Menu

Perimenopause, Estrogen Dominance and Adrenal Fatigue

by Allyson
(US)

I recently posted a thread about my prolonged bleeding due to perimenopaue and estrogen dominance.

Some of the readers might recall that in the fall I had been suffering from very bad allergies and mistakenly slathering on phytoestrogen cream which I mistoook for my previous progesterone cream, and then started binging on caffeine and chocolate.

Just wanted to add an interesting sidebar to this:

I happened to be at the allergist the other day and was rubbing in my hourly cream, and she said that in perimenopause when the progesterone goes down, the adrenal system starts literally hogging it, gobbling it all up, for its own purposes.

She said this is part of why stress robs us of progesterone - it can be daily stress or stress from physical situations, bad eating, not enough exercise, tension, etc. Even just the stress of going into the cold weather or a meeting at work.

She said for an allergy sufferer, it could also be the stress of exposure to your allergens. So in the spring and fall, I might be more at risk.

She said a lot of her patients go thru a bad allergy period during peri... because not only is it lower, but the adrenal functions gobble it all up, and it still is not enough, so the allergy response gets a lot worse. Her husband is an obstetrician / gynecologist too.

I knew my allergies had gotten terrible in the fall, and that adrenal fatigue is involved with low progesterone, but didn't think bad allergies was such a clear signal of it.

She also said caffeine is really bad in this situation (and of course I was drinking gallons of it).

Anyway, she said keep going on the progesterone, don't worry if I have to go high during "the changes," and I was smart to do the cream and not the oral. She agreed that the dose they recommend on the labels is way too low for someone in a crisis. She said don't worry your body will tell you.

She suggested that I take certain other nutrients to support the adrenal function which should in turn help on the progesterone front because the adrenal system will not deplete the amount I can restore. She recommended Drenamin and pantotheniec acid.

For about one month I have been doing pretty well on about 500-600mg per day but I still have to apply it every two hours at the most.

I am going to try these supplements and see what happens.

But I thought I would relay this story in case it is helpful to others, especially allergy sufferers who might not realize that a bad allergy season could be part of the stress that gobbles up your progesterone.



Comments for Perimenopause, Estrogen Dominance and Adrenal Fatigue

Click here to add your own comments

Mar 03, 2013
 Perimenopause, Estrogen Dominance and Adrenal Fatigue
by: Wray

Hi Allyson I was so fascinated to hear your allergist saying the adrenals 'gobble' up progesterone. It's very few who realise this. Stress drops progesterone levels because the overworked adrenals can't make enough of their own, so rob other sources. In fact stress can stop ovulation. Very interesting about the stress of exposure to allergens, this also stands to reason. Oestrogen does make us more sensitive to allergens too, and of course in peri we have too much in ratio to progesterone. Very delighted she was for progesterone and said to use the cream and not the oral. Thanks so much for telling us this. Take care Wray
Mar 05, 2013
 Question for org author of: Perimenopause, Estrogen Dominance and Adrenal Fatigue
by: Anonymous

I'm interested in what other nutrients to support the adrenal function were suggested. Thank you for sharing your story!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Menopause.

Share this page:
Find this page helpful? Please tell others. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search over 8,400 pages on this site...