Symptoms of Low Estrogen Levels

As women age their bodies go through changes. One of the more common changes is a drop in estrogen levels. Women who are pre-menopausal will sometimes start to feel the symptoms associated with low estrogen levels. If this happens it is important to discuss these changes with a doctor, and come up with a safe and healthy way to combat low estrogen levels.

Identification

• Estrogen is a very important hormone to the human body, especially to the female body. Estrogen has a hand in controlling many of the female body's involuntary body functions, and as the female body begins to age there is a decrease in the amount of estrogen being produced. As women approach menopause they may start to feel the effects of low estrogen levels, or these symptoms may start to occur to women who have had a hysterectomy to remove the ovaries.

Effects

• Many of the symptoms of low estrogen levels are the symptoms more commonly associated with the onset of menopause. These include sudden changes in body temperature which could include hot flashes and chills, chronic joint pain that gets progressively worse, water retention which could lead to a sudden weight gain, bouts with depression and anxiety and recurrent back pain.

Potential

• If low estrogen levels are allowed to continue then they can create new symptoms. These include increase confusion or the feeling that the person is living in a fog, subtle losses of memory that get increasingly worse, night sweats that may wake the person up in the middle of the night, dry skin that may also include vaginal dryness and there could also be a loss of libido or sexual desire. There is also a possibility that the person may start to notice a loss of density in the bones that could make bones more brittle and susceptible to fracture.

Prevention/Solution

• Several treatments are available to help with low estrogen levels, and a doctor may recommend one of them or a combination of a few. One of the more common treatments is hormone replacement therapy where a regiment of medications are taken to help replace the low levels of hormones. In some cases a doctor may recommend a change in diet to a more balanced diet of fruits, meats, dairy and vegetables. The doctor may also recommend losing weight, as that can help to reduce the effects of low estrogen levels.

Warning

• While hormone replacement therapy is common, it is not used for an extended period of time due to potential health risks. Hormone therapy could cause breast cancer, ovarian cancer, blood clots and possible dementia. It is for this reason that doctors will use a variety of treatments that include diet and exercise to try and reduce the negative impact that low estrogen levels can have without relying too much on hormone replacement therapy.