Estrogen Dominance Causes Low Thyroid Symptoms

Hair falling out and Hair thinning and Fat on the Belly and Hips

An Estrogen Dominant woman is a woman that may or may not have fibrocystic breast disease, breast cysts, uterine fibroids or myomas, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, adenomyosis, or even more serious cancers or tumors. However, a common complaint is that these women also have sugar cravings and chocolate cravings just before her period. Her hair and eyebrows may be thinning. She has built up fat on her belly and hips and can't seem to get it off even though she is dieting and exercising.

Diet and exercise does not help. Frequently, this may happen just after the age of 35. Just after the age of 35, she may start to have anovulatory cycles and the lack of progesterone sincer her ovaries no longer produce progesterone. Read about anovulatory cycles here. The woman can frequently say that all this happened over the last several months, and it was not true when she was younger.

What is happening?


Estrogen Dominance happened. Estrogen Dominance means too much estrogen relative to progesterone. Too much estrogen tells the body to build up fat for the "expected" pregnancy. How does it do this? Estrogen Dominance tells your body to become less sensitive to thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone levels are normal or "low" normal. Normally, the thyroid levels are fine. And usually your doctor, thinks that there is no problem with your thyroid hormone levels. Your doctor cannot understand why you "look hypothyroid". Your hair is falling out. Your fat on your body is building up on the stomach and hips. But your blood thyroid hormone tests are normal!

Estrogen Dominance desensitizes your thyroid receptors. You become less sensitive to thyroid hormone.

So you have normal thyroid hormone blood tests, but your body is screaming that you are hypothyroid.

What are the hypothyroid symptoms?


  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
  • Coarse, dry hair
  • Dry, rough pale skin
  • Hair loss
  • Cold intolerance (you can't tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
  • Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Memory loss
  • Abnormal menstrual cycles
  • Decreased libido (sex drive)

Decreased Thyroid Receptor Sensitivity


Bioidentical progesterone will counter the effect of Estrogen Dominance and the effects of hypthyroidism, if you avoid xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens. After taking progesterone cream for 5-6 months and meticulously avoiding xenoestrogens, typically for most patients, their hypothyroidism is gone! Weight leaves without dieting or exercise. Hair gets thicker. Hair stops falling out. If you are taking thyroid that your doctor has given you, these patients are typically able to stop the thyroid hormone very slowly under their physicians management.

This is because as they stop their xenoestrogen intake over a period of 6 months their thyroid sensitivity goes back up to normal. Then as their thyroid sensitivity goes back up to normal, they don't need the extra thyroid hormone.

Some patients can't eliminate all their xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens. Or some patients want some thyroid medication NOW, and can't wait 6 months for their thyroid receptors to perk back up. What is the best thyroid medication to take?

There are two thyroid hormones, T3 and T4. T3 has 3 iodine atoms. T4 has 4 iodine atoms. T3 is the more bioactive thyroid hormone, it is the one that is effective. T4 is the raw material to make T3 and it also has some activity. There is a converting enzyme that your body makes to convert T4 into T3. However, some patients have an impaired converting enzyme. For instance, Diabetes Type II patients do NOT convert T4 to T3 very well. Their converting enzyme is impaired. Some extremely allergic patients may or may not also have trouble converting T4 to T3.

Synthyroid is a popular thyroid hormone that consists entirely of T4. If you take Synthyroid you must have a unimpaired converting enzyme to convert T4 to T3. Typically, extremely allergic patients lack converting enzyme and do better with a combination of both T3 and T3. Commercial products that contain T3 and T4 are Armour thyroid and Biothyroid. With a thyroid hormone that contains both T3 and T4 a converting enzyme is not needed.

Unfortunately, there are other chemicals in the environment that block thyroid hormone from the receptor. The classic thyroid hormone blocker is a fire retardant commonly used in plastics in the computer that I am now using. Thus, bioidentical progesterone works to fight hypothyroidism in most women, but not all women that have Estrogen Dominance.

So there you have it. Estrogen Dominance is caused by:

Estrogen Dominance is from


1. Anovulatory cycles after the age of 35 do not produce progesterone most of the time. This creates more estrogen relative to progesterone.

2. Environmental Estrogens, chemical estrogens, or xenoestrogens found in every day products act like estrogen and mimic estrogen, but do NOT appear on the lab test.

3. Caffeine in coffee increases your own estradiol. 2 cups of coffee daily increases estradiol levels by 70%.

What is Happening in a Nutshell


The sequence of events goes like this:

A. Estrogen Dominance by xenoestrogens, after the age of 35, and coffee.

B. Estrogen Dominance causes less sensitivity to thyroid hormone (but does NOT affect the thyroid hormone blood lab test).

C. You have normal thyroid hormone blood tests, but still have hair thinning and weight gain on the belly and hips. You "look like" hypothyroid.

What Do I Do?


The way to get your hair growing thicker and stop the hair loss and lose the weight gain is this:

1. Avoid xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens.

2. Take bioidentical natural progesterone cream.

3. After 6 months, when the thyroid hormone sensitivity comes back to normal slowly taper off the thyroid hormone (if you are taking thyroid hormone) under your physician's supervision.

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