Although we know our hormones are changing constantly with our cycles and our age, both low estrogen and estrogen dominance can lead to undesired symptoms and health challenges.
We had a great chat with Kate Vazquez, author of Estrogen is a B*tch on the podcast about Estrogen Dominance and encourage you to check that out. However our focus on this blog is about Low Estrogen and its impact on your fertility.
If you experience challenges with sleep, low sex drive, irregular periods, tender breasts, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, bone and joint pain or trouble concentrating, you may have low estrogen. These are just some of the symptoms we witness most frequently. But chances are, if you are here, you have had your estrogen tested and you have confirmation that it is low. So what can you do about it?
Honest Stress Management
Stress is a part of our daily life as humans. It is unrealistic to say that we can live without it because it will come up. There are three things that need to happen:
- First you need to be able to name your stressors
- Next you need to decide with stressors are necessary and which you can do with out
- Lastly, decide how you are going to build your resilience to cope with your stressors
Of course stress management always sounds so much easier when you are reading about it than it is to actually navigate. We invite you to try this exercise. Ask someone you trust, your partner or best friend works great and tell them you want to make an honest inventory of your stressors. List them all out and share them outloud with whoever you’ve chosen to help you. Once you think the list is complete, ask them if they think you are missing anything. Ask them to be 100% honest and be willing to hear them! Next, go through the list with them and divide them into three categories.
- A necessary stress in this current chapter of life
- Can easily be removed, simplified, delegated or automated
- Not sure where this fits
Again, ask them for their 100% transparent honesty. Allow yourself to hear it all, even if it stings a little. Then, create an action plan! What boundaries need to be set? What do you need to release? What deserves your full attention? Don’t just speak it, make a plan to put your new knowledge into action and work on reducing your stress.
We love referring to this article when making these decisions.
A great way to then start to build your resilience is to seriously prioritize your health care as much as you prioritize your work. Self care is essential and the most selfless thing you can do! Read more here.
Practice Sleep Hygiene
Notice this section didn’t start with “get better/more sleep”. Who does that help? Not anyone I have ever worked with. Instead, it is important to spend some energy looking at your sleep hygiene practices and see if there are things you can do to better improve your relationship with sleep.
Ideally adults of reproductive age should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep nightly but low estrogen may be making that really difficult for you.
Low estrogen can lead to low serotonin (the feel good hormone) which converts to melatonin (the sleep hormone) meaning you have less melatonin production to aid with sleep and less serotonin, leaving space for depression and anxiety to take up residency in your mind and body.
This vicious cycle can be broken with the help of sleep hygiene techniques included but not limited to:
- Meditation
- Talk Therapy
- Hypnosis
- Yoga
- Breathing exercises
- Acupuncture
For additional information, check out our blog, How to Support a Good Night’s Sleep.
Mindful Nutrition
When it comes to nutrition, it is important to focus on the relationship with your body and food without dieting. We are not into counting calories and stressing about having a deficit. It is much more supportive of your hormones if you eat when you are hungry. However, what is important is discovering what foods are serving you and which are not. A great place to start is with our 5 day Fertility diet challenge. Here you will learn how to supercharge your fertility naturally with recipes for breakfast, lunch, entrees, and snacks all designed specifically to enhance fertility.
Once you learn what foods serve you and which don't, we highly recommend adding targeted supplements, specifically a high quality Omega-3. Learn more about why we recommend Omega-3 and the other foundational supplements that will support not only your hormones, but your whole body wellness as you prepare for conscious conception.
Love On Your Gut
We can’t talk about Estrogen without talking about gut health. They are directly connected and impact one another. Everything we have talked about above will also dramatically improve your gut health. Adding a probiotic to support a healthy microbiome while taking a functional stool test to learn what is truly going on in your gut are the next steps to fully understand the cause of your low estrogen and address it completely. Learn more about our functional testing approach here.
Healing Is Not Linear
On this journey to improving your Estrogen levels, it is vital to remember that your estrogen did not get where it is now overnight and none of this is your fault or your doing. There is no place for blame here. Instead there is space for noticing the power you have to offer your body what it is asking for and right now, it is asking for your attention.
Blog by Samantha Coffin – Fertility Coach at Fab Fertile Inc.
I’m excited to invite you to a special masterclass - where you’ll learn How To Improve Your Chances Of Pregnancy Success If You Have Low AMH/High FSH. Sign up here.
