Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Estrogen

Help me figure out a direction to go to figure out what's wrong with me?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:53:41 -0800

Paging Dr. House. Medical mystery involving girly bits and hormonal madness lurks within. Probably SFW. YANMD, and probably YANAD, but my doctors are flummoxed and I'm desperate enough to go to the internet for help. I just want to know what the hell is the matter with me.

I'm 37 years old and I had twins in 2007. The babies were fine, but I ended up getting some sort of infection. About a week after the babies were born, I landed back in the hospital hemorrhaging with a high fever.

In spite of the hemorrhage, I was able to breastfeed to a point and did so until earlier this year. I didn't get a period until June but wasn't concerned because of the breastfeeding. In July, my period got wacky. I've been getting bleeding, at first just spotting and then like a regular period then back to spotting, for two weeks at a time. After two weeks of no bleeding, it repeats. After three months of this happening I got an appointment with a GYN.

The doctor ran some blood tests and found that I had lutenizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in the normal range (I don't have numbers) but estradiol that was unmeasurably low. I got sent off for an MRI to see if I had a brain tumor, which I don't. Yay! In fact, the MRI results were entirely normal.

I was a little surprised about that, since several years ago I had an MRI done for a different condition and my pituitary was abnormally large. On follow-up, the gynecologist did a biopsy for uterine cancer and put me on a birth control pill - Lo-Estrin24. She said that there was little uterine tissue and said that I could have an atrophic condition linked to my low estrogen level. She also said that the Pill would regulate my odd bleeding, which it hasn't.

Along with the odd bleeding, I've also had fatigue, no sex drive at all, thinning hair, horrific night sweats (I soak the bed two to three times a night) and continuing weight loss. I've had night sweats since I was 29 but these are on a different scale of bad. I've lost almost 50 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, but much of that could be from effects of breastfeeding and being busy dealing with twin toddlers. My thyroid levels are normal. I'm being referred to an internal medicine doc to check me for lymphoma (!).

My first thought was premature ovarian failure, but the doc said that my LH and FSH should be higher for that. Some googling brought up the possibility of Sheehan's Syndrom (pituitary damage from postpartum hemorrhage) but the doctor said that I wouldn't have hormones in the normal range.

Other stuff that might make a difference:
-My short-term memory officially sucks. I thought it was just from sleep deprivation (twin babies and all) but as the twins have gotten older and I've gotten more sleep my memory has not improved.
-During my whole pregnancy I had hyperemesis.
-At the twins' c-section delivery I had a tubal ligation.
-My mother went through menopause early but after age 40.
-My dad's thyroid is having issues, just developed in the past couple of years.
-Was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at age 12. I flare a few times a year.

Where should I go from here? Besides being evaluated for lymphoma, I mean.

Thank you for your indulgence. I'm trying to be as clear and calm as I can but it's some work right now, believe me.

Help me understand complications during the follicular and luteal phase of menstruation.

2X2LcallingCQ — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:57:59 -0800

HormoneFilter: Help me understand complications during the follicular and luteal phase of menstruation. In relation to PMS, I've read that estrogen dominance is often the culprit, exacerbated by certain lifestyle factors such as stress, as both cortisol and progesterone compete for the same receptors. Also, even if you have low estrogen, if you have even lower levels of progesterone, that is also estrogen dominance.

However, why is it that for many women who do experience PMS during the luteal phase, they are fine during the follicular phase? It is my understanding that progesterone is lowest during the first phase of menstruation, while estrogen steadily climbs, which would mean estrogen dominance galore right?

Could the rise in progesterone be the problem, as progesterone is highest during the luteal phase?

Thank you :)

Chick Mix

zoomorphic — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:56:51 -0800

I love me some girly music. Recommend me your favorite unabashedly girly musicians. More detailed description inside. "Girly" very very loosely refers to girliness-enhancing rather than genre or the artist's gender. While there is a time and a place for Patti Smith, I'm not looking for just any talented female artist: sometimes I'm in the mood for fey, unusual music. I want a soundtrack for baking cupcakes, reading Djuna Barnes, and drowning out uppity music snobs who quote Steve Albini's rants against Cocorosie.

I want music that can slay a Norwegian death metal band with the might of estrogen and buttercups.

Currently On Repeat
*Jolie Holland
*Kate Bush
*Antony & The Johnsons
*Cocorosie (Steve Albini can eat my teflon-poisoned cupcakes)
*Camera Obscura
*Julie Doiron
*Edith Piaf
*Yelle
*Alela Diane
*Neko Case

Shelved
*Joanna Newsom (only in very specific moods)
*Rilo Kiley (they bore me for some reason, I can't put my finger on it)
*riot grrls (love them, but not what I'm looking for at the moment, unless you count "Bedroom Dancing" by Le Tigre)

What's in these pills?

what-i-found — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:09:45 -0800

I just got back from Mexico and bought what I hope is their version of Prempro. But now I'm not sure that what I have is the exact formula. I have estrogenos conjugados (Brand is Neradin). Does this have progesterone? Or just estrogen?

Hormonapalooza

thehmsbeagle — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:59:33 -0800

Can you suggest articles or books that are anecdotal descriptions of people taking opposite-sex sex hormones? Once upon a time I read the blurb for an article that seemed to be about how a woman had happened upon a stash of testosterone injections and had, uh, experimented on herself. I vaguely remember that she suddenly "got" visual pornography, and theorized that this was testosterone at work.

Like an idiot, I put the link by to read later and then lost it. A recent FPP on the "third world squat that led me to the mind-blowing Testosterone Nation Magazine reminded me of my interest in these things, so:

I'm not so much interested in things about gender reassignment as I am in, say, some guy's book about how he took estrogen as a one-person experiment and discovered X,Y and Z, or as above, a woman taking estrogen and experiencing this and that.

I guess I'm interested in layperson accounts of how sex hormones might affect the behavior/emotions/thoughts of someone who grew up in the kind of body that doesn't normally have much of that hormone, and not in stories about someone who feels like a man trying to become a man, or stories about what being a woman is like, since those probably won't have the contrast-and-compare thing I'm looking for.

Does that make any sense? I'm not a scientist, so I'm fumbling through the language of what I'm interested in, sorry.

Is my almost-vegetarian diet making me fatter?

Unicorn on the cob — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:03:23 -0800

My boyfriend is an avowed vegetarian, almost vegan. Out of respect for him (and the desire to live healthier), I have switched to an almost completely vegetarian diet. Now I've gained weight... why? I'm thinking that it's the switch from eating meat to eating lots and lots of soy products, which I know can affect estrogen levels in women. I also had a wicked sweet tooth before (imagine eating half a pound of candy in one sitting... that's me!) and have just recently cut back significantly on sugar in an effort to drop the unwanted weight (the past 60 days I have only consumed sugar for about 6 days total, and you can guess when). A few more tidbits:

1. I am a 35-year-old female.

2. I work out at least 4-5 times a week, with a minimum of an hour cardio, preferably 90 minutes of cardio with 15 minutes of weight training, should I actually make it to the gym. At the gym I use the elliptical, stair climber, recumbent bike and treadmill, and vary my times/workouts each time I go to avoid stagnation in my workouts. Otherwise, I use my elliptical at home and hand weights.

3. In the year we've been dating, I have cut back to eating meat maybe 3-4 times per week (usually in a sandwich or soup form), and our typical meals consist of such things as: tofu and veggie stir-fry, veggie burgers, Quorn fajitas with beans, falafel on pita with baba ghanoush, fake-lunchmeat sandwiches and low-fat cheez-its (I know, I know... sodium!).

4. I only drink alcohol once a week and drink coffee maybe 3-4 times per week, one cup or less. I drink regular sodas at the movies maybe twice per month and mostly drink spring water or sparkling, and avoid fruit juice and sweetened tea.

5. I am on birth control pills.

6. Over the course of the year, I tapered down on eating meat until I now no longer eat meat at all in his presence, nor do I keep it in the house, unless it's in a can of soup. At the same time, I worked out LESS at the beginning of our relationship due to the honeymoon factor, and now work out probably twice as much as I did six months ago.

7. The majority of the weight gain has been in 3 pound increments, very suddenly, over the course of, say, a two-week period when I notice it and then can't get it to budge.

8. I still drink regular, 1% milk and eat regular 2% cheese, but have subbed out Quorn or soy-based products for virtually every dinner meal where I would normally have eaten meat instead.

Now, a co-worker of mine recently gave up meat and dairy in an effort to curb her food allergies and she ALSO gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. She is a woman in her mid-40's. She and I were commiserating over this fact on Friday, and we both thought... hmmm, is it all the soy? Could the extra estrogen be making me gain the weight? I'm trying like hell to lose the weight and I just... can't.

I have reduced the number of calories I eat, I'm pretty sure, because I no longer eat sweets or snacks (except things like birthday cake if it's a special occasion). I realize that over time, cutting out the sweets will probably help me lose the weight, but for right now, I'm beyond frustrated. The most I can get my weight down is like maybe 3 pounds, and I want to fit in my clothes again! I know this is a time in my life when my metabolism slows down, but this seems really sudden to me and not gradual at all. I searched previous questions and didn't see this exact issue addressed. Hope me, hive mind!

Long-term estrogen effects?

luckyshirl — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:14:52 -0800

I've been on estrogen therapy for 26 years - anyone else with similar experience? I had a complete hysterectomy at age 25 and was immediately put on oral estrogen. Several doctors later, and I've been on a bio-identical estrogen patch for the last 6 years (I'm now 51). I have the same OB/GYN as my 72 year old mother, and he took her off estrogen/progesterone just last year. At my last well-woman exam, I asked when I could stop the therapy and he said "not for a long while".

I feel great, all medical tests, mammograms & bone scans have been good. I'm very concerned about the long-term effects of estrogen therapy, but can't find any published research on instances just like mine - no ovaries, estrogen patch, long-term, etc.

I'm at the point that I'm thinking about finding a different OB/GYN, but not sure if I'm worrying about nothing. Your suggestions are very welcomed...

Birth Control Side Effects

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:56:13 -0800

BirthControl filter: Does anyone else experience fairly extreme side effects from hormonal birth control? I'm on Ortho-TriCyclen Lo (the low estrogen version) and have been for a year. Cons include complete loss of libido, about thirty pounds of weight gain, monthly morning-sickness type symptoms (during the first week of the cycle) and mood swings. Pros seem to be that the anxiety that hit me at thirteen and never lifted seems to be negated while on the pill. In fact, there is about a three-foot thick wall between me and any emotion whatsoever (unless I'm on the placebo). So...am I just a freak? Or has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'm especially concerned with the mental side effects - the extreme distance from emotion & enjoyment.