Problems that Occur when Your Estrogen Decreases

Estrogen is a hormone that’s produced by your ovaries and plays a big part in your sexual development and your reproductive system. 

It’s natural for estrogen levels to fluctuate. This hormone peaks in about your mid-20s and then declines by 50% by the time you turn 50. Levels drop even more significantly after menopause. However, there are other factors that can play a role in having low estrogen.

Karen Mass, MD, FACOG, and the rest of our team at Women’s Specialty Care, want you to understand that low estrogen levels can impact your health in many ways. We review what can cause low estrogen, problems that arise from low estrogen, and how low estrogen levels can be treated.

Potential causes of low estrogen

While aging is usually the main culprit in low estrogen levels, there are other factors that can cause your estrogen levels to be lower than they should be. Those factors include:

• Excessive exercise
• Eating disorders such as anorexia
• Certain genetic conditions like Turner syndrome 
• Low body weight
• Thyroid conditions
• Autoimmune conditions
• Issues with your pituitary gland

In addition, your estrogen levels are going to be low if you’ve recently given birth and you’re also breastfeeding.

Problems that come up with low estrogen

There are many symptoms and conditions that can arise due to low estrogen levels, including:

• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Insomnia
• Headaches or migraine attacks that get worse
• Difficulty concentrating
• Breast tenderness
• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Osteoporosis (bones become weak and fracture easily)
• Vaginal dryness
• Pain during sex
• Increased urinary tract infections

If low estrogen levels are left untreated, it can also lead to infertility. 

How low estrogen is treated

At Women’s Specialty Care, we treat low estrogen levels and the symptoms that come with it in a variety of ways. We offer symptom-specific treatments like creams for vaginal dryness or medications to help you get some sleep.

In addition, we offer hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which works to replace the hormones your body no longer produces. HRT provides hormones that are identical in makeup to the ones your body makes naturally, which means your body recognizes them as natural hormones. This results in fewer side effects.

You can also make lifestyle changes like losing any excess weight, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly in order to try and regulate estrogen levels.

Next steps

If you identify with symptoms of low estrogen, don’t wait to seek professional help; Women’s Specialty Care can help. If you’d like to learn more about how to boost your hormone levels, contact one of our Illinois offices by giving us a call or by using our online scheduling tool to book an appointment with us today.