Hello everyone!
The first post on this topic was very popular. I didn't forget it, I have been busy traveling on behalf of inCYST and haven't had many free, quiet moments to collect my thoughts. They're here today, so I am capitalizing on them to get on with this thread!
Today I want to share some thoughts about estrogen.
As with luteinizing hormone, estrogen levels cycle throughout the month. There is no such thing, really, as a simple"high" or"low" estrogen, it depends on what day in your menstrual cycle you are looking at your estrogen levels. So, as with luteinizing hormone, the goal is to NORMALIZE estrogen levels: to make them high when they should be high, and low when they should be low.
One of the most important, but not frequently discussed aspects of estrogen metabolism to understand, is that we live in an environment that increasingly contains chemicals that interfere with natural estrogen function.
Every hormone in your body comes with a unique shape, designed to allow it to fit only into the receptors made to work with it. So an estrogen molecule won't mistakenly fit in a progesterone molecule, for example. There are many man-made chemicals that are very similar in shape to estrogen. They are so similar to estrogen, that they can fit into the estrogen receptor.
BUT…they are not similar enough that they can fool the receptor into being activated. What happens when your estrogen receptors are filled with inactive estrogen impostors? The body doesn't get the message that there is estrogen in the system, and it starts to make and release more of its own estrogen to make up the (nonexistent) deficiency that it perceives is in need of being corrected.
So your receptors are filled with inactive estrogen, which messes up your reproductive function and your real estrogen, because it is being blocked out of action in those receptors, is available to be active in estrogen-sensitive tissues, which is where some cancers are thought to get their jump start.
Your ultimate goal is not to put more estrogen into your system. Rather, it is to remove the"environmental estrogens" from your body, which gives your own estrogen a fighting chance to work. It's not just about YOUR infertility. Environmental scientists are reporting that other species are also becoming infertile due to the very same chemical influences. (Hence the lizard graphic on this post.) If you want to learn more, here is my favorite website:
As I continue with this series, you will understand why I am explaining all of this. For now, I just want you to understand that hormones are complex, and there are many reasons why they may be out of balance. My personal philosophy is that it is best to identify the source of the imbalance rather than try to force hormones in a direction that may not correct the core problem.