More on Low Estrogen: Foods & Herbs

Low estrogen can give you constant headaches, little to no EWCM [egg-white cervical mucus] and long delayed ovulation and may prevent you from hanging onto a pregnancy.

The only time I don't have a headaches lately is as ovulation approaches and during the early part of my Luteal Phase (LP), before my estrogen starts to fall. During some natural monitor cycling, I had bloodwork that showed me when my estrogen was too low.

So I started a campaign to get my estrogen back up. I used Soy Isoflavones 200mg/day from day 3-10. I got some estrogen cream from my hormone doctor, 5mg Biest, and I use it every single day. This cycle, up till ovulation, I used it once/day, but once I got a +OPK, I started using it 2x/day.

I also have been drinking pomegranate juice, eating oatmeal, carrots, green beans, peas, beets, potatoes, rice and rye bread. Pre-ovulation, I took Garlic (500mg) and Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) (1,000mg). All these seemed to help to increase your estrogen.

The previous two cycles, it took me till day 29 to ovulate. But starting this campaign last cycle, I had no headaches during my LP, and my estrogen stayed over 125 as of 7 days past ovulation (dpo).

Now this cycle, I ovulated on day 19, I had plenty of EWCM (egg-white cervical mucus), and so far the headaches are better. So I know it's helping, though it may need to be tweaked more.

Other foods that raise estrogen are alfalfa, anise, apples, barley, cherries, clover, fennel, hops, licorice, parsley, red beans, sage, sesame seeds, soybeans, sprouts, wheat and yeast. Herbs are: Black Cohosh, Blessed Thistle, Red Clover, Boron and Ginseng.

What I don't know is, if some foods work better than others? I haven't been able to find any sort of break-down, just a list of foods and herbs. So I just eat what foods I like, and hope for the best!

BTW, if you are taking Vitex or False Unicorn Root, they lower estrogen.

But I hope that give you some ideas.

Now, of course, the problem with estrogen and headaches is that they can be caused by low estrogen, high estrogen or even surges of estrogen. It really depends on how your hormones affect you.

This is why some women get a migraine at ovulation, from the surge of estrogen. There is also a second surge around implantation.

You really can't know for sure without blood work, and I recommend it highly before starting to play around with herbs, etc. If your estrogen is already high, it can make your problems much worse if you work to increase it, thinking it is low...

In fact, most women have too high of estrogen at this point. It will all depend on how you process your hormones, what's normal for you. Some women sail thru peri-menopause without a problem, and some suffer terribly. Most are somewhere in between. As everything else, it's just the luck of the draw!

From the article Is Too Low of Estrogen a Problem? :

Symptoms of Low Estrogen – Hot flashes, Shortness of breath, Night sweats, Sleep disorders, insomnia, Vaginal dryness, Dry hair/skin, Hair loss, Anxiety, Mood swings, Headaches, Depression, Short term memory loss, Frequent urinary tract infections, Heart palpitations, Frequent yeast infections, Vaginal shrinking, Loss of pubic hair, Painful intercourse, Inability to reach orgasm

---

TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Garden of Fertility: A Guide to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent or Achieve Pregnancy--Naturally--and to Gauge Your Reproductive Health
by Katie Singer

-- A guide to using fertility awareness - that is, reading fertility signals in order to prevent or achieve pregnancy.

Certified fertility educator Katie Singer explains how to observe and chart fertility cycles to determine when a woman is most fertile to increase chances of conception, or to exercise birth control naturally - a method that, when followed precisely, is as effective as the Pill.

Unlike other books on fertility awareness, The Garden of Fertility also describes how to use the charts to gauge gynecological health and offers non-medical options for strengthening reproductive wellness.

This book provides all the information women never learned in sex education class, but should have.

Paperback: 320 pages
Click to order/for more info: The Garden of Fertility

Category: bio-identical hormones, estrogen, headaches, Hormones, ovulation