High Estrogen

Estrogen levels naturally rise and fall throughout your life. For example, estrogen fluctuates throughout your menstrual cycle. Increases in estrogen spur your sexual development during puberty. Levels also rise dramatically throughout pregnancy.

Estrogen levels can be high for different reasons. Sometimes, your levels are high because of the estrogen your body makes. Other times, they’re high because of a medication you’re taking.

Estrogen levels that are abnormally high or cause a hormonal imbalance can lead to health issues. High estrogen can also disrupt reproductive processes and cause unpleasant symptoms.

What is estrogen dominance?

Estrogen and progesterone (another hormone) work together to prevent the lining of your uterus (endometrium) from getting too thick. A thickened endometrium can lead to endometrial hyperplasia.

If your body doesn’t make enough progesterone or if it makes too much estrogen, this can lead to what’s called unopposed estrogen. Some healthcare providers call this “estrogen dominance.” Without progesterone’s balancing influence, estrogen can work overtime in your body. This causes cell overgrowths, like tumors in your uterine lining.

Symptoms of high estrogen in females

Symptoms and signs of high estrogen in females can include:

• Breast swelling and tenderness
• Decreased sex drive
• Fatigue
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Feeling depressed or anxious
• Light or heavy periods
• Mood swings
• Uterine fibroids
• Weight gain — mainly in your waist, hips and thighs
• Worsening of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Talk to your healthcare provider if you have these symptoms.

Symptoms of high estrogen in males

Symptoms of high estrogen in males can include:

• Decreased sex drive
• Dry skin
• Enlarged breasts
• Erectile dysfunction
• Infertility

Talk to your healthcare provider if you have these symptoms.

High estrogen causes

Your estrogen levels may be high because:

• Your body is making too much estrogen.
• You’re getting too much estrogen from the medicine you take.
• Your body isn’t breaking down estrogen and removing it as it should.

A variety of factors can contribute to high estrogen, including:

• Medications: Hormone therapy to boost low estrogen levels in menopause may cause your levels to become too high at first. It may take some time to get the dosage right. You may also be getting too much estrogen from a combination birth control pill.
• Overweight or obesity: Adipose tissue (body fat) makes estrogen. Having a high percentage of body fat can increase estrogen levels.
• Stress: High amounts of cortisol due to stress can deplete your body’s ability to make progesterone. This can cause an imbalance of estrogen.
• Alcohol: Consuming excessive alcohol can reduce your body’s ability to break down (metabolize) estrogen.
• Liver problems: Your liver breaks down estrogen and removes it from your body. If there’s an issue with your liver, too much of the hormone can build up. Too few digestive enzymes and too many unhealthy gut bacteria (dysbiosis) can contribute to this as well.
• Xenoestrogens: These are chemicals in the environment that act like estrogen once they’re inside your body. They’re a type of hormone-disrupting chemical. Xenoestrogens are in various plastics, pesticides, household cleaning products, and some soaps and shampoos.

Complications

High estrogen levels are associated with a variety of conditions. Estrogen doesn’t necessarily cause these conditions. But it may worsen a condition or symptom you already have, including:

• Breast cancer
• Endometriosis pain
• Insulin resistance
• Obesity
• Ovarian cancer
• Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS)
• Tumors on your ovaries and adrenal glands
• Uterine cancer (endometrial cancer)
  
  

How doctors diagnose this condition

Your healthcare provider may consider checking your estrogen levels with a blood test. If you have periods, blood tests may not be accurate due to the natural fluctuations of estrogen throughout your menstrual cycle. They may recommend other tests to find the cause of the high estrogen level if it’s unknown.

How can I lower my estrogen levels?

Your healthcare provider can help you address high estrogen levels based on what’s causing them. In some cases, your provider may need to adjust your medications. Sometimes, lifestyle changes may help.

If high estrogen levels increase your cancer risk or worsen a cancer you already have, your provider may recommend more aggressive treatments.

Lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes that may help include:

• Eating a low-fat, high-fiber diet with minimal processed sugar
• Decreasing your percentage of body fat
• Limiting beverages containing alcohol
• Managing stress
• Reducing your exposure to synthetic xenoestrogens

Medications

Your healthcare provider can adjust your medication if it’s causing high estrogen. You may need medicine if you have cancer spreading in response to estrogen exposure.

Medications include:

• Aromatase inhibitors: These help treat hormone receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer. They prevent fat cells from making estrogen.
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists: These stop your ovaries from releasing estrogen.
• Hormonal birth control: Some types of hormonal birth control also contain estrogen. But it can regulate your body’s natural estrogen production.

Does high estrogen mean high fertility?

Not necessarily. Getting pregnant requires a specific balance of hormones, including estrogen and progesterone. An increase in estrogen during your menstrual cycle is necessary to trigger ovulation. But adequate levels of progesterone are also essential to prepare your uterus for pregnancy after ovulation.