About Me

My name is Jenn, and I am a 36 year old woman, wife, and mother of an 11 year old boy, and three grown (20-ish) step daughters. I created this site because estrogen dominance physically stopped me in my tracks and no one (including eight doctors) could ever diagnose me. I researched online and read book after book in search of why I felt like this, until I found the answer, and ultimately the solution.

My story started as a 35 year old weighing in at a whopping 250 lbs (which was an improvement over my all-time high of 272 lbs and a size 26 jeans – I don’t wear dresses so I don’t know my dress size). I got a kidney infection and went to the doc, who prescribed antibiotic after antibiotic. Once I had hit my third round of antibiotics, I knocked out my kidney infection, but had a full blown case of candida (which as it turns out I had had for several years and didn’t know). As many of us estrogen dominance gals know, candida frequently goes along for the ride.

But, of course, no doctor would acknowledge my candida. So I fought it on my own and won after several months of perfect eating and occasional exercise. I had also lost 40 lbs. And, then the estrogen dominance symptoms kicked in.

Now, I’ve had estrogen dominance symptoms for several years but thought nothing of them – headache, PMS, moodiness, heart palpitations, cold hands and feet, sensitive teeth, sinus pressure, weird earaches, fatigue, hair loss, long menstrual periods, heavy periods, sluggish metabolism, and memory loss.

How sad is that – I thought all those symptoms were part of being a woman! At any rate, the symptom that put me down – literally – was leg vein pain. Not too many people write or talk about this symptom and its difficult to find any studies on it, but as the hormones changed in my body, the receptor cells in my leg veins were screaming! I was bedridden. It was a good thing I worked from home, or I would have been fired for sure!

And, that’s when I insisted on a saliva hormone test. I thought my naturopathic doctor had to order a test like this, but I’ve since found out its cheaper and easier to do it on your own. Here were my results on April 30, 2009:

So, I started taking Vitex fora couple of months, and got the next set of results, after going off my healthy candida diet:

Unbelievable! My estrogen levels went high and my progesterone levels were almost cut in half. So I knew that the Vitex was not my answer. And, the diet should become a lifestyle because it kept my estrogen low.

So I decided to start supplementing with progesterone cream. I didn’t even go to my naturopath for a prescription to the compounding pharmacy – I went to the local health food store. I got KAL progesterone cream, one I couldn’t find online or many reviews, but its made in Utah, where I live, so I’m sure that’s why the store carried it.

I also started exercising more and taking DIM to keep my estrogen levels low even though my diet is still not great. Here are my latest results from October 12, 2009:

And, I wasn’t taking progesterone during this test. I used progesterone cream for a couple of months prior and it had been 3 weeks since my last dose. I did that because I wanted to see how much progesterone was in my body naturally and from the previous supplementation. I wanted to compare apples to apples.

You can see I’m going in the right direction, but still need to raise my progesterone levels. My leg pain is mostly gone, and resurfaces when I eat crap and my estrogen levels go up. I have lost a total of 60 lbs, and I’ll continue to keep this page updated as I get more results.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask at jenn @ estrogendominanceguide.com. I’m not a medical doctor, or a naturopath, but I can share what I’ve learned through my research and personal experience.

I wish you luck on your journey to perfect health!