of the page. There's also a site on
DIM that's helpful. I've taken both, but I think I get better results from the IC3. It seems that my cycles run more smoothly with it over DIM. There's a lot of controversy over whether DIM or IC3 is better. The big supplement research companies (LEF & AOR) that I trust, so far aren't convinced that DIM is better over IC3. And, of course, increase your intake of cruciferous veggies.
I also supplement with bio-identical progesterone cream even though my progesterone is normal. It helps at least to narrow the gap of estrogen dominance for me, helping me ovulate. My luteal phase is still pretty short, but it seems to be getting progressively longer.
That's all I can think of for now. I'll post if I remember anything else.
Wanda
Thanks Maggie. I sometimes have a hard time believing I actually went through all that. I get a bit emotional when I read that post. I'm so fortunate to have recovered from the Fibro so that I could start lifting weights. The chemical sensitivites will probably always be with me, but I consider that a blessing. It just means that I'll always avoid things that are unhealthy for me. But I also realize that I'm so much more fortunate than other people. My body gave me some pretty strong warning signs that I listened to. I wonder how many people just end up with cancer or something, WITHOUT the warning signs. 
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